The Female Function In Homer’s Iliad

In the story of Homer's Iliad, the roles of women are clearly drawn. The function, from mortal to immortal is to influence male characters. The main female roles also have the functions of mother, daughter, wives, goddesses, and prizes. Through out this poetic recount of war, telling of battles on the field, and in heaven, of all the varying roles of the female characters, each one can be pared down to influencer of a male, whether god, or mortal. One of the main figures of the Iliad is Helen of Troy. Her function is that of a prize.She is to be won, taken, and the group that has her is the one who wins. There are other instances in which females are used for the sole purpose of prizes, to be bargained or fought for. Towards the beginning of the Iliad, King Agamemnon is so upset that he has to give Chryseis back to her father, Chryses, in order to make Apollo stop attacking his country, that he takes Achillies' â€Å"prize†, Briseis. Later on in the story, when trying to make this up to Achillies to try and get him to save Agamemnon and the rest of the Danaans ships, the role of the woman is again to be used as a prize.King Agamemnon states' â€Å"I have three daughters†¦ let him take the one of his choice, freely and without gifts of wooing,† (Book 9). Even daughters are used as bargaining tools, or prizes by their own fathers. Daughters have different roles in the story, depending on if the daughter is mortal, or immortal. The daughters that are mortal have very little to say about who they are going to marry, or what will happen to them if their city gets â€Å"sacked† and they are to be divided among the fighters as loot.The daughters of the immortals, however, have a much more functioning role, as they are influencer to men and god alike. Minerva, in particular, has a way of getting what she wants from her father Jove. She influences his decisions, so that she can get her own way. Minerva also does as she's told to, and sends infl uential messages down to the men in battle more then once, being the good daughter that she is. Minerva is just one of the goddesses listed in the Iliad, and the functions of the goddesses vary, although, the roles are all influential to a male character in some way.Some of the roles of the goddesses are to be a messenger, like Minerva. Jove's wife, Juno, functions in much the same way as a mortal wife though, when the situation comes to Juno trying to argue a point with her husband, he ends up putting his foot down, and telling her to go sit down and be quiet. This is when they're discussion whether or not the city of Ilius is going to lose in battle. Even as the goddess with the most power over the other goddesses, she still sits down and does what she has been told.After finding out that Juno and Minerva were on their way down to earth to get into the battle, Jove makes the remark, â€Å"I am less surprised and angry with Juno, for whatever I say she always contradicts me,† (Book 8) Though, Homer does point out that just because Juno has done what Jove told to do, does not mean that she is happy about sitting down and being quiet about not wanting the city destroyed. Juno's character also serves in the role of the mother. In this role, she remains very protective over the men that she cares about, and influences them not to fight against each other.This role is shown from the very beginning of the work when she sends Minerva down to earth to stop Achillies and Agamemnon from fighting and killing each other, â€Å"because she cares for both of them so,† (Book 1). Immortal mothers are very protective of their mortal sons, but there is an example of a mortal mother not being so protective. During the battle, Hector runs to find his wife, who is looking down at the battle from the top of a wall, with her nursemaid carrying the baby.She pleads with him not to go back to the fight, stating that if he dies, she would have nothing left to live for. Bo ok 8) This would read that she would kill herself, because of his death, and therefore would not be there to raise her own child. Another female role in this epic is of sister. Juno is not only Jove's wife, but also his sister. The fact that they are related is brought up a few times in the story, when she is called Daughter of Saturn, and Jove being the Son of Saturn. Juno also plays the role of the trickster, as she gets Venus to help her, and Sleep to help her so that she can get Jove to fall asleep. This is detailed about the middle of Book 14.Juno gets Jove to want to have sex with her, and then he falls asleep while holding her. Juno uses her beauty and influence to get Jove to go to sleep. Another sisterly role is played by Althea, Meleager's mother, as the tale tells of her, â€Å"grieving for the death of her brother, prayed the gods,† (Book 9). Of all the influential roles that women play in the Iliad, the most influential would be that of messenger. Iris is depicte d in the role of messenger when she is sent down by Jove to deliver the message to Minerva and Juno that he forbids them to join in the battle.Another major influential messenger is Minerva herself. She is sent down more then once to deliver messages from Jove, and others immortals from heaven. Throughout the story, the functions of the female roles are varied, and are contemporary to their time, during which a man worshiped a female goddess, only to take a young girl from a far away land in order to have more wealth. Most of all, every role can be seen to show that females' influence over society at the time of Homer was great in some respects, yet even goddesses were subservient to the mighty male Jove.The role of the females concerning war was to influence the soldiers, and to be good wives, taking care of the children. And if the city in which the female lived gets â€Å"sacked†, it then becomes the females role to strictly be property. Though the male character that took her may or may not have feelings for her, she is still at best, loot. Daughters played very influential rules, especially the daughters of Jove, whether trying to get their way, or making Jove mad or happy, the role of his daughters was to influence him, and to have him decide what would come of the great battle.

Waiting for Godot: Proven as a Tragic-Comedy

Is the label tragic-comedy truly suitable for the drama Waiting for Godot? A tragic-comedy by definition, is a work which intertwines elements both tragic and comic in nature. This characterization can be questioned as to its legitimacy in its application to Waiting for Godot. However, such skepticism of the classification will soon be expunged. Necessarily, examples of tragic and comic techniques, as well as theme, will be identified and confirmed as content within the story. Body A Tragic-comedy is a play which claims a plot fit for tragedy but which ends happily like a comedy.The action is serious in theme and subject matter and tone also sometimes, but it seems to be a tragic catastrophe until an unexpected turn in events brings out the happy ending. The characters of a tragic-comedy are noble but they are involved in improbabilities. In such a play tragic and comic elements are mixed together. Fletcher, in his Preface to the Faithful Shepherdess, defines a tragic-comedy as: â₠¬Å"A tragic-comedy is not so called in respect to mirth and killing, but in respect it wants death which is enough to make it no tragedy. Shakespeare’s ‘Cymbeline’ and ‘The Winter’s Tale’ may also be categorized as tragic-comedy. Time is clearly presented as a tragedy and creates many hardships in Waiting for Godot. Waiting is generally perceived negatively and is the central focus of the story. The two main characters Estragon and Vladimir, are forced to waste away their days while awaiting the arrival of a man who never comes. Estragon and Vladimir have nothing to do in the meantime and in result time becomes a dreaded inevitability that they must endure. Because they extensively repeat the same actions, time is cyclical. Each character seems to have a faulty memory, which further proves problematic.For example, this is seen in a conversation between Vladimir and Estragon: Vladimir: â€Å"That passed the time. † Estragon: â€Å"It wo uld have passed in any case. † Vladimir: â€Å"Yes, but not so rapidly. †. Time loses meaning and value when the actions of one day are without purpose or certainty on the next. Tragically, Estragon is regularly beaten, he admits: â€Å"Beat me? Certainly they beat me. †. And Vladimir suffers from kidney troubles. Estragon’s feet and Vladimir’s kidneys are also taken to be granted. They both resent that they should be asked whether it still hurts. It is implied that it hurts all the time.When Vladimir asks Estragon whether his boots are hurting him, he responds: â€Å"Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts! †. Estragon then asks Vladimir of his kidney trouble and comically Vladimir responds: â€Å"Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts! †. In actuality his trouble is so great that it does not even permit him to laugh. The comedy in Waiting for Godot quickly turns into tragedy at the thought of the helplessness Estragon and Vladimir now face. The two are waiting for someone who never arrives. In order to pass time they participate in irrelevant, meaningless activity.Their lives are impossible to control and are without pleasure and their lifestyles are extremely tragic as it is. The source is the situation of pointless waiting of Estragon and Vladimir. They do not know who Godot is and even do not know what will happen if they stop waiting. Lack of essential knowledge makes them totally impotent and powerless. The total atmosphere of the play is very bleak to dark-comedy. For example, Vladimir is determined not to hear Estragon’s nightmare. However, Estragon still pleads with him in vain to hear him, saying that there is nobody else to whom he may communicate his private nightmares.The situation of Lucky is comically pathetic, especially in view of his glorious past, as Pozzo describes it. Lucky is apparently frustrated and obsessed with life and the struggles himself and people as a whole must endure and begins to rant: â€Å"†¦ the flames, the tears the stones so blue so calm alas alas on on the skull the skull the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis, the labors abandoned left unfinished graver still abode of stones in a word I resume alas alas abandoned unfinished the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis the skull alas the stones Cunard tennis †¦ the stones †¦ so calm †¦Cunard †¦ unfinished †¦Ã¢â‚¬ A comic moment involves Estragon putting off and on his boots, as well as Vladimir’s game with his hat which appears as if he was performing at a circus. He also suffers from a prostrate problem and walks with stiff and short strides. The two each seem to engage often in unsure banter and easily influenced decisions, for example: Estragon: â€Å"Let’s go. † Vladimir: â€Å"We cannot. † Estragon: â€Å"Why not? † Vladimir: â€Å"We are waiting for Godot. † (They do not move. ) Estragon and V ladimir put on and take off each other’s hat as well as that of Lucky again and again.It shows that in the world of tramps, there is no place of significant actions. The most farcical situation in the play is the one where the tramps are testing the strength of the cord with which they wish to hang themselves and the cord breaks under the strain. Waiting for Godot consists of two men unable to act, move, or think in any significant way while they kill time waiting for a mysterious man, Godot. The characters fail to realize that this very act of waiting is a choice; instead, they view it as a mandatory part of their daily routine.This habit of uncertainty extends even to the most extreme of decisions, for example: Vladimir: â€Å"We’ll hang ourselves tomorrow†¦unless Godot comes. † Estragon: â€Å"And if he comes? † Vladimir: â€Å"Then we’ll be saved. † Their inability to make conscious decisions can be viewed as tragically unfortunate, while at the same time it can also create humor. Conclusion In conclusion, multiple comic and tragic schemes were identified, as well as the theme of the drama; confirming Waiting for Godot as a tragic-comedy.Certain events and dialogue between characters throughout the story promoted tragic and comic scenarios successfully and proved to be legitimate examples. While Waiting for Godot contains tragedy and comedy, is this the expectation for all dramas to qualify as a tragic-comedy? Finally, all and every story should be precisely and attentively observed before generalizing it within a label, to prevent pre-determined opinions and encourage personal perspective.

