Factors that influence body image

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One of the factors influencing body image is social-cultural aspects. Human beings live in societies and it is in them that we get to know how we should look like. Cultures also play a major role such that an African American woman would rather be bigger while Caucasians lean towards a size zero. The sentiments of the African Americans are shared by Africans who believe that a woman should be big with broader hips and breasts so as to ensure fertility and sexual satisfaction. For example, in Africa, if a woman was too skinny they were put on a fattening diet as this also ensured that they got a husband (Ricciardelli, et al, 2004). Among the African American women, they do consider big hips and behind an advantage which they believe that their male counterparts will also enjoy the benefits during sexual intercourse. Thus, African American girls will grow up knowing that having more on the desired areas is what is beautiful and what they should aim towards. If it happens that they do not get enough ‘flesh’ in certain areas they will then feel inadequate. For the Caucasian women, they belief that smaller body is more desirable thus the girls will grow up wanting to be of that size. This has led them to develop eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia which has often ended in fatalities (O’Connell, 2009). For the males, cultural studies have shown that they are supposed to be big, strong and have rippling muscles. This is to enhance their masculinity. So the boys will want to develop six packs as the men will hit the gym working out to get the packs and increase muscles. This is universal as men in all cultures want to have such a body. A tall and big man will command more authority than a short and smaller man. A man who is smaller and shorter will often be on the receiving end of teasing and bullying. Women will be attracted to big bodied males as they exude a sense of security and virility (Ricciardelli, et al, 2004). Pageants are social activities that have taken over in defining body image to society. There are set international measurements for the different types of models. There are bikini models that should have a well proportioned body, catwalk models that should be very thin, catalogue models that are to be petite, lingerie models that should be shapely and feminine and the male models that should have excellent physical body shape but not too much muscle. This is the rule book that sets the standards of body image to the society. A model will never be successful until they meet these standards, no agency will sign them if they have the wrong proportions. Also when the model is seen as having added weight, they will be told to lose the extra pounds or lose income. In the US there is the American sweetheart look which for girls is blonde and blue-eyed. This can be shown by looking at the winners of miss teen USA and miss USA. Other girls will then dye their hair blond or bleach and wear blue contacts to achieve this look (Rubenstein & Cabellero, 2000).

The second influencing factor is the family and friends. A family is the first socialization agent that a child is placed into. Next are the friends who we make in the different areas of our lives. To most people we are more concerned with what our parents and siblings think of us. This then indicates the important role that parents play in shaping attitudes on body image. This role should be taken seriously so that parents can triumph over any external influences such as Barbie dolls and pageants (Anschutz & Engels, 2010). The opinion of close friends is also taken to heart. If a family defines the body image and the child does not meet the standard, then they get stressed and think negative of themselves (O’Connell, 2009). Also if most of one’s friends have an attitude towards a certain body type, then we tend to hold a similar opinion. A study carried out showed that teenage girls who have eating disorders often felt criticized at home by parents or guardians and siblings. The family may be directly or indirectly making the girls feel inadequate (O’Connell, 2009). A recent study has shown that friends are the biggest influencers of body image among teenagers than even magazines and celebrities. Teenagers are technology savvy and therefore know that the pictures in magazines and television have been digitally enhanced and air-brushed to make them perfect so they cannot possibly look like them. They will therefore take in more what their peers will describe the body types as to them this is more realistic. If among friends you are the only big one then there may be pressure for you to change yourself to look like the others. At times, it is someone who may want to join a certain clique of friends so one ends up changing their body and dressing in order to fit in. The feelings of acceptance and especially in areas such as school or workplace are the driving force behind change. From time immemorial, man has always valued conformity (O’Connell, 2009). Man is a social being and will subject ourselves to the dictations set by our relations.

The third factor of influence is sports. Women and men are dictated upon on what sports they can participate in largely due to their body type. Sports have been classified as masculine or feminine and each has its own body type to go with it. For example, boxing is one of the sports that are largely thought of as a masculine one. This is because one has to build up muscle mass as it involves having to fight off the opponent which is what males usually do. Women who are boxers will have to work out and develop muscles such that they will resemble a man (Swami, Steadman and Tovee, 2009). They are then subjected to public scrutiny as whether they are really ‘females’ and if biologically they are then they are labeled as lesbians. A recent case is the South African athlete Caster Semenya who is a runner, in the 800 meters, and a world champion. She had to undergo compulsory gender determination tests as people and officials questioned how she appears too masculine. This has led many young women to actually shy away from such sports. The athletes themselves also do actually have negative body image perceptions when they think that their bodies are not as they should be. They thus begin a struggle of getting the desired body and this is varied whereby some may need to loss weight and others add weight. There has always been a negative relation between athletes and weight control. When they are underweight, they tend to use steroids to put on weight and develop muscles. When the athlete has been told to lose weight they will use drugs to achieve this as to them it is either do or die and they do not have the luxury of loosing weight on their own schedule. The steroids have a harmful effect on the body’s physiological processes. In male gyms, these steroids are sold undercover as the peddlers target men who want a faster solution to developing muscles. In some sports such as figure skating, one is supposed to have a certain body type. For the women, they are to be thin and average weight so that they are flexible enough to be lifted duding the routines. For the men, they are to have good muscle capacity so that they can lift the females. When someone is watching these sports, their attention is drawn to the body type that the athletes have and will admire them and want to have such (Swami, Steadman and Tovee, 2009).

