Adolescent Development in Juvenile Recidivism

Punishment is a word that has many different meanings. It differs from person to person, state to state and even country to country. When looking at the criminal justice system the purpose of punishment is deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution, and incapacitation (Bontrager, Smith, & Winokur, 2008). Punishment involving adults is hard but when dealing with adolescents it is even more difficult. Adolescence is often thought to be a time of irrational and emotion influenced behavior. There are many who think that adolescence is just a phase that is an entity in and of its self.While many people can see the correlation between the actions and behaviors that happen in adolescence to the habits and life style in adulthood few people see the correlation between a person’s early childhood and the affect that has on his or her adolescence. There is no developmental phase that stands totally alone. Each phase has a lasting consequence ramifications on the next. This progressive devel opmental phase has lasting ramifications on the adolescent’s behavior, self-concept and maturity. Because of this there is a need to view juvenile crime and punishment differently than adult crime and punishment.The reason for this is because some research has shown that recidivism rates among juvenile parolees are very high. It can range anywhere from fifty five percent to seventy five percent (Krisberg, Austin, and Steele, 1991). There is evidence that a vast majority of juvenile offenders who have been confined do not stop committing crimes when they are released. In fact, many juvenile offenders continue their criminal involvement into adulthood (Hamparian et al. , 1984). There is a need to halt juvenile crime before it begins and there needs to be a way to halt the progression of juvenile crime being indicative of adult crime.The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how childhood development affects adolescent’s development and how this development is directly related to a troubled adolescent’s recidivism rate in relation to family, community and social support. When sentencing juvenile offenders there needs to be an emphasis not only on punishment but rehabilitation. Crime prevention, whether on the juvenile level or adult level, falls into the three categories, of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention focuses on the conditions that may foster criminal activity. Primary prevention works to sway juveniles who are immersed in ommunities and cultures that promote violence and crime to seek healthier ways to live ((Bendit, Nieborg, & Erier, 2000). For example,i. e. a juvenile living in a depressed area will see that drugs and theft are the primary means of survival. Taking that juvenile to a farm, or a camp, exposes them hard, honest work is more satisfying, and less stressful than devious means of support. The idea behind primary prevention is the desire to create a more positive perspective, specifically for juveniles, which will effect positive change which will, hopefully, keep the adolescent from criminal behavior.Primary prevention speaks to pretty much all aspects of life. It takes into account poverty, unemployment and a wide variety of other social and psychological burdens. It enfolds all of the aforementioned items with support for families, schools, urban development, healthcare, stabilizing and strengthening individual personalities, social education and combating prejudice (Bendit, Nieborg, & Erier, 2000). Primary prevention is an attempt at a catchall. The concept behind secondary prevention is not to look at the general environment, as in primary prevention, but to focus on a small, clearly defined group.This group encompasses children and young people whose individual development, or circumstances, or both, cause them to be a more likely candidate for becoming a potential offender. Secondary prevention focuses on helping people who fall into this group specifically. The help may involve either working with adolescents, who live in socially depressed areas. It can also mean street work, getting involved on the youth’s direct level, for young people who are difficult to reach in other ways (Bendit, Nieborg, & Erier, 2000). When looking at crime prevention Ttertiary prevention is the most clearly defined of the three categories.It is very specific in relation to its aims and target groups. Tertiary prevention endeavors to stop repeated offences and encourages the social integration of young offenders. In fact, the younger the age of an offender, the greater the significance of getting the offender’s support system involved (Bendit, Nieborg, & Erier, 2000). This leads us into the path of criminal behavior in adolescents. Vygotsky’s Theory of cognitive learning is a socio-cultural theory of cognitive development that is based on the idea that learning happens primarily through a child’s interaction with the world.This theory shows the learning progression from infancy to early childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Adults are the key to this theory and to the concept of child to adolescent development. Adults shape and foster a child’s learning and development, intentionally, in a methodical manner depending on which culture and society the child hails from (Ormrod, 2008). Culture is often viewed as a local though it is not limited to a specific location. A person’s culture is not just where a person was born, lived and died. Culture includes the how of one’s birth, life and death.There needs to be awareness that intentionality can be done on purpose, with a goal and purpose set forth, but it can also be done with the mindset of failure. When a parent, teacher, or a significant person in a child’s life does not actively participate in the child’s development that loss of interaction may set the child up for failure. It is intentionality focused on failure. Making a cho ice to do nothing is actually making a choice to do something. It’s a choice of promoting apathy, indifference and a lack of concern.It is a choice that may cause irrevocable damage and harm that has lasting implications. An example would be not making a decision concerning salvation through Jesus Christ. When a person does not choose Christ he or she is choosing Satan. While many people may think that concept is harsh it is true. When parents, loved ones, teachers, pastors or anyone who plays a significant role in a child’s life chooses not to be actively involved it will cause reverberations that the child will feel forever. Thus, when a juvenile commits a crime and no one intervenes it creates chaos and confusion.It is generally acknowledged that dysfunctional parenting practices and family conflict are common hazards related to a wide variety of behavioral and emotional problems in children and adolescents. Improving parenting skills and enhancing the confidence ad olescents hold in their parents has the greatest potential in improving the children’s health, status, well being, and in reducing the risk of developing serious mental health problems or behavioral problems. There is extensive data to support the importance of good parenting in the maintenance, treatment and revention of childhood difficulties. This evidence comes from a wide variety of sources including different disciplines, behavioral genetics, developmental studies, and intervention research. There is substantial evidence that behavioral family interventions, based on social learning principles, are effective in the prevention and treatment of a range of childhood behavioral and emotional problems (Sanders, 2003). This data will have a huge impact on whether an adolescent commits a crime and also the recidivism rate when the child is released from whatever punishment given.The major premise of Vygotsky's theoretical framework is that social interaction plays a primary ro le in the development of cognition (Kearsley, 2010). Vygotsky taught that children learn how their culture interprets and responds to the world through formal and informal methods (Ormrod, 2008). This knowledge draws a parallel between understanding what others consider acceptable, in and for society, and turning that knowledge inward and deciding what is acceptable for ones’ self.This knowledge happens as a child moves from early childhood to middle childhood . As the child enters adolescence it begins to show up in social and emotional competences. Although middle childhood is an important developmental period for the assimilation of various skills to meet the complexity of coming social situations, the foundation for them has its origin in infancy. In infancy and early childhood, a child’s parental support allows him or her to learn to regulate behavior with consistent responsiveness from the parent to guide this developmental course.Increasingly, the child begins t o assume more control and can by early elementary school become more self-directed in carrying out the intricate set of skills required for problem solving in social situations. Accordingly, to obtain a child’s competency in social problem solving, measurement systems need to place demands on the child’s self regulatory, executive processing, and social engagement. Other basic skills that are also involved in social problem solving are competent language, regulation of attention, and memory (Landry, Smith, ; Swank, 2006).When a child does not learn these skills there is a fundamental lack in his or her foundation. The foundation may continue to be built upon but at some point it is likely to falter. Social and emotional competences have a wide range of developmental indicators that adolescents need for successful social adaptation. These indicators embrace positive interactions between adolescents and parents, teachers, care-givers and peers, emotional knowledge, emoti on regulatory abilities and relationship skills.When the adolescent is made aware that there is a problem in his or development scheme successful competency indicates a willingness to participate in special education programs for behavior problems. When a child moves into adolescence and these developmental indicators are not present, or are skewed, it is going to cause more developmental issues to arise. The process of maturation becomes much more difficult as the foundation needs to be reset in order to rebuild upon. The developmental indicators begin to show what the adolescent has retained in teaching form childhood to adolescent.A key component to seeing the correlation between a well adjusted adolescent and a maladjusted adolescent is to watch the behavior. Such behaviors would be acting-out, assertive social skills, emotional or behavioral disorder, frustration tolerance, peer social skills, shyness, anxiety and task orientation. Watching, and repairing deficiencies, earlier in childhood affects social and emotional development in early adolescence (Niles, Reynolds ; Roe-Sepowitx, 2008). To more fully understand social competencies in daily situations there needs to be an observance of the integration of skills.There needs to be a link between competencies during middle childhood to the more complex social challenges in adolescence. As children enter middle school they are expected to interact in social situations without a huge amount of structure and support from outside sources (Landry, Smith ; Swank, 2009). The reason for this is because this skill set should have been taught to the adolescent during the period of lower mental function (Ormrod, 2008). The social interactions become more complex because the adolescents are expected to consider each others’ points of view.They are then also expected to assimilate other people’s views with their own and give feedback based on the knowledge they possess. Based on what was said earlier, ado lescents can show success with these demands if they are demonstrating the ability to perceive and respond to the goals of others as well as others’ perceptions and beliefs. They can also show failure by being close minded or self-absorbed. Failure here may lead to an adolescent being ostracized, ignored or made fun of (Steinberg, 2005).Proficiency in shared interactions with others necessitates an assortment of cognitive, social, and verbal skills. From the social realm, adolescents need to understand the behavior of others. This is not limited to just understanding other people’s behaviors but also understanding that they, themselves, may have different perspectives, intentions, and knowledge. In order for this to occur successfully, they need to identify social cues and modify their strategies on the basis of the feedback received from a social peer.Cognitively, a child is required to keep focused and attentive and use information to plan and reason how to organize behaviors to achieve problem solving with others (Landry, Smith ; Swank, 2009). This is executive functioning which enters the realm of higher mental function (Ormrod, 2008). When a person goes from child to adolescent there needs to be an understanding of other people’s behavior. It is critical in being able to function in society. When this area is not developed fully it may cause issues in the area of self-concept, maturity and behavior (Steinberg, 2005).Integration of the many skills needed to function in more complex social situations is social problem solving. The ability to plan, sequence behaviors, and alter problem-solving strategies on the basis of feedback is often referred to as involving executive processing. Many theorists believe this is a critical set of behaviors for social competence because they help the child organize the information from the environment and process it to effectively comprehend social experiences.There is also an emphasis on the fact that social problem-solving requires specific behaviors. Examples would be goal directedness and planning. These behaviors fall under the heading of self-regulation. For adolescents to function competently they require the ability to create new strategies for use in unique situations and they must be able to self-examine in order to restrain behaviors that are not appropriate for the social situation. Integration of these skills is occurring across childhood (Astington ; Pelletier, 2005). In sSaying hat though, there is a prolonged progressive course where these abilities multiply in complexity as the child enters into adolescence. These behaviors are multidimensional, and can fluctuate fluidly depending on the social context (Steinberg, Dahl, Keating, Kupfer, Masten, ; Pine 2006). Social context is very important when looking at juvenile crime and recidivism rates. A common response that spans history, in the public’s concern with juvenile delinquency and violence has been to pas s legislation promising stiffer penalties as well as harsher sentences for juvenile offenders.What needs to be seen, though is the fact that crime damages people, communities, and relationships. There needs to be a balance created that includes the needs of the victim, offender, and communities. For there to be a healthy restoration process each party needs to be involved. While an offender needs to be punished unless there are support systems in place for the offender, when released, the recidivism rates for that particular offender will continue to rise (Stenhjem, 2003).