Critical analysis of safeguarding children Essay

A. Critical analysis of safeguarding children including legislation, policy and professional practice (4000 word – 100%): United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child (UNCR 1989), Article 1 defines a ‘child’ as a person below the age of 18. Law is used in order to legitimise society; children are deeply and permanently affected by the laws that are made and enforced by adults. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children is based on â€Å"_protecting, preventing and ensure safety_† towards children, (Reference). Within society there are many professionals and agencies operated in order to protect and reinforce children’s rights. The language of safeguarding children came about with the advent of The Children Act 1989. The Children’s Act (1989) and (2004) are also legislation which states that those who work with children have priority to keep them safe. The Children’s Act 2004 focuses more on ‘integrating services around meeting the needs of children and their families’, which resulted in professionals working more closely together (DfES, 2004a). Measures which also are seen to be protecting the interests of the child, would be the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Convention on the Rights of the Child are seen to in-fact have ‘limited impact’ focusing less on the actual rights of the child and more on parental rights in respect of their children’s education (Blythe and Parkin, 1999, p. 118). Although children do not have any say in who will govern them, it is seen as essential for children to be protected within this integrated system we live in. Although professionals have the duty of the protection of children â€Å"_everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play_†, any organisation or agency can work together in order to provide consistent support towards children (Web ref 1). Before moving forward with this essay it is important to establish the professional practice and case which will be used to analyse the child protection of children within the United Kingdom. The parental responsibility under the Children’s Act 1989 S3 (1) is defined as having ‘responsibilities’ rather than ‘rights’ in relation to children. However there have been many cases where the parents/career of child has been questioned. Social workers are called to look at the case, the duty of a  local authority social worker especially in the Children’s Act 1989 S17 (1) is seen to be a duty to investigate when there is cause to suspect that a child may be suffering or has been harmed. Social workers are going to be the focus in this essay in terms of professionals used to protect children and Victoria Climbià © case will also be the focus. Read Also:  Examples of Critical Analysis Essay Writing Social workers are seen as â€Å"mediators, aggressive intervener, interpreters and provider/ locator/ creator of resources in terms of the client’s needs†, in terms of roles which are played (Hollis, 1964). Most times dealing with social workers are not always at the request of the client, child protection is not the only option they also deal with â€Å"compulsory admission to mental health care and at the order of the criminal courts† (Lindsay, 2013, p. 2). Over the years, the complexity of work for practitioners advanced, which created _structural and organisational changes_ (web ref 2). After several years, the government therefore decided to use their agenda for children’s services onto the case of Victoria Climbià © (Laming, 2003). This essay will be based on the analysis of the safeguarding and protection of children and the issues which may come about doing so. Focusing on the work of Social workers in terms of child protection and how the effect ive safeguarding was lacked in the case of Victoria Climbià © (2000). The death of Victoria Climbià © came about in February 2000, aged eight years and three months; her abuse by her great aunt Marie-Therese Kouao and Kouao partner, Carl John Manning, was unknown although she had been seen by many different practitioners including health, police and social workers over the last ten months of her life. Her death sparked an influential inquiry into professional and policy failure which proved negative amongst children’s services, however promoted a change in publications and legislation within the UK as this case has created an overhaul to child protection procedures. As a result of the death of Victoria, Lord Laming highlighted in his evaluation of the professional practices surrounding Victoria’s case the importance of child services working and sharing information in order to protect children and protect them from harm. In his diagnostics of the ‘professional and systematic’ failures which contributed to Victoria’s death including many actors who failed to identify the abuse Victoria went  through. His report published in 2003, recommended 108 changes in which most of them being adapted into the Children Act 2004, as well as the creation of the 2003 green paper Every Child Matters. The professional role of social workers will be analysed critically in collaboratively working to safeguard children. Under the Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004 practitioners have the responsibility to ‘_Safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need’_ as they help prevent children from being in a vulnerable state by a career who can no longer or should not be looking after them. Within the Victoria Climbià © case, social workers were described as â€Å"incompetent† (web ref 3). It was found that the main social worker of this case, Lisa Arthurworrey, was responsible for the death of Victoria, for falling to recognise the abuse. However, Arthurworrey claimed that social workers had not received the ‘_correct guidelines’_ from management until after Victoria’s death (Batty, 2004). It is seen that children tend to have better outcomes where there is evidence of careful assessment of their needs. Social workers try to work together with the services provided in order for early intervention. Assessment is seen to be the foundation of all effective intervention, as it establishes the human needs, evidence would need to be grounded. Services are needed to be provided in the situation of risk and need, accurate and realistic assessment from the relevant professional to ensure all the appropriate information of that certain case needs to be undertaken before ‘Judgements and decisions are made about action and resources’ (Adams and Dominelli et al., 2002, p. 209) The safety of a child is paramount with a social workers role, the Children’s Act 1989 centralises this. The act has focused on the importance of assessment of need/risk of the child and focusing on the arrangements of services inter-connecting for the Protection of Children. Policy and legislation has changed over the years regarding safeguarding children as it was seen that before the policies and practices were more concerned with family support welfare (Audit Commission, 1994: Department of Health, 1995). It was seen that the focus was set to be more of a ‘_change_’  of the work, for the result of child welfare approach principles being able to dominate. It was established that the significance being based on supporting children and families within the community and coercive of intervention and policing being kept to a minimum. The enactment of the 1989 Children’s Act shows tension between policy and practice over time When the Act was passed, the pressure on the child protection system had been raising, as well as the number of referrals and children being brought into care. The problems which have been faced before the act was even passed had not been resolved. Inquiries and reports contained details of how professionals surrounding the children had failed to produce a reaction from failure to communicate with one another. The act was enforced to establish the threshold criteria for child protection inquires and to ensure child as centre in terms of court proceedings. At the same time the Act, enforced guidance and important of the birth family and establishing principles for child care practices, working with family and professionals and the importance of working with family and protection of them as well as protecting children from harm (Allen, 2005; Department of Health [Doh], 1989). The safeguarding agenda continued into the 1990’s, introducing agencies and programmes such as Sure Start and the Children’s Fund. Significant legislation continued with Crime and Disorder Act 11998 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002, which policy also developed with the introduction of Framework for _the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families_ (DoH et al., 2000). This was implemented within local authorities in 2001, which establishes guidance about the conduct of assessment prompted on social workers due to the case of Victoria Climbià ©. The safeguarding agenda was later implicated by the Victoria Climbià © case which introduced _Every Child Matters (_ECM) Framework, including the establishment of Local Children’s Safeguarding (Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 2003, para 1.12; Laming 2003). The initiative was introduced as part of Laming’s actions onn the death of Victoria, which involved efforts to ensure that no child is being ignored by improved services, through  shared information within different professionals and these professionals working alongside another which also included the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) – based on renewed measures of tackling social exclusion ensuring each child’s have their voices heard. Victoria horrific death which arose due to the hands of the great aunt and partner reaffirmed the framework which aimed for every young child to have the best chance in life to achieve their full potential. While responding to the death of Victoria, the Green Paper ECM providing ‘thinking and legislative’ framework that would further broaden the scope for prevention and early intervention which was seen to be the central aim of ensuring well-being of all children. This is shown in the outcome statement of ECM (DfES, 2004). Children should achieve economic well being Be health Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Stay safe These categories are far from the narrow visions of how child protection should work from how it was the 1980’s and 1990’s, showing how advanced the agenda has advanced to ensure better services. These aims show the attempts the Government have in order to achieve a more proactive and guarding service for children and families. However even with this in place, it is seen that the agenda within the UK can be seen to be wavered in terms of the ‘local implantation failure’ within society as Victoria Climbe case demonstrates rather than actual policy. The Victoria Climbià © Inquiry report established the conflicts of agents working together as they failed to link small factors which would have led to realise she was being abused. It established that there were key opportunities which could have taken place to help intervene to help  Victoria. None of the professionals who had seen Victoria questioned why she had not been attending school or had not been registered with a GP. Victoria was seen by Dr. Schwartz who failed to spot evidence of the 8 year Old’s abuse, asserted her view that due to the due of the essential ‘interpretative nature of inter-professional communication’, Victoria was ignored. Schwartz claimed the injuries were evident as scabies infection, this opinion which previously as scabies infection, this opinion which previously contracted a locum registrar, Dr Ajayi-Obe who had the view that she had been physically abused. But the consultant claimed she did not consider it necessary to take a case history, despite her child protection concerns as she expected social services to investigate the girls circumstances (Batty, 2001). Lord Laming asserts in his evaluation of the professional; practices surrounding Victoria’s case, in order for children to be adequately safeguarded, information within agencies has to be improved. Each agency needs to prioritise passing information to another agency and the recipients should query any points of uncertainty. In the words of the two hospital consultants who had Victoria, â€Å"_I cannot query for the way other people interpreted what I said. It was not the way I would have liked it to have been interpreted_† (Dr Ruby Schwartz) â€Å"_I do not think it was until I have re-read this letter that I appreciated quite the depth of misunderstanding_† (Dr Mary Rossiter). This shows how Victoria was in the middle of miscommunication which was the downfall to her safety (Laming, 2003) While analysing about statements, it is obvious the lack of communication and misunderstanding was apparent, making it obvious to see how Laming came to this view. It is clear that action to safeguard Victoria non-existent; she was caught up in the dysfunctional ‘_gatekeeping’_ practices in Brent Social Services. Actions to safeguard Victoria were hindered due to the undetected and failing practice of the institutions in which she was involved in. Within society, children are seen as needing protecting from economic and social structures. It is seen that social meanings in society differ depending on different risks and needs, this is apparent within the ECM agenda with the policy documents. Negatively views as the child being  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœcitizen-worker-of-the-future’ (Williams, 2004, p.408). It is seen that the child’s view is being ignored, from their views which were expressed in the ECM consultation process- which emphasized on extra-curricular activities and spaces for children (DfES). This is seen as common within policy-making and how children are being constructed within the society we live in. Rather than being seen as children practising to become adults, children are viewed as not be able to know ‘what is rational because they cannot yet see what rational’ (Archard, 1993, p.g6). Therefore children are always seen as being needed to be developed and protected by the capital. Some would say that within different agencies some practitioners within different agencies are not aware with the understanding of how different services defer depending on different level of need. This can be a problem as children and families could be given the wrong type of service. Guidance from ‘Early Intervention Securing Good Outcomes for Children’ (DCSF, 2010) saw early intervention as not relating ‘_exclusively to intervening younger ages’_ but tackling issues ‘as they arise, whatever the age of the child or young age’. Early intervention is used in order to safeguard children is demonstrated by ‘_research studies and cost-benefit analysis’_ (Easton and Gee, 2012) Policies within the government seem to have progressed towards early intervention. Not only due to the safety of children, but was due to economic grounds of children’s failure to secure necessary skills, qualifications and moral ideas for their future. Soon the government decided to show-case their concerns for children having future problems with employability and criminality, therefore introducing the framework for education _Birth to Three Matters_ in 2002 (DfES), to confirm that no child is exempt from developmental prescription. This is relevant to safeguarding children in the sense that with the frameworks, children who are seen to be ‘in conflict’ with the law or seen as threatening and as such forfeit their right to be ‘safe-guarded’ although those are children who may need protection the most. According to ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2010) a document  released by the government based on a guide for organisations and individuals who need to work together to safeguard children. In regards to thresholds and assessment the document established, the Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB) should take part in local arrangements for taking common assessment and use the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) when appropriate. They came about to ensure practice work in place that aims to target particular groups by ‘developing/evaluating thresholds and procedures for work where children and families where a child has been identified as ‘in need’ under the Children Act 1989†². Also, that ‘local arrangements’ are taken for common assessment while using CAF and be aware when it is possible to refer a possible child in need to children’s social care services, this is enforced by the Children’s Trust board, wor king with the LSCB. The Common Assessment Framework was developed as a standard tool for all professionals working with children and families, used for assessment and referral purposes (Department for Education and Skills [DfES], 2006a, 2006b), all this in the hope of professionals working effectively through communication and shared information. As the government has come up with the aim of bringing child welfare to a common understanding within different agencies and professionals, the introduction of CAF is designed to illuminate this. CAF was designed in order to focus on the needs and strengths rather than ‘concerns’ for children within these services. Professionals have been encouraged to educate strengths, needs action and solutions for children across three domains derived from the Framework for Assessment of Children and Need and their Families (DoH, 2004): ‘_Development of unborn baby, infant or young children’, ‘Parents and carers’_ and ‘F_amily and environmental’._ As the CAF is evidence based, which can make the completed CAF very hard to understand, even for experienced child welfare professionals (White et al., 2008). As the need for Child Care services has increased, in total, between April 2011 and January 2012 Cafcass, received 10,199 new applications – 10.8% higher when compared to the same period last financial year (Rogers and Evans, 2012). This shows that the manner in which the 1989 Children’s Act is being applied effectively within the country; agencies are acting faster and  more effectively in ensuring vulnerable children are being removed from neglect and abusive households, therefore due to a more rapidly and responsive assessment and awareness, professionals of leaving a care are the cause of higher numbers of applications. Children’s Care prioritizes care for those circumstances such were the family or child are in such serious danger. According to North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board these are the key responsibilities for Children’s Care (web ref 1): Assess, plan and provide support to children in need, particularly those suffering or likely to suffer significant harm; Make enquiries under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 wherever there is reason to suspect that a child in its area is at risk of significant harm; Provide a Key Worker for every child subject to a Child Protection Plan; Ensure that the agencies who are party to the protection plan coordinate their activities to protect the child; Convene regular reviews of the progress of any child subject to a Child Protection Plan through both Core Group and Child Protection Conference Review meetings; Instigate legal proceedings where required. In order to provide effective service, professionals must be prepared to seek an understanding from other practitioners, from other organisations in order to form phrases which have little meaning and result in the use of habitualization. (White et al., 2008) In order to assess the participation within parents and child it is important to use CAF to assess the children and to identify needs (Department for Education and Skills, 2005). Parenting is held to be important for the life  chances of all children, although in reality parenting interventions are focused upon the poorest parents (Goldson and Jamieson, 2002). Safeguarding children requires the need to ensure that the child is in best hands in terms of carers for them. Carers who are seen to be of a negative light within society, this weighs heavily on each child, as each child depends on someone to look after them as they are vulnerable. The condition of children who are incapable of acting for their best interests justifies the need of carers; policies are put into place to ensure the rights and power between parents and child. Parents in acting in behalf of their children, but it also constitute such tutelage as a duty (Archard, 1993, p. 7) Due to the Adoption and Children Act 2002, which emphasized how agencies have a duty to assess harm whenever domestic violence was present, the increase of cases referred to Children Protection Registers etc. because of domestic violence was paramount. However it is seen that although there is an increase in cases of domestic violence being assessed properly, evidence of services which protect them have not been increasing resulting in these services having to consider what can be done to improve their response with the current budgets. The importance of working with parents and child in order to achieve the best outcome is vital as it ensures effective help has been used. Working in partnership with parents is needed as working with parents is shown through the Children Act 1989. ‘supporting families, when necessary, to bring up their children and working in partnership with parents whose circumstances may be difficult is at the heart of our Children Act’ (Department of Health 1995a, p.1) Many other acts support working in partnership with parents, such as the green paper Every Child Matters as it encourages the involvement of agencies and support through early intervention not only through child protection work but others also. However, with these multi-agencies working together to helping and empowering parents, some families are seen to be reluctant to receive these services which has some negative effects on safeguarding children. It is seen that some workers draw back from negative threats of violence or intimidation and many plans that were supposed to do undergo have not and therefore left unchallenged. This is evident in the  death of Ainlee Labonte in 2002, through the negative behaviour of her parents who refused to cooperate with the agencies offered to them, workers often ‘froze’ which therefore hindered their ability to follow through with referrals, assessments or plans (Brandon et al, 2008, p.96) Referring to parents power and participation with children and professionals it is also important to establish how the Adoption and Children Act 2002 contributed to a further amendment to the Children Act 1989 in respect of fathers’ parental responsibility. This refers to all professionals working with children should know the parental responsibility; it previously contained information which hindered unmarried fathers access to their children. This act put in place has ensured that the child’s interest were key and not just the interests of the government, with social workers looking at adults in a family who had real relationships with their children. The current situation is that the following have parental responsibility The child’s mother The child’s father if they are married to mother The child’s unmarried father if registered on the child’s birth certificate Someone who adopts child Someone who becomes the child’s guardian on the mother’s death etc. Overall, it is important to establish the importance of safeguarding children with the UK. With cases such as Victoria Climbià ©, which emphasized the lack of good professional practice has led to many different changes. Although some would say these changes are not always implemented everywhere. Practitioners have a key role in ensuring the process of communication between different organisations and professions, which the acts and policies such as the Children Act 2004 and Every Child Matters, the integration of children services can be practised to ensure protection for children and  families. It is seen that in order to improve the outcome of children, services should monitored more closely to ensure the outcomes for children are ones we expect. With the services being more effective and the commitment of inter-agencies working together, the aims can all be achieved. BIBLOGRPAHY Adams, R. C., Dominelli, L. and Payne, M. 2002. _Social Work: themes, issues and critical debates_. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Allen, N. (2005) _Making Sense of the Children Act 1989_. Chichester: Wiley. Archard, D. 1993. _Children: Rights and Childhood_ London: Routledge. Pg 7 Audit Commission (1994) Watching Their Figures. London: HMSO Batty, D. 2001. _Climbià © doctor admits errors put girl at risk_. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2001/oct/12/5 [Accessed: 15 Jan 2014]. Batty, D. 2004. _Climbià © social worker admits mistakes_. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/sep/02/childprotection.socialcare [Accessed: 10 Jan 2014]. Blythe, E. and Parkin, W. 1999._Children, child abuse and child protection_. Chichester: Wiley. 118 Brandon, M., Beldonerson, P., Warren, C., Howe, D., Gardner, R., Dodsworth, J. and Black, J. (2008) _Analysing Child Deaths and Serious Injury Through Abuse and Neglect: What Can We Learn?_ London: Department for Children, Schools and Families Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2003_) Every Child Matters_, Cm 5860, London: The Stationery Office Commission Audit (1994) Seen But Not Heard: Coordinating Community Health and Social Services for Children in Need, London, HMSO DCSF (2010) Early Intervention Securing Good Outcomes for Children, London, HMSO Department for Education and Skills (dFES) (2004a) Every Child Matters: Change for Children, Nottingham: DfES Publications Department for Education and Skills. (2005) The Common Assessment Framework, London: The Stationery Ofï ¬ ce. Department of Health (1989) An introduction of The Children Act 1989, London, HMSO Department of Health (1995a) Child Protection: Messages from Research, London, HMSO. Department of Health (2000) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their families, London, HMSO Easton, C. and Gee, G. (2012). Early intervention: informing local Goldson, B. and Jamieson, J. (2002) _Youth Crime, the ‘Parenting Deficit’ and State Intervention: A Contextual Critique._ Youth Justice vol 2 issue 2 pp 82-99 Hollis, F. 1964 _Casework: a psychosocial therapy_. 2nd edition. New York: Random House Laming, H. 2003. _The Victoria Climbià ©ÃŒ  Inquiry_. [London]: Stationery Office. Lindsay, T. 2013. Social work intervention. London: SAGE/Learning Matters. practice (LGA Research Report). Slough: NFER. White, S., Hall, C. and Peckover, S. (2008) ‘_the descriptive tyranny of the common assessment framework: Technologies of categorization and professional practice in child welfare’_, British Journal of Social Work. Advance access available at: DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcn05 WEB REFERNCES Web ref 1: Workingtogetheronline.co.uk. 2013. _Introduction_. [online] Available at: Web ref 2: http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/DMS/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=gyno%2FsYRZeuFOe%2Fc8Y03G13Bv1kM9hiu4Kq8CG9iPaxmLOgFg3emoQ%3D%3D&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&kCx1AnS9%2FpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2BAJvYtyA%3D%3D=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&FgPlIEJYlotS%2BYGoBi5olA%3D%3D=NHdURQburHA%3D&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3D [Accessed: 02 Jan 2014]. Web 3: Batty, D. 2001. _Climbià © doctor admits errors put girl at risk_. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2001/oct/12/5 [Accessed: 15 Jan 2014]. http://www.workingtogetheronline.co.uk/chapters/intro.html [Accessed: 18 Dec 2013]. Safeguardingchildren.co.uk. 2014. _Section 2: Agency Roles and Responsibilities_. [online] Available at: http://www.safeguardingchildren.co.uk/section-2-procedures.html [Accessed: 02 Jan 2014]. Rogers, S. and Evans, L. 2012. _Children taken into care: why are the figures rising?_. [online] Available at:

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Organizational Development Intervention Paper - Essay Example Group level diagnosis The inputs in group level diagnosis include organizational blueprint aspects that are inherent in the entire organization within which the group functions (Cummings and Worley 61). The following characteristics within the organization were identified as affecting group functioning. Technology The company has been in recent times initiated an upgrading program to increase the efficiency of the communication system. This includes the purchases of computer, networking and elevating internet bandwidth including an upgrade to HP Integrity BL860c i2 OpenVMS and CAD. The project has cost the company $250, 000. Other technological improvements include the purchases of new sewing machines and increasing the length of the processing line. Nevertheless, mid level employees are especially dissatisfied since the communication system changes do not meet their suggested quality. They opine that the internet connection is quite slow and is affecting them. The latest machines in the processing line are difficult to operate since no prior training was availed. This was emphasized by the 73% of factory employees who were dissatisfied by the situation. Structure The company has five major divisions dealing with HR, procurement, designing, manufacturing, and marketing. All the heads of the divisions answer to the president. However, within each division, there are groups with varied tasks. These groups give feedback to any of the four heads of divisions. For example, a group in designing children ware may be required to respond to the head of promotion directly without the involvement of the head of design. Sometimes, such a group is required to present its findings to different heads at different times. The interests of the heads at times conflict, since each, seeks to enhance the performance of their divisions without coordination with the other divisions. Evaluation systems The performance of the group is not formally evaluated; hence there are no form rewa rd systems. A group appreciation or reward is dependent on the disposition of the division head under which they operate. A normal source of reward, for example, for the designing groups is when products perform well in the market. This is mostly indicated by the acclaim of the product in the market. In such a case, the group that designed the product may be recognized by being awarded a bonus in the following month. Nevertheless, such occurrences are rare, especially since the start of the company’s sales decline. Only 38 % indicated that they have been rewarded in their job. Other instances of rewards include the company’s annual meeting where individuals are recognized for various feats. However, lower level employees opine that the recognitions are reserved for higher level employees only, only 16% expecting to be rewarded before retirement. Promotions are random, which leaves some employees feeling they were bypassed with no substantiation. Other personnel complai n that they have been in the same positions for long; this was expressed by 59% of all interviewed employees. The hiring of employees is based on merit. Job openings are posted on the media and appropriate procedures are followed. However, the salaries offered by the company are below industry average salary and are 76% of the industry average. This makes the company fail to attract highly motivated and qualified individuals. Most of the applicants in the job openings are young graduates who soon move away after some time. This has

Discuss fully the principle of Acquisitions Management. What is most Research Paper

Discuss fully the principle of Acquisitions Management. What is most important What do you think will become more important ove - Research Paper Example Combining the activities of material management does not merely represent a linear chain of one-on-one business relationships, but a web of multiple business networks and relationships [Min, Zhou 2002 qtd. in Sliwczynski, 2012 The main principle of acquisition management is to make strategic purchases or sourcing that is based on a reasonable set of criteria. While these criteria may vary from industry to industry, good acquisition management always require the decision to purchase or acquire to be as sound as possible (Leenders et al., 2006). Sound criteria behind a good purchase decision ranges from favorable negotiated price, good quality of sourced materials and certainty of its availability and price in the future. What is most important? The principles of Acquisition Management are continually reshaping as business and the economic landscape of which it operates continuously change. The primary principle of Acquisition Management as a mere operational function to obtain the nec essary resources to make the products or render the services of a company is already inadequate with the new economic landscape. Thus, the principle of acquisition management as a mere procurement tool has now evolved as a strategic tool which is now the most important principle in the new economic landscape of business. It is no longer enough that business organizations acquire the necessary economic resources for the operation of the company and ensure its availability. Rather, the quality, cost and timeliness of materials that will be acquired should also enhance the company’s competitive advantage. The process of acquiring resources itself should bring about strategic competitiveness to the business organization which when combined with the materials procured, will reduce not only the cost associated with acquisition but also the reduction of price of its materials inventory at a quality that is consistent with the company’s commitment to its customers. While the d ynamics of the economic landscape of which Acquisition Management is applied, principles of acquiring resources at a lower price, better quality and availability will not change regardless of the changing modalities which acquisition is processed. What do you think will become more important over the next two decades? Integration of electronic procurement in Acquisition Management One of the major changes in Acquisition Management is the enhancement of its role in business organization from a mere operational tool to acquire the economic resources necessary for business to operate and to process its products and services. Acquisition Management is now a strategic implement of business organizations to edge out competitors and ensure its viability on a long term. Acquisition Management’s typical role to merely procure resources (material, process and manpower) for the organization as a mere operational function is now being used to leverage as a company’s competitive ad vantage and as a risk management strategy. Procurement or Acquisition Management is now being used as a competitive advantage not only in terms of getting the necessary resources for the operation of the business either to create product or services but also as a strategy to enhance the comp

