Treatment Practices

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

 

Culture does control our day to day life. Any culture centered approach in professional counseling goes a long way to recognize culture to be central rather than marginal, fundamental and not necessarily exotic in the counseling interventions. The amplified modernized, urbanized and the industrialized societies as well as the breakdown of family support systems have heightened on the need for a worldwide variety of counseling methods in order to search for solutions to some of the world social problems. Sensitive and competent multicultural counselors should possess competencies that do include awareness of their cultural values, assumption and biases, understanding and awareness of their clients’ views, knowledge as well as application of some culturally effective intervention strategies and the willingness to portray an empathic understanding. This paper explores on racism attitudes, multicultural counseling, white racial identity and attitudes and multicultural competencies.

Professional counselors should come into grips with issues for example sexism, racism, social and economic class and other realities that ought not to be ignored in order for them to comprehend diversity as well as the experiences of different people who come from other diverse backgrounds. Cultural sensitivity training among counselors usually result to an open mind and being culturally aware as well as enhance on the comprehension of multiculturalism as well as the aptitude to communicate effectively with the minority groups (Basanti, Gina, Jacqueline& Barbara. 2004, pp. 161-166). Instead of counselors being ethnocentric, they should learn to respect the cultural diversity otherwise they will end up imposing standards and values that are self centered on the clients. Skilled counselors should be sensitive and always actively engaged through avoiding prejudices, discrimination and stereotyping. Though there are patent cases of cultural bias in the American psychology, most of it is done unintentionally by people who view themselves as just, moral and fair minded. The cross cultural interactions are usually confounded by divergent interpretative frameworks in which the meaning is usually attributed. There are various barriers to effectual counseling in the cross culture.

The major potential cultural bias that result to misinterpretation and conflicts in counseling comprise of culture and class bound values, divergence in emotional, verbal and behavioral expressiveness and divergence in the communication patterns (Fons & Norbert, 2004, pp. 119-135). Other sources of potential bias are maintenance of self esteem, perception, differences in language, ethnocentrism and others.

Most of the ancient psychotherapy and counseling theoretical orientations inUSAusually claim to honor inimitable characteristics of their clients but end up ignoring the psychological differential impact of the clients. Racial development ought to be considered as a major aspect by counselors when they are dealing with the white racial attitudes (Sharon, 1996, pp. 151-163).

Racial identity is theorized as the most important influence as far as racial counseling relationships are concerned. There is a significant effect that is found between counselor’s race and the white racial attitudes. Over past decades, the counseling field has emphasized on the importance of coming up with a multicultural framework in order to understand the clients and train future counselors.  The unexamined cultural bias and assumptions of the white counselors at times cause them to basically view the values and behaviors of members of other ethnic groups as deviant instead of viewing it simply as different from theirs.

Helms model has focused on health white attitudes and identities that develop when the white people abandon their racist attitudes and hence move towards the nonracist identity. In her model she asserts that the whites in theUSare not socialized in the environment where members of the group are usually privileged to other racial members and hence they tend to protect this status by adopting a more racist behavior and attitude.

The relationship that is formed between a culturally divergent counselor and client has been identified to be the most crucial factor in determining if clients do engage in the entire counseling process. The white race development by Helm according to Philip (1997, pp. 207) is posited to encompass six statuses. The first is contact stage.

The whites in this stage are usually oblivious to issues of racism, lack the understanding of racism and have a less experience with the black people and always profess to be color blind. The societal influence when it comes to perpetuating stereotypes associated with the black and the white people usually go unnoticed.  In order to develop a healthy white identity, then every white person even the professional counselors must overcome all aspects of racism and accept their whiteness and any cultural implications. The whites should be treated differently from other ethnic groups by helping them to develop an affirmative identity.

The white people never see themselves as whites but rather as English, Italian and others (Philip 1997, pp. 208). The major noncomiatants as far as racism and whites are concerned are usually negative feelings for example self hate, deception, shame and guilt as well as feeling bad on grounds of being white. These feelings usually contributed to some distorted feelings that contribute to distorted views.

The other is the disintegration stage where a person usually becomes conflicted over some unresolvable racial issues where the whites believe they are nonracist though they would not want to get involved with the minority groups.  Whites at this stage are usually aware of their racial membership as well as experiences since they are usually treated differently from others. In the reintegration stage, the white status is usually manifested by the whites’ realization and idealization of their racial membership groups. In the pseudo independence stage, the whites usually possess an intelligent comprehension of racism as well as how they view it though they continue to have feelings of intolerance and superiority towards racial groups. Finally, in the autonomy stage, the whites get to internalize an affirmative white racial aspect and identity by refuting to impose an arbitrary racial definition on other ethnic groups but rather displaying emotional and intellectual appreciation of the racial similarities and differences (Constatine, Juby & Liang. 2001. pp. 1-11).

It is therefore imperative to understand and acknowledge all the cultures and not just the ethnic groups. Whites should not be assumed to be alike thus the counselors should understand the client’s ethnic background and the views they hold. The white counselors should learn to accept their cultural diversity in order to be in a position to help other people too. High levels of racism are usually correlated with low levels of self reported competencies as far as multicultural counseling is concerned. High disintegration racial attitudes held by the whites are usually associated with low levels of perception on multicultural counseling competencies.

As far as concepts like stress, alcohol use and drug abuse among the ethnic groups and the white population, the counselors should adopt a more holistic approach in their integration of counseling processes. This is because of the attitudes that the whites have upon themselves as superior and the ethnic minorities who have always been treated as  marginalized groups thus they have never had an access to American dream as compared to the whites (Charles, 2004, pp. 616). When working with these two different cultures it is imperative to note that most people vary as far as the cultural continuum is concerned.

The blacks always claim that racism is a continuing reality in their lives and are well intentioned while the whites continue to respond to them with superiority. Since counselors are more immune to inherit biases therefore white counselors also tend to deliver some racial microaggressions during counseling sessions with the ethnic groups (Derald, Kevin, Christina et al, 2008, pp. 330-338).  Counselors should deviate themselves from all the biasness, stereotypes and learn to incorporate other cultures through respecting, understanding and appreciating diversity.

The Government as Catalyst

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

Thomson- Perry Argument 

 

Collaboration occurs overtime as organizations interact both formally and informally through recurring sequences of negotiation, development of commitments and execution of those commitments.  Collaboration should employ more of collective action as opposed to coordination or cooperation. Cooperation involves reciprocities and exchange of resources. Cooperation aimed at achieving mutual goals ensures collaboration is achieved -collaboration is more than achieving individual ends -it also involves shared ends.  Thomson and Perry come up with a multidimensional model of collaboration as an insight to public managers understanding to collaboration. (Thomson & Perry 2006 p4). They identified five dimensions of collaborations as: governing, administering, mutuality, norms, and organizational autonomy. Partners seeking collaboration must together make the rules which will govern their behavior and relationships. All partners must be willing to support the decisions once are reached at. Success to choices made in a collaboration process rest on participants’ willingness to monitor them and each other as well as imposing sanctions on those partners who do not comply to what agreed on. Trust and reciprocity among the members increases the likelihood of collective action. Face-to-face communication is also very important. Administration will entail establishment of structures that turn governance into action. (p6)

Collaboration is also the process in which independent actors interact through formal and informal negotiation, together create rules and structures to direct their relationships and how to decide on issues that brought them together. In a nut shell it involves sharing norms and mutually beneficial interactions.  Collaboration also involves reconciling individuals and collective interests which is the autonomy dimension. In this dimension partners to collaboration have to deal with the distinct organizational authority and identity as well as the collective interests established in the collaboration.