Mankind and Ethics Essay

Ethics has been a guiding principle for mankind. Ethical standards are being considered in every decision man makes. By following an ethical code, mankind knows that he is making the right decision because this ethical code ensures that there is fairness and no one will be deprived of his/her own rights. Mankind makes ethical considerations in many important decisions but there are still some major issues that arise when talking of ethical decisions. These are the issues that have ethical conflicts and man has been forever divided about these issues. Man has legislated laws that are based on human ethical values and almost all good laws have seemingly relied on this principle. One topic that has been the subject of much debate based on varying ethical considerations and existing laws is abortion. Some laws forbid abortion while others allow it because some countries may grant ethical considerations to mothers. Many ethical issues arise in abortion cases. There is a conflict between a right to life and a right of choice. The fetus inside the womb has a right to life, the right to be born into this world, while the mother has a right of choice whether she would want to continue with the pregnancy or not for some valid or invalid reason. Some choose to have abortion because of career choices or the inability to support a child. Others do not want to continue with the pregnancy which resulted from rape which may have various psychological effects (Cline). In some medical conditions, the life of both the mother and the fetus will be at risk and it would be necessary to choose who lives yet pro-life activists still argue that abortion should never be an option. This issue pits one moral principle against another moral principle but mankind has a way of dealing with this stuff. They turn to religion, but this is not always a reliable option since there are various contradicting interpretations of religious scriptures and that religion does not govern everyone. Every person has the right to choose his/her own religion and a person also has a right to be free from religion. Another similar issue is capital punishment. Many believe that the death penalty is an appropriate sentence for many heinous crimes. The criminal, having performed an act against certain moral principles, be it murder or rape, no matter how grave the crime or no matter how many people he killed, another killing is unethical and would not be unjustifiable since the existing laws prohibit killing. A wrong deed done will not correct a wrong deed done. More so, it violates a person’s right to life. Even if the criminal violated other people’s right to life, it would be unethical to kill someone on a justification that he killed others or just to get revenge. Cloning is yet another issue in which ethics plays a role. Scientists are studying therapeutic cloning for a chance to probably cure many existing incurable diseases. These scientists are only hoping to improve the life of mankind with better medical technology but many argue that experiments is playing god or is an act of killing since cloning deals with stem cells from human embryos. In these examples of controversial issues, many people have different beliefs but religion is a strong argument since many people follow a certain religion but the religious argument is not universal. These religious arguments support ethical principles. Human have different personal interest which is why there is a difference in beliefs regarding such topics. For some, abortion may be acceptable because they believe that the early stages of the fetus is not yet considered human but rather as a cluster of cells which is still a part of the female body. Others believe that life begins at the moment of conception, so the fetus is already has life. From these different perspectives, the topic becomes a huge debate based of varying ethical views (Cline). Capital punishment may have been implemented as a way to prevent people from committing brutal crimes. This is not taking a side of the issue but prison time would be a better way of serving sentences rather than death penalty because the right to life is very important and from an ethical perspective, even the rights of the accused and convicted should be respected. Humans are responsible for all their acts and the decisions that they make. Man should be guided by the code of ethics and not mislead them. Abortion, a controversial issue, is being allowed on a case-to-case basis. Abortion for medical purposes is allowed by some laws as well as abortion for pregnancies that resulted from sexual abuse. Generally, law does not allow abortion just for the sake of contraception. From this, it may be viewed that man, based on different circumstances, is responsible enough to see what is permissible under ethical standards. Likewise, very few states or countries allow for capital punishment which again connotes that man has a good understanding of the principle of right and wrong.

Violence in TV and society

How the nature and frequency of violence in television programs and movies effects socializing and being socialized. â€Å"Sociology offers a perspective, a view of the world. The sociological perspective opens a window onto unfamiliar worlds†and offers a fresh look at familiar ones (Henslin3). † With socialization being such a huge part of our daily lives, it is important that we get the right socialization. Today much of our youth's socialization skills are being obtained from mass media sources, and in particular social networking and television.A single glance at a children's television show gives you only a slight limpse of the violence portrayed in todays children TV shows. As Americans we are exposed to violence on a daily basis. Just turning on the TV we are bombarded with news of violent acts, and violent TV shows or movies. This has changed violence into a symbol of despair, and a solution to most situations. Thus changing our perspective of symbolic interactio nism, and its relationship to becoming socialized negatively. The symbolism of violence has been altered, desensitizing us to violent acts.Dave Grossman argues that this is something that has long been used in the ilitary to train soldiers to perform their duty, however these same techniques have been used unintentionally on the general population which more drastic effects. Because this desensitization is taking place during childhood rather then in late teens and early twenties, the social constraints that are normally emplace to prevent people from acting out such as norms and sanctions have not been instilled the same way they would be in a 18 or 19 year old. The results have been a drastic increase in violence.Television is by far the medium of mass media socialization. Children watch an average of 3 to 4 hours of television a day (AACAP). It has a huge effect on young children. Children are watching people interact, but are not actually interacting. Time that should be spent o utside interacting with other children has been replaced with televisions, which dramatically reduces children's social sills. Television satisfies social needs to some extent but does not give real life social skills that can be used. Along with decreased social skills, children are becoming socialized the wrong way.The majority of children perceive things on television as real. â€Å"When young children see somebody shot, stabbed, raped, brutalized, degraded, r murdered on TV, to them it is as though it were actually happening. To have a child of three, four, or five watch a â€Å"splatter† movie, learning to relate to a character for the first 90 minutes and then in the last 30 minutes watch helplessly as that new friend is hunted and brutally murdered is the moral and psychological equivalent of introducing your child to a friend, letting her play with that friend, and then butchering that friend in front of your child's eyes.And this happens to our children hundreds upo n hundreds of times. † (Grossman) Is this the way we really want our kids to become socialized? To answer this question we must dig deeper, and discover what it really means to become socialized. As stated by our book, â€Å"Socialization makes us human† When we are born, we do not know what it means to be human. We do not nave any ideas. We do not know now to speak, or now to act . We must learn now to do all these things, and only then, do we develop a self.With socialization being such a huge part of becoming† human† it is essential to get the right kind of socialization, which includes Symbolic interactionism. (Henslin) The symbolic interactionism perspective of sociology views society as a product of everyday social nteractions of individuals. Symbolic interactionists also study how people use symbols to create meaning. In studying violence, these theorists look at how people in everyday situations define violence, which differs between cultures and set tings. (Spark notes) In the US particularly violence has become part of the norm.Most children start out watching kid friendly and educational programs, and around the ages of three or four start watching shows like Tom and Jerry and Loony toons. Although these shows are somewhat kid friendly they still portray violence as acceptable. Violence is portrayed to be comedic. Thus desensitizing kids to violence in an indirect way. As children grow older, parental controls grow loser, allowing children to watch more violent, and adult rated TV shows, and movies. The exposure to violence at such a young age alters values, and norms.Children begin to perceive violence as normal, and as a solution to everything. Children's shows like Ben10, Looney Toons, and Power rangers portray † the good guys† trying to save the word, by taking drastic and most likely violent measures. The â€Å"cool† factor of these shows is actually kids becoming more and more desensitized to violence . Although these shows have not been proven to turn a normal child into a deviant. â€Å"Hundreds of studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers have found that children may become â€Å"immune† or numb to the horror of violence.They may gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems, or imitate the violence they observe on television; and identify with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers (Grossman). † Keeping in mind that Socialization is the core of our existence and ability to interact with others, we can gather that excessive violence on TV shows, has huge negative impact on children's socialization skills, and most importantly that it affects the symbolic interactionism that takes place in all stages of socialization.