Senior Phase Teaching Diverse Learners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Senior Phase Teaching Diverse Learners - Essay Example The school preparation for this activity involves providing families with psychological support literature and extending the family into the transitioning process. This type of family-oriented workshop likely understands the difficulties of finding quality work as a disabled person and will rely on patient and tolerant family members to assist in this difficult process. This would appeal to the self-determination theory, by providing family members with information to give the disabled student the guidance necessary to remain self-motivated and focused on the tasks at hand. To assist in this transition, the Australian government also ensures that schools have Interagency Collaboration workshops, which focus on developing a sense of teamwork with community individuals and professionals (learningplace.com.au, 2009). In addition, this module exposes disabled students to various literatures which highlights career options (and other services) after completing the senior phase of schooling. This type of transition module would appeal to the disabled students’ least dangerous assumptions, in terms of choosing a post-phase option which is best suited for their strengths and their limitations. In lieu of evidence which is earned through job experience, the disabled individual must be responsible for making decisions which will provide the least harm in the long-term to their unique, disabled positions. Internally, human resources training is part of the steps taken to ensure disabled students are prepared for post-school options. Adequate teacher training is an â€Å"essential factor in helping students achieve greater self-determination† (Zhang and Stecker, 2001, p.293). Teachers are equipped with modern psychological and sociological theories to develop a program which is most effective for the emotional well-being of the disabled student during this period. Part of the preparation process is to ensure that teachers are equipped with

Analytical business report on what ethical consumerism means for Essay

Analytical business report on what ethical consumerism means for businesses - Essay Example primary research has shown that while most respondents supported ethical brands and were willing to work in ethical companies, they still were not ready to pay higher price for ‘ethical chocolate’ of the same taste and quality. During the past three decades the combination of words â€Å"ethical consumerism† has become increasingly popular. This paper aims to provide an overview of the concept of ethical consumerism, supported with both primary and secondary research. For a more specific analysis of ethical business, there was chosen an international chocolate manufacturer, the Hershey Company. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: Section 1 provides an overview of the concept of ethical consumerism, major issues and the benefits organisations gain from it; Section 2 provides a brief overview of the Hershey Company followed with the analysis of the company’s ethical business activity and its Corporate Social Responsibility; Section 3 reports the results of a primary research and discuses major findings; Section 4 is a concluding part of the report followed by recommendations presented in Section 5. Even though the concept of ethical consumerism is known in society for centuries, it is only within the last thirty years that is has been transformed from a minority concern to a mainstream phenomenon (Yeow, Dean, and Tucker, 2013). In the past decades, the level of awareness of consumers about the ethical, environmental and social problems in the world has increased dramatically. People became more responsible in selecting suppliers of the products and providers of the services. This behaviour led to an increased popularity of the concept of ethical consumerism. In academic world, the term of ethical consumerism is defined as â€Å"decision-making, purchases and other consumption experiences that are affected by the consumer’s ethical concerns† (Yeow, Dean, and Tucker, 2013: 88). In other words, while purchasing a product and service, consumers

Business Report about Olympic Games 2012 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Report about Olympic Games 2012 - Essay Example There are six strategies that one can employ to market their company at little to no cost. Marketing a business via press release is a method that has been around for quite some time and still continues to be the method of choice. Because businesses will have to do a great deal with public relations, as they work with and serve the public interest, press releases are just one more way to keep the public engaged, so they will be more than likely to seek out the products and services that businesses offer. Press releases can be used to market the opening of a company. They can also be used to promote new products or services. If a company is sponsoring a special event, such as that of the Olympic Games, a press release can also be used to announce this, so people will not only attend the event but will possibly become customers for many years to come. While press releases are wonderful for getting word out about the business with very little effort at all, there are a few rules that need to be followed, should this particular method be utilized. An article titled, "Still th e One, Crafting the Perfect Press release," sheds some insight into what they are. First of all, press releases need to be concise. They must not contain a bunch of useless rhetoric. Should press releases not be concise, the attention of their audiences will be lost, thus making them ineffective and a useless waste of time. Secondly, press releases must communicate real news. They should not talk about things that are of no real concern. The news that is being communicated has to be something that is really going to affect the audiences. Finally, when constructing press releases, the inverted pyramid method needs to be used. This method is to start out small by engaging the readers, build up larger and larger throughout the press release, and then give a call to action at the end, meaning that this is the largest point of all that needs to be made. Something else to remember is that press releases should not be overdone, meaning being released much too often, or it will detract from the overall reputation of the business. Should a business release press releases too often, their audiences

Social Issues in the Criminal Justice Field Essay Example for Free

Social Issues in the Criminal Justice Field Essay All of society deals with social issues, either directly or indirectly. These can be problems or matters affecting all of society, usually in a negative manner. In the US, some predominant social issues include homelessness, domestic violence and gang violence. Criminal justice professionals face these types of issues daily. The criminal justice professional is always active and busy, dealing with countless amounts of criminal activity throughout the country. Every criminal justice professional has a job to do, to better their community and the society they work within. Homelessness is an unfortunate problem that will continue to grow if our society does not make it a national priority to address this issue in a systemic way. In the US more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year, which 20% of these families have children. (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2014.) The combination of the high cost of living, low-wage jobs, and high unemployment rates only worsen these problems and force countless Americans to choose between food, housing, and other expenses. Homelessness can end, by tackling its root causes and improving support services, such as TANF, housing vouchers and health care. Another crucial issue for criminal justice professionals is domestic violence. Domestic violence is abuse that happens in a personal relationship. It affects men and woman of any ethnic group, race, or religion; gay or straight; rich or poor; teen, adult or elderly. But most of its victims are women. In fact, 1 out of 4 women will be a victim at some point in their life. (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014.) Criminal justice professionals serve as a way out to victims of domestic violence; they help with counseling and can also support  the victim through shelter programs. They will also provide services to the perpetrators through voluntary and court mandated batterer intervention programs. As professionals committed to social justice, domestic violence is a social justice issue. One of the most difficult social issues we face as a country is gang violence. A gang is a group of people who claim a territory and use it to make money through illegal activities. Gangs are one of the leading factors for growth of violent crimes; gang violence has become increasingly deadly in the last several decades as a result of the introductions of automatic weapons and drive- by shootings. (Gang Violence and Gun Control, 2013.) Many gangs resort to violence, even homicide, to enforce loyalty and prevent members from leaving. Some criminal justice professionals specialize in gang violence and are only specifically assigned to gang violence crimes. Such specialized units are created in order to focus departmental resources, energy, and skills on specific community problems. The criminal justice system is a vital part of our society and we know that complete, effective, and fair operation of criminal justice system powers is crucial to ending violence, both for releasing individuals and for ending the worldwide epidemic of violence against one another in this human race. The public knows that the police cannot prevent every crime, nor arrest every criminal. However, they expect a criminal justice system, which is reliable, effective, and valued. It must deal with cases proficiently; fight crime in each state and each town in this country. Thus, the society needs criminal justice systems to protect, to discourage and to stop crime. Obviously, the idea of having a system is to ensure justice and equality throughout a social setting. It is a must that criminal justice professionals always stay active and busy, in order to keep up with the progressing crime rates and social issues. Every society has social issues, as these problems evolve, so do the jobs in the criminal justice profession. To remain a viable resource to the community and individuals, whether they are victims or perpetrators, criminal justice professionals must be willing to better the lives of the  people they touch. These social issues can end by tackling its root causes and improving support services. Criminal justice professionals are not the only ones that can help make a difference in these lives but also everyone in the society as a whole, when you come together, changes can happen. References Gang Violence and Gun Control, 2013 http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2013/01/gang_violence_and_gun_control.html U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014 http://www.statisticbrain.com/domestic-violence-abuse-stats/ National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2014 http://www.nlchp.org/

The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory Assessment Essay Example for Free

The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory Assessment Essay The overall experience completing the LASSI student report was interesting one due to the difficulty associated with being completely honest with yourself. This is definitely something that I have found to be a re-occurrence throughout this course, however due to the nature of the questions in this particular section, it proved to be the daunting questionnaire this course has required yet. After finishing the student report, I was able to conclude that the nature of the questions and the honesty involved paid off because I found this resource to be the most reflective and also the most helpful in targeting the weaknesses in my academic skills. My lowest two scores were in anxiety and time management, and I feel very confident that these two are closely related. I do not have issues in learning the actual content of courses, rather my problems occur in not effectively allotting time to learn it which in turn causes the stress and the two together result in poor exam performance. In order to avoid these issues which result in extreme stress come exam time I need to set aside time to effectively plan and schedule time and techniques for completing assignments and studying, then follow through with the derived plan. In my opinion, the LASSI assessment is not too different from the barriers assessment we completed during the first week of this course. Both assessments take a slightly different approach from each other, however the objectives of both are very much identical. The two assessments are designed to help an individual identify issues that are potentially detrimental to their success in class. My results for LASSI had not surprised me at all as it nearly mirrored the results of my barriers assessment. Since both results agreed with each other I could also conclude that I made little to no errors in the assessments. According to LASSI, my largest problems are that I lack motivation, concentration and I have a poor ability to select main ideas from concepts. Im only fairly concerned with my focus and concentration during study. My computer is very likely the most contributing factor to this problem. Im a Computer Science major so its very essential that I work with a computer. My notes and assignments are often stored and finished in it as well. I have attempted some viable solutions like using a task scheduler application for my computer. I can give it instructions forcefully close-off anything that may become a distraction for me on the computer based on a schedule you assign it. You can even ask it to temporarily disable off your internet. This solution doesnt work very well for me because I lack self-control as well. I often opt-out of this because I can never bring myself to disable any of my entertainment. I just shrug it off and lie to myself that I can deal with the distractions while studying well. This itself I believe is my biggest concern.

