Frankenstein Essay Example for Free

Frankenstein Essay Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein. The novel is also known as the modern Prometheus. Mary Shelley, her husband Percy and Lord Byron went to Lake Geneva. Lord Byron challenged the group to a ghost story. After that Mary Shelley had a dream which then made her start writing her ghost story. Her dream was of a boy which made a machine, a man, which showed signs of life. Mary then had the basis of her story and went on to complete the novel in 1817 and published it in 1818, in London when she was 18 years old. Another thing which influenced Mary in writing Frankenstein was Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French philosopher, writer and composer in the 18th century. She was deeply motivated by his thoughts and dreams. Her description in Frankenstein closely resembles her documentations of Rousseau’s wanderings throughout his days of exile. This probably gave her an idea of making the monster alone after her idea of a man made human machine. Also Mary knew that Rousseau abandoned his children to an orphanage which Mary disapproved of, but I think this gave her the idea of Victor abandoning his creation, this also happened to Mary when she was young and it also happened to Rousseau when he was young. They were both dreamers, yet outcasts and both found inspiration in loneliness and isolation. The novel Frankenstein is also called the modern Prometheus. The reason why the novels subtitle is called the modern Prometheus is because in Greek mythology, Prometheus was the titan who stole fire from god and gave it to man. Victor stole the secret of creation of life from god in a way because he created a being in the likeness of a man. He stole this ‘fire’ or power and bought it to man just like Prometheus did. Mary Shelley evokes a sense of horror when Victor Frankenstein says in (chapter 5): â€Å"It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. † This was when Victor creates life, a being in the likeness of a man. ‘Dreary’ could be dull, gloomy and evil. She included the month of November to show that it is near the end of the year and it creates a dark setting. November’ is also a cold, dreary month. It is before December (the last month of the year) so it could mean before death. ‘Beheld’ is carrying out or something which you have already carried out. It can create a sense of dread because the thing being carried out could be an evil thing which was carried out. The word ‘accomplishment’ can be victory, creation or achievement. It could be victory or achievement of the creation of something evil which creates the dread. In this case it was the achievement of creating life. ‘Toils’ is the hard work and hard work is work which is done over a long time. So if it is work done over a long period of time, than it gives you the feeling that something wicked is being created behind all the hard work. The second link is that Prometheus was the one who made humans, just like Victor did from scratch. This had lot in common with the classic Prometheus; the dream and the creation of a new species; the disregard of limits. â€Å"I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. † The point where the new being had started its life also creates a sense of fear. ‘Dull’ is gloomy, dreary, evil and deadly. Yellow’ is a colour most commonly used in dangerous and dreadful creatures for the eyes and body so it makes the monster look bloodcurdling. The words ‘open’ and ‘breathed hard’ give the feeling of something is going to happen, a feeling of tension and suspense because it is the first breath of another human created and we do not know what is going to happen. ’Convulsive’ is the jerky muscular contractions resembling a spasm. It can also be the sudden violent movement of rage. It gives us a sense of terror because of the sudden violent movement; you do not know what the monster will do because he is a new creation. Agitated’ is disturbed or trouble. His limbs were troubled and agitated. You can also see it as being in a state of anxiety and not being calm, vigorously shaking back and forth and being restless. It can mean that the monster was impatient and keen to do something. Shelley creates this sense of horror in chapter 5 by making us feel that the monster is an evil person by describing him ‘dull’ and ‘yellow’. Also it creates horror because the monster has sudden violent movements as soon as he is born and is vigorously shaking because of his distressed state. There are 10 elements of a gothic novel. These are: set in castle, which often contains secret passages and hidden parts. Some of Frankenstein is set in darkness and horror for example when before Victor created the monster; he spent nights in churchyards and charnel houses collecting remains of dead bodies in places of dark and ghostly atmosphere. Here Shelley creates the horror. â€Å"As I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave† ‘Dabbled’ can be when you dip your hand or foot into a liquid. But it can also be when someone plays around with their work and experiment things. ’Unhallowed’ is the opposite of hollow, so it is something which is not empty inside. It can also be seen as someone treating something with disrespect or violating the sacredness of something, to remove something from the grave. ‘Damp’ is something which has moisture, a slight wetness on an object. This is related to the gothic element of a setting in darkness or castle. So here, Victor is playing around with the bodies, trying to get a perfect body for his creation when he is dabbling. You can tell it is a body he wants because unhallowed is when it is not empty, and the graves are not empty because they have dead bodies which could be slight wet because they are in the ground. He is raising a body from a grave in a dark graveyard to create a new life. This is how Shelley creates the dread in this gothic element in chapter 4. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense, were fear is often enhanced by the unknown. The terrible, gloomy weather creates suspense and are also metaphors for sorrow and distress. Some gothic novels also contain ancient prophecies which could be obscure, profound or confusing. It could be omens, portents, visions or disturbing dreams like when Victor had a horrifying dream foreshadowing Elizabeth’s death. He was dreaming of Elizabeth who was healthy, but it turned out to be his mum corpse who he was kissing. Shelley creates the sense of horror here when Victor tells of his dream after he created his creation. â€Å"I slept indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as soon as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms, a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. † This was the horrifying dream which Victor had in chapter 5. He thought he saw Elizabeth in the ‘bloom’ of health. A bloom can be a blossom or a flower or a seed starting to grow into a bud or flower. The dream starts off in a cheerful manner, but the fear starts to occur after he ‘embraces’ her. Embrace is when you meet someone, shake their hands, hug them or kiss them. But when he went to ‘imprint’ the kiss on her lips the delightfulness was blown away. Imprinted’ is when you stick, print, dent, mark or impress something or someone. Here it is used as printing a kiss on her lips. ‘Livid’ is something becoming discoloured, purple, bruised, enraged or unusual. ‘Hue’ is colour, a shade or tinge of colour. The lips became discoloured and unusual; they had the shade and colour of death on them. Shelley starts to create the sense of horror here. ‘Features’ are the characteristics of something. It is something which makes up an object or thing. Elizabeth’s features are the limbs and all parts of her body like the nose and eyes. They all started to change. ‘Corpse’ is a dead body. ‘Shroud’ is a covering, blanket, veil or cloak. ‘Enveloped’ is when something encloses on an object or when something surrounds it, an attacking force. ‘Flannel’ is a soft light piece of woollen fabric. I think Shelley used this dream to show that Victor regretted making his creation. As soon as he made it, he abandoned it. The dream was probably trying to tell Victor that he had done something very awful. Also, as soon as the dream had finished and he woke up, the monster was standing over him. The corpse in his dream could be the monster and it could be a vision telling him that your creation will do the same to you; he will be pleasant to you at first like the ‘bloom of health’ but then turn horrific like the corpse and hate you if you turn away from him. It can also mean that Victor is Elizabeth, a lovely, determined man, but after creating the monster he turned heart-less and deadly like the corpse and it comes to hunt him. Supernatural inexplicable events, dramatic, amazing events occur. In Frankenstein, the monster is the supernatural being when he is created. High emotion, characters are often overcome by anger, sorrow, surprise and most often, terror like in Frankenstein the monster is very heart-broken as he finds out no one loves him, even though he loves many humans, so he becomes angry, distraught and lonely. Some gothic novels also have women in distress, threatened by a powerful, tyrannical male. They also have metonymy of gloom and horrors e. g. wind, rain, moans and howls. Terrible weather used by Mary Shelley for dread and horror in Frankenstein is an example of this. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out. † This was at the beginning of chapter 5 when Victor finishes creating his creation. Shelley used dreadful weather (a gothic element) and the completion of Victor’s creation at the same time to create the sense of horror. The monster opened his eyes just after the heavy rain started to beating against the panes. ’Pattered dismally’ is when the rain patters on your window in a dreadful and cheerless manner. ‘My candle was nearly burnt out’. It tells you how dreadful the weather was. The candle was almost burnt out inside a room, and as soon as the candle was almost burnt out, the monster opened his eyes. Shelley used this in an obvious way to create tension and that dread of the horrendous weather and light being gone out from the room combined with the yellow eyes of the monster opening. The monster in Frankenstein is symbolic of many things. Misogyny is one of them. Victor left Elizabeth for his determination of learning new ideas and to feed his craving for knowledge and learning. We sat late. We could not tear ourselves away from each other, nor persuade ourselves to say the word ‘farewell! ’ It was said; and we retired under the pretence of seeking repose, each fancying that the other was deceived. † It is symbolic of Frankenstein (the monster) because the monster stopped the doctor from being with Elizabeth. It may be a symbol of science because it is repeatedly shown in the novel as an alternat ive way of understanding the world to that offered by religion. The monster is a warning against scientific progress. The creature represents this in both its power and its deformities (both physical and moral). The warning against scientific progress is shown when Victor creates a new being and all the casualties which occur after for going advance in science, like the death of Victors brother and Elizabeth, and the loneliness, isolation and being neglected causes the creature rage and sorrow, which after causes him to become evil. It may be symbolic of the parent child relationship. The monster grows up unloved, nameless and untutored-it is a moral lesson to parents about their obligations to their children. Shelly’s tragedy is similar. She lost her mother 10 days after she was born and grew up alone most of the time, so she could be making the monster symbolic of her. It symbolises destructive nature of dangerous ambition in psychological tale. It also considers the question of whether man is born evil or made evil by society, as we see in Frankenstein, the monster is born loving and caring, but the rejection of Victor and other humans made him loose his love and was made evil by society. Shelley uses the monster to symbolise those who have lost their freedom. His purpose is political. Frankenstein contains romanticism. The romantic period had an influence on Mary Shelley. This novel contains many elements of romance, but there are three main ones. These are powerful love, unreturned love and uncertainty of reciprocation. The monster had powerful love when he was born, he was not born evil. He loved Victor very much and begged him for the redeeming power of love. But Victor disliked the monster and abandoned him and his duty to look after his creation. This was unreturned love, the second element, where the monster loved Victor, but he did not give the love back. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped, and rushed downstairs†. ‘Inarticulate’ is someone who is speechless, who is not speaking clearly, and hesitating and mumbling. ’grin’ is a smile, smirk or a pleasant beam. ‘Detain’ is to hold someone, arrest or capture someone. You can see this as a non-evil side and an evil side. The negative way you can see this is the monster opening the bed curtain and fixing his eyes on Victor, as if he was going to do something to him. This is where Shelley starts to create the fear. His mouth opened to say something, he may have wanted to curse Victor or say something unpleasant towards him for creating him and then running away from him. His hand was probably stretched out to capture Victor and hold him a prisoner, before Victor runs away. I think that this is unreturned love. This is where the monster wanted to be loved, and he loved Victor. I see this as a non-evil side. The monster opened the bed curtains to wake up Victor from his horrific dream which the monster could see because of Victor’s convulsive limbs, he wanted to help Victor. His eyes were fixed on Victor because it was the first time he ever saw him properly and wanted to be loved by him. When he opened his mouth to say something, he probably wanted to say some compassionate words and then when he stretched his hands out, he probably wanted to hold Victor and hug him for creating him; for giving him life again. But Victor probably thought he was trying to attack him so he escaped, but I think that the monster wanted love which was not returned to him. An example of the third element is when the monster watched and studied a family of cottagers, he felt as if he was part of their family without even meeting them. Even after the cottager’s rejection, he still had hope that they would accept him. This shows the uncertainty of reciprocation, where someone is uncertain if something is going to be returned. In Frankenstein, the monster is the example of this, he is unsure if he is ever going to be loved. The Enlightenment was a very optimistic, yet realistic, era in history. It found people rallying for major changes to take place. The attitude of the Enlightenment was to question everything and think deeply about its meaning, challenging the importance and validity of tradition. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shelley portrays ideas about progress, optimism, liberty, fate, happiness, nature, and the physical world in a manner that supports Enlightenment attitudes. The enlightenment age encouraged everyone to use reason and science in order to rid the world of barbarism and superstition. In Frankenstein, Shelley argues that Frankenstein’s role as an enlightenment hero, not only pulled him out of nature, but made him a slave to his creation, and that Frankenstein’s role as a revolting romantic failed, because he did not take responsibility for his creation and mankind must find a balance between the enlightenment and romantic ideologies. When Victor takes a moment to ponder upon a story from his youth, we get a glimpse at the Enlightenment view of fate. Victor recalls a time when he was fifteen and lightning not just split, but splintered, a tree near his house. A well researched natural philosopher just happened to be with him at the time, and when he explained the scientific concepts that had destroyed the tree, Victor immersed himself in the study of mathematics and the sciences related to mathematics. â€Å"As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards issue from our house; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a singular manner. It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribands of wood. I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed. † ‘Behold’ is to see, to hold, to think or be felt. ‘Stream’ is the smaller part of a river. It is also used for something wavy or floating. ‘Issue’ is a subject, concern, problem, number or copy. I think in this quote it means rising. The ‘oak’ is a type of wood and also a tree name. ‘Dazzling’ is something shining or glimmering in your eyes, and lighting is the dazzling here. ‘Blasted stump’ is a blown and horrible base or remain. Shattered’ is something broken, devastated, crushed or traumatized. A ‘singular manner’ is a shocking, extraordinary way. ‘Ribands’ is pieces of material. So in chapter 2 Victor says about how he saw a wave of fire rise from an old tree outside his house. The tree had disappeared as soon as the lightning had struck it and all that remained was the base of the tree. When he visited it the next morning, the tree was crushed in an astonishing way. It was reduced to strips of woods and he had never seen anything like this before. The enlightenment encouraged people to use science and reason to rid of false ideas and beliefs. After Victor had seen this, a man of great research of natural philosophy was with him and he explained to Victor about electricity and galvanism (electricity produced by chemical action and in biology, galvanism is the contraction of a muscle that is stimulated by an electric current). Victor had never heard of these theories or ideas before about electricity. This was new to him and in future when he made his monster he used electricity from lightning to stimulate the body of movement. There is a small amount of dread and horror which Shelley has created in this quote. Words like vanishing, disappearing, shattered and splintered give you negative feelings of something happening. This can be the story of Victor when he just finished creating the monster. â€Å"As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards issue from our house†. This can be Victor standing at the door when his creation is about to be finished and he saw a new body rising from an old body which stood about 20 yards from him. And as soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a singular manner†. And as soon as the creature was born, Victor disappeared, the tree could be Victor, and nothing remained but the monster. When Victor visited it the next morning, the monster was traumatized and devastated in a shocking way because he was left alone at his birth. It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribands of wood. I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed† He was not devastated by being created again, but because Victor abandoned him and Victor could not believe he created a new being. This vision which he saw of the lightning could have been a warning to him not to go ahead with his ideas; otherwise there would be danger and consequences. The dream which he had in Chapter 5 after creating the monster, could have been telling him that he is now in danger and he has consequences for creating the monster.