Mutuality dimension involves process of forging mutually beneficial relationships. Mutual benefits will encourage each partner commitments in what is agreed by all partners. It is a uniting force. Other dimension is the trust and reciprocity dimension which is the process of building social capital norms (p8). This entails common believe of good intension of others, no one will take advantage of the other, and all partners will be honest. Thus all partners reciprocate to others in a positive way. It ‘I will if you will’ (p9)

The case of ‘government as a catalyst’ supports the Thomson and Perry argument. The city government of Philadelphia wanted to ensure internet access to the residence of Philadelphia. In ensuring this, the potential market would be utilized, the firms and the government authority as well as the community at large was expected to benefit from a municipality wireless networks. It could also have social economic growth in local communities. In the process the municipal authority had to collaborate with all stakeholders i.e. the community and incumbent players based on mutual benefits which was in line with the mutuality dimension discussed by Thomson and Perry. The city also played a big role in the administering the Municipal Wireless Networks project. This is the administration dimension discussed by Thomson and Perry which turned governance into action.  The city acted as a catalyst by taking variety of roles as facilitator, champion, steering committee, policy maker, coordinator, partner, project manager, consultant, referee, capacity builder as well as regulator. (Stillman 2009)

All stakeholders’ interests such as telecommunication companies, civic leaders, the media, community groups, state government, and the public as well as the city politicians were put into consideration.  The city government had to remove barriers and provide incentives as well as legislative framework to help target funding, ensure resources, so as to provide stability to the new infrastructures. (Stillman 2009 p312, 314).  The city government had to respond to all complaints and let stakeholders know of the mutual benefits to accrue from the Municipal Wireless Network. Difficult compromises had to be reached at. Additionally, need for balancing private and public needs was also to be dealt with. The optimization of the interests of these players was indispensable for the success of the project. This is evidence of autonomy dimension discussed in the Thomson and Perry argument. The stakeholders had to maintain their identity as even they share the collective goals and interests. The reciprocity and norms dimension is also evident in this case. The city government of Philadelphia reciprocated to the interests of the stakeholders. All stakeholders also reciprocated by cooperating with the city government and the MWNs project was implemented successfully. Such occurrences enabled creation of capital social norms where take and give attitude based on honesty and trust among partners in the MWNs project.  (p313)

The case of government as a catalyst also provides a more convincing model. First it is a real story of how various stakeholders in city of Philadelphia collaborated in ensuring success of the Municipal Wireless Networks. The case also shows that administration as an important part of the collaboration process. It also shows how to deal with diverse barriers to the collaboration process. The city government of Philadelphia had to use other stakeholders so as to convince others of the importance of the collaboration process. This was a more effective way of ensuring collaboration process succeeded.

Safety Net Hospitals

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

 

Safety Net Hospitals provide very important medical services and stand at the core of the American medical system. Formative, the definition of Safety Net Hospital provides a basis for handling this discourse. Within the IOM understanding (Bazzoli, G., Lindrooth, R. C., Kang, R., Hasnain-Wynia, R., P 1165), these are medical institutions that provide important levels of health services to patients who are impecunious and in dire need of the services yet beyond their ability.

Research has shown that the general American public supports the Safety Net Hospitals. The central purpose for the inception of the institutions was to serve two central objects (Cordasco, K M., Asch, S., Franco,I., Mangione, C. M, P 37). From the first perspective the hospital has sufficient resources that are meant to be used in serving the medical needs of the indigent persons. Secondly, the wider population of the community received medical care from within the precincts of the Safety Net Hospitals.

Clearly, the Safety Net hospitals lies at the epicenter of the medical needs of the destitute persons and try to act as a balancing point for those who are not able to access Medicare from the alternative medical institutions (Bazzoli, G., Lindrooth, R. C., Kang, R., Hasnain-Wynia, R., P1156). Besides, not all the citizens are capable of paying their medical insurances.

The existences of the Safety Net Hospitals therefore serve these very persons who have similar medical needs yet are medically uninsured. Research done in the urban centers showed that the existence of the facilities was supported across the divide; age, income, gender and political parties. This shows that though the services were not enjoyed by all, their utility was felt across the board.

Society will always have income inequalities. These inequalities provide sufficient reason for which the sustenance of the Safety Net Hospitals in mandatory for the political class and the community (Hadley, J., Cunningham, P., P 1542). The publics plea to have the congress support the sustenance of the facilities was therefore not in vein.  At every cost, given the cardinal role the Safety Net Hospitals play, they should be protected from any attempts for closure.

The implications for the closure of the Safety Net Hospitals are enormous. Clearly, given that a larger segment of society relies of on them for incidental Medicare. The facilities have sufficient support from the market; both the direct consumers and indirect consumers of the services. Perhaps one that any mortal will never want to perceive is the fact that perhaps American mortality rates will increase.

The government may equally be required to chip in to ensure that the insurance policy for the poor are subsidized to have them acquire such incidental medical insurance cover (Young, D., p 1940). While the closure would have formatively intended to serve the purpose of cutting on the expenditure by the government, the expenditure might just go up slightly through the subsidy. Clearly, whether the use of the Safety Net Hospitals then is low, the government does not necessarily need to have them closed, rather they may just be needed some other occasion (p Hadley, J., Cunningham, P., p 1532).

In addition, while the government subsidy will facilitate the insurance of the indigent persons, the access of the services would be tempered given that the general demand for the services from the covered institutions would increase (Sullivan, A., Barron, C., Bezmen, J., Rivera, J., Zapata-Vega, M., P 67). However, for those who live far below the poverty line, the receipt of the services will be untenable because some may not even raise the consultation fees.

The closing of the outlet Safety Net Hospital inWashington, for example, provides a basis for making any decision geared towards the abolition of Safety Net units. Clearly, the private hospitals have become overburdened lending the institutions to possible diseconomies of scale. This presents a sorry state particularly when dealing with the health of humans. The emergence department inWashingtonhas become very overcrowded.

Besides, it needs to be appreciated that a larger number of the services provided by the Safety Net Hospitals are high cost, yet quite unprofitable (Lindrooth, R. C.,  Bazzoli, G., Needleman, J.,  Hasnain-Wynia, 712). This implies that leaving the delivery of the services in the private sector, which is largely profit-oriented, is detrimental.  In the long run, quality service delivery will be compromised, making the government to appear as abdicating its responsibilities.

There is sufficient evidence that when Safety Net providers are left to provide singular services, there would always be a service provision gap (Radcliff, T. A., Côté, M. J., Duncan, R. P., p 21). Hence, if the facilities are closed altogether, the pressure on the other facilities would be immense. Within the mandate of this argument, the closure of any Safety Net facility will see medical services get severely affected.

Whether the closure of the Safety Net in part or in full is what is being contemplated, the move is not justifiable. The service delivery to the market from either section will not be matched (Cunningham, P. J., Hadley, J., Kenney, G., Davidoff, J., P 267). Whatever the case, the market preference will always be inclined to one of service sectors: private or safety net hospitals.

The economic recession has had its fair share toward the performance and the life of the safety net hospitals. The recession saw the budget towards the same end go down by a sum of 4.3 billions. The cutting down of the budget directly affects the service delivery of the safety net hospitals (Bazzoli, G., Lindrooth, R. C., Kang, R., Hasnain-Wynia, R., P 1048). However, the role the facilities play in the society gives them overboard leverage for survival; hence cutting their budget support down is a misnomer and is misplaced.

In conclusion, supplementary services and complementary services provided by the Safety Net Hospitals is so tidal that an attempt to close them down means utter disregard for the health needs of the impecunious in society (Larrison Jr., Robert G., p 202). By any standards, the move should be addressing the best way of making their service delivery prospects better. The long run analysis of their impending closure vis-à-vis sustainability gives the facilities due leverage.

Price Gouging

Place an order for a custom essay research paper on this or related subject.

 

Price gouging means a lot of things to a lot of people.  Simply put it is the situation where sellers price goods or commodities including services much higher that is considered reasonable or fair.  It could also refer to prices obtained by practices inconsistent with a competitive free market.  It could additionally mean speculation.  As such price gauging has is both beneficial and detrimental attributes to the society.

Discussion:

When considered in times of disasters and or natural calamities, it has been argued that price gouging is majorly responsible for additional hardship on the affected.  However as economist Walter Williams argues “passionate issues require dispassionate analysis” (Cox, 1997) this is because during emergency conditions, price gouging will evoke strong emotional responses that are understandable but terribly wrong-headed.