The National Development Policies Of Ethiopia Economics Essay

The National Development Policies Of Ethiopia Economics Essay The main purpose of this paper is to review the national agricultural development policies of Ethiopia during the reign of the Imperial, Derg and EPRDF led government and the predominant trends of international field of development thinking pursued (similarities and differences among) in the period of post 1974 to 2004. Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations on earth. From its 77 million people over 80 percent depend on subsistence agriculture and more than 40% live below the absolute poverty line, (CSA, 2007). The country has remained to be one of the tragic places where the worst cases of famine and drought and man made problems such as extended civil war and degradations of natural resources have been observed (EC project proposal 1998). However, the country has a good resource potential for economic development. In response to these socio- economic situations, various development policies and strategies have been brought in to practice by the successive governments that ruled the country which had in most of the cases ended up with bare minimum impacts in reversing the prevailed development bottlenecks of the country. Thus a good part of the poor performance is explained by policy failures of the past regimes generally and the derg regime in particular (EEA, 1999/2000) as sited by (Alemayehu, G.2007). Thus, after the collapse of the military regime in May 1991, the EPRDF led government adopted various development policy reforms and structural adjustments that included liberalization of markets, decentralization of central government authorities to regions, woredas and designed agriculture development led industrialization strategies. Similarly, at the later stages of the period (2002), the government pinpointed poverty reduction as its crucial development objective which is in consonance wit h international directions and commitments. In what follows this paper tries to review development policies of the up to the current regime in Ethiopia.2. Trends and Development Policy Environment Before and after 1991Â  [1]Â   2.1 Development Policies up to 1974 The imperial government of Haileselasie, was the first government to exercise different development policies as Ethiopia is first African state to attempt economic development planning (Georgi. G. 1981). But the plans determined only general trends and likely development rates as they gave an extremely generalized allocation to particular sectors of the economy as of 1960s (Haile H., 1995). During this time three five-year plans were prepared for the development of the economy with different targets and area of priorities. They were: The first five year plan (1957-62) The second five year plan (1963-67) The Third five year plan (1968-73) 2.1.1. First five year plan (1957-62)Â  [2]Â   This plan had some targets on the agricultural sector. According to the evaluations of the plan targets that was made in the second five year plan, its impact on the agricultural sector was negligible since emphasis during this plan period was on infrastructure and social transformation (raising the level of education and the training of technical personnel) for the implementation of the five year program. No need to bring about fundamental changes in present methods of (peasant) production and stuck to the kind of tools now used(Dejene (IEG 1957),pg 45 Donors policy of this period was biased in favour of urbanization vis-Ã  -vis rural development. the world bank for example, by far the largest single source of development assistance to Ethiopia in recent years, allocated 85% of its total loans to modern roads during the 1950-59 period, and nothing to the agricultural sector(world Bank 1985). 2.1.2. Second five-year plan (1963-67)Â  [3]Â   Mainly the priority focus was given to industry (manufacturing), minerals and electric power development, but, unlike the first five year plan, some attention was given to agriculture. In this plan, quantitative targets for the production of agricultural marketable products like cereals, cotton, cattle, and coffee; and for the rate of growth of agriculture were set. To achieve the production targets set in the plan three main approaches were outlined: Execution of land reform, introduction of tools implements and machinery as well as elementary training of the producers so as to raise productivity, per capita income and consumption so as to transform the subsistence economy into a monetized economy. The organization of farmers cooperatives The organization of commercial farms based on mechanization IEG (1962). However, in the second five-year plan agriculture was anticipated to grow at a rate of 2.4 percent, but it was said to have grown at a rate of 1.9 only, It was only 42.2 percent of the investment target that was actually full filled because of which much of the development programs were not achieved, The land reform policy was completely ignored, a fact which basically accounted for the failure and above all, there was lack of progress in policy measures and organizational programs, which were essential for the success of the plan. Because of all these, the agricultural sector could not develop as much as it was anticipated in the plan. 2.1.3. The third five-year plan (1968 -73)Â  [4]Â   This time exhibited a marked departure from the previous plans. It recognized the importance of the agricultural sector and charted out a relatively clear and well articulated agricultural development strategy. The plan argued that modernization of peasant subsistence agriculture in all areas of the country simultaneously is hardly possible, but no time should be lost in making a start in strategically selected areas in which good results can soon be seen. This being the strategy, two main approaches for the development of Ethiopia agriculture were indicated in the third five-year plan. These were the package program and the development of large-scale commercial farms: The Package Program The package program followed the policy of concentrating development efforts in a given area so as to bring the required changes in agriculture. The practice was to be limited to specific areas since the modernization of peasant subsistence farms in all areas of the country simultaneously was assumed that it would lead to the dilution of efforts and scarce resources. In accordance with this, the implementation of the program was started in strategically selected areas where good results were expected in a relatively short period of time. At first the package program took the form of a Comprehensive Package Program (CPP), and later the Minimum Package Program followed. The CPP aimed at achieving maximum result by focusing on specific high potential areas such as Chilalo, Wollaita, Ada District, Tahtay Adyabo, Hadegti and Humera and established agricultural development units for each of them. This program had the following objectives (Tesfai 1975:41) To increase the income of low income small holder farmers and tenants and narrow the prevailing income disparities in the rural areas; To achieve economic and social development; To enhance local participation in development; To increase employment opportunities; and To stress on research, training, and transferability. The objectives were supposed to be achieved through The provision of extension services; i.e., spreading innovations and organizing demonstration fields to farmers; The establishment of marketing organizations aiming at selling production fairly in comparison to the cost of production; Sale of inputs through marketing organizations which would make high yielding seeds and fertilizers available to the farmers; The provision of credit facilities at a reasonable rate of interest so that the farmers could be able to purchase the new supplies; and Promoting improved water supply system and expansion of education. Health and nutritional studies were to be established In general, the CPP has resulted in the increase of incomes of peasants and tenants in the project areas. The increases in incomes were, however, directly related to the size of the land holdings and thus it resulted in growing differentiation among the peasantry. This and its huge resource requirements led to the reevaluation of it adoption of what is known as the minimum package program. The Minimum Package Program (MPP) The comprehensive package projects were found too costly to be duplicated in other parts of the country. It was thus decided to launch a scheme which was thought to be less costly per farmer. Thus, in 1972 the minimum package program (MPP) involving only those minimum services considered critical for rural development (mainly fertilizer and credit) started to be implemented along all-weather roads. The MPP was envisaged to reduce the cost of developing the agricultural sector that in comparison to the CPP a much wider coverage could be attained. Tentative programs were made for the establishment of about ten projects in selected high response areas each year for thirteen year. According to the program; By 1985 it was estimated that one million families or about 20 percent of the total would be reached The MPP was designed to cover 440 woredas out of the 550 woredas of the country and this was to cover about 70 pre cent of the agricultural population For the implementation of MPP, the Extension and Project Implementation Department (EPID) was established To achieve the objectives, the diffusion of a few proved methods and innovations including improved seeds, fertilizers and farm implements as widely as possible was envisaged to reach the small farmers in various parts of the country. However, due to shortages of manpower, improved seeds and fertilizers, the MPP was not able to achieve its objective of coverage of wider areas and the cost of the MPP was not as low as it was envisaged. landless and semi-landless rural population. As a result of these, agricultural production did not increase as much as anticipated was not increased and the standard of living of the majority did not improve. In fact the programs demonstrated that rural development policy based on feudal land holding arrangements would tend to worsen the conditions of the low-income target population. The Development of Large Scale Commercial Farms The objectives in establishing large-scale commercial farms were to achieve rapid gains in output both to domestic consumption and the availability of surpluses for investment, to get an increase in agricultural exports or substitution for imports, to create new employment opportunities this is because of the fact that such farms require big investment which was not available from internal sources, the implementation of the strategy necessitated a heavy dependence on foreign capital. To attract foreign investment a number of incentives were provided including: Exemption from income tax (tax holiday) for five years for investments of Br. 200,000 and above; Exemption from customs duty; and Remittance of profits and salaries in hard currency. As a result, a number of large-scale commercial farms, mainly owned by foreigners, such as the Wonji Sugar Enterprise, the Setit Humera Plantation, and the Tendaho Plantation were quickly established. But due to misguided incentives, capital dependent operations and outflow capital the large farms did not live up to the expectations of the country. At the end of the second five years plan the industry First argument of the 1950s was being challenged theoretically as post independent Africas aspiration for a rapid industrialization process become increasingly frustrated (Johnston,M et.al 1961) and the major donors made a significant shift in their aid policies in favor of rural development vis-Ã  -vis urbanization and construction of infrastructure. In an attempt to realize this change of policy, donors subjected to Ethiopian government to strong pressure foreign assistance agencies, particularly the World Bank (IBRD) and American organizations, advised Ethiopia to give high priority to the agricultural sector and recommended the package approach concentrating on the more promising regions. This idea also supported by FAO (Nekby 1971:9) The third five-year plan largely followed and coincided with the strategy of what has been known as the Green Revolution (1960s-70s) and which had its own success story in raising agricultural production tremendously in (e.g., India, Pakistan, and other Asian countries).However, it could not minimize the income gap (in fact it is believed to have increased it) and benefits were not fairly distributed (many areas were not included in the program). 2.2 Development Policies during the Derg Regime (1974-1991) It is generally acknowledged that the pre-1975 land tenure system in Ethiopia was one of the most complex in the world and had not been thoroughly studied (Cohen and Weintraub, 1975; Gilkes, 1975; Dessalegn, 1984; Dejene, 1999) as sited by (FAO, 2003). After the 1975 land reform by the Derge has been considered by many as a radical measure that has abolished tenant landlord relationships in Ethiopia. In order to implement the Proclamation, peasant associations were established at various levels. Following the land reform proclamation, another decree that was knows as Peasant Associations Organization and Consolidation Proclamation No. 71/1975 was made. This was followed by the All Ethiopia peasant Association Proclamation No 130/1977. University and high school students were dispatched to rural areas to help the implementation of the land reform. 