The fourth factor influencing body image is the media. The mass media is perhaps the biggest factor and especially in this advanced technological age. Mass media is a general term that is comprised of print and digital. Print media include magazines, newspapers and catalogues. Digital media includes television, radio, internet and social networking sites .Everyday and all the time we are bombarded with information that may often be uncensored by authoritative figures such as parents or the government (Jean, 1999). The media promotes certain body images and especially underweight females. This ends up encouraging harmful practices in order to achieve the body type that they saw on television or in the magazine. Media largely affects women more than men most likely because they are more gullible than their counterparts. You will find that quick diets are the most selling information in the media. The diet industry in the US is at an estimated value of $100 billion every year.  Human beings will react more to a virtual stimulus thus these diet companies will advertise using pictures of people who are in their before and after to actually show the results thereby selling more of their products (Grogan, 2010). What most people may not realize is that these companies will often doctor the results so their sales go up. They will also omit any information on the side-effects or what is contained in the diet pills that will be harmful to consumers. It is mostly young women in comparison to older women who will read magazines, watch movies and television where they see thin women and their minds will subconsciously take that size as what they should be. The worst influencers are models that are nowadays a size zero (Jean, 1999). The ‘common’ woman will then do all her best to achieve this size. The media also plays havoc on the self esteem of women who feel that they are not good looking enough. Allen Ginsberg said that whoever has the control on media will then control the images that are released thus in turn controlling the culture at that time. This is very true as the people you see in the media are mostly small bodied for women and heavily muscled men. Nowadays it is not unusual to hear young children, as young as six years old, talk about how fat they are (Jean, 1999). This is a situation that has been brought about by their exposure to mass media that does promote underweight. It leaves you wondering their attitude when they reach adolescence and hormones begin to change their bodies as they undergo the changes that come with maturity. Mass media has been blamed for eating disorders in countries where television programs are being brought in from other countries. An example is Melrose place and 90210 which were among the programs to be aired outside USA that had themes on body types. In certain areas the local perceptions on body image changed to the negative (Rosen, Gross & Vara, 1987).

When all the factors that influence body image have been analyzed, the next step is to look at how the situation can be corrected and save ourselves from self-destruction. Cultures will always change according to the times and we should therefore not take to heart whatever is said or has been set. People should learn to filter the information that bombards them from the mass media. As for young people, figures of authority in their lives should check the kind of information that is passed to them. Parents have the biggest influence on body image and should therefore not dictate but be more accepting and unrestrictive. In sports, the competition is often stiff and to them much is at stake. Body image is something that affects us all regardless of our age, race or gender. It knows no boundaries. At one time or another we question our body’s image and wish that we could look different. The same factors of influence can be used to spread the message of acceptance regardless of your body type. In the end health should come first before body image.

The FDA Effectiveness of Protecting the Safety of Human Subjects

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Generalized Background

Regulations on drug use by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has become very vast following international reforms, growth in the workforce and in terms of the recommendations arising from statutory requirements. There have therefore been concerns with regard to the implications coming out of the operations carried out by the drug regulation agency’s processes and procedures. FDA has gained esteem as well as essence being one of the global drug regulatory units, whose contribution has been recently called for in decision making processes as well as in deducing oversights into such processes (Sexton et al., 2004). But then, the general public has questioned the FDA’s competency in achieving a unilateral evaluation in reviewing both drug safety and efficacy following the approval which was accorded to them (Alazraki, 2004). There have also been concerns into their delivery in terms of the performance on the basis of normal life situations.

For long, health care agencies have had themselves committed in protecting the general public from the probable drug and/or medicine abuse as well as harms aligned to clinical trials. As per Alazraki (2004), they have also engaged in ascertaining that potential and prospecting practitioners comprehend the possible risks as well as benefits in any given subject of research. An amendment to the United States of America’s Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in 1960s held that a person had to assent to (at minimum) taking part in any given experimental therapy. But then, some 1967 policy by FDA made it clear that the procedure had to ascertain there is a valid consent which had to be in writing.

Later on, there was established the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR) to make certain people’s safety as well as their welfare. FDA reviewed its stipulations in 1981 in requirement of written consent for all the product related studies for which it forms the regulatory body (Califf, 2003). Presently, the leadership of FDA and some other agencies are in top gear taking part in essential roles so as to ensure an oversight into researches alongside ensuring that the persons involved are protected. Furthermore, FDA has ensured that its responsibilities are shared among and with a number of institutions of research as well as individual research personalities.

Considering these concerns, the question that comes into the minds of many is whether FDA is really effective in protecting the safety of human subjects or not. Califf (2003), notes that FDA has been rendered to be in the fore front in the evaluation of drug safety systems within the country. There is need to enhance such systems by empowering clinical researches as well as researches relating to epidemiology along with actions for regulations as based o upon scientific approaches. FDA has recently been putting more efforts into enhancing decision making processes regarding its post-marketing, but there should be a more comprehensive reaction which incorporates acknowledgement for the need for alertness throughout the processes involving drugs (Evens, 2007). It is proper that public preferences, needs and interests be fully complied to and be offered best when dealing with matters relating both to safety and efficiency. Nevertheless, FDA has not been mindful in the same as these are only limited to itself. It can therefore be justified the FDA has been effective in protecting the safety of human subjects.

Problems and Obstacles

Recently, there have been controversies emerging based on drug safety as leading to perception by the public holding that there is crisis on drug safety system. From this perception, there have developed a prospect for a thorough and detailed assessment and evaluation of the system of drug safety in United States of America (Evens, 2007). Along with the same concerns, there have been instances where there have been queries into the process of reviewing as well as approval processes for drug safety systems. Besides, there have been questions whether FDA has lost its focus to pace up adequacy into the attention which may not be accorded to safety with respect to the efficiency and timely communication or dissemination of relevant information to the public.

Armum (2010), notes that apart from these, there have been questions regarding FDA’s independence in utilizing and relying on scientific expertise. This has become an obstacle since it has led to conflict of interest from within FDA’s advisory units. Moreover, there have been queries on possibility of unjustifiable industrial influence regarding funding processes. FDA’s problems reflect its fluctuations based on unstable regulatory approaches (Baker, 2009). There is complexity in the reality behind FDA since no real documentation has been carried out on whether there is crisis on drug safety on not thereby probable drug safety obstacles cannot be figured out from the agency’s information on the existing systems on drug safety.

It has otherwise been noted that FDA’s relationship has improved in the recent past years by offering enhanced directives and guidelines concerning its expectations. Gad (2006) observes that this has been observed since the endorsement of its 1997 Act on Modernization. Quite a number of companies have also welcomed FDA as per its focus towards integrating its feedbacks into developments on products (Loftus, 2010; Gad, 2006). Even though there have been some companies which have deemed FDA as frustrating by changing its positions over the review processes, it has been widely viewed by some as getting to meet with FDA well before submission of review tools has enhanced their application standards as well as quality (Califf, 2003). Nonetheless, some of the companies’ products have been in the past rejected following FDA’S inadequacy in its resources for review processes while a minute number of the companies feel that FDA is doing little in advancing personalized drugs and/or medicine and therefore lacking in competency to execute the intended initiatives (McKee, 2010).