During a disaster what happens? There is a simultaneous shift in demand (increase) and supply (decrease) which forces the prices of goods and services upwards.  Proponents of price gauging argue that preventing it would increase misery and that it is even a desirable practice.  In deed it increases the availability of goods and services following a disaster. The ability to charge higher prices makes additional sources of supplies affordable. For example, food and construction workers from nearby unaffected areas will stream into the disaster zone because they command a higher price there than in their original areas. This effect is called arbitrage, and is distinct from (and in addition to) charitable donations.

Hurricanes can be predicted well enough that the affected area is likely to be known in advance. This makes it possible to stockpile some kinds of goods. Stockpiling has the benefit of making important goods immediately available in quantity at the site of the disaster. For an area to stockpile some good represents a significant increase over its typical demand; this strains the supply chain and increases costs. Thus, stockpiling is only economically feasible if those increased costs will be met by increased revenues from selling the stockpile after the disaster. If firms cannot raise their prices after the disaster (i.e. “price gouge”), they will not stockpile before it.

People will work longer hours if they’re compensated with higher wages. Some people may charitably donate their extra time, but the rest require more money to overcome the disutility of labor. If the wage was right, people would be eager to work 10-, 12-, 14-hour or longer days. If laws prevent the payment of these higher wages, those extra potential hours worked are lost. It takes longer to repair the damage, with people inconvenienced in the meantime.

Price gouging results is a better allocation of goods and services, because the alternative is shortages. Laws against price gouging are a form of price control, a price ceiling, and any price ceiling below the market-clearing rate creates a shortage. In an unhampered market, goods are available to whoever is willing and able to pay. In a shortage, allocation is haphazard, with goods going to people who show up first, or wait in line, or have influential friends, or they may be rationed, or many other possibilities.

The unhampered market lets people communicate the urgency of their need with dollars. The most important (i.e. valuable) uses for those goods will offer the highest prices for them, bidding them away from less important uses. If potable water is scarce and therefore more expensive, water for drinking will outbid water for decorative fountains. If prices were unchanged, there would be a shortage, and while this case is intentionally so clear-cut that almost any government allocation scheme would work, most cases are not so obvious: How much water for bathing versus irrigation? The market can answer that question — do you believe the government can?

Among economists the above arguments make sense but to a lay man going this are irrelevant.  It is a fact that many lay people believe that price gouging is bad.  This view is most often that not fueled by politicians looking to gain political mileage.  Interesting is the knowledge that the vast majority despite being confronted by the economic arguments, dismiss them not because they believe that they are wrong but rather that they are irrelevant.

The physical reality of disaster recovery is that things have been destroyed and it takes time and resources to recover. It is physically impossible to satisfy everyone’s wants immediately after a disaster. That option isn’t on the table. There aren’t enough resources to go around. The market impact is that the things that are so important to so many people are expensive precisely because they’re so important to so many people.

With the knowledge that goods are available to whoever is willing and able to pay in a price gouging situation, this is what makes the majority upset.  Ability to pay has no relationship with need. The rich are able to outbid the poor. A poor person must spend a huge part of their income or savings (or go into debt) in order to compete with the rich. Or, they must wait until prices come back down.

This seems ethically wrong to most people because they link need with desert.  This is standard altruism. Need is the source of desert. A person’s need creates an ethical obligation to help them.

But whether a person is rich or poor doesn’t affect their needs. People are usually considered equal, so that if a fixed amount of resources could repair one rich person’s home or the homes of two poor people, it is the poor people who should get the resources. For allocating based on dollars instead of people, the market fails, by this understanding of ethics.

In addition to favoring the rich, “price gouging” is observed to increase the hardship of already-suffering people — first their homes are destroyed, then their bank accounts, too! This is reflexively viewed as people being taken advantage of by profiteering merchants. The Florida Attorney General described it as “trying to take advantage of neighbors” above. Again there is an issue of desert involved. The merchants are viewed as receiving a windfall profit they have not earned. For adding insult to injury and giving wealth to the undeserving, the market fails, by this understanding of ethics.

Conclusion:

It is of little benefit to respond that market allocation of goods is better than government allocation, or that prices are merely a reflection of utility, or that higher prices bring about an increased supply. These things are true, but not persuasive. The anti-capitalist mentality is rooted in altruist ethics, not in a lack of understanding of economics. Capitalism and altruism are fundamentally incompatible. Most people, faced with the choice, pick altruism. They will not be persuaded by economic arguments, because economics is derivative of politics and ethics, not the other way around. Indeed it is clear that price gouging has both beneficial and detrimental aspects depending on which view one propergates.

BENEFITS COMPARISON

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

 

The website http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=benefits.html
provides information about the benefits Google offers to its employees. These benefits include medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, Flex spending account plan (Health spending account, development care account and qualified transportation benefit), employee Assistance Program which includes counseling, legal consultations, financial counseling, child care, referrals and pet care referrals. Other benefit includes life and AD &D insurance, Short Term and Long Term Insurance, Retirement and saving plans which include Google 401(k) plan and 529 college savings plan that help employees with a way to save for post-secondary education. There is also Back-Up Child care adoption assistance, financial planning
classes.

The website http://www.sas.com/corporate/sasfamily/index.html provides information about SAS family members and retirees in the US. The site offers information about comprehensive Employee Assistance Program, adoption services and support as part of Benefits to family members of the SAS family. SAS also offer retirement benefits for eligible employees. These include health care services, recreation facilities and more. It also has extensive facilities aimed at helping its members to be active and lead a healthier life.

ASSA ABLOY which is the company that I work for offers several
benefits to its employees.
Blue Cross Blue Shield plan offers benefits which include hospital benefits, home health care, institutional and professional care, and medical benefits. The information is very important in making a decision whether to join this network i.e. one can calculate cost and benefits associate with this network since it gives information about situation of being in the network and out of the network. It also enables me to know what I might lose in future for not being under
such a network.
Delta Dental provides our dental insurance. They offer information about dentists participating in their network and how to reach them. By utilizing participating dentists, the clients are able to maximize benefits and reduce paper work.
Being part of VSP group enables one to benefit from affordable eyecare plan. These services are offered by VSP to those who have joined ASSA ABLOY group. Such benefits include allowances to the cost of contact lens care and contact lens exam, special programs; contact lens evaluation and supply of replacement lenses. They lay out advantages such as accessing eye care at low cost, wellvision Exam, plenty of eyewear, availability of VSP doctors with flexible schedules to suit the members, and extra discounts associated with joining the group.
ASSA ABLOY offers several paid days off such as holidays, sick days, vacation days as well as I get one paid day off during the month of my birthday. Each employee working for the company less than 10 years gets 2 vacation, the number increases to 3 weeks after the employee works for
15 years, and 4 weeks for anyone who has been working for the company 20 years or longer. Each employee gets total of 12 days off paid holidays, such as Thanksgiving Day and the day after, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after, Independence Day, President’s Day, Good Friday, etc. One of my favorite benefits ASSA ABLOY has to offer is tuition reimbursement. Each employee who is interested in pursuing a degree is entitled to tuition reimbursement. The company contributes $2500.00 for undergraduate studies, and $4500.00 for graduate studies per one calendar year. Once a year, the company organizes company outings to local amusement park such as Lake Compounce. It is a day long affair, where the employees can bring their family and friends and enjoy the company of their co-workers.

Analysis:

Benefits from Google and SAS offers comprehensive benefits of what an employee may wish to have. These benefits range from healthcare, financial advises and support, physical fitness activities, child care, pet care, and after employment benefits. However benefits from Google are not accessible to those who do not work for Google. Benefits at ASSA ABLOY group also cover a wide range i.e. health care, vocations, entertainment and career development. It could be better to include child care, pet care, physical fitness and financial care to the benefits offered by ASSA ABLOY group.