Any topic concerning government (economy, u.s census, presidential Research Paper

Any topic concerning government (economy, u.s census, presidential election, congress bill) - Research Paper Example The relevant data for the research design will be taken from the United States Statistical Abstracts -- specifically details regarding incidents of crime and safety concerns in American public schools. By presenting the outlines of a statistical design relevant to this data, including an initial tabular presentation of the descriptive statistics regarding the data, it is expected that this brief paper will illustrate both an understanding of basic statistical processes and a possible experimental approach to understanding the important social problem of bullying. The dependent variable in the proposed research will consist of the rate of bullying evident in a variety of schools having different characteristics, expressed as a percentage. As such the dependent variable will be a ratio-type variable, having the ability to be expressed as a measurable number with fine distinctions possible as to quantity. The independent variables to be utilized for this study will be drawn from data provided in the Statistical Abstracts, including age-level of students (expressed as an ordinal variable measured as elementary, middle, of high school), enrollment of school (expressed as ordinal breakdowns determining the size of schools), and minority enrollment within schools (again expressed as an ordinal breakdown). It is expected that these different independent variables will each have an impact on the rate of bullying, as they determine the developmental age of students, as well as the size and supposed social stresses and intercommunity cohesion of the va rious school types. The proposed relationships of the variables will be as defined in the following section. It is expected that the older the student population, the more likely it will be that bullying will be prevalent, largely because the students will be more likely to be willing to

The Dynamic Nurse-Patient Relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Dynamic Nurse-Patient Relationship - Essay Example This essay discusses Orlando’s nursing model, the dynamic nurse-patient relationship, and analyzes how this theory can be applied to nursing practice at the individual, family/group, and community/population levels. Introduction Ida Jean Orlando formulated her theoretical models of nursing in relation to her theory of dynamic nurse-patient relationship, and expanded them to involve the distinctive role of nursing in patient care. She examined the aspects that reinforced or hampered the incorporation of mental health doctrine in the curriculum of basic nursing. She developed the dynamic nurse-patient relationship model to provide nursing practitioners a model of efficient nursing practice. She investigated nursing patient care on medical-surgical settings, not individuals with psychiatric disorders in psychiatric facilities (Orlando, 1961). She recognized three aspects of nursing practice: the uniqueness and creation of nursing knowledge, the professional role of nurses, and th e relationship between nurse and patient. A nursing context comprises the patient’s behavior, the nurse’s response, and all that does not alleviate the patient’s suffering. Patient distress is associated with the failure of the person to satisfy or express his/her needs. Orlando’s Nursing Model The dynamic nurse-patient relationship is derived from the assumption that the relationship between the nurse and patient is mutual, which means that the behavior or decision of one influence the other. Orlando (1961) argues that the nursing role is different from the medical role and that the response of nurses is based on the urgent needs, demands, and experience of the patient. Basically speaking, the theory claims that nursing is one-of-a-kind and autonomous because it focuses on the need of an individual for help or support, actual or probable, in an urgent condition. The manner by which nurses relieve this vulnerability is reciprocal and is performed in a clo sely controlled or profession way that requires education and expertise. Orlando (1961) argues that one’s behavior or response must be derived from reason, not set of rules. Her theory is regarded to be an interactive model for it suggests a particular practice of planned, purposeful one-to-one nurse-patient relationship to reinforce the best nursing care intended to take care of a patient’s needs. The nursing process is activated by the behavior of the patient. The behavior of a patient, regardless how trivial, should be seen as a call for help. Patient behavior could be expressed verbally and nonverbally. When a patient needs something that cannot be met without the aid of another person, vulnerability or helplessness arises. If the behavior of a patient does not clearly express a precise description of the need, then setbacks in the relationship between the nurse and patient may occur and make it hard for the nurse to sufficiently deal with the need of the patient. A better understanding, appreciation, or resolution of incapable patient behavior becomes a main concern for the nurse for the condition will probably deteriorate sooner or later and make sufficient care, or the delivery of required assistance or support, more and more problematic. The response, decision, and behavior of the nurse are aimed at alleviating unproductive patient behavior and satisfy urgent needs as well. Patient behavior triggers a nurse response, which is the beginning of the nursing process. Proper or correct nurse response is composed

Pathological liar Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pathological liar - Research Paper Example Once a lie is told, there is no changing it, no taking it back, and no easy resolution to solving the problems that it creates.† If lying becomes habitual and chronic, the liar becomes known to have developed into a compulsive liar. This is differentiated from a pathological liar, which is the topic of this research. This research paper is aimed at presenting relevant factors surrounding a pathological liar. A brief description of this disorder would initially be presented. The characteristics of this personality disorder would also be enumerated, as well as any remedies which might be available. â€Å"an individual who habitually tells lies so exaggerated or bizarre that they are suggestive of mental disorder†. In a study which differentiates a pathological liar from a compulsive liar, a pathological liar is described as: â€Å"someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. Pathological lying is often viewed as coping mechanism developed in early childhood and it is often associated with some other type of mental health disorder. A pathological liar is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused - it is done to get ones way). Pathological liars have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. A pathological liar often comes across as being manipulative, cunning and self-centered.† (TruthAboutDeception.com 2009). On the other hand, the same study defined a compulsive liar as â€Å"someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars ben d the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right. Compulsive lying is usually thought to develop in early childhood, due to being placed in an environment where lying was necessary. For the most

Gender and Development in South Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gender and Development in South Asia - Essay Example The result has been that there has developed stiff competition between the established hierarchy that dominates society and NGOs in a bid to make possible the inclusion of women in the process of development so that a truly modern and competitive world can be ushered in Asian countries. The intense competition with the established hierarchy has made it difficult for NGOs to have the impact that they desire in society but as an article that will be analyzed will show, there are some which have gained a measure of success. The gender issue, such as employment discrimination, in Asia, not only involves women, but also members of the LGBT community, who have become victims of long established traditionalist or conservative values in their societies.The White Van Stories is a 2013 documentary made by Indian filmmaker Leena Manimekalai that seeks to show the suffering that families in Sri Lanka are having as a result of women from their families having been kidnapped during the violence th at was the civil war. Manimekalai is a woman who has been a women’s rights activist for many years and she has become famous in India for standing up to the status quo and calling for more participation for women in the society. Through her experience, she managed to ensure that White Van Stories became successful in depicting the significant number of disappearances that took place in Sri Lanka during the war. Not only does it tell of the brutality suffered by women during such incidents, but it also shows the manner through which some of these individuals were kidnapped; never to be seen again by their families.

Social media has negatively changed our culture Essay

Social media has negatively changed our culture - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to examine some of the popular accusations of social media and explain that the positive consequences of social media for the culture outweigh the suggested threats. At present, the world of social media is broad and presented by the variety of widely available networking sites that provide opportunities for socialization. The most popular among them can be considered Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other actively used by people across generations and social groups. All together they created the new digital arena for maintaining relationships, communicating, making business, or sharing news. (Sawyer, 2011) Obviously, such extensive popularity and influence which social media managed to gain in relatively short period of time could not leave one ignorant of the possible consequences of the tendency to spend time online instead of the real-life alternatives. As a result, the possibility of both positive and negative outcomes of social media is recognized. Both sides have elaborated particular set of arguments that seemingly contain the grain of truth and common sense, therefore, they need to be closely and thoroughly examined in order to formulate a personal position in this regard. The base of arguments of people who are trying to prove that social media represents a destructive force for a culture is the long one, but, to my mind, includes issues that can be prevented by careful use and conscious approach to social media. Among such negative claims can be mentioned disregard of privacy and sharing too much personal information that can be used for inappropriate goals. Also, much is being said about cyberbullying, online harassment that make people feel insecure and treat peace in the society. ("Technology can have,") Apart from that, social media is often blamed for promoting the culture of narcissism – excessive interest in oneself and one’s appearance. ("Technology can have,") All

Webdesign for an online shopping environment Essay

Webdesign for an online shopping environment - Essay Example Using this, the available sizes, image of the product can also be maintained. All this would help the person in easy selection of the product that she wants to buy. After checking on the check boxes available, the person can go to the payment counter where she can pay for the total bill including all the purchases done by her thus far. The user can log off at any point in time. Payment is taken through a paypal link. The menu in the logged on screen will also have My Account which would provide information about the account of the person who has logged on. This would include the purchases already done by her and her particulars like shipping addresses and the registered details. Any alteration if it has to be done can be done by her here. The screen will be in orange and black. Only three colours are used including white. HCI norms indicate that using more than three or four colours would make the working uncomfortable. Additionally, the screen is made in such a way that the menu is on the right side while there is lots of working space in the main area. This would also be the space for displaying information and collecting data. 3. This information is verified with the user data and if it matches, the user is allowed entry into the system. Else an error message is shown with the option to click Forgot Password / Register as well as Home where the user can reenter. 5. User can click on the Buy Now button to get into the invoice. The invoice will list all the items the user has selected along with their quantities and price. If the user wants to remove some item, she may do so here. She can also increase the quantity of the items by directly altering the number. The invoice is recalculated. 5. User can click on the Buy Now button to get into the invoice. The invoice will list all the items the user has selected along with their quantities and price. If the user wants