In spite of some stipulations from life-science companies, the public is however contented with FDA’s level of performance. This is so even with consumers’ depicting its improvement. Actually, a majority of the consumers are very satisfied of the safety and efficiency of both medical and drug devices as recommended for use in America, with an even bigger number agreeing that the country possesses the overall best standards globally regarding drug effectiveness as well as their safety (Baciu et al., 2007). A further larger number is also confident that FDA examines the safety and effectiveness of drugs upon their approval and release to the public for consumption.

Proposed Solutions and Methods to Overcome Obstacles

To overcome the obstacles and problems addressed, there are supposed to be new initiatives towards enhancing the safety of drugs and medicine. This can be achieved or realized by enacting policies which integrate new resources into the medical as well as drug related safety concerns. Besides these, there should be regulatory instruments as well as authorized bodies or units to ascertain that the use of drugs and medicine is both safe and appropriate (Alazraki, 2010). This furthermore will call for sponsorship to ensure that there are changes in safety-related labeling of products. In addition, there is need to establish the potential risks in assessments as well as prevention approaches for the risks related to drug and medicine necessary for verifying the benefits in a drug which actually surpass the drugs’ risks (Califf, 2003).

There is need to formulate methods for acquiring access to relevant information from reliable sources. In addition, there should be developed risk identification strategies and systems for analyses to relate health associated data gathered from various sources. This should actually concentrate on developing and executing systems that incorporate electronic systems for the role of monitoring medical products safety (Richard, 2009; FDA, 2004). Moreover, this will ensure there is competency in having new drugs and medicine in an effective and safe qualities.

To ensure an oversight that is effective, especially with the rise in the number of entities taking interest in clinical research which is also becoming quite complex, there is need to sustain the integrity of research by all means. This should also be considered with regard to the need to further improve the existing protections for the human subjects.  Reyes (2010) suggests that many new efforts should be developed to enhance research on human safety so as to further empower the oversight of the government regarding research on medical disciplines as well as to strengthen the responsibilities of clinical researchers into abiding to the guidelines given by the federal authority.

There should also be established a process to make efforts for the enhancement of assessors’ clinical education and training. FDA should consider looking into the an approach that will; ensure that it works mutually with the other agencies so as to ascertain that every clinical assessor, administrators in the research areas and any other staff and members affiliated to the agency and its affiliate agencies are given proper research induction into both human subjects and bioethics researches (Reyes, 2010).

Proper consultations by FDA with other relevant agencies should also be considered in guaranteeing specified directives for well informed approvals as well as consistent auditing for confirmation on compliance as regards research institutions (Baciu et al., 2007). Regarding intricate clinical trials which also pose as risky, FDA should consider incorporating observations from other agencies so as to reaffirm the consents of all the bodies involved in any given trial-based occurrences that may further influence how they respond towards taking an active part in the trials themselves.

On the concerns of monitoring, FDA should consider looking for investigation personnel to assist in conducting the clinical trials with detailed plans for monitoring. These monitoring plans should also be made sure that they are shared out with the other agencies, by the selected investigators. Furthermore, FDA should supply a framework of guidelines that will define inter-agencies relationships as well as what they are expected of  in respect to issues of privacy, functional issues, membership qualifications, their roles and autonomy (Richard, 2009).

Though there is a process of streamlining FDA’s systems of assurance on institutions dealing in research, the agency needs to issue new regulations to accord applications for grants permission to suspend certain reviews on the proposed research procedures (FDA, 2004). This should be allowed to be till such a time that these applications have been completely documented and approved for submission.

It has been noticed that there exists conflict of interest and to tackle this, there is need to integrate another directive and/or regulation to assist in verifying FDA’s policies relating to the same.  Along with this, there should be forums to help in establishing strategies for managing conflict of interest in order to ensure that research subjects are aptly advised. This will also ensure that any results related to research work are appropriately analyzed and their presentations confined within the set objectives. Besides, this will help FDA and the other agencies work mutually in formulating fresh regulations and policies on drug safety and human researches for any clinical trials. As Baciu et al., (2007) observes, even though FDA has the authority to issue cautions and/or obliges sanctions to close down any research work up to a moment that any posing problems have been put right, it should consider enforcing financial penalties as a significant instrument in approving institutions of research, those responsible for sponsorship initiatives as well as research personalities who fail to adhere to federal directives. This will further be ascertained if FDA partners with a number of other agencies in enforcing such proposals.

Conclusions

Food and Drug Administration works to ensure there is uniformity in accessing drugs, especially with respect to safety concerns so as to ascertain there is a well and proper protection of the human subjects within the entire public health domain. Even though FDA faces patients of a diverse scope, it is has a complicated set of tasks in response to drugs as well as a umber of products as used by the patients (FDA, 2004). Though there may be limitations and obstacles in the regulatory systems of drug safety and/or severely negative cases which render individuals fail to sanction the drugs, the approvals by FDA are not a representation of safety and proficiency which are guaranteed for entire lifetime. Therefore, even with the best systems for drug safety are not able to curb negative responses within the market setting.

Getting a proper comprehension of the risks of drugs as well as the benefits that come with drug use is a significance that advances following measures put in place to guide drug safety systems and procedures. Members of FDA and its staff as well who are responsible for revising FDA’s policy submissions have been able to find a strong base in integrating both the benefits and the risks relating to drug safety before any approvals can be put in place (FDA, 2004). All in all, FDA has been and still is effective in protecting the safety of human subjects.

Liver Cancer: A Deadly Disease

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Liver cancer is a disease that kills almost all the people who suffer from it within a year. This is because by the time one realizes that they have the cancer, it has already spread to other parts of the body.  Statistics show that only “five percent of the patients with liver that has begun to show symptoms survive even five years without treatment.”(Leslie J. Schoenfield, MD, PhD). But if the cancer is detected early, it can be removed surgically.

In close association with liver cancer are diseases such as, alcoholism, viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis obesity and diabetes. (NCI) All of the above diseases are closely related with alcoholism. This is because; alcoholism and viral hepatitis cause cirrhosis which in turn leads to the cancer.

In order to understand how dangerous this disease is,   (Cancer. Net) approximated that this year (2010) 24,120 adults in total in the United States 17,430 men and 6,690 women will soon be diagnosed with liver cancer and that, about 18910 deaths occur to be more specific, 12,720 will be men and 6,190 in women. In America thought the population that is worst hit is the immigrants. It is mostly in afro- Americans, the Spanish and the Asians due to the high rates of hepatitis b that affects the Asians

The Liver.