Reaction

Benefits offered by Google and SAS family are almost comparable to those offered by ASSA ABLOY group. Benefits offered by ASSA ABLOY are more elaborate and the costs involved are included e.g. dental care monthly and weekly contribution is given. Given such information, one will be able to make an informed decision whether to join the group. It is also interesting that these benefits are offered by different specialized entities such as VSP for eyecare, Delta Dental for dentacare. This will ensure good and assured services when need arises to the members. Additionally ASSA ABLOY offers additional benefits such as vacations and sick days and so on. However, these benefits fail to encompass child care, pet care, and adoption, and physical health benefits which are included in SAS family and Google. These benefits are also very important to employees.  Both, Google and ASSA ABLOY offers benefits which ensure that employees can further their education  ASSA ABLOY also entertain its employees by organizing local amusement park yearly which bring together the ASSA ABLOY big family. Such benefits are not offered by Google and SAS Family.  ASSA ABLOY should include benefits such as child care, pet care, physical fitness and financial care.

SMOKING IN BARS AND RESTAURANTS

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

 

The passing of the laws delves right into the epicenter of a wrong deal gone too far. Perhaps, it elicits the inherent tenets of the principles of utility. In deed, the central concerns that arise from the passing of the law is the extent of utility, if any, that one does derive from smoking in public joints (Frumkin F).  Vividly, the partakers of the extraverted act have very short term utility derived, and perhaps the utility is non-prescribed.  Medics don’t give any merits of smoking to this date.  However, the demerits are abound and insurmountable.

Taking deontology as our key guiding principle, then the entire act of the government permitting even to the lowest level the practice of smoking is utterly wrong and protracted. Within the precepts of religion, whatever harms humanity is unsanctified and should be resisted ultimately. Fervently, the government should, in all ethical aspects, adopt this approach as the guiding principle (Morbidity and mortality weekly reports). Smoking, regardless of the place, the manner and the places beckons evil and should not be condoned.

In all aspects, the passing of the law was long overdue. If costs benefits analysis of smoking vis-à-vis the benefits is to inform our cardinal decisions, the cost of treating ailments resulting from the practice are three times more than the profits reaped from the sale of the products used in smoking. Research equally shows that the cost of the smoked substance is a sixteenth of the treatment costs of the complication emanating from smoking (Morbidity and mortality weekly reports).

The effects of smoking are multifaceted, cutting across both the smokers and non-smokers. Though it is appreciable that the ban on smoking in offices had gone a long way in leveraging the efforts towards the reducing tobacco-related ailments, this move was quite discriminative. Perhaps the rhetoric concern arising from the practice hitherto the passing of the law is whether the workers and non-smokers at the restaurant ever had a right towards this end.

The effective date of the implementation of the law eliminated the discriminatory nature of the current law.  This course will be achieved through the law’s hardliner stance inherently designed to ensure that no exemptions are in the law. This orientation of the law makes the exempted parties practice the evils as though within their precincts, it is a lesser one (Hirusuna D, 2006). Perhaps, in adopting such lopsided policies one has to assume knowledge of any the diffusive nature of cigarette smoke.

The provision, inter alia, providing allowing the private restaurant and bar operators to provide a smoking room, only seeks to perpetrate an evil gone to far. The law demands that the government protects its citizens from any imminent harm (Frumkin F). If the government fails in acting tough on health risk practices, it equate to the abdication of responsibility by the government. Perhaps, once the legislation is effective, the government can introduce taxes that would be paid by those who wish to run such facilities; at best, it should ban tobacco production altogether.

Critics argue that banning the smoking in restaurants and bars affect the revenue of the firms, nonetheless, research does indicate that such legislation has the least effect on the revenue base of the firms (Morbidity and mortality weekly reports). This statistics notwithstanding, the number of pneumococcal diseases is clearly on the increase. This offers due base for the utter ban of smoking.

The views of the restaurant workers on the ban appears shocking particularly given that most of them were not smoking, yet they did not support the ban. Perhaps one would argue that the practice was already eating into them. Or perhaps, the workers feel the ban would lead to retrenchments arising from the low turnover (Hirusuna D, 2006). Whichever way, the government’s central role is protecting lives, through provision of alternative yet hygienic jobs.

The government’s move to pass this cardinal legislation was long over due and timely. Perhaps the impending challenge would be the implementation of the legislation to the letter. Nevertheless, the move marks the right start point.

Climate Change and its Impact on UK Business

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

 

Climate change as well as its effects on economy and business across the entire global world always takes a second place as far as environmental effects are concerned. Though we do need solutions to the numerous environmental problems, it is important that we prepare and we realize the vast impact that climate change may have on businesses as well as the global economy. Climate change can have adverse effects on companies and businesses across the entire world. In order to come into terms with the major changes that the global warming might impact, businesses ought to come into terms with how the weather changes and how accurate the predictions are. This research project will focus on the effects of climate change on the business ofUK. Also it will discuss some of the objectives, weaknesses and strengths that are related to climate change and the effects it has on the business ofUK.

There will be a detailed limelight on how climate change will affect business inUKand what ought to be done to avoid adverse effects on the same. The methods used in this research project will also be discussed and the findings on the same will be discussed. Secondary research methods will be used for this project and a rational conclusion highlighting all the relevant issues that ought to be discussed will also be discussed. There is a great need to have this research project in order to notify the society as well as other relevant groups on ‘the effects of climate change and what ought to be done in order to reduce all known predicament that might result from climate change. Also business people will benefit a lot from this research project who come fromUKas they will be able to predict for the future and come up with strategies that will work in their favor in order not to be greatly affected.

There will also be an analysis on the causes of climate change in order to come up with helpful strategies that will be of help to the people to avoid all the issues that will lead to adverse climate changes.

4.0 Introduction

Though there have been skeptics who have been questioning the facts on climate change, statistics have revealed a lot. Figures that have been gotten in the last forty years have shown an increase in levels of temperature inUK. Businesses will need to cope with the changes in climate. The predicted changes of climate and weather inUKwarmer winters, wetter and hot dry summers and some extreme weather conditions for example storms (Rachel, 2004).  It is also predicted that there will be adverse flooding which will be quite catastrophic as the rainfall continues to be heavy. Industries for example the water industries as well as suppliers of electricity ought to ensure that their entire systems can as well cope with changes that will be registered by rainfall. Flooding will cause problems for example short circuiting that might result in outrage of power thus the electricity and water industries should make sure that their entire systems are quite reliable and safe. Changes in the distribution of rain will also cause problems as far as water storage is concerned.

There will be an adverse effect on how energy is produced. Since there will be scarcity of fossil fuels, there is a great need to find some environmentally friendly methods that will ensure production of energy for example wind, solar, water power and geothermal energy. Since the economy is based and categorized on industries and businesses that depend on the fossil fuels, and the fact that they might be quite scarce in the next twenty or thirty years, there should be a need for a replacement of oil as the effects of global warming will be quite adverse.

Businesses like the insurance industry will be greatly affected by damages by both storm and floods and the onset of dry and hot summers will mean that there will be more cases of subsidence. The insurance companies will suffer from the extreme conditions of the weather and they may end up going bankrupt because of making payments.

The clothing industry will also have to protect itself from loss of profit because of the weather. Whether or not the effects of climate change will be positive or negative, planning for the change of climate is paramount since the effects are already being recognized. Effects of climate change can already be seen in the clothing sector and food sectors. There will be drop of sales as winters become warmer. The construction industry as well as others that their work will be delayed by the adverse weather conditions are no exception and will have to get some ways in which to cope with the animosity of rainfall and other weather events (Rachel, 2004).

The weather has a great impact on the trends of the consumers and mostly when people go for shopping basing on what they will go to buy. Few people might be willing to go out for shopping during the summer period and this will have an adverse effect on the clothing industries.  Businesses will also have to rethink on how to run their working lives on their employees.