Human cloning Essay Example for Free

Human cloning Essay If there was one technology that the world never accepted, then it will be the cloning of humans. Just 30 hours after the news of a cloned lamb hit the streets, movements against human cloning already started forming (Pence 1998, p. 1). 90 days after the study, a law against human cloning was already being pushed. People claimed that there is no good reason to clone humans, and yet, how can this be known when there wasn’t enough time to discuss it? When the scientific community did not even have time to prove its advantages? Most of the arguments against cloning are philosophical in nature. It is not about â€Å"scientific facts but about ethics, human nature and public policy† (Pence 1998, p. 3). If we look at human cloning in an objective point of view we will realize that there are certain merits to this technology. Certainly, there are disadvantages too, but whether the disadvantages outweigh the advantages is still a question unresolved today. Advantages of Human Cloning Human cloning becomes a good prospect when we talk about the issue of infertility and genetic illnesses. In an article published by ScienceRay (Whatani 2008), it was mentioned that only half of the population of females are capable of gestation. Estimates show that current infertility treatments are only 10% effective (Benefits of Cloning n. d) hence, there are many couples who end up getting frustrated because of their inability to have children. With human cloning, there is no need for the egg to be fertilized, and there is no need to find a mate, and only one parent is needed to create a child (Teacher’s Domain 2010). Researches show that an average person carries 8 defective genes (Benefits of Cloning n. d). In some cases, these genes are recessive and no symptoms will appear, but there are also instances when the genes are inherited by the children and they become dominant traits. Down’s syndrome and Tay Sach’s disease are just two genetic illnesses which can be inherited if reproduction is left to natural means. Though human cloning, parents can choose which genes their children will inherit, thereby allowing them to get rid of the defective genes. Another advantage of cloning is that it is now possible to create organs which can be used for transplants (The Advantages of Cloning n. d). People with liver and kidney trouble no longer need to wait for a donor to get a transplant. People suffering from leukemia can get cloned marrow. Scientists will be able to produce effective therapy for cystic fibrosis if only they are allowed to test the technology for human cloning. Lastly, cloning will allow medical professionals to understand how cells differentiate and become cancer cells, thereby allowing the creation of a cure for the disease. Disadvantages of Sexual Reproduction In several researches conducted (Science Daily 2006; Treisman 1976; Williams and Mitton 1973) it was discovered that sexual reproduction allows populations to adapt to their environment better because they are able to resist harmful mutations. Yet, sexually transmitted diseases are already so widespread that sex has become risky. Also, sexual reproduction has its costs wherein the female carry most of the burden, a situation called as the two-fold costs of sex (Science Daily 2006). In his study, Ricardo Azevedo says that in order to overcome the two-fold cost of sex, two things must be true ‘The production rate of harmful mutations must be relatively high, such that each individual acquires on average one or more harmful germline mutations not inherited from its parents. The second is that these harmful mutations must interact in a special way, called negative epistasis, such that adding more and more harmful mutations makes you progressively worse off (Science Daily 2006). This means that in order for genetic illnesses and harmful mutations to become extinct, these two conditions must take place. Needless to say, there are no studies which show how prevalent negative epistasis is in nature, hence the extinction of genetic illnesses and mutations are purely by chance. With the world becoming even more chaotic because of the discovery of new incurable diseases and the rapidly degrading environment, there is a big possibility that the survival of humankind may need to rely with artificial means. With human cloning, it is now possible to create a healthier, if not a better race of individuals who are more resistant to mutations and have lesser diseases to endure (Phil for Humanity n. d).

Defining A Therapeutic Relationship Between Patient And Nurse Nursing Essay

Defining A Therapeutic Relationship Between Patient And Nurse Nursing Essay In this assignment the author is going to explore what is a therapeutic relationship, by defining it and describing what elements and skills are necessary to uphold an efficient therapeutic relationship with a patient. The assignment shall explore how Multi disciplinary teams contribute to achieving a therapeutic relationship. It further will explore what governs a therapeutic relationship according to the code of practice set by the nursing governing body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), putting into consideration what is expected from nurses as health professionals. Being Self aware is a crucial attribute in order to maintain a therapeutic relationship, so the writer shall give a brief definition of what self awareness is ,and explain the significance of being self aware within a therapeutic relations and relate it to an incident that happened in practice that made them more self aware. The therapeutic relationship is fundamental to the care of a patient and was described in the 1950s by famous psychotherapist Carl Rodgers .Rogers defines it as a helping relationship, A relationship in which one of the participants intends that there should come about, in one or both parties, more appreciation of, more expression of, more functional use of the latent inner resources of the individual (Rodgers 1961). Other authors have come up with various definitions but they are all closely linked to that of Rodgers, Jane Stein-Parbury (2000) suggests it is unilateral because the nurse maintains most control and it is usually short or average duration, with the patient facing a non threatening situation. However (Stuart 2001) defined a therapeutic relationship As a mutual learning experience and a corrective, emotional experience for the patient (cited in Cutliffe and Mckenna 2005.P.304) For a therapeutic relationship to work effectively, certain elements need to be upheld and followed, such as showing warmth towards your patient, being respectful by showing the patient that they are individual and a unique being. Dignity of the patient puts the patient at ease and they feel more valued and may in turn open up more to the nurse which aids their treatment. Demonstrating professionalism assures the patient that they are in capable hands and will effectively build trust about your capabilities. Carl Rodgers highlighted that the three core components of a therapeutic relationship are empathy, which is defined as: a continuing process whereby the counsellor lay aside her own way of experiencing and perceiving reality, preferring to sense and respond to the experience and perceptions of her client. (Mearns and Thorne, 2005, p.41) Where there is lack of empathy expression, patients may be left with a sense of isolation, which have an effect on their treatment plan. The sec ond crucial element that was highlighted by Rodgers as being essential is having unconditional positive regard towards patients or client which is a label given to the fundamental attitude of the person-centred counsellor towards her client. The counsellor who holds this attitude provides care for the individual irrespective of what beliefs and values the individual (patient) may hold. (Mearns and Thorne,2005 p 64). In other words unconditional positive regards is being non judgmental towards a patient regardless of what the care provider believes or values themselves. Unconditional positive regard should ideally commence on the onset the relationship between patient and nurse. Other elements that constitute a therapeutic relationship include, maintaining confidentiality, and treating people as individuals at all time, good record keeping (NMC 2008). For Therapeutic relationships to be successfully applied and implemented, nurses have to acquire certain skills to achieve this. To instate a strong therapeutic relationship a practitioner should consider their interpersonal communication skills with the patient. There are two forms of interpersonal communication skills, which are non-verbal and verbal communication. Non-verbal communication skills are a very effective way to convey a message, empathy and active listening. Egan formulated a communication tool which aids to effective non-verbal communication skill, the skills are summarized by the acronym SOLER, meaning sitting squarely with an open posture, leaning forward to show your interest maintaining eye contact at all times showing that you are relaxed, not fidgeting nervously. Argyle (1994) suggested the main forms of non-verbal communication as, facial expression, gaze, body movement, gesture, partial behaviour, clothing and behaviour. (Cited by Rana, Upton, 2009, ). Verbal skills are too, an essential part of interpersonal communication, these include techniques such as paraphrasing; this is where by a nurse rephrases what has been stated by the patient into their own words, i.e. by saying in other words. (Jane Stein -Parbury). Other methods of active listening are to parrot what the patient has said; this shows you have clearly heard what they have said. Practitioners should also be able to know when to use open and closed questions in the appropriate manner and time, for this skill can easily perceived as uncaring and unprofessional when not adopted carefully. In conclusion to what has been talked about, nurse and patient should reflect on what they said. Heron (2001) stated that a there are six tools of a clients needs. Herons model has two basic categories, authoritative and facilitative. These two categories further breakdown into a total six categories to describe how people intervene when helping. Authoritative Interventions are Prescriptive, which is giving advice, Informative where you provide information to guide the other person, Confronting- you challenge the other persons behaviour in an unaggressive attitude. Facilitative Interventions include: Cathartic-you help the other person to express and overcome thoughts or emotions that they have not previously confronted. Catalytic- You help the other person reflect, and they become more self-directed in making decisions. Supportive- You build up the confidence of the other person by focusing on their competences, qualities and achievements. A multi disciplinary team (MDTs) is important in the care of a patient. A multi disciplinary team is a group of professionals from different disciplines, who have a role in contributing to an assessment of an individuals needs. This should include two health professionals, i.e. nurse, clinician or therapist, as well as a representative from social care services, i.e. a social worker (NHS 2010). Chan (2004) argued that the main mechanism is to ensure truly holistic care for patients and a seamless service for patients throughout their disease trajectory and across the boundaries of primary, secondary and tertiary care. Multi disciplinary teams ensure a continuum in patients care and can be 24 hours. Different professions bring different type of care to the patient. MDTs can however come to conflict, if they demonstrate allegiance to their profession. Junor, Hole Gillis (1994) states that multidisciplinary team working is known to maximise clinical effectiveness, Multi disciplinary teams have enabled health professionals to adopt the clinical care pathways where different teams within the organization outline anticipated care, place an appropriate timeframe, to help a patient with a specific condition or set of symptoms move progressively through a clinical experience to positive outcomes. In a multi disciplinary team within a healthcare setting, one may expect to work with doctors, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, health care assistants (HCAs) and other related professions. A therapeutic relationship within nursing follows the code of professional code of practice which was set by Nursing and Midwifery Council [NMC], which acts as the governing body for nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom which was formed in 2002 by parliament. Its main objective is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the public,(NMC 2008).The NMC outlines that Nurses should always uphold the patients respect at all times, it states that nurses should always treat people as individuals and respect their dignity. Nurses should respect patient confidentiality, and uphold it at all times, breach of confidentiality can lead to serious consequences for health professionals (NMC 2008) including disciplinary actions such as suspension or being struck off the NMC register. Consent is very important in patient care; its the opening avenue for any care that follows. NMC states the every adult must be presumed to have the mental capacity to consent or refuse treatment. Patient care is a lways going through different multi disciplinary teams therefore accurately record keeping is crucial, it should be factual ,not falsified, and clearly legible (NMC 2010), these are some of the factors that insure accurate information is passed on to different care givers to maximise effective care for the patient. Nurses endure different feelings and emotions when interacting or treating patients, which calls for them to be more self aware, Duval and Wuckland defines self awareness as a state in which one is aware of oneself as an object, much as one might be aware of a tree or another person (cited by Rana and Upton 2009. p142).For a nurse to be self aware they need to treat each patient as individuals and present themselves appropriately. Patients have a plethora of beliefs and values, which always come into play in any given care setting. Beliefs can be associated with patients religion and culture, such as that of Muslims, to only eat halaal meat, a nurse has to be aware of this dietary requirement and honour it. Equally beliefs also play a vital role in the treatment of a patient, so a provision to fulfil this should be met at all time, i.e. providing a chapel in the hospital. Values of a patient are crucial when in care. Downie, R. S. 1990 stated that values are preferences based on beliefs about objects, persons, or situations and are accompanied by feelings of approval or disapproval. Patients of a different culture will most certainly have different values based on what they were brought up on. On any given care setting, the way in which nurses present themselves to patients is of utmost importance, their body posture is a critical aid to supplement being self aware, and nurses can use SOLER (Egan 2001) to ensure they achieve this. In practice, the author recalls an incident when a 92 year old lady was referred to their practice for assessment on every Wednesday of the week. On arrival the lady would engage in social activities with fellow patients. The staff provide the lady with a menu relevant to her culture of West Indian background, The staff fulfilled their role in being self aware on her values and diversity, During the meal, staff began to talk about a holiday abroad and how the food made their bowel move rapidly, and how they really found the food disgusting. The lady did initially try to express her frustration of the conversations the staff were having whilst she was trying to enjoy. She eventually stopped having her meal as she found it not appetizing anymore, staff recorded that the patient had poor dietary at dinner time, and they were not self aware that they were the catalyst for the poor intake of her food. Had the staff been more self aware of their presentations, they would have considered that different cultures have different table manners. In conclusion an effective therapeutic relationship is accomplished by good verbal and non verbal communication. Respecting individuality, beliefs, values, this promotes good recovery and openness between nurse and patient. A therapeutic relationship is not just between a patients and nurse but can, and often extends to other multi disciplinary teams. The therapeutic relationship can never be stated as fully complete, but can be made more effective, because different patients have different opinions i.e. different experiences in previous care, and different values and beliefs.