2.2.1. Agricultural Development Strategy Proclamation No. 31/1005 was not about agricultural production. It was about radically changing the tenure system that existed in the country. The agricultural development strategy of the Derg period was what was known as socialist transformation of agriculture; that of transforming agriculture along socialist lines. This was to be implemented through the establishment and consolidation of state farms and producers cooperatives. Thus producers cooperatives and state farms became the overwhelming priority of the government and its implementation was supported by various proclamations and decrees. Implementation of this policy resulted in the existence of two main types of economic structures in agriculture; namely, The small peasant sub sector represented by the overwhelmingly large number of small farmers; and The socialist sub sector represented by the producers cooperatives and state farms. The small peasant Farms In countries like Ethiopia peasant farms have a relatively good productivity record. Although they employ traditional technology and hardly use modern inputs, their crop-yields are often comparatively high, as they make more efficient use of productive resources than cooperatives or state farms. However small scale agriculture is often considered an obstacle to long-term industrial development and the creation of more mechanized frames. Faced with the choice between a smallholder strategy and a socialist approach, based on collective ownership, group and state farming and governmental control of the rural economy, the government chose the latter. The peasant farms continued to be dominant in Ethiopia even at the height of collectivization year in 1987 by cultivating 94% of the total farmland in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, government policy towards small farmers was discriminatory in that it favored the socialist sub sector. Government policy pertaining tax, modern inputs, credit, pricing policies, and extension services almost completely ignored the small peasants in favour of cooperatives. Quota have been set for every peasant association to sell a given amount of their produce to the Agricultural Marketing Corporation (AMC) at prices fixed by the AMC which were substantially lower than the open market prices and even lower than the prices fixed for cooperatives and state farms. In situation where peasants could not meet the quota, there were incidences where farmers had to buy from the market at higher prices and sell to the AMC at extremely low prices. In spite of all these, however, the smallholders were more successful at absorbing labour, raising yield and increasing income than producer cooperatives and state farms were. Small farmers were resistant to be collectivized, but the government adamantly pushed forward to strengthen cooperatives unsuccessfully. Apart from other concomitant factors, the disappointing performance of the agricultural sector during the Derg period can be attributed to agricultural policies favoring the socialist strategy as opposed to a smallholder approach. The Socialist Sub Sector Producers Cooperatives The Directive for the establishment of producers cooperatives was issued in June 1979. Accordingly, an agricultural producers cooperative was defined as an economic organization of farmers which is established through the gradual transformation of individually owned means of production in to common ownership based on the will and common interest of the farmers. The Directive for the establishment of cooperatives was based on the following principles: The principle of voluntarism. This principle indicates that cooperatives shall be established on the free will of those to be cooperativezed. The principle of gradualism. According to this, the development of cooperatives shall proceed from the simpler type to the more advanced types of cooperatives. The principle of all round state assistance. The government is expected to provide all embracing assistance to the establishment and consolidation of cooperatives. In practice, the principle of voluntarism was violated. In many cases the establishment of cooperatives was conducted by force as opposed to the principle of voluntary entry. As for the gradualism, the directives provided for a gradual progress of cooperatives from simple to advanced types. Cooperatives would start in the form of malba, a type of cooperative where members pool their land together (except their backyard) but keep their production implements and animals privately; they would then proceed to welba, where land, production implements and animals become communal property and a small plot is kept as a backyard. Weland was a kind of higher cooperative made by a number of malbas and/or welbas. With regard to all round state assistance, the government gave priority to cooperatives at the expense of smallholder peasants. Once they were established, Privileges not offered to peasant cultivators, or even to state farms were given to cooperatives. They paid less per tax head than individual peasants and modern inputs like fertilizer, pesticides, etc. were provided to them at subsidized prices and bank interest rates were comparatively lower. They were also given priority on extension services and had access to additional labor from peasant and youth association members. With all these however, the process of collectivization was still very much at an embryonic stage and in the eve of total collapse. Producers cooperatives were tilling 2 percent of the total farmland in 1987. The marketed surplus of cooperatives and individual farms were also about equal in that the average that both were selling was about 20 percent of their harvest, and the rest was consumed at home (68 per cent) while 12 percent was reserved as next seasons seed. However, the cooperativization drive ended in complete collapse largely because of the lack of farmers willingness. Good evidence is what happened when the government was forced by circumstances to issue the Mixed Economic Policy Reform of March 1990. Although the government intended to reorganize and strengthen them, over 95 percent of the producers cooperatives disintegrated with in three months after the declaration of the policy reform. State Farms State farms are farming enterprise that are owned, managed and undertaken by the government. Most state farms were privately owned commercial operations before 1975. According to the March 1975 land reform proclamation all large-scale farms shall be organized, as state farms, and the government shall administer these farms in any manner found it fit. In addition to these, many state farms were also established during the Derg period. The chief aims of state farms were to help alleviate the countries food problems, Contribute to export earning and employment generation. However their performance had been very disappointing due to the following main reasons. Management inefficiency: Lack of appropriate management in the sate farms resulted in misutilization of resources. Highly centralized management system curtailed the exercise of managerial autonomy at farm levels. Problems of Planning and Implementation: Farms were not given the right of preparing their own plans. Plans were prepared at enterprise or corporation level, and each farm was ordered to implement the plan, which may not reflect the objective conditions in the farm. The establishment of state farms was not conducted on the basis of proper study and analysis. Inadequate Controlling Systems: State farms, as in other public firms, had little managerial freedom to plan and to control. Even the cost-benefit analysis was worked at higher levels and each farm is evaluated base on the grand balance sheet of the enterprise or corporation. Disguised Unemployment: Every farm was over populated. There exist unnecessary labour imposing additional costs to the farms. Unnecessary structures were formulated deliberately to absorb more employees. Resettlement and Villagaization Resettlement Prior to the 1974 revolution, resettlement was started out on a small scale as a result of individual initiatives by local governors and aid agencies with a variety of motives and objectives. By the time of the revolution a mere 7,000 household heads had been established in 20 settlement sites at a cost of 8 million US dollars. Resettlement was seen as a means of addressing a range of issues. From an ecological perspective it reduced population pressure in the highlands; from an economic standpoint it was believed that resettlement could help to increase productivity and make use of under-utilized fertile lands; and from a social point of view resettlement was seen as a way of providing land to those with out it, to settle paternalists, and remove unwanted urban unemployment. Resettlement continued at a small scale in the first decade of the military rule so that in total some 46,000 households, comprising 150,000 people had been resettled on 88 sites in 11 regions. Villagization Villagization is a process by which rural households were moved from scattered dwellings into nucleated villages as part of a governmental attempt to modernize rural life and agricultural production patterns. Villagization in Ethiopia began as a regional operation in Bale during the Ethio-somalia war in 1977/78. One of the main objectives of the program at that time was to guarantee the safety of the local inhabitants from invading Somali troops during the war with Somalia. Six years later in December 1984, the prorgamme was extended to the adjusting region of Hararghe, again chiefly for security reasons. In June 1986, a National Villagization Coordination Committee was set up to undertake villagization work as an economic policy to improve rural life. By mid-1987, the government claimed that 12 million people (about one third of the rural population) were villagized. The highest number of newly established villages were built in Shewa and Hararghe. The objectives of this program were the creation of a conducive situation that would facilitate the dissemination of improved agricultural inputs and services. However, this program, like the other programs, was not successful because it was not done on the basis of the participation of the people to be villagized and they were largely unwilling to be villagized. Moreover, it was poorly planned and implemented. The above development policy reforms of the Dergs Military government was a result of the ties made with the East Socialist states such as Russia and other east European countries that had an ideology of command economy system. 2.3. Policy reform during the early transitional government (1991-1994) The EPRDF overthrew the Derg regime in May 1991 after a 17-year prolonged civil war in all parts of the country, leading to the formation of Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE). The 1991 economic policy document of the TGE declared collectivization and villagization as undesirable and liberalized both agricultural markets. The overriding objective of the government was given as attaining fast broad based economic development. an economic reform program was initated, which took the form of structural adjustment program(SAP) nder the auspices of the world bank and IMF. the reform included the removal of substantial taxation of agriculture, market liberalization and devaluation. The fertilizer market was liberalized, creating a multi channel distribution system. (Alemayehu and Berhanu (1999),pg.52). The TGE which was replaced by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) in August 1995 through public election. Since 1992 the TGE was successful to favor market driven development policy by undergoing important structural adjustments and reforms (European Union, 2002). These included; the abolishment of all price controls to agricultural products, the reduction and harmonization of trade tariffs, privatization of state owned enterprises. The government has also made decentralization of power from the Addis based central government to the autonomous regions and nationalities that were believed to accelerate the policy shift from the previous ones to agricultural development, which was not actually endorsed during this period. But the period TGE was characterized by unstable political environments full of suspicion and mistrust over the EPRDF led ruling (Daniel Ayalew, and et.al, 1999). It can therefore be said that main agenda was the rehabilitation type of development thinking and that the development policy in this period was not just fully materialized for the fact that the government was confronted with complexity of challenges from the internal environments that were discussed above. The external policy environment during this period can be generally regarded as cool in response to the structural and policy adjustments made by the country until the constitution of Ethiopia was fully endorsed in 1994. This was a remarkable condition for the endorsement of the Agricultural Development Led Industrialization (ADLI) strategy. (EPRDF,1995) 2.4. The National Development Policy and the Five-Year Development Plan (1995-1999) In the fiscal year of 1995 the establishment of the first federal government structure in the country, it was then possible to attract the attention of the western developed nations. The development policy was well recognized in this period and it was successful enough to become one of the African nations which were nominated for the Sasakawa Global 2000 Agricultural Extension Intervention. Although this extension model was introduced to the country at a pilot level in late 1993, it was widely adopted in all the regions. Significant production increments were registered as a result of this extension system through the supply of inputs such as improved seed, fertilizer, pesticides etc. The approach was heavily criticized for its blanket approach with out giving due consideration to variability in biophysical conditions such as ecology, soils, moisture condition, fertility, topography, altitude, etc. and socioeconomic conditions such as wealth, labor, social setting, food habit, cultur e, etc. More over it was recognized by some scholars and research institutions that landraces, that have been suitable for erratic and unpredictable areas, were endangered by the replacement of single varieties introduced by the SG2000 extension system (MUC, 1996). The way the development policies during this period relate or differ from the international development thinking can be seen from the discussion made by the odi published Rethinking Rural Development (odi Briefing Paper, 2002). Accordingly the development policies during the TGE remarkably relate to the policy environments in the developed world back to the 1950s, where a model based on small farm development has been dominate. On the other hand the attempt to address rural development policy differs from the then international development context in that the budget priorities given to maintain the balance between productive sectors (agriculture manufacturing, etc) and social sectors (road infrastructure, health, education, etc.) was not compromised. The development policy emphasized the SG2000 extension system through the adoption of new technology including improve seeds and fertilizer. Towards the end of this period the macroeconomic policy of ADLI was supplemented by new policies for the sector development programs (SDP) that include education, health, HIV/AIDS and other important sectors (EU Country Strategy Paper, 2002). The other development strategy adopted with in the context of ADLI by the government of Ethiopia in 1996 was the National Food Security Strategy. Following to the adoption of this strategy the National food security Program was established in 1998 by targeting food insecurity in four regions. The implementation of these programs was interrupted by the boarder conflict that occurred with Eritrea in the same year. 2.5. The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) and the Second Five Year Development Plan (2000-2004) The overall objective of this strategy was to encourage the external resource/capital inflow and to increase aggregate output level (IPRSP, 2000). It can be said that the Ethiopian government have took an initiative to prepare the IPRSP soon after the end of the Ethio-Eriteria border war look like to the Marshall plan prepared for the period of 1948-1952 as discussed in Singer (singer, 1989). This is meant for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the European countries that were heavily destructed by e World War II. On the other hand the government has adopted poverty reduction as the core objective for development by arguing that economic growth as the principal, but not the only means to the development of Ethiopian economy. This thinking is quite similar to the combination of the Neo-Classical Economic Theory that existed in the 1980s and the New Development Theory (Todaro, 1987) in that it tries to address four important issues: the sources of economic growth and the potential for growth in the future, the mechanisms and conditions by which economic growth translates into poverty reduction, the initial effect of poverty and inequality on the sustained and rapid economic growth, and the links among economic growth, income distribution and pover