The agriculture community will also be affected by weather change. Therefore, it is important that they prepare and recognize that the agriculture demographics might shift and divergent crops might have a divergent sustainability in most parts of the globe. The types of crops that are grown inUKmight also end up changing and there might be an increase of crops that are associated with the warm climates. Rainfall will also be expected though it will fall at divergent intervals of the year. The need of alteration of most lives and the way businesses will be conducted will have a great effect on the government policies in some areas. There will be trendy phenomenon for example people dislocation thus influencing the policies of immigration. There will be higher rates of immigrants coming toUKbecause of the changes in climate. Just like economic and environmental effects, changes in climate will also mean changes in our health.  The warmer world will turn to be a sick world and there might be an emergence of conditions and diseases that are not usually experienced today. There will be a need to design new buildings that are sturdier in order to cope with the storms. Companies and businesses ought to have a rich access to information on weather

It is patent that climate changes will have adverse effects on businesses whether negative or positive and people ought to be prepared. Even if they might not be affected by the environmental factors, they will be indirectly affected by the supply chain, consumer market and transportation. It is therefore imperative that the businesses realize the major need for planning for the climate change and they get access to relevant resources as well as knowledge.

5.0  Literature review

There are various factors that cause changes in climate. For the past 100 years, there have been changes in climate globally. This has been caused by both natural and manmade factors. In the recent past, research reveals that some of the factors that lead to temperature variations are changes in volcanism and irradiance (Thomas, 2000, pp. 270-277).

Abrupt, large and vast climate changes with great effects have occurred in the recent past when the system of the earth was forced on the thresholds. Though climate changes do occur for various reasons, human acts are also causing abrupt and large events (Alley, Marotzke, Nordhaus, Overpeck, et al, 2003, pp. 2005-2010). Certain gases in the air for example carbon dioxide play a very important role when it comes to determining the climate of the earth.  The atmospheric concentrations in the greenhouse are rising because of the activities by people.

Because of the burning fossils and the deforestation of the earth, mankind is continuously amplifying the levels of carbon dioxide. Research has revealed that the current increase of greenhouse gases will end up affecting the climate (John, 1996)). Though there are many uncertainties, the reality is that we can say with great confidence that the dangers of climate changes are grave. If there is no any action that will be done in order to reduce the emissions of the greenhouse, there will be adverse effects on the ecosystem (William, 1991, pp. 904-919).

InUK, there have been numerous debates in businesses and the policy situations that have been focusing on the issue of sustainability and the reduction of emissions of greenhouse. Weather damages inUK, is likely to cause adverse effects in businesses and other sectors. For example the flooding that happened in the year 2007, is meant to send a warning of what we ought to expect in future. Climate change inUKmight result to rise in temperatures making it inconvenient for any farming to take place. However, others will be more localized and specific for example enhanced warming of the city. Once risks are comprehend, it easier to work on them  Some trivial changes in the normal days in the coming decades in UK will have little impacts for most sectors of the market and enhance the tourism and agricultural sector. There will be however long term effects on resilience of infrastructures. Those business people in theUKthat will analyze some their dangers early enough will end up gaining an advantage in the market because they will have an idea on the operations that might be affected and how they will take advantage of the common changes that will be registered. The government ofUKis encouraging all the industries inUKto use minimal energy through using some measures on finance and more so taxation (Nick, 2001, pp. 309-326).

IfUKneglect the need to enhance their energy consumption, the earth’s climate will end up rising thus resulting to levels of the sea rising, reduction in food supply, large numbers will suffer due to amplified stress of water and diseases and the tropical rain forests will end up disappearing because of shortages of water. Though theUK, climate effects programme helps most organizations to adapt to an inevitable climate changes, it is essential to reduce some of the greenhouse emissions because if nothing is done, then effects of climate change will continue to be felt.

The changes in climate will end up affecting health, biodiversity, construction department, demand for services and goods, working practices as well as service delivery (Charles, 2008). The heavy rainfalls, warm temperatures and the rising sea levels will be experienced. It is therefore important for people to realize the impact of climate change and come up with effectual strategies (UK, 2007).

There will be onset of flash flooding inUKand rainfall will intensify. Industries for example the electricity and water need to make sure that their entire systems will cope with changes in climate. The issue of rain distribution will also pose more problems to water storage. For businesses like the insurance industries, the issue of climate change will have both positive as well as negative effects (Gerhard, 2004, pp. 283-293). The increase in floods and storms will mean more cases as far as subsidence is concerned. The insurance company will suffer because of the extreme weather conditions and most of them might end up going bankrupt.

The clothing industry will also be affected by climate change and might end up loosing lots of profits if nothing is done (Subak, Palutikof, Agnew, et al, 2004, pp. 1-26). There will be decrease in sales in of certain clothing when the climate rises. Agriculture will also be highly affected inUK. There will be changes of crops grown. There might be increase of crops in the winter seasons or decrease due to floods. The distribution of rainfall will also have an adverse effect on agriculture. The government policies also will be altered as there will be dislocation and emergence of new migration policies. As migration continues, businesses will also be affected. People’s health will also change and this means the food, water and homes. All this will affect the business either positively or negatively.

There have been various strategies that have been undertaken in order to correct the issue of climate change. Last year there was a vast international conference inCopenhagenwhere the world came together in order to negotiate as well as agree on how to initiate and tackle on the issue of climate change. TheKyotoprotocol will expire in the year 2012 and it’s already in effect. TheUKtransport company and the agricultural companies have been heavily affected by climate change. As immigration increases due to people coming in the country and leaving the transport business have also been affected

6.0  SWOT Analysis

The strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of climate change onUKbusiness will be discussed at length.

6.1Strengths

The main strengths of the research that I have conducted is that most people already know the impact of climate change and have already started looking for strategies that would be of help to them. For example, most insurance industries are already looking for ways to deal with their recent problems without having to loose a lot of profits. Most people have started adjusting considering there have been continuous changes of climate

6.2 Weaknesses

The major weakness that has arose in the research that have been conducted is that there are various documentation on causes of climate change and its effects but strategies to help people avoid climate change are minimal. People ought to be educated on various issues that cause climate change and how manmade factors cause such immense threat. The government also should come up with strategies that will be of help to the society in order to help businesses cope with the climate change.

6.3 Opportunities

There are major opportunities in some of the programs that have been developed by theUKgovernment covering the effects and causes of climate change. With the documentation that is still in existence on climate change, people should not underestimate the concept of climate change but should take it as an advantage to come up with strategies that will be of help to them and measures like strengthening their buildings and infrastructure to prevent damages by floods.

6.4 Threats

The major threat is ignorance in most people. People do not see the seriousness in climate change hence; they have no strategies to help them in future. The other is lack of knowledge. Others are still not aware of some of the manmade factors that cause climate change and for those who know, it is just a few who are taking the right steps.

7.0  Objectives.

The major objectives of undertaking this project are:

  1. To analyze the recent literature that is available on climate change and to reveal on its effectiveness
  2. To educate people on causes of climate change
  3. To make people aware of the adverse effects of climate change on businesses inUK
  4. To reveal some past effects of climate change
  5. To make people aware on some of the strategies they need to undertake in order not to lose profits
  6. To make the government aware on the wanting areas that ought to be revisited in order to prepare the people ofUKand save lives
  7. To give limelight on some of the issues that are yet to be registered and how they ought to be dealt with
  8. To recommend on the strategies that should be used in order to avoid losses.

8.0Hypothesis

  1. Climate change has an impact onUKbusiness
  2. Climate change is directly related to adverse effects on business inUK

9.0 Null Hypothesis

  1. Ho: Climate change has no impact onUKbusiness
  2. There is no relationship between climate change and business inUK

10.0Methodology

The research entailed the use of secondary methods of research that included the internet and books. The independent variable was business in theUKand the independent variable was climate change. Latest scholarly journals and literature was used to analyze the latest literature on climate change and its major impact on businesses inUK. The research method aimed to seek the causes of climate change, the effects it has on businesses in theUK, people’s attitude on the same and strategies as well as recommendations to curb the negative effects that would result from climate changes. Interviews will also be used on three influential companies inUKand analyses will be done on the impact of climate change and some of the strategies that they ought to undertake in order to correct all the catastrophes that will be brought by climate change.