Perceptions of Diversity in the Workforce

Perceptions of Diversity in the Workforce Introduction/Research Objectives: Diversity Management: Diversity Management has been defined as accepting that the workforce consists of diverse individuals. Diversity could be on the basis of work-style, age, background, sex, race, disability, personality (Kandola Fullerton, 1998). A productive environment could be created by embracing these differences where everyone is contributing at their highest potential and feel appreciated while they achieve company goals and objectives (Kandola Fullerton, 1998). Company Profile: The organisation for primary data collection is from the Pharmaceutical sector having 40% stake in the market and an annual turnover of  £21 Million (Fig.1.1). With over 160 types of medicine production, this company is Britains 3rd largest Medicine Producer. 300 employees work between 3 sites of manufacturing, packaging and the corporate office. About 150 employees, most of whom are either African or White work at the main manufacturing site; at the second packaging site there are about 130 employees of mixed origins contribute while at the corporate office, out of 30 people, most are women, of Indian origin except one and also most employees are below the age of 40 (Fig.1.2). The company vision is to maximize inclusion to drive greater business results and sustainable competitive advantage (BL, 2004). This would be achieved by fostering a culture that embraces differences and drives innovation thereby, achieving a skilled, high-performance workforce that reflects the global marke t place. Research Aims and Objectives: The main purpose of this dissertation is to research peoples perception of diversity and the effects it has on the workforce of a company. This will be investigated with the help of a questionnaire, interview and a tracking log conducted among the employees of the company from all designations. It would be imperative to research the positives of having a diverse workforce and how they contribute in achieving the company objectives, differently. The trials and tribulations faced by them owing to their diversity will be looked into and methods to tackle them will be discussed. Open questions in the survey would include: Share an experience where the organisation supported your religious needs? Through this research, old theories of diversity will be revised, extended and applied to creating new knowledge which would have theoretical and/or practical application. It will not only simplify and add meaning to existing definitions but also create new understandings of diversity. Considering the industry sector at the time of recession, many people have lost their jobs, mainly those who are not British nationals. Hence, the question is: how will an organization create profits if all the diverse individuals who contribute to the company objectives have been dismissed. Therefore, in this project, the question addressed is: What are peoples perspectives of Diversity and how does it affect an organisation. Literature Review: Diversity – definitions: This section covers some of the theory and research on Workplace Diversity which is of particular relevance to this research. It is important to define diversity for the purpose of this project. CEO of Proctor Gamble, Alan Laffey said that A diverse organisation will out-think, out-innovate and out-perform a homogenous organisation every single time (PG, 2009; Skinner, 2001). Diversity can be defined as a mixture of people with different group identities within the same social system (Fleury, 1999). There are many definitions to diversity, in essence it includes culture, race, geographic origin, ethnicity, gender, nationality, functional or educational background, physical and cognitive capability, language, lifestyles, values and beliefs, sexual orientation, physical abilities, social class, age, socio-economic status, and religion (Dessler, 1998; Ferdman, 1995). The National Council for Voluntary Organisations defines Diversity as the integration of age, gender, sexual orientation, religious preferences, disability and ethnicity without biases into society (NCVO, 2007). According to CIPD, diversity has multiple levels like that of Social Category Diversity that includes demographic variances like age, gender, ethics and race; Informational Diversity which embraces organisational variances like that of education, experience in the field and utility and lastly, Value Diversity encompasses psychological differences like that of attitudes, behaviour and personality (Worman – CIPD, 2005). According to Anderson and Metcalfe, completely diverse people working together may lead to conflicts owing to diversity in their ideologies, experience, personalities, culture and attitude among other variables. Organisations that promote creativity need to find a way to satisfy such differences and lay out ground rules to ensure successful team working. Thereby, it assures competitive edge owing to the creativity and innovation brought by diverse perspectives in products, service pattern and methods of working. The downside is that organisations need to ensure that this does not let employees lose their individuality in the race to fit in (Anderson Metcalfe, 2003). Diversity is often associated with ethnicity as in case of American Indian/ Alaska Native MBA students showed 89% in a survey. Least association was seen in case of Asian-Indian MBA students which showed 67%. Gender was seen to be the second most common associate among all survey groups. It showed strongest association of 78% among American Indian/ Alaska Native MBA students and least association of 43% by Asian-Indian undergraduates (Fig 2.1, 2.2). Among all survey groups, Latino/Hispanic undergraduates associated diversity with language skills while Asian-Indian undergraduates relate diversity with religion and American Indian/Alaska Native undergraduates connected diversity with age (Black Collegian, 2006). History of Diversity and Legislation: Legislation: The concept of diversity came into power in 1990s (Gatrell and Swan, 2008). In the 70s, 80s and early 90s the need for diversity in the workplaces in UK grew because of the diminishing talent sources as well as to curb the discriminatory HR practices that were carried out against colour and gender. The first piece of legislation to be passed to support diversity was the Equal Pay Act 1970 legislates against discrimination between men and women in relation to their terms and conditions of employment followed by Sex Discrimination Act 1974 which made it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of gender. After these came the following pieces of legislation: Race Relations Act 1976 – protection against discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic or national origins. Disability Discrimination Act 1995 – protection against discrimination for disabled people. Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003 made it unlawful to discriminate against workers on the grounds of religion or belief. Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 – made it unlawful for employers to discriminate against or harass a person on the grounds of sexual orientation. Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 – made it unlawful to discriminate against individuals on the grounds of age. Equality Act 2006 Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. (Daniels, 2008) Diversity training and interpersonal learning was introduced to help diverse workforces bridge the gaps between their education and cultures. Policy: The fundamental essence of diversity is based on its policies. To understand this, it is essential to know what a policy is. Organizational policies are a bunch of fundamental codes and relevant directives, devised and imposed by the presiding body of an organization, to express and limit its conduct while aiming for long-term objectives (Business Dictionary, 2009). An organisations goals, strategies and practices can be affected by a recognized set of broad, open directives, devised after an investigation of all internal and external aspects. Corporate policy is devised by the organisations executive board to lay down the organisations objectives to known and predictable state of affairs and circumstances. It also determines the creation and execution of strategy, and directs and limits the strategy, verdict, and deeds of the organisations employees in accomplishment of its aims (Business Dictionary, 2009). A policy is meant to balance individual and personal rights while safe-guarding the nation. Due to the ethnic and diverse mix in USA and Europe, the new diverse workforce required equal opportunities and diversity issues to be sorted out at the fore front ((Kandola and Fullerton, 1994; Cox, 1992). Hence, these countries have created policies and laws that protect diversity and promote equality (Dass and Parker, 1999; Kirton and Greene, 2000; Lawrence, 2000; Woodhams and Danieli, 2000). It was created to eliminate discrimination faced by black and ethnic minorities (Healy Oikelome, 2007). In the 1990s, the NI office initiated the Policy Appraisal and Fair Treatment guidelines (PAFT) which span across areas of religion and political beliefs, ethnicity, sex and race, disability, sexual orientation, age, marital status and those amid dependants. After its establishment, all new policies needed to satisfy the above mentioned nine equality sets (Bagilhole, 2007). Diversity Policies in SMEs v/s Large Corporations: According to Carrell, a policy that focuses on eradicating discrimination and bringing about fairness would help focus on overlooking differences and integration. However, he observed through a study that 70% of his respondents were from small companies while 30% were from companies employing 500 or more employees (Fig 3.1). 46% of this total had policies professing employee diversity in place of which 42% said that their policies were executed only in the last 5 years. 53% of the respondents in all said they do not have a written policy in place to enforce diversity and among them, only 7% opined of having discussed such an issue in their company (Fig 3.2, 3.21) (Carrell, 2006). Some SMEs opine that they are simply too small to employ a diverse range of individuals while others find it convenient to hire within the family. In such enterprises, diversity management can create a platform for new products and diverse clientele and networks which is overlooked in their short-sighted vision (European Community Programme, 2007). While SMEs harangue the increase in competition, they fail to see how innovation with the help of diversity can provide them with sustained competitive advantage. Other identifies benefits are reduced absenteeism, turnover, time wasted or lost, higher client loyalty and brand value and also, access to wider markets. Some SMEs that implement diversity policies feel that it not only increases an employees sense of belonging to the company but also their commitment and dedication to the job. The informal learning obtained from knowledge and skills gathered by working with diverse teams can also be of great competitive advantage (European Com munity Programme, 2007). Determining whether an organisation is diversity friendly is simple. Typically, large organisations have an entire page devoted to diversity and workforce friendly policies which are also available in print on request. A study revealed that 76% of senior global executives opine that their companies have 1 or no minorities (Fig 4). In some cases, in an effort to increase diversity levels, minorities are placed in positions that would add no value to their career graph. Hence, they choose to not be part of the organisation (Diversity Jobs, 2009). Looking at any large company like Coca Cola, General Motors and Nike among others, their common factor is their recognition of diversity being their key to direct and spanning sales. In order to have a diverse external environment, it would help to have a diverse internal environment as well in terms of contacts, approaches and skills (Eaddy, 2003). Contrary to the notion of diversity practices in Multinationals, the challenges faced by them were discussed among 50 academics, senior executives and HR professionals from multinational corporations at the Global Workforce Roundtable Summit at London in 2006. Some of the challenges faced are the dismissal of diversity policies as an American notion, the extent to which these practices need to be developed in order to be trickled down the ladder and implemented, getting people down the ladder to embrace the concept of diversity policies and take initiatives in its implementation (Global Workforce Roundtable Summit, 2006). Research Evidence Perspectives on Diversity: The Jewson and Mason Model (1986) is states that there are two perspectives on equality and diversity: I. The equality of opportunity or liberal approach introduces fair procedures to offer access to institutions, services, social positions and resources. II. The equality of outcome or radical approach refers to affirmative action for historically discriminated and disadvantaged groups (Gatrell Swan, 2008). The liberal approach to equal opportunities is described by a belief of an individual or their imagined capabilities and merits rather than structural sources of inequality. This approach believes that these barriers can be removed such that individuals find a way to make the best of themselves (Jewson Mason 1986: 314; Gatrell Swan, 2008). The main objective of this approach is to make sure people are treated equally at the work place (Jewson Mason 1986: 315). Emphasis is on an individualistic view of fairness and equality rather than a group based approach that encompasses equal and free competition among people (Kirton Greene, 2004). In the radical view, ability, skills, talent and merit are socially constructed norms by powerful dominant groups and that inequality is produced as a result of these social practices (Jewson Mason 1986: 315). Hence, individual merit is not a neutral term but a criterion to filter out diverse candidates from jobs and opportunities based on a socia lly valued judgment (Gatrell Swan, 2008). Thus the radical approach looks at equality as a form of social justice centring on checking the outcome of procedures and its effects of different groups and equalising the outcome rather than the opportunity (Richards 2001: 16; Gatrell Swan, 2008). The Business Case is another model for managing diversity and is related to bettering economic productivity and service delivery and depoliticising models of social relations (Blackmore, 2006; Gatrell Swan, 2008). It harnesses differences so that a productive environment may be created that not only benefits the individual but also the organisation (Kandola Fullerton 1994:8). A diverse workforce brings material benefits to an organisation such as increased profit, creativity and representative customer care (Gatrell Swan, 2008). It is seen as an investment rather than a cost and rejects the notion of justice for an instrumental, utilitarian model (Kirton Greene, 2004). The Social Justice Model favours a structural explanation of inequalities based upon the concept of social justice (Kirton Greene, 2000:5). This mode of diversity management can give rise to increased quality of outcomes for individuals as well as groups as it highlights heterogeneity of difference within social groups while taking into account that difference is not a individual possession but socially constructed within social relations (Kirton Greene, 2000; Ferreday, 2003). This model acknowledges that some differences matter more than others as shown in the research conducted by Ahmed et al. (2006), Hunter Swan (2007) among others demonstrates that race gender have a significant consequence on the admission to paid work, working conditions and experiences and possibility of discrimination (Gatrell Swan, 2008). Cultural Diversity Model addresses how diversity can be used as a tool to achieve competitive advantage in an organisation. This model was viewed from the social responsibility goals of an organisation which is a fraction of the constitution of diversity management. According to Cox Blake (1991), focussing on seven areas of effective diversity management can lead to a companys sustained competitive advantage like education programs, cultural variances, prejudice free human resource management schemes, diversity mindset, heterogeneity in race/ religion/ ethnicity, organisational culture and higher vocation resource acquirement for women i.e. extinction of glass ceiling (Parhizgar, 2002). Glass ceiling is an organisational prejudice or a bias in attitude that prevents women and minority groups from progressing to higher leadership designations in an organisation (Princeton, 2009). Researchers contradict this theory as they dont find the connection between diversity and organisational competitive advantage. In Coxs view, in the 1970s monumental organisations were leading USA that did not give importance to diversity or the essential HR function. Instead of being given a fair chance, minority groups were expected to acculturate themselves to the norms set by majority groups i.e. in this case, white men. Pluralistic organisations that came into power in the 1960s, implement diversity management in ways of recruiting minorities, monitoring for fairness and providing diversity training and programs. A key difference between a pluralistic organisation and a multicultural organisation is minorities group are not only employed and value but also identified as key contributors and formally as well as informally completely integrated into the organisation. Cox and Blake also created a model in 2001 that claimed 5 cyclical steps to a successful multicultural organisation. The five steps are leadership, research and dimension, academic backing, coalition of management syst ems and follow up action steps (Stahl Bjà ¶rkman, 2006). The effect of diversity on performance in an organisation is still unclear. Its effect maybe positive or negative in some situations and also sometimes there may be no effect at all (Barrett-Power Shaw, 1998). Research based on race has shown that diversity in teams can yield benefits as well as costs (Campion, Medsker and Higgs, 1993; Guzzo Dickson, 1996; Jackson, 1991; Magjuka Baldwin, 1991). A team can be defined as a distinguishable set of two or more individuals who interact independently and adaptively to achieve specified, shared and valued objectives (Salas, 1986). Organisations depend upon teamwork to improve quality, experience of work, product and customer service for their members (Guzzo, 1995). Teams are believed to be vital tools for solving problems and making decisions in a highly complex, international environment (Tjosvold, 1995). Magjuka Baldwin (1991) found that within a group, diversity showed positive effect on job performance in a sample of 72 manufacturin g teams. Some studies have shown that diverse groups (based on race) are more creative and make better decisions than homogenous groups (McGrath, 1984; McLeod and Lobel, 1992) but they can also be less cohesive, less satisfied, have less conformity and more prone to turnover (Jackson, Brett, Sessa, Copper, Julin and Peyronnin, 1991). 3 Level Impact of Diversity: Individual Level: Diversity creates an impact on three levels: individual, group and organisation (Nkomo, 1998). At an individual level, key variable in understanding diversity are culture distance, perceived similarity, a sense of control as well as culture shock (Triandis, 1997). According to previous research by Berry (1984), an individual goes through an acculturation process which is; assimilation, separation, deculturation and integration. With assimilation, the culture that is dominant in the group becomes the standard and individuals try to live up to the standard. With separation, majority cultures and minority cultures do not merge as individuals from the minority cultures distance themselves from majority cultures. In deculturation, the individuals of minority cultures lack strong ties with the group as they neither have ties with their own minority culture nor with the standard majority culture. Integration refers to the state where individuals change to a certain extent to accommodate the common norms and standards (Berry, 1984). If an individual from a minority culture is unable to adapt, the group is considered to be at fault instead of the majority culture (Nkomo, 1991). The Alteration Model suggests that minority individuals need not be forced to practice a particular, standard culture or adapt to their own minority culture. They can become competent in multiple cultures and use what is required of it in a context. This may also be known as code-switching where an individual uses a language that best suits a context (LaFromboise, Coleman and Gerton, 1993). Group Level Diversity: At a group level, diversity can give rise to emotional conflict or task related conflict within a group. Task related conflict will increase group performance while emotional conflict will hinder performance (Kottke Agars, 2004). In a group research on diversity, it was found that readily observable factors (surface level) are important for group development but deeply held values and beliefs (deep level) are decisive in group processes that yield group outcomes (Stockdale Crosby, 2004). Group composition has been investigated as surface and deep-level diversity (Harrison, Price and Bell; 1998). Surface-level diversity maybe defined as differences in age, sex, race, ethnicity and other biological characteristics while deep-level diversity maybe defined as differences in behaviour, attitudes, morals, values and beliefs that require interaction to be understood. Organisational Level Diversity: Many consultants and academics argue that organisational level diversity is essential to serve the 21st century consumer (Gardenschwartz and Rowe, 1993; Morrison, 1992; Thomas, 1990; Wilson, 1997). Diversity makes an organisation more effective by bringing a lot of creative perspectives to the table. This has served as a base for many claims that suggest that diversity is a resource and strength for an organisation (Adler, 2003; Dobbs, 1998; Thomas, 1990). OReilley et al. (1997) conducted a research in an organisation that gave primary importance to employee diversity. They found that within the organisations groups, diversity created positive performance-related results. Studies show a negative as well as positive effect in organisations as ethnic groups or minorities perceive themselves less likely to advance in an organisation than majorities. Ethnic groups when exposed to majority groups are more susceptive to emotional conflict (Kizilos et al.; 1996). This creates a branching in the hypotheses as the attraction and social categorization theories suggest that diversity will cause a negative effect on organisation performance while only information and decision making theory suggests that diversity promotes organisational performance (Jarry Pitts, 2005). Information and decision making theory is based on educational and functional diversity and not ethnic diversity. Hence, it forms a weak basis against two prominent theories (Jarry Pitts, 2005). Diversity Management According to CIPD, managing diversity stands for valuing people for who they are; whether they are customers, clients, or even employees, they are all fundamentally diverse. Diversity management is not about identifying a single constant individual difference but about recognizing different individual changes and their ability to create a large scale impact and create dynamic changes (Mullholland, Ozbilgin and Worman; 2006). Managing diversity is meant to bring people from different areas and thought processes together to ensure self development as well as production of superior quality results. It is meant to nurture creativity and innovation by caressing diversity while creating an atmosphere of creative genius and healthy competition (Leader; 2009). The University of Vienna describes diversity management as a strategy or a business plan to perceive, promote, acknowledge implement and preserve essential competencies within an organisation (University of Vienna, 2007). Diversity man agement stresses the necessity of indentifying cultural variances Between sets of employees, and making rational grants for such differences in policies within the organisation (Thomas, 1990). There can be a few negative consequences of diversity management like that of the trainers values expressed in a training program. The trainers values are just ones point of view and not the universal truth and yet it is forced upon unsuspecting trainees during a program. Some trainers may have ulterior motives or discreet agendas and usually training occurs too late. Diversity training is often looked upon as a band aid, a quick fix if you will a shortcut to a difficult situation. However, quick fixes are prone to disintegrating fast. A psychological disadvantage is the creation of an image that the trainees have some issues in dealing with diversity. Also, the definitions of diversity are often too narrow and under-expressed with the focus on diplomacy rather than honest opinions. Trainers chosen are also often based on which minority group they represent rather than how well they train (Public Personnel Management, 2002). A study among companies that provide diversity training revealed 33% who said that their efforts were quite or extremely successful. 30% said their efforts were quite successful while 3% opined extreme success. 50% of the firms opined neutral or varied results while 13% said their results were quite unsuccessful and 5% opined extreme failure (Fig 5) (Public Personnel Management, 2002). On understanding the effects of diversity, it is useful to know how diversity can be managed. Every individual is different from another in matters of age, education, gender, values, physical ability, mental capacity, personality, experiences, culture and the way each approaches work (Jamieson and OMara 1991: 3-4). Diversity advantage can be obtained by realizing, acknowledging and valuing these differences and creating an environment that appreciates these attributes by being flexible enough to meet needs and preferences – to create a motivating and rewarding environment (Jamieson and OMara 1991: 3-4). Managing diversity is not only about handling issues on discrimination but also making sure that everyone is contributing to their maximum potential to achieve the organisation objectives (Argott, 2008). Diversity management does not mean only increasing opportunities for women and minorities. It means increasing competitive advantage by taking those diverse variances and cre ating a comprehensive atmosphere where each can contribute and make a difference (Larson, 2004). This concept covers everyone including the white and middle class males while focussing on movement and culture within the organisation and meeting business objectives (Argott, 2008). Diversity Management differs from Equal Opportunities in its lack of reliance upon positive action or affirmative action (Kaler, 2001). Diversity training is training to increase the contributors knowledge, skills and awareness of different cultures. This would prevent civil rights violations, promote team work and also provide opportunities to different minority groups (Kalev, Dobbin and Kelley, 2006). It is an effective way to broaden diversity in an organisation and also, increase an individuals ability to cope with it (Vaughn, 2007). Present Day Diversity Management Hudson carried out a national survey as a result of witnessing a friend who was denied a job, promotion or increased salary as a result of their ethnicity. The survey conducted in USA in 2005 throws light on startling figures of 31% among African-American employees and drops to 18% among white workers (Fig 6.1)(Hudson, 2005). One out four (23%) employees opined that they know someone who has been treated differently on the basis of their gender. African-American women are more likely to make this claim than others. 23% of workers polled that they do not work for employers who actively promote diversity and 13% are unsure whether their companies have a formal diversity program. 64% of them work for diversity promoting firms (Fig 6.2), 20% of employees know someone who has been treated differently based on their gender and 18% know someone whose been discriminated against based on their ethnic or racial variances (Fig 6.3). These statistics increase to 32 and 29% respectively with work ers in non-diversity promoting companies. Employees working for large or multinational corporations are said to report a statistic of 76% for supporting diversity and its programs (Hudson, 2005). Since this report, two approaches to managing diversity have been founded. One is that which defines diversity in relation to equal opportunities and affirmative action only (Carrell, Mann Sigler, 2006). Affirmative Action can be explained as taking measures towards the depiction of women and minority groups in terms of employment, edification and commerce in which they have been ostracized throughout history. This method includes preferential assortment i.e. selection on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity among other. Hence, it is a subject of great controversy (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 2009). The other point of view argues the broader concept is inclusive of differences of the people i.e. considering that team members consist of different ages, genders, races, ethnicities and demographic categories to the likes of sexual orientation, religion among others (Carrell, Mann Sigler, 2006). Hudsons survey called for the implementation of the narrow point of view. Howeve r, more recent studies have shown that affirmative action does little to sort out the causative agents of inequality, bias and injustice and does not contribute to the enhancement of opportunities open to men and women in the workplace (Thomas, 1990). Xerox is among the top employers who enforce diversity. They are ranked among the Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity, Top 50 Companies for Diversity and Corporate 100. They focus on four key areas to enhance diversity management like that of communiquà ©, CEO dedication, staff demographics and purveyor diversity. Xerox has been found to give more opportunities to Hispanics in the USA and also been named the national #1 in womens employment opportunities. At Xerox, a Supplier Diversity Program is mandatory for all employees especially those of middle management. The power of this program lies in the recognition of the strength in adversity right from the entry level to the top management (Poder 360, 2009). Xerox employees being diverse; act as campaigners in recommending and negotiating with diverse clientele. Xerox partnerships with diverse suppliers to finance and contribute to their business while profiting from it (Xerox, 2009). They call this their pioneering practice t hat brings them results (CSR, 2005). AstraZeneca (AZ) is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies who employ over 65000 people worldwide. Formed by the merger of Astra AB of Sweden and Zeneca Group PLC of UK, AZ brought together the merger of likeminded vision and diversity in race, religion, age, gender, ethnicity and skills (AstraZeneca, 2009). Here, diversity is looked upon in the broader sense and utilized to create high performance teams with the help of sharing ideas and discussing strategies across the board. At the heart of their vision, is the creation of true cultural diversity. Hence, they create small programs and global initiatives to embed diversity (AstraZeneca, 2009). Here, diversity is focussed on three a