 The liver is a vital organ in the human body.  It is used to dispose off harmful substances from the blood, make enzymes and bile needed in the digestion of food. And also it food into valuable substances needed for health growth. One cannot live without one for a long time. It is one of the largest organs found just below the ribcage and is made up of four parts or lobes. The lobes are as follows:

The right lobe

The left lobe

The caudate lobe

Quadrate lobe

Why I take so much interest in my research on liver cancer, is because many young people are drawing closer and closer to the risk of getting liver cancer.  This is because of the high rates at which the youth are becoming dependent on alcohol and as we have seen, alcohol is a major cause of liver cancer.

Signs and Symptoms of Liver Cancer

There are no specific signs and symptoms of liver cancer but some of them are unexplained fever and weight loss, jaundice and ascites which are abdominal fluids and swelling. (Cited in.MedicineNet.com). other signs include nausea and vomiting, weakness and a feeling of exhaustion, loss of appetite and at times a feeling of fullness, feeling heavy or a lamp on the upper abdomen and pain in the upper right abdomen (NCI).  When having these symptoms, the patient should see a doctor for a thorough medical check up.

Design Strategy. Analytical epidemiological studies according to environmental health investigation branch are studies that are used in tests used show the relationship between human beings and the health effects. In this case having looked at the causes of liver cancer, you see that most of them are related to the way of life of human beings. Sicknesses such as obesity and alcoholism bring about liver cancer showing that it’s the way of life that affects the human health.

While doing my research, I was deeply enlightened on many things. Such as healthy living in order to avoid fatal sicknesses such as liver cancer.  If I were to present my research to a committee, I wouldn’t so much focus on what the paper has, but instead urge them to sensitize people on the preventive measures and the importance of healthy living.

Torture Techniques in Iraq

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The atrocities committed by some of the Iraq warlords are worth thorough punishment both from the Iraqi government and the international community. Nonetheless, these punishments should be meted on convicted prisoners and not all the suspects. The alleged torture of the Iraqi suspects by the United States soldiers is far from believable. Whereas the United States is believed to be one of the countries that uphold in high esteem the rule of law, it is ironically and scenically perpetuating this impunity.

The humiliation of the prisoners so as to give the required information is far from the legal. The argument that the United States troops humiliated the prisoners to get intelligence information from the prisoners elicits many queries than answers on the role of the United States in upholding the rule of law and the protection of human rights. Natural justice does dictate that suspects are innocent until prove guilty; torturing persons that innocent is adamant violation of human rights and should refuted forthwith.

Discussion: US Torture Techniques in Iraq

The United Nations convention does not allow the torture of suspects. Neither does the convention allow the torture of prisoners outside the stipulated punishment. However, it is absurd that the United States which is a signatory of this convention’s ratification allows under its watch he torture of suspects or alleged victims. Green (Green 2005) argues that suspects are expected to enjoy the human rights without any violation. The dispatch by some of the media that the Iraqi suspects were not allowed sufficient time for sleep leaves much to be desired.

The alleged secret jail abuse is a gross violation of he rights of the suspects (Coleman 2009).  The torture in Al Muthanna airbase where the Muslim suspects were forced to using the Koran as their toilet paper denied the suspects their right to services and subsequently their right to practice their religious doctrines. The detainee’s allegation that they were tortured hours on end by the united states troops calls for the review of the UN policy on terror suspects (ACLU 2005).

The existence of alleged secret jails created by the United States in itself was utter disregard of the expectation of the United Nations convention. Whereas the idea of fighting terrorism was such a noble idea, the war was expected to be fought openly and in consultation of the United Nations Security Council. The allegation that the United States created these jails without the knowledge of this noble international institution shows gross egotism.

Linday (Linday 2009) states that the inflection of cigarettes on suspects was not only inhuman but against the rights on the suspects as provided in the United Nations convention. The rounding of the suspects by very many American troops shows the shear violation of the rights of the suspects. The victims were rounded to the level of death. Similarly, according to Green (Green 2005) prisoners are entitled to the human rights like any other human being. The fact that prisoners in Iraq were provided with hoods made from sandbag sacking is in utter disregard of human rights.

If the secret documents accessed provide any basis for any discourse, it is evident that the conditions that the suspects went through were beyond the entitlement of any suspect, and in accordance with the UN Convention. Taking the example of female American soldiers who were allegedly allowed to have their menstrual blood streamed into the water used Muslim suspects, denied the suspects their rights to practice their religious doctrines. This is against the provisions of the United Nations convention; suspects are expected to enjoy their rights and practice their doctrines without denial.

The sodomizing and raping of the suspects as have been shown in the international media shows the denial of the human rights of the suspects (Ross B., & Esposito 2005). In some cases the media shows that some of the suspects had their fingernails removed and sometimes electrocuted. Ideally, these tortures showed the indignity of the American troops to the human rights of the suspects. Some of the torture cases were extremely serious to the extent of causing death.

The fact that some of the torture allegations were rubbished without any investigation by the United States troops shows that the torture cases reported were not a mistake but were understood in the high offices. As a nation according to ACLU (ACLU, 2005) that upholds human rights with immense seriousness, the adamant disregard of the allegations showed that the Bush government was ideally behind this torture cases. The reference to the torture by the bush government to the torture as interrogation technique simply meant Bush’s government had prescribed and perhaps approved these human indignities.

The uproar (Sigmund 2006) on the existence of suspect torture within the American camps should have raised sufficient concern for the American government. This international concern should have sufficiently proved to the US government that this much smoke was evidencing the existence of fire. Subsequent, if the American government’s concern was not belated, then it should have gone ahead to investigate this claims.

The criticism from both the Chinese and the British government equally raised sufficient concern for attention by the Bush government (Ross B., & Esposito, 2005). Given that these were key players in the declaration of the war in Iraq, their concerns should have been given some attention, albeit not much, by the Bush government. Similarly the international relations and the legal implication of these allegations should have been given due consideration in rubbishing the torture claims.

Conclusion

The foregoing discussion shows that the Bush government was in favor of the torture activities that had become a rampant thing in camps of the American soldiers. As the custodian of the human rights, the Bush government ought not to have shown its inclinations towards the support for the torture activities in Iraq. This support can be ardently seen in the defense he openly shows for the water boarding as a way of torture, ironically asserting that it did assist in saving lives. Bush shows that this technique had ideally been approved by his office.