Impact of Capitalism on Environmental Sustainability Goals

Impact of Capitalism on Environmental Sustainability Goals Assignment title: How Significant Is Capitalism Towards Impeding Environmental Sustainability Goals? Introduction There seems to be a universal agreement across nations, social economics and cultural classes that human beings face numerous and unprecedented challenges at the economical and environmental levels. Due to the scarcity of natural resources, theres a severe degradation of the planet, poverty, food shortage, and demographic shift due to urbanisation, globalisation as well as the global economy that is today increasingly becoming complex, fragile and interconnected thus presenting some of the significant challenges to environmental goals. The aim of this paper is to explore how significant is capitalism towards impeding environmental sustainability goals. To achieve this goal, this paper will examine some of the basics of capitalism with regard to the exploitation of resources and people for profit. The paper will also utilise political theory such as Realism and Constructivism in order to understand why countries are opposed to agreements for environmental sustainability. Further, this paper will attempt to discuss some of the issues that have impeded the realisation of sustainable capitalism through the use several empirical studies that illustrate the compelling economic concern for environmental goals. Most of the studies show that it is a good business practice to undertake a more conscious, mindful and sustainable approach, but that is not always the case as many states do not want to reduce environmental populations with the fear of losing their competitive advantage in the global market.   This paper has found that capitalism impedes environmental sustainability goals through global competition of limited resources. In fact, countries such as China and the United States have no limit on the emission level of greenhouse gases in order to remain competitive and industrialised, and thus degrading the environment. Capitalism and Environmental Sustainability It is first important to understand what is capitalism and environmental sustainability goals and how both relate to each other within the perspective of global economical development. According to Mariana and Barkley Jr (2003) capitalism involves an economical system that is based on private ownership as one of the factors of production as well as their operations for profit making. In a capitalist economy, investments and decision making are largely determined by owners of the private businesses in capital and financial markets, while distribution and prices of different goods are determined by competition within the local and global market. Environmental goals or sustainable objectives are generally a multitude of internationally agreed objectives and goals regarding environmental, which are part of the essential documents of United Nations summits and conferences resolutions of the General Assembly (UNEP, 2016). Environmental goals are decisions made through global intergovernmen tal conferences as well as multilateral environmental agreements of their governing bodies. In fact, the compendium of environmental goals is referred as the Global Environmental Goals (GEGs) (UNEP, 2016). Having described capitalism and environmental goals, there are some correction that hold between the two terms that is today under global debate. Having said that, in the current conditions that is characterised by immerse globalisation, gaps between states as well as different social categories, the environmental goals becomes a essentials for all nations across the globe. The Significance of Capitalism towards impeding Environmental Sustainability goals Beginning with 1972 UN Stockholm conference about global development, sustainable and eco-development development become the major topic of the year. However, in the same year, the UN published its first report titled Limit to Growth that presented several economic issues, environmental pollution, increased depletion of natural resources, accelerated population growth and their significant relationships. In the following year, the UN established the International Commission for Environment and Development and established the term sustainable development in their report titled Our Common Future. in this view, the term sustainable development represents the kind of global development within the capitalist market which has the ability to achieve the requirements of current generations without compromising the capacity of future generations in order to satisfy their own personal needs.   In this regard, its clear that the goals of the UN from the start are to help capital market t o be responsible in protecting the environment. It is also clear that many business and business owners in the past and presently are impending environmental sustainability goals. For instance, we have experienced several oil spills in different parts of the world. On May of 2016, over 2,100 barrels of oil spilled into the U.S Gulf of Mexico (Wade, Cohen and Varghese, 2016). Even though the cause of oil leak is still not established, the oil leaked from an undersea pipeline system that is operated by Shell Company leading to death of many aquatic animals. The U.S Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) stated that the spill has been observed as a 2 mile-by-13 mile sheen on the water surface as it can be observed in image 1 below.   Ã‚   The British oil company, Shell was also involved in another yet oil spill, this time in Nigeria, Niger Delta region. The oil company has been sued in the U.K Courts for decades of oil leak in the Niger Delta. In fact, the environmental issues in the Niger Delta have been related to the oil industry. A report by Vidal (2010) posted in The Guardian indicated the extent of the oil spill in Niger Delta was over 1.89 million barrels of oil were spilt between 1976 and 1996 affecting approximately 220 thousand cubic metres. In addition, the UNDP (2006) report indicated that a total of 6,617 spills between 1976 and 2001, which is as a result of over 3 million barrels of oil, where 69 percent of these spills happened off-shore, a quarter occurred in swamps and approximately 6 percent on land. As a result, farmland and forest are now covered in sheen of greasy oil (Vidal, 2010). Moreover, the 40,000-people belonging to the Ogale Community in River State in Nigeria who are mainly farmers and fishermen are largely affected (Mustoe, 2016). Since the 1989 oil spill, they dont have clean drinking water, farm land as well as the river they once claimed. The findings by Amnesty through the 2011 report by the UN Environmental Programme found water in the Delta region of Nigeria to be contaminated with oil by-products including benzene that is thought to be a carcinogen. The report suggested a clean-up by the Shell Company a sustainable recovery that could take up to approximately 30 years (Mustoe, 2016). The major cause of the leak is as a result of oil theft by local people for illegal refineries. However, Shell Company lacks adequate facilities and technology to stop the spill in case of any leak in the pipeline. Thus, the company has failed to invest the right technology that could eventually prevent environmental damage. In the above case of oil spills in the environment, environmental ethics plays a crucial role. According to the Stanford Encyclopaedia on ethics (2015), environmental ethics is the scope in philosophy that shows the moral relationship of individuals as well as the value of moral status of surrounding environment and its non-human contents. The significance of capitalism toward impeding environmental sustainable goals can also be explained through theories of international relations. Theories of such as Realism and constructivism help to explain how global system works. These theories are based on the idea that countries often act in regard to their national interests. A country interests always include self-preservation, economic prosperity, military and influence over other nations. However, many countries aim at fostering peace and economical trade. Therefore, in pursuit of economical prosperity, states might engage in different activities that might influence environmental goals. For instance, according to realism, countries operate only in order to increase their power relative to other nations and environment. A realist nation claims that the world is competitive, dangerous and a harsh place and therefore, the only way to be successful are to gain as much power as possible (Carr, 2001). This indicates that a power ful nation will often be in a capacity to outdo weaker competitors. Therefore, in regard to environmental ethics, such countries fail to protect environment as their exploit any available resource in order to remain in power both military and economically. For example, China has become the number one air polluter as a result of industrialisation. The country suffers more air pollution than any other country across the globe. Approximately two third of Chinas 360 million urban people suffer from unhealthy air pollution. China also leads with greenhouse gases emission that leads to climate change (Vandenbergh, 2007). According to Le Quà ©rà ©, et al., (2009) Chinas carbon dioxide emission tripled between 1990 and 2008. Thus, environment in China is expected to get worse as the country is increasingly constructing unbelievable amount of coal electric power plants. In addition, the number of vehicles in China is drastically increasing. Gregg, Andres, and