Bottled Water Quality vs Municipal Drinking Water Quality Essay

"If we paid as much for tap water as we do for bottled water, most people would have a monthly water bill of over $9,000." - -Andrew C. Revkin - The New York Times It is very common for research groups to set up a "bottled water taste test". The results are always the same: without a label, there is no obvious difference among any kind of bottled water or even tap water. Yet millions of Americans routinely buy bottled water and re-filter their tap water. The Clean Water Act of 1972 was supposed to ensure all water sources were pure and safe for drinking or swimming. Enforcement simply did not go far enough, and public information on contaminants grew much faster than purification programs did. A series of laws followed the 1972 Act in an attempt to stem the general aversion to tap water, including the 1974 and 1996 Safe Drinking Water Acts (SDWA). These laws are a step in the right direction, but bottled water still maintains an advantage founded not in superior quality but in more effective marketing. Years ago, the concept of selling water was laughable. Why would anyone pay for something they can get for free almost anywhere? Plumbing and free drinking water fountains are as old as Western Civilization. Selling water to a man with a faucet, or even a well, resembles the clichà © of selling ice to an Eskimo. Consumers were intelligent enough to recognze that "evian," the name of the pioneering French drinking water bottler, was simply "naà ¯ve" spelled backwards. Yet by 1988 evian sold over 1 billion liters of water, all still bottled at the source in Evian-les-Bains, France(1). Competitors and entrepreneurs sensed a change in consumer tastes. In 1987 Suntory Ltd of Japan established Suntory Water Group in the US. It quick... ..., http://www.epa.gov:9966/envirodcd/owa/sdw_report.first_table?report_id= 639191&pwsid=CA3010092&state=CA&source=Ground%20water%20&population= 150000 EPA, http://www.epa.gov/owow/cwa/history.htm United States Code, Title 42, Chapter 6A, Subchapter XII, Part B, Section 300g-3, a-1-B, as listed at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ Great Waters of France, http://www.perrier.com/history.html Great Waters of France, http://www.perrier.com evian, http://www.evian.com/ Suntory Water Group, http://www.water.com/polar/ Suntory Water Group, http://www.kidzwater.com/ EPA, http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/wot/howwill.html "Bottled Water is Cause for Concern, Environmental Advocates Claim" by Penny Stern, MD, for Reuters, reprinted at http://www.gue.com/news/1999-04A.html EPA, http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf.html EPA, http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/who.html