The revelation that the CIA had destroyed the allegation tapes equally raised sufficient eyebrows. In a government that is held in high esteem of human rights protection, this was not expected. The subsequently stopping of the investigation that were going on concerning the torture was equal proof that the bush government had the least interest, if any, on upholding the rule of law in the Iraq.

Mainsteam media Portrayal Attacks On IRAQ

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The American mission in Iraq, launched in 2003 as the cornerstone of President Bush’s War on Terror and the beginning of America’s exercise in ‘nation building,’ has captivated and polarized national attention for the entirety of its thus far 2820 day existence. In 2003, much of the Western world unquestioningly accepted Saddam Hussein to be a tyrant in possession of nuclear weapons—and the Iraqi people one of the few in the world still forced to live in fear of a ubiquitous secret police.1 As days of American rule have grown to years, however, this narrative has largely unraveled and found itself reshaped as a web of power structures. As Iraq has emerged from a bona fide civil war, violence between sectarian tribes and the U.S.-Iraqi Government has continued. In the same timeframe in America, we have witnessed two Presidential elections and an increasing tendency of major media outlets to offer commentary and analysis—from a partisan viewpoint. The effect has been toxic: today the mainstream media has fractionated itself into insular cliques which often sacrifice big-picture reporting for attention grabbing headlines.

Prior to the Wikileaks release this month, which placed the death toll among Iraqi civilians in the past six years at 66,000, the number killed was unclear and largely outside of American public knowledge. A detailed series of Internet searches for news articles mentioning “Iraqi civilian deaths,” “Iraq civilian blast,” and other permutations of the above published in the last four years show no shortage of reporting from many news outlets.2,3 Each invariably includes a quote from an American official lamenting the deaths and remarking that dead civilians undermine American credibility and goodwill. Many give death toll estimates, some comment on the trend of falling casualties. Until mid-November of this year, however, very few reported attacks as individual accounts and stories. In the last month, sectarian violence has spread to the Christian minority living within Iraq. A flurry of articles from Fox News and CNN released within two weeks of one another touch on this violence in depth. Said one article from Fox News:

“Brothers Saad and Raad Hannah were working in their auto mechanic shop in Mosul when gunmen burst in and shot them dead before fleeing, police said. A local hospital worker confirmed the deaths. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.”

A more recent USA Today headline reads, “Iraq attack kills elderly Christian couple at home.” This is largely insignificant in itself but when taken as a trend, it is troublesome. By distinguishing between Iraqi Christians vs. Shiite’s or Kurds, the media plays into an ‘us vs. them’ mentality and contributes to Islamophobia.

By no means are these events unworthy of reporting—they may even deserve the spotlight and international focus. What they lack is context.

Both al-Qaeda and the Ba’ath party formerly headed by Saddam Hussein are Sunni umbrella organizations. Other major players in the insurgency, including the Mahdi Army and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq are Shiite factions and are understood to share a transnational identity with majority-Shiite Iran. These groups advance their own sectarian interests by attacking both Coalition forces as well as Sunni insurgent groups.4 Caught between these interests lie Kurds, an ethnic minority, Christians—who make up three percent of the Iraqi population, and most other civilians.

In this still simplistic light, it is clear to see the folly of focusing on only one side of the story.An observation ios made that there are no interviews mad eon minstream media on ordinary Iraqi citizens.Mainstream media have massive reach out capabilities and spread news all over the world, this is no problem. The issue is when they use their resources to spread lopsided and biased news that are not a representation of how things are on the ground. How logical is it that on the websites of all the mainstream media, there are exact statistics of American soldiers who have lost their lives since the invasion on Iraq started whereas the same lack for Iraqi citizens who have lost their lives as a result of this war. Clearly this is a case where media feigns ignorance about some bits of information. If a soldier loses his life, that’s headline news. News of how many people die in a day in Iraq will not be found in mainstream media sources.

Mainstream media has the qualities of being extremely commercial and therefore has no problem taking sides in a story depending on who bids highest. The beginning of the Iraqi war was on spotlight by all the media in the world but it is interesting how vvast differences exist in their reporting. Taking sides is a critical point and knowing too well how deep the  pockets of the US economy are, it is not too hard to guess where the funding comes from. Political parties have a direct interest on how they are perceived and the issue of Iraq has been turned into a battle between the main political battlefield where they exercise their financial and persuasive abilities.

Though I may not have the statistics to make a statement n whether the war has helped or not; there is enough evidence to support that it has succeeded in denting the image of anyone who has Islamic affiliations. Mention the name Mohammed and immediately people start thinking of terrorism. The tendentious reporting has neglected the human side in the Iraqi war. Mainstream media never shows video coverage of the women and children suffering and always focus on the bigger picture of democracy and the elimination of insurgent groups in Iraq. According to the World Bank development indicators, the population of Iraq is 31.5 million. It is surprising that the news only seen is about how the militant groups are organizing themselves against the US troops. If the existence of the US troops in Iraq was truly an effort to return it to democracy, then why should the media take such extreme measures to depict the citizens as social misfits? Evidently there is more than meets the eye. The particular terminologies used to describe the Muslims have always been bent on putting Christians and Muslims on a colliding path. The media has enormous capacities in shaping the opinions, perspectives and preferences of the world’s population. With no limiting bodies, mainstream media operate within the prescriptions o f the sponsors. There is no telling to what limits that the media can go in shaping opinions when the sponsor is the government. Fox news can be taken as an example of a mainstream media that has always gone to extreme lengths to defend the Iraqi war. It takes little time to realize that some interviews that are held on some media channels are premeditated and the result and proceedings are predicted.

George Galloway a vocal anti-war activist “I gave my political life’s-blood to try to stop the mass killing of Iraqi’s by the sanctions in Iraq which killed a million Iraqis. Most of whom were children. Most of them died before they even knew that they were Iraqis…. I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster which you did committee in Iraq I told the world that your case for the war was a pack of lies… Senator, in everything I said, about Iraq I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong. And a hundred thousand people have paid with their lives, sixteen hundred of them American soldiers, sent to their deaths, on a pack of lies.” His statements on Iraq did not even make headlines and he is not known. Actually he has been denied entry into Canada.