11.0Findings

From the research conducted, it is evident that the hypothesis is true. Climate change has a major effect on business inUK. All sectors including, retail, health, insurance, agriculture, water and other sectors will either be directly or indirectly affected. The effects will be both positive and negative.

From data corrected previously as well as research, it reveals beyond doubt that climate change has great effects and not only toUKbut globally. Therefore it is imperative that people come up with strategies that will be of benefit to curb the negative effects and to reduce damage. Results also showed that various departments are already aware of the ongoing climate change and have started coming up with strategies though others are still adamant.

According to the questionnaires presented to some companies, it revealed that they were already facing the effects of climate change and were already coming up with strategies to help the situation.

12.0Conclusion

It is evident from the research conducted that there are adverse effects of climate change and mostly to people ofUK. Climate change has affected businesses inUKboth positively and negatively. The agricultural, economic, transport, health and other sectors have been increasingly been affected.  Businesses will and are being affected by the climate changes and their needs to be prompt strategies to be undertaken in order to curb this phenomenon. The business people, the government and other sectors need to come with working strategies to reduce the negative effects of climate change.

Psychology- Criminal Behavior

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject

 

Whether human behavior is acceptable or not is always driven by how people think as well as what motivates them. The criminal’s psychology addresses some of the thinking processes that do result into deviant acts and what really motivates them. The environmental as well as hereditary factors do play a major role as far as developing a person’s character to go ahead and be a criminal. When people break the law, this is always thought to be actions of deviation from what is usually seen to be accepted in the society. Criminal psychology usually examines the thoughts, motivations and the intentions of the people who defy the legal system habitually. Forensic mental health assessment is usually an evaluation that is performed by the mental professionals who offer crucial as well as scientific data to a decision that is legally based or to the litigants who are involved in crime (Kirk, Geoffrey, David, Eric, Justin & Tiffany, 2003, pp. 329-343). This paper aims at analyzing case scenarios from an e-book, the degree to which the environmental risk factors as well as the correlation of the criminal behavior influences the criminal behavior and finally evaluate on whether or not the offender is a criminal or not.

Most courts today are quite interested in determining the capacity of the defendants in order to attend, reason, concentrate and track all proceedings as well as some salient details. The compensation board, juries and the entire court must first determine whether the plaintiffs have any kind of impairment in their functional cognitive abilities, their memory aptitude or their intellect. Psychologists hence have come up with divergent tests that have been validated to evaluate the psychological wellness of the defendants. There are various procedures that are available which are meant to assess the impairment of the memory. One of them is the Portland Digit Recognition Test (PDRT) (Binder, 2002, pp. 27-41) as well as Test of Memory Malingering (Iverson, Le page, Koehler, Shojania & Bidii, 2007, pp. 532-46).

The PDRT usually requires a prolonged time in order to present effective results but the Test of Memory Malingering is much quicker taking around 5 to 10 minutes (Kirk, Geoffrey & David, 2002). The PDRT is a measure that is quite valid that is used to measure motivation in performing on memory tests that are quite useful in forensic evaluations (Fredric, Stuart & Allen, 1995, pp.124-134).

Recent contributions have focused largely on the major standards of evaluating the competence to be sentenced by analyzing the major need to offer involuntarily the treatment to those who for some major psychotic reasons are not in a position to stand full trial. Competence to being sentenced is the major component or an entire capacity to undergo the legal proceedings beyond fitness. It is the duration between the moment when the entire court process ends and the time a sentence is rendered (Gomez & Arboleda. 2005, pp. 547-9).

The principle of using psychological testing in order to assess the style of response is a vital consideration in Forensic Mental Health Assessment (FMHA). It usually refers to the minimization, exaggeration and accurate reporting of the signs of emotional and mental disorder (Kirk, Geoffrey & David, 2002, pp.85). The assessment as far as FMHA is concerned is crucial due to the incentives that are there in the contexts of forensic as well as the view of the attorneys and judges that the self reported report might be inaccurate. There are four divergent forms of response style (Richard & Michael, 2002, pp. 83-104).  One of them is honest whereby a genuine attempt is usually made accurate. Factual imprecision usually result from misperception and poor comprehension. Malingering is the second form of response which involves exaggeration and fabrication of the physical symptoms.

The defensive is where there is denial consciously and gross reduction of the physical symptoms and finally irrelevant usually comprises of the failure in becoming engaged in the whole evaluation and where the responses do not concur with the questions. The role of some specific styles of response in assessing the treatability of the patients has been widely neglected. Defensiveness and denial are the main obstacles to gaining effectual treatment. The researchers ought to consider some of the theories like Trans- theoretical model when it comes to assessing the major role of denial and defensiveness in determining treatment (Richard, pp. 433). Numerous research queries have emerged on the major connection of dissimulation to responses of the patients in their treatment. Some of the questions in which have been considered is for example the extent in which the dissimulators follow and comply with the treatment as well as the  treatment outcomes for the dissimulators.

The response forms and styles can hence be assessed by using traditional interviews as well as some psychological tests.  In discussing these tests, it is integral to consider the accuracy and consistency of responding that involves over reporting and underreporting. With the respect to accuracy on item endorsement, MMPI-2 comprises of numerous scales that are usually crucial to overendorsement and underreporting of the psychopathological signs. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory or the MMPI is the personality tests for mental health (Rouse, Greene, Butcher, Nicholas & Williams, 2008, pp. 435-42).

The results of most studies that were undertaken by researchers where by participants were offered with comprehensive information regarding the nature of the psychopathology for example schizophrenia showed that MMPI-2 scales are effectual in differentiating between genuine disorders and the simulated disorders. Some research though declares that MMPI-2 is ineffective in distinguishing the two concepts (Robert, 2005, pp. 121.)

In a structured interview of eight primary scales that was developed in order to assess the psychopathology feigning, research using the SIRS revealed that it is effectual when it comes to differentiating between the genuine patients and the feigners (Kirk, et al, 2002, pp.87). Though SIRS is usually limited because of its major inability in detecting a malingerer who reports to have symptoms and then fails in responding to some questions, it is equally important.

In assessing the individual responsive style, it is crucial for forensic practitioners to come up with divergent measures. The use of measures for example structured interviews, psychological tests as well as collateral information offers some additional support regarding the response of individuals.

One of the cases that apply to this principle in a court ordered evaluation context in order for a criminal to be sentenced, involved the evaluation of the cognitive capacity in comprehending the current situation and obtaining a more elaborate representation of the defendant as far as his cognitive functioning was concerned. The evaluator was however skeptical on the accuracy of the entire psychopathological symptoms and therefore speculated that there was a possibility of the malingering of the defendant.

To determine the rate of malingering, some interviews were conducted as well as some psychological testing for example the MMPI2 and SIRS. The defendant was hence administered on some psychological tests that run on three occasions concurrently in order to assess on the responding outcomes.

The results in the first test of SIRS revealed that the defendant was actually misrepresenting herself and was not ill because his responses were like of that person who was intending to feign a mental incapacity. Since the defendant was obviously exaggerating on his psychological symptoms, this is hence grouped in the category of malingering (John, 1917).

The defendant after he was administered on MMPI2 the results showed that he was endorsing some of the items that were reflecting the onset of psychopathology. Based on these results, the evaluator hence concluded to the fact that the defendant was presenting some malingering style of response. This is because all the scales administered on him showed a consistent response of feigning of the mental illness. These results aided a lot in determining the state of mind of the defendant and the evaluator finally concluded to the fact that the defendant was in a position to go ahead with a plea agreement as well as a subsequent sentencing. This is a case revealing how people suffering from mental illness like schizophrenia can exaggerate on their illness in order to have a reduced sentencing. From the above results it is not obvious to allege that the defendant was totally guilty and hence needed no mercy from the court. This is because these tests are liable to be misinterpreted.