Marland (2008) notes with the increases number of industries in China, the country is expected to increase the release of harmful gases five times in the next 25 years that what is estimated by the Kyoto Protocol to be saved. Failure of control of pollution and gases emission by china are leading other western nation to produce environmental problem. China gas emission has become a common debate in America in regard to climate change. Congress often makes two arguments in regard to China on the issue of opposing federal climate change legislation as well as international climate change treaties. In this view, the first argument that the U.S. makes is that it will lose jobs specifically to China if they regulate the cost of emitting greenhouse gases, which China will not. The second argument is that it is unfair for China to be allowed to continue emitting greenhouse gases when the U.S. is restricted its emissions. In addition, many politicians in America claim that the environment will suffer in case the U.S. limits its emission and counties such as China do not. Such an approach led the Senate to vote 97-0 in 1997 supporting the U.S will not be a signatory to any environmental protocol that aims at reducing greenhouse emission unless such protocol or agreement is scheduled to commitment of limiting greenhouse emission to other counties with the same compliance period. Therefore, the United States refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol due to similar concerns that China continue to pollute the environment through their vast industries. As a result of global warming that is largely contributed by capitalism, a report few months ago noted that the North Pole ice cap is melting in a much faster manner than previously believed. In addition, the greenhouse gas impact has increase by 20% since 1990 (In defence of Marxism, 2016). Moreover, NASA scientists reported that glaciers are melting at a rate of 6 feet per year in 2000, but today it is melting at a rate of 75 feet per year (In defence of Marxism, 2016). In addition, it is evident that deserts have been expanding across the plant, from 624 sq miles per annum in the 70s to 1374 sq miles in the 1990s. Indeed, many of these changes have been brought by the acts of human being of degrading natural resource in pursuit of profit. Conclusion In conclusion, it is true that capitalism has impeded sustainability. From a global perspective, organisations are competing with each other to manufacture and distribute goods to every corner of the world. In addition, countries are competing to establishing as many industries are possible to in order to remain competitive and powerful. Countries are using fossil fuels such as petrol, gas and natural gas to cause carbon dioxide that contribute largely to global warming. This paper has established that companies such as Shell Petroleum have been involved with destruction of environment through oil spill.   It is with no doubt that oil spill that has happened has occurred in pursuit of profit. The company is being accused of failing to invest in the latest technologies that would stop spill in case of any oil leak within the pipeline. As a result, environment has been damaged and everything that depends on it from animals both in the land and water to human being suffers. Secondly, this paper has established that capitalism has impeded sustainability through the failure of different states to limit their emission of greenhouse gases.   There has not been an agreed protocol or an agreement on the level of greenhouse emission internationally. China has one of the highest greenhouse gas emissions that pollute the environment. In this case, other Western countries like the U.S fear that they would lose jobs to China if they agree to limit the level of emission greenhouse gases. Consequently, these trends can be reversed especially is the U.S and China governments, which are the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases agree on the maximum amount of emission. Indeed, this would affect the amount of fossil fuel such as coal, gas and natural gas consumed, which are the core causes of carbon dioxide emission and thus, global warming. As vehicles account for large amount of carbon dioxide production in many countries, the governments need to mandate the conversion of gas-propelled cars to electricity. Today we have the technology for producing electricity cars, thus such program would pose no environmental issues. In addition, countries need to adopt the construction of environmentally-friendly building in order to reduce the use of greenhouse gases. It is the hope of many environmentalists across the globe that many capital owners and businesses take into the consideration the current evidence of global warming in support of achieving the environmental goals and as well begin to think on how they can holistically achieve the ability to create value for environmental, society and shareholders simultaneously. Finally, a decisive action need to be taken in order to save planet Earth from forces posed by global warming, otherwise it will be irreversible. References Carr, E. (2001). The Twenty Years Crisis, 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations. Edited by M. Cox. Hampshire; NY: Palgrave. Gregg, J. S., Andres, R. J., Marland, G. (2008). China: Emissions pattern of the world leader in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption and cement production. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(8). In defence of Marxism, (2016). Capitalism and the environment, Available at: http://www.marxist.com/capitalism-environment-ecology-marxism210806.htm Accessed: 12/1/2017. Le Quà ©rà ©, C., Raupach, M. R., Canadell, J. G., Marland, G., Bopp, L., Ciais, P., Friedlingstein, P. (2009). Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide. Nature Geoscience, 2(12), 831-836. Mearsheimer, J. (2001). The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: Norton. Mariana. R. and Barkley Jr. J. (2003).Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy. MIT Press. Stanford Encyclopaedia on ethics, (2015). Environmental Ethics, Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-environmental/ Accessed: 13/12/2016. UNEP, (2016). Welcome to the Global Environmental Goals (GEGs) Live Tracker. [Online] Available from: http://geodata.grid.unep.ch/gegslive/ Accessed on 12th Jan 2017. Vandenbergh, M. P. (2007). Climate Change: The China Problem. S. Cal. L. Rev., 81, 905. Vidal, J. (2010). Nigerias agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it. [Online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell. Accessed on 12th Jan 2017. Wade, T., Cohen. L. and Varghese, A. (2016). Shell Oil Spill Dumps Thousands Of Barrels Of Crude Into Gulf Of Mexico. [Online] Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shell-oil-spill-gulf-mexico_us_57353058e4b060aa7819ee00. Accessed on 12th Jan 2017.

Social work as a practice

Social work as a practice Social work as a practice is of recent origin and attempts to meet the needs of people especially those in urban areas. In essence, it is a professional activity of helping individuals or communities enhance or restore their capacities to a social functioning and to create societal conditions favorable to their goals. It aims to improve the quality of human life as well as show commitment towards social justice (Ryan and Hughes, 1998). Individuals, families, communities and organizations are able to attain their full potential by seeking social work related services. The need for such services has been extended to cater for children as they are currently facing challenges that hinder their proper development. This has become the main focal point of this document. First of all, as mentioned above, social work is aimed at improving the livelihoods of people and engaging them constructively to attain their full potential. This cuts across all generations including children. Several reasons have contributed to my desire in working within the Public Child Welfare system. The system is driven by the aim to promote the safety, wellbeing and permanency of children as well as families (Ryan and Hughes, 2006). Most children experience situations such as being deprived of parental care, abuse ranging from physical, sexual, emotional to neglect, marital conflicts, stigma related issues, unfavorable socioeconomic conditions (Weaver et al., 2006) that expose them to scenarios such as opting for prostitution. Qualities Of A Good Child Protection Services Worker For one to be a Child Protection Services worker, one has to meet the basic requirements which include a Bachelors degree in social work or a Masters degree in social work, maintain substantial knowledge of current affairs pertaining to childrens welfare and be able to apply the knowledge acquired into structured settings. One should be aware of the ethics and values which describe in detail the code of conduct. A commitment to the ethics and values of a Child Protection Services worker should be fully adhered to, be able to apply basic helping skills where one is able to respond to individual, group and community needs, engagement skills, observation skills, communication skills, empathy skills, resistance intervention and assessment skills. With these strengths I am able to carry out my duties as Child Welfare Protection Officer effectively and efficiently. Challenges To Effective Child Welfare Service Provision However, even with the above strengths, several challenges exist that compromise service delivery on the part of the child welfare services worker. Ryan and