This kind of selective reporting and has served to extend the divide between Muslims and Christians. The levels of suspicion between Arab countries and the US have increased. The fact that there were conflicting reports by the different media on site has brought out the varying interests by media in the war.

The fact that a special pentagon team met with news analysts to give them “special information” and convinced them to speak favorably on the war against Iraqi leave without doubt that after all the reporting that had been done, there was a side of the story that we did not learn about. The security situation worsened and it became quite difficult for journalists to operate independently. This could have opened a window of exploitation where journalists would be given protection and in return were expected to report favorably on the US. There were firings and hirings in the mainstream media. This was to conform to standards set by the government.

Observations made between the beginning of the war till now are sufficient evidence that opinions made about Iraq and its citizenry have been a result of media manipulation. Therefore it is important that the basis of one’s judgment of Iraq be on a foundation of critical thinking as the mainstream media has proved itself unreliable fairness in reporting.

Socio-Geographic Factors

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Classes within the National Council on the Aging (NCoA)

The identified classes in the organization include Domination class, Hegemony class and Resistance class. In the domination class, there are systems of religion, culture, politics, economic or social aspects which often have their taciturnity aspects rhyming with their public facets. In determining perceptible cultural domination or even authentic political domination, one has to be keen on figuring out what exactly should be unearthed from apparent, communal behavior and conduct within the organization Scott (1990).

Within the organization, those who are repressed or dominated may give the impression of acknowledging their own domination (Freire, 1970). However, they do always query on it behind the scenes. Open interactions between those who are being oppressed and those who dominate on them, so termed as organizational transcription, in a depiction of the observable feature or qualities as far as power or protocol relations are concerned in the organization. Like for the case of the organization, Scott (1990) demonstrates the account of authority which goes in secrecy and hidden away from those in power as hidden transcript. Within the organization, those who are being repressed as well as the influential ones adhere to the decorum of power relations. On the other hand, those who dominate are overconfident upon which the subsidiaries are self-effacing and put back as well.

The concept of hegemony domination as developed by Gramsci (1971), for social array is also evident in the organization whereby the subsidiaries are compelled to abide by supremacy through internalization of the expectations as well as giving in to the ordinary and customary procedure of the organization. Social order in the organization attempts to establish its sole uncertainty which more or less appears to be customary as well as repression. Therefore, all the parties involved in the organization seem to welcome the prevalent protocols. Their uninfluenced conformation is oppressing even though they are not anticipating of the same.

There is an aspect of resistance class whereby hegemony comes in as an implication of a dominant dogma which in a way is preventive to resistance as regards the organizational setting. Through this, there can be a surety that power will be transited to the persons involved in the organization (Gramsci, 1971; Lobel et al., 1999). This follows the fact that the lesser placed individuals always foretell when those above them are dominating. Where there is a genuine open class system in the organization, flexibility in individual performances as well as in the status of establishing respective positions by ranking. Classes are mostly attached to wealth rather than levels of income.

Several socio-cultural distinctions are generated from stratification of social and economic models as well as provisions and circulation of prosperity, power and stature. The organizational hierarchy in vesting of affluence and power seem to be rebellious to rivalry and transition. These values are generally connected to open social settings whereupon the focus is to suppress any pertinent privileges. The work value in this context is that there is self-consciousness. There are also social distinctions with respect to ethnicity, region, religion, occupational placement or race. However, equality is acknowledged as regards backgrounds and roles since it is viewed as an open society thereby any competent persons can direct their individual efforts at work (Bourdieu, 1977).

Individual accomplishment as well as self competence is also some of the strong values resented. This causes class backgrounds to impact on potentials for gaining of success. Even with equality held by the organization’s policies and regulations, it does apply to both men and women. But then, this is not the case when it comes to the poor and the rich even if there were supposed to be equality between them. Apart from that, there is authorization by the penal code for privileged treatment for a section of the members of the organization for example those who have attained university degrees. For some cases, there is social identification on the basis of family connections and class backgrounds in regard to what really the members view as of worth and value. Furthermore, family ties are also attached to the preferable ranking as well as settings thereby the place for which a given family occupies and the structure of their membership is attributed to contribution towards individual affluence (Bibby, 1997).

Work Values Displayed By the Classes

The values of these classes are that they facilitate mobility and ensure there is personal accomplishment. Furthermore, they help acquire merit in establishing of positions as far as ranking is concerned in the organization. Being socially aligned, individual status would be attained through ascertaining that their personal inputs are applied with regard to the organization’s work ideologies. Wealth is regarded pf essence and it is mainly based on income generation.

Ranking is valued and it grants advantages in a number of aspects as regards the day-to-day social life systems. In this case, these classes accord immediate attention to the social protocols attached to the places occupied by the varied individuals in the organization. They also take a concern into the minority issues as well as inferiority differences amongst the members in the organization. Bourdieu (1977) observed that with these classes, policies and principles of the organization are actually not equally applicable though they apply differentially as per the social classifications. Therefore, from the classes come a reflection of social equality and uncensored culture specific to the organization. One other value that surfaces in line with this is the sense of identity following what the organization initiates and thereby emerging individual identity as well.

Socio-cultural identity originates from the activities being engaged in the organization. This is featured as the individuals in the organization form part of the social network connecting them in the operations being involved in.

How the Organization Is Affected By Geographic Mobility

Geographic mobility has significant implications to organizations as well as their management. As people transit from a given place to another, they potentially allow for gaps for other forms of organizations to crop up. The organization either adds onto its membership or loses as per the constitution of the inclinational trends of the individuals who participate in the geographic mobility. Rodgers and Rodgers, (2000) noted that there are some individuals who sustain their ties with the organizations though. Other relocate and still, there are those who give up.

The scope of geographical movement is exhibited as the most prominent and generates both direct and indirect impacts with regard to the levels of participation. Geographic mobility cause massive effects upon the organization. The effects are influential within the organization to as long as the organization is existent. However, geographic mobility is also capable of causing poor labor mobility within organizations. Movements within the national boundaries by individuals may help in preserving the organizational initiatives. But then, it is evident that specialized training and earnings prevent people from moving out of their present placing. This is potentially suitable in ensuring that there is sustainability within the organization (Bourdieu, 1977).