In the second case of  a 36 old man who was accused of possessing firearms and therefore convicted of felon, the court show a need for an extensive examination in order to give their opinion on the competency of the defendant to be sentenced (Kirk, et al, 2002, pp. 88). The defendant was informed that there was relationship between the patient and the doctor and hence there was no confidentiality. In an evaluation by theUSmedical Center for the Federal prisoners, the defendant was observed keenly by the correctional and clinical staff. He underwent through some interviews with the evaluators. According to the report he offered on his personal background, it revealed that he was selling illicit drugs in order to get income since he had no any family support. He also revealed that he was arrested like for about 20 times during his adulthood and adolescence because of felony. He also revealed that he was experiencing tremors, nervousness and depression. During all this time he received thioridazine to help him get some sleep. When the medication was discontinued, he showed no any signs of problems and was cooperative. He could care for himself and interacted effectively with the others. He was oriented and alert to time, place, situations and people. His speech was also quite coherent and clear though it was slowly delivered. There was no evidence to reveal that he had any mental disorders since his thinking capacity was coherent, organized and linear.

The defendant was hence administered on some psychological testing on three occasions. The test results revealed that the defendant was trying to present himself as ill and also confused. He however claimed that he was not feigning and therefore he agreed for a repeat of the tests. In his second test, there was no suggestion of feigning. When the tests were readministered, the responses that he gave were irrelevant and quite inconsistent to be interpreted. Measures on motivation as well as effort showed that he got motivated to respond in an incorrect style. Repeat tests administration of the cognitive ability showed that he had low aptitude as far as nonverbal reasoning was concerned, verbal comprehension and word knowledge. Results shows clearly that the defendant in this case had no any mental disorders as he had excellent styles of hygiene and also organization though he had a tendency to feign mental ailment. He also could portray some signs that were unbelievable and unlikely (Kirk, et al, 2002, pp.91).

Though the defendant in the case study was feigning mental ailment, he was doing in a reduced manner in order to get a reduced sentence if at all he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The defendant in this case was guilty on the grounds that he had no any mental disorder and only presented a behavior and personality style which is characterized by antipathy towards the authority as well as violation of the law and social norms. There was no relationship between mental illness and personality style. He was therefore fully aware of all the conditions and terms of the agreement. Basing our reasoning on the results, it is therefore proper to say that the defendant was fully competent to go ahead with the case since there is no revelation of mental disorders which would interfere with such abilities. Therefore basic reasoning shows that the felony acts that he committed was purely in his right conscious any dealings or confusion that he could have had was triggered by the drugs that he took for a long time like marijuana. However, to be more rational there could be a possibility that the entire tests were also biased because of some specific reasons.

There should be a principled approach that is usually specific as far as FHMA is concerned. There a number of set of principles that should be developed in order to enhance on the quality as well as consistency of the forensic assessment. Applications of such rules and principles would help a lot to minimize some of the arbitrariness as far as legal decisions processes are concerned through the promotion of a consistent, thorough, clear and impartial results.

The principled centered theoretical approach to FMHA usually holds a considerable promise in improving the quality of all the forensic practices. The principles will go a long way in supporting some major crucial functions. The first function which is of concern addresses training the mental professionals in practicing and understanding FMHA. This model would offer the trainee with some generalized approach as far as FMHA is concerned that would hence allow development of some expertise in a certain population. Also, in applying the principles, they should have an affirmative impact on theory as well as research development in forensic assessments. The case studies results though to an extent might have been correct; it is also lucid that they might have also had some biasness in the analyzing process.

It is patent that it is quite possible to evaluate some complaints on amnesia through developing recognition test which is individually directed to information in which the patient claims that they do not know. Making a rational assessment on presentation, means going ahead and incorporating some information from testing, history clinical presentation as well as incentives for malingering to form a clear hypothesis on patients. It is quite useful to confront the patients with some valid concerns on the fact that the testing performance usually do not reflect on their aptitude and the results are not always quite clear. In the case study presented, it is evident that we can never trust some results based on first testing and also the conclusive results are also quite biased.

Complication always results in cases where the findings are quite mixed up for example in the cases of malingering that is partial, contradictory response and false imputation. In most scenarios, the patients portray numerous personalities as well as dissociative disorders during the psychological testing thus it is imperative to come up with a rational base on the patients mental aptitude (Armstrong & Loewenstein, 1990, pp. 448-454).

In FMHA, the evaluator should assume an objective role and use higher standards for relevance and accuracy of all the data that is to be collected as well as being used in the assessment process. The evaluator usually takes a divergent role as far as the relationship to patients is concerned and usually acts in the interest of the patient.

 

Political Environment Case

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

 

When the survival of the political class seems threatened both genuinely or falsified, their anger is projected to institutions they deem worthy the reproach. In political asylum, institutions suffer the most, being recipients of unwarranted dismissal. Change, both in policy and management, is inevitable. This dynamism notwithstanding, the political class will always need to be appreciated, involved and consulted. This multifaceted approach to policy development and adoption poses the formative challenge in management. The correctional services are not exempt from this political reproach.

Correctional Services under Political Siege

The central objective of any correctional service institutions is to change the perception of life by the inmates, not torture. The response should be centered on this cardinal correctional service principle. The political class is ordinarily full of contradictions even in matters they well know the guiding principles, except they want to be felt as being in control. The response though, principally designed, should have the political class appreciated.

Formative in responding will be a dire need for an apology. The apology should lay a ground for the explanation and the elaboration of the policy in details to the political class (Peak K. J.  2010). The pros and the cons to either approach to rehabilitation of the inmates should be presented to the political class in way so elaborate yet persuading enough to have the leadership see the essence of the implementation of the correctional policies.

While the political class will seek to have the policies they term retrogressive terminated, the response should seek their opinion on the policies. In seeking their opinion, the political class will feel as part of the process and hence rather than refuting the policies, will propose their probable approaches to the implementation of the policies. Surrender would present a challenge for the prison warders and management. Perhaps the best approach, at the very extreme, would be the review of the implementation approach.

In addition, with the due incorporation of the political class, and the winning of their support, the prospects of continued implementation would be assured. In all aspects, the lack of support and the questioning of the policies thereof, results from the lack of involvement and not the effectiveness of the policies (Peak K. J.  2010). By any standards, the legal advisers of the prison management take into consideration all the legal considerations before the policies are adopted for implementation.

The argument that the room for negotiation with the governor lacks isn’t administratively realistic. Provided the policies are designed with due consideration of humanitarian, legal and political considerations, the room for negotiation is sufficiently accessible. The legal department of the correctional service should prepare a paper on the pros of the policies being implemented and have them presented by the top management, with the director inclusive, to the governor.

Where the governor will see a dire need for review, the trade –off will be the adoption of the governor’s proposals in phases (Peak K. J.  2010). While the policies adopted may be slightly stringent on the inmates, for purpose of constructive prison reforms, the policies will be developed such as can be reforming and not torturous or punitive. However, the crux of the matter in doing this will be winning the will of the political class.

Ideally, the fervent adoption of the systems approach throughout the implementation process of all correctional policies would be incidental in ensuring the restrictions imposed by the political class to not dwell much blow on the efficiency and efficacy of the correctional institutions.

The support of the policies within and without any organization largely determines the effectiveness of the implementation process and the attainment of the policy objectives thereof. To determine the extent of the probable success of the policies, internal evaluation of the systems support and external evaluation of the policy support is tidal. It is from this evaluation that management can enthusiastically defend their policies, based on the popularity amongst the stakeholder (Peak K. J.  2010). In establishing the policy support, both internal and external, data will be collected from the warders on their take about the new correctional policies that have been put in place.

The opinion of the general public on the utility and the effectiveness of the policies adopted will also be sought through interviews and questionnaires. If the opinion shows that both the warders and the general public are in favor of the policies, this statistical data will form a basis for the defense of the policies particularly to the governor.

The opinion of the ex-prisoners on the matter will be of equal validity. If they feel the policies are better in terms of rehabilitation, given the practical orient of this, due leverage will be given to the policies (Peak K. J.  2010). State will always utilize instruments such as the intelligence to determine the practicability and the support of programs, if the research does show that the policies have all the support, the governor’s stand, our defense notwithstanding, will be informed accordingly.