Hughes (1998) expound on these challenges to include; poor public perception of the Child Welfare Social worker. Service delivery is compromised by high staff turnover as well as lack of competent personnel in the social work institutions; vulnerability of families with complex needs thus requiring time bound complex solutions. This cannot be tackled by the few workers available; poor working conditions result in the workers having to bear with increasing caseloads without proper remuneration and flexible routines; increased caseloads with complex needs. These stem in part from the vulnerability of families where breadwinners are unable to provide sufficiently for their dependants. Complexity of these needs requires complex actions in their solutions which further demands time to solve them; reduction in the number of foster care parenting. Increased caseloads face a backlog of foster care parenting as less individuals sign up into foster care systems due to increased expenses and bureaucracies involved. Proposed Changes To Improve The Publics Perception Of Public Child Welfare Services In order to improve the public perception of public child welfare services, adequate training and employment should be done to increase the number of competent personnel in these institutions. This would effectively take into account the need to improve service delivery to cater for increasing cases related to child welfare (Weaver et al., 2006). Secondly, institutional changes that encompass policy development and implementation need to be adequately addressed to ensure systematic co-ordination in securing resources for affected families and children. Further more, compensation should be incorporated to promote foster care parenting o that foster families do not feel overburdened in taking care of the adopted children. Staff should also be compensated in situations where they have incurred extra expenses of both time and money in their quest to address underlying issues brought to them. Permanency Planning Weaver et al., (2006) defines permanency planning as a guiding principle intended to minimize the exit, entry and time spent in home care. It includes both legal and social efforts aimed at securing viable families for children. It further describes where a child will live after foster care. Foster Care System Foster care system refers to a system where a minor is taken up in a caregivers home. Such a caregiver is certified by the state and is referred to as a foster parent. The state and a child welfare institution engage in legal decisions affecting the minor while the foster parent contributes to the daily care of the minor and is compensated for extending such services by the state. This system is mostly short term in nature as the minor awaits permanent adoption or reunification (Ryan and Hughes, 1998) Career Prospects Five years after my graduation, I intend to become a social worker with a bias in child protection services. I will focus my attention mainly in child labor and female genital mutilation cases for the first three years. I will then establish an organization whose main mandate would be to address the above issues. References Ryan, J. and Hughes, R. (1998), Field Guides to Child Welfare (Vol II-XIII). Washington: CWLA Press Weaver, D. et al., (2006), Retention of Public Child Welfare Workers. Berkeley: California University

Jean Piaget Essay -- Essays Papers

Jean Piaget Introduction Now known as one of the trailblazers of developmental psychology, Jean Piaget initially worked in a wide range of fields. Early in his career Piaget studied the human biological processes. These processes intrigued Piaget so much that he began to study the realm of human knowledge. From this study he was determined to uncover the secrets of cognitive growth in humans. Jean Piaget’s research on the growth of the human mind eventually lead to the formation of the cognitive development theory which consists of three main components: schemes, assimilation and accommodation, and the stage model. The theory is best known for Piaget’s construction of the discontinuous stage model which was based on his study of children and how the processes and products of their minds develop over time. According to this stage model, there are four levels of cognitive growth: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. While a substantial amount of psyc hologists presently choose to adhere to the constructs of the information processing approach, Piaget’s ground breaking cognitive development view is still a valuable asset to the branch of developmental psychology. Whether or not Piaget uncovered any answers to the mysteries of human knowledge is disputable, but one belief that few dispute is that Jean Piaget did indeed lay a strong foundation for future developmental psychologists. Historical Background In 1896 the summer in Switzerland was just an ordinary, uneventful three months. However, during this ordinary and uneventful span of time, a child was born who would become an extraordinary developmental psychologist and fulfill the future with ground breaking events in the field of cognitive psychology. He was the son of an intelligent man and a stern, smart religious woman, and the godchild of respected epistemologist Samuel Cornut. With such scholarly surroundings, there is little surprise that Jean Piaget developed into such an intelligent individual. At age eleven, young Piaget wrote a paper on albino sparrows and got it published. This publishing provided him with the opportunity to meet a man who would turn out to be very influential, Paul Godet, the curator at the local museum. Young Piaget also benefited highly from his prestigious high school in Neuchatel, along with the aforementi... ...they themselves are innovative theoretical components. Impact on Society Jean Piaget was the leaning experimental epistemologist, thanks in some part to Simon and Binet’s work, but he set the standard that would not be accepted by the ethnocentric Americans until they were desperate during the Cold War and decided to open their eyes and accept his findings. Once they did this, they implemented Piaget’s theory into many American school systems which would have had a much more beneficial outcome had the powers that be implemented the great man’s work more carefully. Yet Piaget and his theory have survived and he is labeled as â€Å"the dominant force in shaping the cognitive-field and perceptual-field theories.† His theory was strong because he placed intellectual development over the child’s emotional, social, and moral development because he viewed the intellect as having influence over these other developing entities. In conclusion, Piaget summarized the cognitive development theory best in this statement: â€Å"M y secret ambition is that the hypotheses one could oppose to my own ill finally be seen not to contradict them but to result from a normal process of differentiation.†

Aggressive Driving in Massachusetts :: Transportation Aggression Essays

Aggressive Driving in Massachusetts Driving in Massachusetts, doesn’t always get you somewhere. There were 141,675 motor vehicle crashes in Massachusetts in 2003. In response to the problem, Massachusetts law enforcement officials are vowing to get aggressive on aggressive driving, a growing danger in the state. â€Å"We will catch you and there will be consequences, criminal consequences, loss of licenses and even a jail term,† Col. Thomas Robbins, Massachusetts State Police warned aggressive drivers at the launch of ‘Road Respect’, a Spring Mobilization program at the Newton Police headquarters on the morning of April 4. ‘Road Respect’ is an attempt to educate Massachusetts drivers on the dangers of aggressive driving and enforce its decline. The Governor’s Highway Safety Bureau (GHSB), the State Police and over 255 local police departments are participating in the ‘Road Respect’ campaign to make it a success. Over 5,300 people suffered incapacitating injuries and 462 people died from the crashes in Massachusetts in 2003. While there was a decline in traffic accidents nationwide in 2003, Massachusetts experienced an increase of 1.9% from the previous year. â€Å"A friend of mine, Barbara Silva, a nurse at Waltham school was driving to work on Route 128 when another car suddenly cut her off. For some reason the truck ahead of [that car] braked abruptly and [the car] banged into it. She slammed into [the car]. It was a horrible accident. It could have been avoided if [the other car] hadn’t jumped lanes. â€Å"I call it a pinball game that aggressive drivers play when they bounce from one lane to the next. â€Å"It was 8 a.m. in the morning last March when it happened. [The driver] wasn’t drunk or anything and it didn’t have anything to do with the weather conditions,† said Carole Ferguson Page, a Massachusetts resident. The Massachusetts state and local police issued approximately 148,000 aggressive driving citations from 2000 through 2003. 17,950 of these citations involved a crash. The number of aggressive driving citations issued by Massachusetts state and local police increased approximately 3% during this time. Aggressive driving involves failing to yield right of way, making improper and unsafe lane changes, passing on the shoulder, ignoring traffic lights, following too closely (tailgating) and speeding. An aggressive driving citation involves two or more of these violations. Aggressive driving can also result from drunk or drug driving and distracted driving. It is hence densely woven into multiple road dangers. â€Å"Aggressive driving behavior is among our top traffic problems,† said Lt.