Socially and geographically, the organizations display mobility following their inability to restore their populations. This is due to the fact that there is high rate of mortality in the environments within which they are located. Therefore, to sustain their populations there have to be existence of high immigration trends which should likewise be even higher were it that there would be increases in population. With observable growths as well as developments that take place at a wider scale, there are normally more shifts into such environments (Bibby, 1997).

The trends in the recruitments portray the organizational size whereupon a bigger percentage of the population regarded is sourced from the immediate environs while a few are from places far off the location of the organization. When the organization is large, the diversity of the immigrants that represented in it also becomes larger. Moreover, those who come from far off regions seemingly are minimal yet quite varied as compared to those who come from the immediate surroundings of the given organization.

Generally, geographic mobility as regards any organization may be widely due to a number of reasons such as social hardships especially higher costs of living as is evident with the lower strata regions (Bibby, 1997). This can be a possible influence to part of the organization’s population who are particularly affected to move out for other accommodative regions and/or organizations. The poor members are generally very mobile as they are ever searching for better provisions in life. Furthermore, such are the groups that are mostly affected by the social injustices such as crime. Following such, establishment of prisons are witnessed. Reason for this is that potential of a population harboring criminals, people susceptible to venereal diseases and those termed as dangerous are high.

There are concerns as to the inactive mobile populations following their probability to cause disorder in the organization. However, the states are to blame for creating much of the mobility. Freire (1970) noted that this comes in as a result of intentional expulsions, religious as well as political resolutions by the government which in most cases trigger emigrations. Disputes are one of the causal agents of geographic mobility in an organizational setting since some of the persons involved attempt to embrace fleeing from ravages that may come out of the same.

Geographic mobility in the context of organizations has some impacts that are linked to economic development as well. Population movements may be varying from a region to another, but it is of great essence when it comes to economic development of organization. But then, such movements are distinctly dependent on individual preferences. The set of connections plays a significant part when it does come to personal decision on the basis of migration (Freire, 1970).

Regional Variations in the Organization

There are variations based on social and economic stratification. This is also in the context of socio-cultural concerns arising from civilization. It thus defines the characteristics of the organization as aligned to power and wealth as well as effluence between different representative groups in both the social and class settings. All the strata consist of both males and females whereby the elites are honored to have access of the resources which are deemed valuable (Lobel et al., 1999; Freire, 1970). The subordinates on the other hand are not privileged since the elites have almost full control of production means in the organization. This therefore sounds as the elites have the ownership as the ordinary personalities are left without efficient access to the relevant resources.

Such variations characterize population movements which in turn threaten regional connections. That is, following mobility, there are incidents of persistent transitions as regards the organization. Most of the movements are of wider scope and rarely random movements are witnessed. These variations are at times influenced by the prevailing attractions as compared to the organization and in some cases due to the locally accessible information as well as interactions by the already migrants. Apart from these, there also exists religious mobility similar to occupational migration trends. Therefore, these variations generate ties between the migrants through interchange of relevant information.

The Impacts of Changing Family Definitions on the Management of the Organization

Work in the organization has stressful effects on family binds. A good example is the case of child care which in itself is an expensive scheme and it does compete with job requirements. Consequently, there has been reduction in the capacity of nuclear family set-ups with many couples preferring a single child to two. Families comprising children and working parents constitute quite a few numbers of households and this has a greater potential of adversely effecting work in organization in the future; there will be a lapse in sufficiency of people to employ in a number of organizations (Bibby, 1997; Miller et al., 1995). Family role as pertains to child care is quite involving since children need to be attended to yet their mothers or both their parents have to report for their respective workplaces. This renders child care be vast in terms of household characteristics as featured economically, ethnically as well as regionally.

Though there is mutual connection between families and work domains, there is normally an aspect of inter-role disputes between the two. Taking part in family chores as a mandatory role is normally made cumbersome by virtue of organizational work as a role in itself. Such are conflicting and essential both to the organization and the persons involved (Freire, 1970). They link adversaries as far as work and family is interconnected. Consequently, individual performance in the organization is affected as well.

Any observable differences are mostly experienced when family issues find their place in the work system. Such can be responsibilities aligned to home care, young children in a given family, interpersonal and domestic differences within the family and lack of support from family members.

Chinese Foreign Policy

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China is a country that is well known for its unique and enduring rich culture. Having maintained its culture and continuous history for more than four thousand years makes amongst the worlds oldest civilizations. Being the most populace country in the world China holds a population capacity of around 1.3 billion people having Beijing as its capital city. It has been a source of many major inventions and also founded the first written language systems.

For more than six thousand years China was ruled by hereditary monarchies also known as dynasties until 1911 when the Qing dynasty ended that regime. Despite the fact that dynasties maintained large societies they missed the industrial revolution leading to decline in productivity. By the beginning of the 19thcentury major political and governance issues started cropping in leading to internal weakness, imperialism, conflicts and civil wars resulting to overthrowing of imperial rule. The tremendous growth and revolutions that have recently taken place in China have led to its transformation, leaving a lot to be desired by developing nations. It has grown from a dynasty to an industrial country and finally a technology state.

The year 1949 marked a major step for China after serious conflicts arose creating a civil war that led to the splitting of China into two states. The PRC or peoples republic of china took control over the main land in China and the territories that were self governments for instance Hong Kong and Makau. The other one was ROC or republic of china, which had been established in 1912 in the mainland of China and is commonly referred to as Taiwan. It has control over Taiwan Island, Pratas island group, Matsu, Pnghu and other outlying islands. By 1950 changes had started to be noticed between the two states. There was change to economic policies in Taiwan for instance leading to rapid industrialization and as a result growth. In 1970’s four modernization principles were introduced to mainland China enabling industry, technology and defense to thrive. Agriculture also improved raising the living standards of citizens as food was in plenty. For a long time China had been a poor country made up of rural peasants. Stability had not also set in and thus humiliation and internal turmoil was evident amongst citizens. But on implementation of these measures change has been gradual as in the improvement of political and economic structures are visible. Politics in China has collaboratively stabilized because of the efforts given by leaders alongside the cooperation of citizens who are the work force of any nation.