Character of Walter Mitty in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty :: The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - Character Study of Walter Mitty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the short story, "The secret life of Walter Mitty," a man by the name of Walter Mitty goes into town with his wife to get some things done. Throughout this story Walter Mitty shows that he is very forgetful and a really stubborn man with a vivid imagination.   He is constantly being distracted, and starts to day dream often.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are a few hints in this story that show Walter Mitty is very forgetful.   Most of this is probably caused by his constant day dreaming throughout this trip into town and not concentrating too hard on what he's doing.   Once Walter Mitty had dropped off his wife for her hair appointment, he began to do his shopping.   Walter picks up his overshoes and then "Walter Mitty began to wonder what the other thing was his wife had told him to get. She had told him, twice before they left."(90)   Also, a little later on, Walter Mitty "was always getting something wrong"(90) This last quote shows that Walter Mitty must forget things quite often.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story also shows that Walter Mitty is a really stubborn person. When he was dropping off Mrs. Mitty, Mrs. Mitty told Walter Mitty not to forget the overshoes he was sopposed to buy while in he was town. Walter Mitty's reaction was "I don't need overshoes,"(88) but he did give in to his wife in the end, and bought the overshoes.   Another incident that shows Walter Mitty is stubborn occurs when his wife told him to put his gloves on, then Walter Mitty puts them on, but when his wife is out of site he took them off immediately.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most obvious trait of Walter Mitty is his constant day dreaming. Throughout the whole story, Walter Mitty is being distracted easily by everyday events.   His dreams turn these simple events into wild fantasies such as being a surgeon, bomber pilot and a captain of a sea vessel.   An example of how he changes something from everyday life into a dream occurs when Walter Mitty is trying to remember what it was his wife had told him Character of Walter Mitty in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty :: The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - Character Study of Walter Mitty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the short story, "The secret life of Walter Mitty," a man by the name of Walter Mitty goes into town with his wife to get some things done. Throughout this story Walter Mitty shows that he is very forgetful and a really stubborn man with a vivid imagination.   He is constantly being distracted, and starts to day dream often.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are a few hints in this story that show Walter Mitty is very forgetful.   Most of this is probably caused by his constant day dreaming throughout this trip into town and not concentrating too hard on what he's doing.   Once Walter Mitty had dropped off his wife for her hair appointment, he began to do his shopping.   Walter picks up his overshoes and then "Walter Mitty began to wonder what the other thing was his wife had told him to get. She had told him, twice before they left."(90)   Also, a little later on, Walter Mitty "was always getting something wrong"(90) This last quote shows that Walter Mitty must forget things quite often.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story also shows that Walter Mitty is a really stubborn person. When he was dropping off Mrs. Mitty, Mrs. Mitty told Walter Mitty not to forget the overshoes he was sopposed to buy while in he was town. Walter Mitty's reaction was "I don't need overshoes,"(88) but he did give in to his wife in the end, and bought the overshoes.   Another incident that shows Walter Mitty is stubborn occurs when his wife told him to put his gloves on, then Walter Mitty puts them on, but when his wife is out of site he took them off immediately.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most obvious trait of Walter Mitty is his constant day dreaming. Throughout the whole story, Walter Mitty is being distracted easily by everyday events.   His dreams turn these simple events into wild fantasies such as being a surgeon, bomber pilot and a captain of a sea vessel.   An example of how he changes something from everyday life into a dream occurs when Walter Mitty is trying to remember what it was his wife had told him