Communication system Essay

Use and develop systems that promote communication 1. Be able to address the range of communication requirement in own role 1. 1 Review the range of groups and individuals whose communication needs must be addressed in own job role. Working within Surestart I work with many groups and individuals whose communication needs must be addressed which include 16 staff members, services users to date we have 1700 families registered with Surestart. We would have a lot of communication with Health visitors regarding referrals that they have sent in and also follow up telephone calls if there is any concerns with the family. I would also have contact with social services and be asked to attend case review meetings. I would also be expected to communicate with other agencies to refer our service users on the appropriate agencies for example other children centres, counsellors, women’s Aid and Hidden Harm Social worker, 1. 2 Explain how to support effective communication within own job role Effective communication and interaction play a very important role in the work of everybody that works within Surestart. I feel that how I support effective communication is by setting a good example to staff. With communication been so important for the day to day running of the centre, each staff member would be asked to write in the diary in the main office so people can know where they are (this is for the save guarding of staff if they are out of the office, lone worker policy) There is also a white board in the main office so when staff are in programmes other staff are aware of this and that the parents/baby room are booked. I would also support communication by attending staff meeting ever second week and staff are told that they must attend once a month. There is also an open door policy as sometimes there is information that staff do not want to share in a team meeting as there maybe difficulties within the team and they would like to share information on a one to one basic. 1. 3 Analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within own job role The barriers and challenges that I would face is staff working part time, staff out doing programme and also may be difficult feeling between staff members. The other barriers and challenges that I would face is staff do not take on board what you are saying to them as they feel they are right so they do not even listen to what you are trying to explain. Some people may pick you up wrong on the information you are trying to get across. 1. 4 Implement a strategy to overcome communication barriers Make sure I speak very clear, focus on what information I would like them to take on board. Supervision on a monthly basis, open door policy if anyone has a problem they can talk about it. Staff can ring and send emails at any time. The childcare supervisor meets with the childcare team every morning to make sure that all creches have enough staff and if they have any concerns regarding the children. There is also a referral meeting once a week where we discuss the referral that health visitor/social workers have send in and also to discuss and concerns we would have regarding the parents. I also send rely slips to social worker / health visitor to let them know if a home visit has been completed or if we have been unable to contact the family. Use different means of communication to meet different needs I am aware that each staff member has different learning styles, some staff like sharing information in a group and other staff like to share information in a one to one. It is also very important for me to take this on board as I do not want any member of the team feeling frustrated and ineffective. I want staff to be able to trust me and let them see that I value the work that they do. The different means of communication I use to meet different needs are. Emails are a very effective means of communication as each staff members gets the information at the same time and not second hand. Emails can be sent at any time and also printed out to file or record information that has been sent or received. Team meeting again are a very good as all staff are getting the same information and this is a nice way for other staff to meet and let everyone else know how things are going and if anyone is finding a family or child difficult then there is the support of the whole team for ideas of how to handle a situation. If anyone cannot make it then the team minutes are there to read. Telephone if I am not in the office I can still be reached on my mobile if anyone needs anything. Health visitor/Social worker would also contact me by telephone if they needed an update on a family. Staff diary in the main office this lets staff members know who is in which room and if anyone is on leave or sick or if someone has an appointment. Sign in and out sheet beside the exit door this is for safety reasons as if there was a fire in the building then I would know who is in and out Reply slips are back to the health visitors/social worker as an update for the referral they have send in. Letters to parents this is to invite them along to programmes/events. Thought-out the year I would facilitate information mornings for breastfeeding support, weaning work shop and feeding for under 5’s this would be to share information to welcome new service users to the Surestart. Face to face, my office is open to all staff at any time if they need to talk about anything. CU2941 Use and develop systems that promote communication 2. Be able to improve communication systems and practise support positive outcomes for individuals 2. Monitor the effectiveness of communication systems and practices. The diary in the front office if very effective for staff on home visit as we know where there are for their safety (lone worker policy). white board in the main office is very effective as this is where all staff write down their programmes so if there is any phone calls for staff the secretary knows if they are in the office or in programmes. Emails can be sent at any time and it means that the same information is been told to the staff at the same time and it is also the staffs responsible to pick up their emails. The childcare supervisor meets with the childcare staff each morning I feel that this is very effective as this is in place to make sure that all rooms are covered with their ratio, and most importantly that the needs of the children are met and if there is any problem in any of the setting it can be addressed as needed and that staff do not have to wait 2 weeks for a team meeting to discuss. One to one communication i. e. Supervision and APR, I feel that this is very important within a setting. N-Drive – this is where documents can be saved and all staff can access it. In our office we have a policy of hot desking so documents can accessed at any computer. This is also for Surestart forms and newsletters so all staff can print them out as needed. Reply slips to health visitors/social worker/other agencies – this is where I reply to any referral letter that the project receives, I would reply to the other agencies if this family had received a home visit and services offered, if I was unable to contact the family for different reasons or if the family did not want to avail of Surestart services. Phone – if I cannot be reached at any time then a message can be left for me to return there call. 2. 2 Evaluate the effectiveness of existing communication systems and practice Evaluating the effectiveness of existing communication systems and practice I am going to start with the ones I feels are the most effective. One to One Communication – I feel that this works very well within a team as some staff members do not like to speak in front of other and feel that their ideas might not be good enough. I also feel that face to face communication is very effective as some people can pick up a message wrong and take the wrong tone with an email. Supervision – this is there for staff to talk confidently with their manger I feel that this is very effective means of communication for the manger to tell how well things are going for that member of staff and for the staff member to say how they really feel about how things are going. ( I also feel that you have to have a good relationship with your staff for this to work, you have to be relaxed and friendly and staff members also have to trust you). Supervision is also very effective as this give staff clear boundaries of what is expected of them for the month a head and also make sure they are on target to achieve the targets in their APR. Team meetings – I also think this is effective as this can let everybody know how programmes are going if there is any follows to do with families in any of the programmes. If anyone is having any difficulties if any of the programmes is nice to get other ideas how to deal with it. It is also there for sharing information for the Surestart board and action for children. To let staff know what training is coming up. ARP- I have been working in a Surestart setting for the last 11 years, I feel that this is the first year I have felt that an APR has been effective like the rest of communication systems if it is not done right then it will not be effective. APR is there to set goal and targets for the year ahead, I feel this is very important for staff as they know what is expected of them for the year ahead and then this is monitored at each supervision to make sure that staff in on track with their targets. Childcare meeting every morning – I feel that this is very effective as each member of the childcare team no where they are each day and who is covering in each setting and also if any member of the childcare team is concerned about a child this is discussed each morning. Emails- I feel has pro and con. It is very effective in a way that emails can be sent at any time and is very good for all staff to receive the information at the same time. I also feels that staff can pick the tone of emails up wrong and some information is best said face to face. Reply letter to health visitors/social workers/other agencies – I feel that this is a very effective The diary in the front office – This is effective if everyone plays there part in filling it in. If someone is on training or off on A/L and forgets to fill it in then it is very hard for other staff to know where they are. N-Drive – This is effective as all the Surestart form and standard letters are on it as well as newsletters. It is also that as this is used while hot desking it means that the documents that are placed on this drive can be accessed by the whole team so if I was saving any confidential information I would also password protect it. Phone – I do feel that this is effective as if I am not available by phone or mobile then a message can also be left. 2. 