The success of any policies will always be evaluated through a thorough motoring and evaluation process (M&E). In the monitoring process, the administration to the correctional institutions will countercheck the institutional records, both accounting and schedule to ensure that due parameters are lived to and that the deviations from the set targets are minimal or at best, non-existent.

Conclusion

At the designation of the policies, the management sets objectives. To evaluate the success of the implementation process and the attainment of the set objectives, the management will review the extent of attainment of the objectives (Peak K. J.  2010). Where such set targets are ardently reached, the director will have sufficient reason to hang on the policies and sought appropriate approaches for bringing on board the opponents of the policies (Peak K. J.  2010). The life feature of former inmates under this policy regime would just suffice the policy support of the correctional services.

Summarily, it is hard to have the administrative and the political class tore a similar line of working. Nevertheless, where there is empirical proof for the course, the administrators would find it easy-going to convince and bring on board the opponents, the civil and the political class alike.


Health Care Roles in Communication

Place an order for a custom essay, research paper on this or related subject.

 

Healthcare communication can be affected and perceived in divergent ways. Some of the ways comprise of the roles of the patient, perspectives of the health practitioners, cultural beliefs and views, body language, environmental factors, time restraints, job parameters, levels of burnout and stress and others. What would really happen if the care providers failed to integrate the patient’s cultural, personal and other crucial preferences? Would such a scenario result to the patients refusing to seek services that they need? Would there be a likelihood of an incorrect diagnosis? These issues are already in existence today despite the fact that most health providers are usually proficient in accommodating and acknowledging religious and cultural differences that do relate to health care. In today’s, medical field the medical practitioners do take divergent approaches to bridge the barriers to understanding and communication that do stem from linguistic, cultural, racial as well as ethnic differences. Communication which is usually the acts of both nonverbal and verbal means is not only based on the words that do come from people’s mouth but also the approach to which they are used in. Communication should be based on conquering personal goals that are set by the care providers, friends, patients’ family and the patient. Patients are usually interactors in their hospital visits and their perceptions on coordinated care are usually affected by the communication patterns among the health professionals (Beaudin, Lammers & Pedroja. 1999. pp. 331). Effectual health communication help in raising awareness of the solutions and health risks, offer skills and the motivation that is required and reinforce attitudes. Effective communication between the health provider and the patient goes a long way in determining the outcome as shown in the case study below.

The case scenario

In this case, Vivian had been suffering from some abdominal pains but did not seek for medical attention earlier hence decides to seek for it when she acquires the proper insurance. When she receives the insurance she goes ahead to seek for an appointment with a doctor where she gets into a room which is gray and only holds some few chairs and a note on the wall  that state “ turn off cell phones” and “have a co-pay ready”. When she arrives at the doctor’s office Vivian is anxious in expressing her need for treatment to the assistant but to her disguise she is met by a person who only interrupts her when she is communicating and then another patient is called.  When she goes back to the examining room, she is then met by a doctor who asks her questions in a hurry which are only medically related. The doctor then prescribes some medication and stipulates that she might be having ulcers and instruct her to set an appointment for the ultrasound. The doctor then wakes and when he is almost at the door asks whether Vivian has more questions and she responds that she has none.

Case analysis (key player perspectives)

Caregiver and the medical assistant

It is patent that Vivian was met with the most ineffective poor health communication strategies. The medical assistant did not only use the block technique but made sure that Vivian felt more uneasy. He used a blocking and interruptive style in order to avoid the emotional disclosure of the patient. This acted as the major mishap to her unwillingness in being assertive during the medical examination. The medical assistant acted unprofessional and she was so much in a hurry to get other patients done because of the time constraint factor. She should have used a more concerned and friendly approach in order to make the patient feel at ease. This scenario portrays a recommendable overview of how some factors like blocking and ignoring the patient’s emotional factors result to poor communication.

For example the caregiver in this scenario used closed questions where by the patient was in no any position to give her own account of what exactly she was feeling. The closed questions in this case were enabled thus the primary concern revealing why the patient visited were ignored and the patient was not given any room to express her major concerns and needs. The care giver used physician centered approach and a biomedical model.

The visit comprised of time constraints from the doctor thus there was no any time to note any burn out or distress from the patient. There were no any signs of attentive and reasonable listening skills offered by the doctor thus the patient was left with only one option but to be overwhelmed as her concerns were not given room to be addressed.

The caregiver use of close communication impacted wrongly on the patient and made Vivian uneasy since she had no opportunity to feel at ease and open up on other troubling factors. The caregiver was in a hurry to get done and thus had no time to listen to his patient and get more details on her health issues.

The patient:

The patient was overwhelmed by the whole situation on the grounds she felt uneasy and felt that there was no any room to express her opinions. The room was full of grey colors thus contributing more to her anxiety. The poor communication left no any room to discuss some of her beliefs on medicine or cultural factors that may impact positively to her health. She might have even felt that she was in the wrong place and wasting the caregiver’s time. Such a patient might have problems coming to the hospital for the second time because of the ill treatment. It was quite unethical for the doctor to speculate and tell her she might have been having ulcers with no proper checking. This might have led to her having more stress considering the state that she was already in.

Communication implications

Most health practitioners favor the use of synchronous communication styles even when they are aware that these are ineffective channels of communication. This kind of communication contributes largely to an interruptive environment and increases the potential for some clinical errors. Given the imperativeness of some of the interpersonal communication, it is not usually surprising that failures in communication are a contributor to adverse outcomes. Poor communication in an organized health care can result from overworked health practitioners as well as hiring in experienced practitioners. Fatigue can also be a major reason for medical practitioners to portray poor communication skills (Brown, Dunn, Stewart, et al, 2009, pp. 1595-1602).

Poor communication can also result from poor listening skills. There are other numerous contributors of ineffective communication including the exceeding of the cognitive limits.

The biomedical model and physician centered approach can impede the patient to disclose some of her concerns and problems. A patient centered model of approach can enhance physician and the patient communication. This will help in improving the outcomes, patient satisfaction and compliance. The doctors should practice the biopsychosocial model of approach that entails analyzing the emotions, social factors, behaviors and thoughts of the patient. This will make the patient to feel more at ease. The caregivers should also practice Transcultural theory in order to analyze the cultural beliefs and views of the patients that may have an impact on their health. The caregivers should understand their role in an organized health setting and realize that the cultural beliefs, emotional considerations, values and effective communication are imperative as far as patients are concerned.

Communication resolution

There should be enhancement of more effective open communication. This could have been enhanced by reconstructing the hospital environment in order to allow more room for relaxation. There should have been consideration of more neutral colors instead of grey and may be an inclusion of a scenic view.  There should have been a more comfortable sitting arrangement for the waiting patients so that the patients can be accorded with the right comfort. Each area should have a radio or may be television in order to offer relaxation to the patients and the caregiver or the doctor should have offered a more intellectual approach to the patient showing concern. The health practitioners should use an opened rationale of communication and learn to use facial expressions like attentively looking at the patient’s eyes so that she or he will feel comfortable and cared for. For patients effectual communication can help to raise awareness of the risks in health and solutions as well as offer the skills and motivation that is needed in reducing the health risks. Health communication helps in amplifying the demand for effective health services. The care provider should have used effective communication in order to prevent anxiety and promote health. The medical assistant should have an interactive approach of communication to make the patient to feel more at ease. Issues that do affect the health workplaces do range from grave concerns that affect the physical safety of the workers to those that would enhance efficiency and productivity. The health practitioners should have considered the issue of effectual teamwork as a major prerequisite for the patients. This will help a lot in avoiding overburdening of tasks among the health practitioners as they have an ample time to cater for the patients.

Conclusion

Health care communication is an imperative tool that any organized health setting should focus on. Health care workers should practice transcultural and psychosocial models in their practice and involve open communication as well as interactive communication strategies in order to consider the emotions, values, beliefs and concerns of the patient. This will also help in improving the outcome of the patients.