Disappointment in Kate Chopins Story of an Hour Essay -- Story Hour e

Disappointment in The Story of an Hour      Ã‚   "The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, presents an often unheard of view of marriage. Published in the late eighteen hundreds, the oppressive nature of marriage in "The Story of an Hour" may well be a reflection of, though not exclusive to, that era. Mrs. Louise Mallard, Chopin's main character, experiences the exhilaration of freedom rather than the desolation of loneliness after she learns of her husband's death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband, Brently, still lives, she know that all hope of freedom is gone. The crushing disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though Chopin relates Mrs. Mallard's story, she does not do so in first person. Chopin reveals the story through a narrator's voice. The narrator is not simply an observer, however. The narrator knows, for example, that Mrs. Mallard, for the most part, did not love her husband (paragraph 15). It is obvious that the narrator knows more than can be physically observed. Chopin, however, never tells the reader what Mrs. Mallard is feeling. Instead, the reader must look into Mrs. Mallard's actions and words in order to understand what Mrs. Mallard feels.      Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Mrs. Mallard is held back in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (paragraph 8). When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death, she knows that there will "be no powerful will bending her" (paragraph 14). There will be no husband who believes he has the "right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (paragraph 14). Mrs. Mallard acknowledges that her husband loved her.... ... life. When Brently walks in the door, though, Mrs. Mallard knows that she will have to spend the rest of her life as no more than his wife, just as she had been. She knows that she will never be free. This is too much for Mrs. Mallard to handle. Life had been grim before, with her looking forward to the years ahead "with a shudder" (paragraph 19). Now that Mrs. Mallard has tasted what life might have been like without her husband, the idea of resuming her former life is unbearably grim. When Mrs. Mallard sees that her husband still lives, she dies, killed by the disappointment of losing everything she so recently thought she had gained.    Work Cited Chopin, Kate.   "The Story of an Hour."   The Heath Anthology of American Literature.   Ed. Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2.   Lexington:   Heath, 1994.   644-46.

Project Managers

With the rapid advances currently being made in information technology there has now become an increased need for Project Managers. The scale and number of projects has increased thereby increasing the risk associated with these projects. With this in mind the choosing of project managers with the required skills to ensure the successful completion of projects has become critical and organizations have recognized that the choosing of the right individual to lead a project can have a significant bearing on the success of the organization. There are countless project management certifications, methodologies and text books that give their own interpretation of what us considered a â€Å"best practice† and every methodology can bring value if applied appropriately. Methodologies are better viewed as valuable frameworks or toolkits from which a skilled and experienced Project Manager can select the relevant components, probably different components for different projects, and apply them where appropriate, not just for the sake of it or because it says so in the manual. So, if the methodologies and certifications only make up a part of the profile of a good project manager, what the other attributes and traits do we consider to be most important in a project manager?AdaptabilityAn often-used word, but project managers need to be able to react to change. They need to be dynamic, flexible and adaptable. Of course, setting out a comprehensive plan, with clear dependencies, milestones and completion dates is a key part of project planning but if all that was required to be a successful project manager was to set out a plan at the outset and then sit at the tiller and gently steer the project team through the plan, everybody would be doing it. When the inevitable happens and the risk becomes an issue, or the customer changes their requirement, or a key engineer resigns, this is when good project managers really come into their own. The ability to react quickly, to have an answer before most people have even realized what the question is and to have a contingency plan, a Plan B and a Plan C sets good project managers apart.PragmatismThe Project Manager who constantly falls back on, or some might say hides behind, process is unlikely to prosper in the real world. We'd all like to deliver our projects to the letter of a recognized methodology, but if it was as simple as just obtaining a PRINCE2 or Agile certification and then carrying the manual around with you, good project managers wouldn't command the salaries they do. A successful project manager will balance the essential process and rigor with the need to be pragmatic at times and to bend the rules occasionally. There's no room for mavericks when delivering large enterprise projects, and we'd recommend that doing things outside of process first receives the endorsement of somebody with appropriate authority, but when rigidly adhering to process means that you miss a customer delivery deadline that you would otherwise have hit, possibly with financial or reputational implications, that's the time when an experienced and aware project manager will propose the pragmatic approach.Logical Mind-setThe ability to look ahead and logically fit together the pieces of a complex implementation is of great value to a project manager. A bigger picture view and understanding of dependencies and why certain activities need to be sequential makes project planning a lot easier and significantly increases the likelihood that a plan is accurate and effective. Some of the best technical and innovative minds, the types of individual that are key to delivering technology, are hopelessly devoid of organization and methodical thinking. The project manager has to bring the logical outlook that pulls it all together, and a strong project manager will have the confidence to challenge the thinking of the most brilliant engineer if he or she is failing to look beyond their own small area of the overall implementation.CommunicationNo surprises here. Most project managers would list communication as one of the most important aspects of project management. Indeed, most project management methodologies dedicate specific coverage to communication and the Comms Plan. How and to whom a project manager communicates is vitally important. All projects should set out at the outset how they will formally report progress, risk ; issues, exceptions and escalations. This is the formal part. In addition to this, a good project manager will make sure that key stake holders always have just enough information but not too much and are never caught in a position where the first they know of an issue or problem is when the customer escalates it to them. Different stakeholders like different approaches and the project manager needs to quickly establish how best to communicate informally with stakeholders, be it email, phone, walking over to their desk, or a chat at the coffee machine. An important point made verbally is always best followed up in writing.RelationshipsGood relationships go a long way when trying to achieve project success. The project manager who invests time into building relationships with key players will find themselves well positioned when the pressure is on and it's necessary to ask more of the project team, or when relationships with clients become strained due to delivery challenges. Ten minutes invested in providing counsel to a frustrated engineer, showing some empathy and letting him get a few gripes off his chest, can pay dividends when you need that same engineer to work late on a Friday night to get an installation finished. It's not just relationships with key contributors in the project team that are important. Forming a strong relationship with a delivery counterpart within the client's organization is also important. When you're both in front of the customer's programme sponsor at the monthly steering board and the meeting isn't going well due to challenges or delays on the project, you'd rather be side by side and aligned with your client counterpart, who reports into that programme sponsor, than be the individual who gets hung out to try and made a scapegoat.Political AwarenessMany a talented project manager has fallen down or been made the scapegoat for project failure because they didn't get to grips with the politics of either their own organization or that of the customer. A good understanding of when to speak, when to just keep your head down and listen, who to trust, who to be wary of, who you must keep on the right side of and where the real power and authority resides will all increase a project manager's chance of success. Let's be completely honest, sometimes a project is just going to fail, regardless of who the project manager is. A project manager who can navigate the political landscape (as well as having a lot of the other traits we list here) will emerge from a challenged project with their reputation intact, possibly even enhanced. A project manager who neglects this area runs the risk of being made the fall-guy and going down with the sinking ship. Some of this only comes with experience, and there are very few project and programme managers who would honestly tell you that they hadn't been burnt by organizational politics at some stage in their career.AuthoritativeAnother area that sometimes only comes with experience, but being authoritative, or at least giving the impression of being calm and in control, even when you haven't got all of the answers, will inspire calm and confidence in stakeholders and project team members. Nothing erodes customer confidence or encourages an angry client to go for the jugular like a project manager who mutters his way through an update or shows uncertainty and hesitation when answering a difficult question.Inclination to question and challengeThe project manager who takes everyone and everything at face value runs the risk of having the wool pulled over their eyes. Of course , delegation is a key aspect of project management and whilst having overall accountability, the project manager cannot take responsibility for everything. But as a project manager, the ability to quickly identify the right questions to ask, who and when to challenge, and who and when you can trust is another key trait. As a Project Manager, you never want to be in a position where your senior stakeholder or customer is asking the questions that you should have asked yourself or is asking you questions that you can't answer because you haven't asked the right questions of your team.Delegate but keep controlThere is a place, on small, simple, projects for the â€Å"player manager† to use sporting parlance, the individual who does some basic project management as well as being responsible for actually carrying out some of the actions. Similarly, its sometimes valuable when a project finds itself in â€Å"all hands-on deck† mode if the project manager can roll up his sleeve and start crawling under desks to trace cables, deploy handsets or drive a piece of kit from one site to another. However, typically a project manager can't afford to be in the detail of configuring equipment, taking part in the physical installations or touching kit. A project manager incapable of staying out of the weeds will eventually fall foul of this because they will neglect the true project management responsibilities and tasks that they should be carrying out. A project manager needs to establish the governance and rules with project team members in terms of what they need to be made aware of and what they are happy to delegate and leave in the hands of the project resource who owns the action.ExperienceUnfortunately for any new project managers on the block, the reality is that the big jobs normally go to project managers who have been around the block a few times. Not what you want to hear when you're trying to break into project management but, arguably more so than in a lot of other disciplines, the best project managers have normally been doing it for a while. An installation technician can leave the training lab knowing all they need to know about how to physically rack and stack kit and connect it to the network. An engineer can attend a training course on how to configure a switch or router. Individuals with the appropriate training can be immediately effective in these types or roles, even if they have little or no real-world experience. Clearly there are enough project managers around to demonstrate that a lack of experience isn't an absolute barrier to entry but if we're talking about the best project managers, those who are entrusted with the complex projects and the high-profile clients, experience plays a major part. With experience, all of the other traits on this list are likely to be developed and enhanced to a higher level. When a challenge arises, the experienced project manager who has seen the same or similar situations before is more likely to have learned the lessons and gained first-hand knowledge of what will work and what won't work. Sadly, for those looking to enter project management and go straight to the top of the pile, you can't teach experience.