3 Propose improvements to communication systems and practices to address any short comings I feel that communication can always be improved as we are only human and staff do forget to pass on messages, response to emails, and even fill in the diary in the main office. I have proposed that each desk has message pad so that all messages have to written down. I have proposed that the main diary is to be brought to the team meeting so that if anyone has any leave booked, any visits arranged or training then this can go into the diary. I would also remind everybody at team meeting about remembering to fill in the diary I have also propose that the reply slips to the health visitors/social workers be changed as I feel it could be improved. 2. 4 Lead the implementation of revised communication system and practices CU 2941 Use and develop systems that promote communication 3. Be able to improve communication systems to promote partnership working 3. 1 Use communication systems to promote partnership working The systems that we use to promote partnership working is: One to one communications – I meet with the health visitor for breastfeeding once a week. Also any of the health visitors are welcome to call in at any time. Some health visitors like to bring parents that are hard to engage into the centre to meet me to show them around the building and meet the staff. I would also have contact face to face with our families on a daily basis through programmes and also registrations. Phone call – health visitors/social services and other agencies would phone for update and regarding case review meetings. Families would also phone on a daily basis if they needed help with anything or information. Post – we post letters to the agencies if we are unable to reach the families or if they no longer wish to be involved with the service. I would also post letters and newsletter to families. Emails – some agencies like to send email as it is a faster way for them and this is ok with me as long as it is recorded. Referral reply – this is a letter drawing and signed by Surestart parents that we have permission to send it back to the health visitors to say we have been in contact and the Surestart services have been offered. Information events – this is different events for Surestart to promote their services 3. 2 Compare the effectiveness of different communications systems for partnership working I feel within waterside Surestart the systems we use are very effective. One to one communication I feel is very effective as this can reassure service users and colleagues and also outside agencies, you can focus on the goal. I can be supportive and positive to all that need it. I can also assess the services users’ needs and provide them with the support needed and I also feel that this builds trust and relationships. Phone call – I feel that this is a very effective way of communicating as some health visitor/social worker/other agencies need an update ASAP as they may be on their way to a review meeting. All if a member of staff is not on the office this is a good way of communicating. As my role as family support worker I be in contact with families every day on the phone, may it be they have a question or I am inviting the families to programmes or arranging home visits. Emails – This is a very effective way that I communicate in Surestart, supervision notes to be sent 3 says before supervision, team meeting are to be sent and read before the meeting. Agencies are able to send emails / newsletters Referral Response – I feel that this is a very effective way that Surestart communicate. This is send to health visitors/social workers who send in a referral this is to show the agencies that we have made contact with that family or that we have tried to contact the family and after 4 weeks we are unable to reach them. Information events – I feel that this is not really effective as we work on catchment areas and this is very hard to have an event in a general area, it has to be within the area, as we do not like to turn people away that may be interested in the service, as when agencies send in referrals they have a list of streets that is inside the catchment area and only if there is a need then they can be outside the area. Propose to improvements to communications systems for partnership working I do believe that communication within waterside Surestart has got a lot better in the last year, I feel that this has a great deal to do with our new manager, she has gained the trust and respect of the staff and in return it is a pleasure to work with. I feel that I have a great leader to follow and learn a great deal from. The only improvement that could be made is that a leaflet could be drawn up for families that are outside the catchment area so that they leave with something rather than going away with no information (this is in the process on being done). I am also assisting the upgrade of the referral response form so that families sign this form so that we have permission to hold their information and that we are allow to send the form back to the referrer. CU2941 Use and develop systems that promote communications 4. Be able to use systems for effective information management 4. 1 Explain legal and ethical tensions between maintaining confidentiality and sharing information Working with in a Surestart setting for the last 11 years, I know that confidentiality is very important. It’s important for agencies and services users to build a trusting relationship with me. I am very honest with the people I work with, when I am completing a registration form with parents I do tell them that their details will stay in a locked filing cabinet for 7 years, that there information is stored on a database password protected until there child/ren turn 4. I also let the parents know that under the data protection act they are able to see their file at any time. Parents also sign a form that we are able to share information with the health visitor and other agencies involved if we have any concerns regarding the child or parents. When I have taking programmes with parents I also start with group rules. Confidentiality always comes up, I always tell parents that whatever is discussed at the group I do not take it outside of the group, I can only speak for myself but that I would hope that everyone would stand by this too. I also always make it very clear to parents that if anything is discussed or disclosed any information regarding harm or danger or abuse to a child/ren then I will past this information on to my manger and the appropriate authorises. I feel that if I am honest with all the people that I work with then I do believe that you build up a trust and that by law I have to report and record all that is disclosed to me, although I did have a parent in the past that did not understand this, they felt that I was just reporting them to social services and she believed that social services where there to take her child away. This lady did not return to Surestart as what she disclosed I had to discuss with my manger. Analyse the essential features of information sharing agreements within and between organisations Under the data protection act 1998, the purpose of the act is to protect the rights and privacy of individuals and to ensure that data about them are not processed without their knowledge and are processed with their consent whenever possible, this act covers personal data held in electronic formats, manual data and relevant filing systems. Surestart has devised a form that has recently been updated by my colleagues and myself, this form is where we get service users to sign that they agree Surestart is able to keep their details in a secure place for up to seven years, and that if we had any concerns regarding the child that we would contact the appropriate service also that if there is a social worker involved that we are able to update them on any programmes they attend for case review meetings. Health visitors would send in referral form with parent’s consent, what happens is we then phone that family and do a home visit and in that visit we fill out the Surestart forms with the families details on it, the consent for is then signed and sent back to the health visitor to say we have completed a visit this is what programmes they would like to attend, I would also send back a form to the heath visitor if that family did not wish to avail of Surestart services or that I could not reach them. These forms are kept with the registration and filed in a locked cabinet. When I am facilitating a programme within Surestart I always do group rules, parents can put what they like on it, confidentially always comes up, I just remind parents that what happens in the group will stay in the group with me, but I can only speak for myself and not the rest of the group and I do tell them that It would not be nice to hear anyone talking bad about another parent. I do inform the parents that if there anything disclosed within the group that has caused abuse of harm to a child them I am bound by action for children policies and procedures and under the children order act 1995 to past this information on to my manger and the appropriate services, I do tell the parents that I would discuss this with them before I reported what I have heard. Demonstrate use of information management systems that meet legal and ethical requirement Under the data protection act 1998 Surestart need permission to hold data on the families that I work with, how this is done  is that all parents have to sign the registration form and also the consent for their details to be stored according to action for children policies and procedures, which is that their details are stored for up to seven years, in a locked filing cabinet and up to four years on the Surestart database. Under the children’s order 1995 I am bound to report anything that I have heard or seen that my or has caused harm to a child. This would also be discussed with the parent/s what information I would be passing on to my manger. This also gives the parent an opportunity to explain. The information my lead to a referral been made to social services.

Globalization of Media

Standard Coursework Cover Sheet Section A Please complete ALL parts Module Code Module Title Course Title CW1 CW2 CW3 CW4 Module Instructor Student ID Number Section B Please read the statement, and sign the declaration Plagiarism – work presented in an assessment must be the student's own. Plagiarism is where a student copies from another source, published or unpublished (including work of a fellow student) and fails to acknowledge the influence of another's work or to attribute quotes to the author.Plagiarism in an assessment offence (see actions Section 11: Regulations of the Student Course Handbook, pp. 78-81). Student Declaration: â€Å"I declare that the work submitted is my own† Section C Tutor’s Comments The globalization of the media is endorsing and creating a global village. The media-scape is restructuring itself, forming a singular global body, as opposed a mass of multiple independents. Media globalization is a direct result of technological develop ment, maximisation of corporate media interest, the media's increasing correspondence to the public sphere, and media ownership.It is widely evident that the media is in fact becoming a global conglomerate, which is in turn endorsing the emergence of a single global village ( Jan, 2009). Mass media is a term which highlights the means of delivering impersonal communications to a vast audience. The concept of globalization corresponds to capacity of human social organizations to reach one another across separate regions and continents, whilst expanding power relations. Such allows for the growing integration of the globe as a united entity.Media globalization is a direct result of technological development, maximisation of corporate media interest, the media's increasing correspondence to the public sphere, and media ownership. The global village has evolved to become more than simply a mass media monopoly, but also an endeavour for political dominance, headed by the Untied States of America. It is widely evident that the media is in fact becoming a global conglomerate, which is in turn endorsing the emergence of a single global village ( Jan, 2005).Technological developments and electronic advancements have closed the gap between separate nations, and as a result have aided the mass media in becoming a global body. Faster and cheaper communications have proven imperative towards the developments of globalization, critical to innovation, production, growth and job creation. The 1990's called for the acceleration and rapid advancements in relation to digital transmission. As a result of these developments digital communication networks, including the Internet, are redeveloping the media-scape.It can be argued that the capabilities of technology within the field of communications and the mass media outweigh the potential and expectations of monetary focused monopolizers currently in power. Technology will allow for a more democratic media-scape which calls for pu blic involvement and wider interaction. It is this representation of technology and the public which will support the media as it directs us towards a united global village ( Leary, 2005). [pic]Competition and innovation from a technological point of view have formulated three trends which support the globalization movement.These include; `The Rise of Data' (the growth of data transmission is now beyond traditional `voice traffic'), `The Internet' (emergence of e-commerce and digital network structures), and `Wireless Networking' (affordable and increased connectivity). The Information Revolution and the progression of technology are able to impact upon globalization in such an effective manner, based on their potential to influence a diverse array of international affairs and institutions. These include security, politics, the economy, society and culture, as the roles of government policymakers are altered.Information has become more accessible, decision-making can become either c entralized or decentralized, the monopoly of information has eroded and actions to be considered from a global perspective rather than just a localised one. Although from this perspective International Relations in general are of benefit, such also has an impact on the media for comparable reasons, which then transcends to the community at large. Digital communication and the internet will become and integral aspect of the development of a global communication oligopoly.International Relations can be endorsed and supported by a global mass media, (and vice versa), which then compliments our progression towards a singular global village ( Price, 2008). The media holds a mass level of power and dominance, due to the role it plays within the public sphere, and the intense level of public interest it upholds. As a result, the globalization of the media has a direct influence upon it responders (the public), thus enhancing and developing the creation of a wider global village.Being a spe cific institution of society, it is the responsibility of the media to be informed by interests, normalities and greater values – the media is hence an integral aspect of the meaning-making processes of our global community. That is, that the media is to reflect society based on cohesion with its principles. Thus, a global village can be both formed and shaped by the media, simply as a result of its interaction with and relevance to daily routine and public life. The Media are an indissoluble part of the contexts, the messages and the relationships that create and give shape to politics and public life. † Media have an intrinsic role in the functioning of modern society. Such role is aided by the diversity and mediums of the media, which hold a specific function towards the democratic health of our society. Without the media we would not be able to communicate and interrelate with one another in any manner which compares to both our present and futuristic existence as w e know it.The concept of a global village would not only be unknown, but also unattainable ( Gozzi, 1996). The media and public domain must hence uphold a high level of mutual respect, wherein the nature of modern public life can be understood, presented and influenced. The media are the sites where the meanings of public life are generated, debated and evaluated. Hence, it only seems reasonable that as the globe unites into one village, as will the media. Influences such as technology direct this, but it is the media's interest, involvement and interaction which the public domain that shape and guide it.Prior to the establishment of the media, public interest existed, but had no real means of transmission beyond personal experience. If we compare this scenario to our mediated public life today, we can clearly see that the formation of a global village is not only probable, but in motion (Gozzi, 1996). It is evident that media monopolies have no major concern for what can be deemed as public interest. What appears to be cost effective is sufficient – the media is able to take control of and manage our inner emotions and opinions simply through what is directed towards us. Public interest is in fact dictated by the media itself.While it takes much time and money to find out the truth, the parent companies prefer to cut the necessary costs of journalism, much preferring the sort of lurid fare that can drive endless hours of agitated jabbering ( Bagdikian, 1998). Corporate interest, politics and media ownership are often interrelated. With multi-holdings in the hands of media giants such as Rupert Murdoch, politics and media content can be a highly controversial subject. Favoured audiences can be supplied with mixed messages filled with bias. If a media owner dislikes a political power, it is well within his capabilities to ensure that such party is not elected.It is in this scenario where the media literally has such a power and control over Government bo dies, that distorted messages and corporate bias can twist the truth and subject the public. This can be identified as corruptive journalism and sensationalism. It is the fatal ignorance of a blind public which allows and follows such behaviour ( Bagdikian, 1998). The concern that contemporary politics relies too much on `individuals' and `events' stems from the representational powers of television and its communicative contexts.Television is extraordinary adept at capturing and conveying the nuances of personalities and the physical particularities of action. It is argued that such aptitude occurs at the expense of the reportage of more complex issues and policy, which do not lend themselves to easy and dramatic representation ( Bagdikian, 1998). It can be argued that media ownership simply defends popular culture and public interest, but as A. Ashbolt claims, it is very hard to distinguish between tastes and choice if the public is dictated to and shaped by American saturation.Wh en we are given no option, and no other leads to follow, obedience to media's dominance is inevitable. Hegemony, standardization and the evolution of a global village are a result of the globalization of media, based on the lack of diversity evident within media ownership, the neglect of true public interest and the media's political power to intervene over government ( Bagdikian, 1998). The rise of Trans-National Corporations (TNC's) and the labelling of The United States of America as an `Empire' have both contributed to the globalization of the media leading towards a uniformed global village.Hegemony and standardization across the media-scape is arguably a result of these progressing yet dominating factors. TNC's have been established on the basis of countries having the power and capabilities to communicate and interrelate with one another, thus allowing for standardization and influence. Commercial media has similarly moved abroad, establishing across-nation empires which acqu ire significant holdings across all mediums. However, Hollywood Studios and the United States of America are still the dominant party, even purchasing smaller bodies to guarantee ultimate control.This amplifies the capabilities and intentions of the American empire, not only via the media, but in general political and global terms also. Noam Chomsky argues that for more than half a century the United States of America has been pursuing a `grand imperial strategy' with the aim of staking out the entire globe. Evidence suggests that such task is willing to be followed until the assumed `verge of extinction'. This provides evidence that the globalization of the media is in all certainty creating a global village, which can arguably be labelled as having America as a dominating force.The media orientated global community is dictated beyond simple forces of mass media, but stretches to include corporate TNC's and political strategy ( Denis, 1996). The global entity that is the mass media has created a singular global village. Media globalization is stimulated by technological development, maximisation of corporate media interest, the media's increasing correspondence to the public sphere, and media ownership. The global village has evolved to become more than simply a mass media monopoly, but also an endeavour for political dominance, headed by theUntied States of America. Standardization, condensation and hegemony across nations are the implications that will eventuate from this. It is widely evident that the media is in fact becoming a global conglomerate, which is in turn endorsing the emergence of a single global village. REFERENCES 1. Begdikian, B. (1998). The new media monopoly. Retrieved: April 28, 2010, from: httpmediaresearch. org 2. Denis, E. ( 1996). Media and globalization. Retrieved: April 25, 2010, from: httpwww. corpwatch. org 3. Gozzi, R. (1996). Will the media create a global village?Retrieved: April 26, 2010, from: httpwww. questia. com 4. Jan, M. (2009). Globalization of media issues and dimensions. Retrieved: April 25, 2010, from: httpwww. eurojournals. com 5. Leary, C. (2005). Globalization of media. Retrieved: April 26,2010, from: httpwww. associated. com 6. Price, M. (2008). The global information revolution. Retrieved: April 29, 2010, from: httpideas. repec. org ———————– MEDIA CULTURE AND SOCIETY E101 MEDIA CULTURE AND SOCIETY JENNY PALLA PSY7317 1st Marker 2nd Marker Agreed Mark