Outstanding territorial issues

While the entire world cannot help admiring and fixing their eyes on China’s booming economic developments characterized by its famished appetite for energy, some cluttered diplomatic issues seem to be dangling on a loose end in form of territorial disputes. The neighbors who border this Asian giant are not very happy because there has been trespassing into boundaries leaving them tampered. Though the world has highly publicized the issue of Beijing’s claims over Taiwan, China itself is entangled in not less than thirteen unresolved land issues. The fact that its military capacity has also increased may just be another cause for war to break out. There is a high likelihood for military conflict over the issue as it has been witnessed amongst many world powers in the past. Many efforts by China to diplomatically address these issues have not yielded positive results up to now. It is important to note the fact that many unresolved border disputes normally involve potential energy reserves. This implies that China may be prompted to use military force so as to resolve those issues which are not only strategic but also have economic interest.

US and China

China has had to endure frictions from other world powers like US. The recent one arose concerning trade spats over issues like cars, steel, poultry and Hollywood films. Being the World biggest importers and exporters would mean that the impact will be severe. US-China relationship when placed in historical context can be compared to the tensions that existed in 1980s between Washington and Tokyo (US and Europe) causing devastating economic crisis such as unemployment. Of importance is going back to the international trade bodies and following the rules that are used for settling legal disputes.

 

China’s economy, trade and rights.

Economically China is the worlds fastest growing, since attaining its economic liberty in 1978, PRC’s investment together with export increased its economy to be 90 times bigger. Since then it has also become the world second largest GDP which sums to 34.06 trillion Yuan or (US$4.99 trillion). Chinese economy can only be described as spectacular. The PRC is also ranked amongst the most visited countries in the world holding 50.9 million inbound international visitors from last years reports. The question of what has made it so successful is answered by, it manufacturing products as a low-cost that is easily accessible to the producer. This factor alone cannot prevail as combination of cheap labor, high productivity, good Policies implemented by the government, swift infrastructure, continuous inventions, growth and improvement of technology and skill or know how.

All citizens are entitled to equal human rights and access to the resources endowed.

Tea Party

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Tea party is a term that has been used by the American politicians to define the changes that they desire to see in the government. It was first experienced in 1773 and later in 2009. The reform movements were formed after people expressed their dissatisfaction on how the government of the day was handling issues that related to economic policies, taxes and the likes. It was a strategy aimed at ensuring that there is balance between economic growth and people’s contributions towards development. There were reported cases of overspending where by the government was not able to handle some of the development projects and emergency issues in the land. When such a situation happened, the taxpayer had to pay for it by being deducted huge amounts in the name of taxes (Watson 98). This was reflected on the high prices that were charged on products and huge expenses in service provision. Despite the huge taxes that the people were forced to pay, there was no substantial development that was experienced. This suggested to the people that the government lacked a good planning and management strategy that will ensure that citizens acquired goods and services at reasonable costs.

Tyrannical government and we the people government

There have been various tea party protests in various countries for example USA. This was in an effort of freeing the Americans from tyrannical government.  The tea party members understand and see some of the dangers of a tyrannical government as seen in most of the African countries for example Zimbabwe.  Americans have however adopted “we the people government” which does indicate that the US government is truly and emphatically people’s government and not a states league.

Tea party 1773

The Boston tea party of 1773 was derived from its literal meaning ‘tea’. Tea was the main agenda of the issues that were facing both the people and the government. It was during these years that tea was viewed as a very important commodity. A cup of tea meant a lot to the people of those days that they would do anything to have it. Tea was mainly imported from India who had found a good market in America. 1773 was a year after America had gone through a number of transitions. There were a number of wars that had caused a lot of drain on the economy. The government was hence looking for an urgent means that will enhance the economic healing process. It was just after the colonial rule and the government-needed funds that would facilitate its independence. Taxes were introduced where by the citizens in the colonies were required to pay a certain amount to the government (Thomas 67). The people did not welcome this new strategy. This caused a lot of resistance that prompted the government to look for an alternative means. Tea being an important commodity of the time, and the fact that people would do anything to ensure that they had a sip, the government decided to impose tax on tea that was being imported to the country.

The issue of imposing levies on tea that was being brought to the port displeased the Indians who had to incur extra costs. They had to substitute the costs by selling it at a higher rate, which did not really work well for them. They also decided to boycott the taxes by demanding that it be allowed free entry considering the costs that they incurred while transporting it. The government did not agree to this and demanded that they either pay the taxes or not bring the tea to the land. This decision would not only hurt the Indians that transported the tea but also the people that had been so much used to the beverage. There was hence a rift between the two parties which made them question much about why they were being exposed to the pressure. The problem of paying tax was because the colonies are the one s who suffered the most. They were obliged to pay the taxes yet they claimed to have nothing to do with the government. The taxation issue was hence seen to be an exploitative measure to the colonies that did not support the government (C, J, 120). The tax laws were also considered to be unfair considering that they target specific individuals and were imposed on certain terms and conditions.

Tea party 2009

The tea party of 2009 was almost similar to that of 1773; the difference is however on the fact that tea was not the center of the complaints but the reforms that were taking place in the country (Hart 57). Every new government comes in with reforms that are aimed at bringing change to the economy. America was one of the countries that went through an economic crisis between 2006 and 2007. Many companies were shut down due to recession as a number of employees were laid off. This was one of the strategies that were used to minimize on expenditures and at the same time manage the crisis. This was related to poor governance where the government seemed unprepared for the changes they took place. People had suffered enough and were looking forward to a government that will deliver them out of the crisis (Labaree 16). When a new government came into place, there was a lot of optimism that what the nation had been long waiting for will now be accomplished. There was need for economic reforms to be adapted to put the situation under check. Since the government needed funds to implement the policies, there was no alternative but to impose extra taxes on the people.

Considering the economic crisis that the masses were trying to recover from, they were not ready to pay extra cash to the government to facilitate the development projects. Some of the laws that were initiated by the federal government included, Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, this was aimed at initiating programs and adapting a mechanism that would ensure that the economy is stable (Ayers 153). There was also the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that was aimed at recovering the economy of America, which was being faced with certain lows. There were also numerous healthcare reform beliefs to boost the economical health of the people. For the acts to be effective, then the government had to increase tax. This with some other reasons lead to the formation of the tea party. It should be noted that the tea party had no central leader but was formed by individual local groups that felt the strain was much on them (Gizzi 67). They raised concern over the issues of government spending and the high taxes that they had to pay. The size of the government was also too large for ant the people felt that they could manage with a smaller one. They wanted the federal government to consider reducing on their taxes.

Supporters of the tea party movement have had a number of issues on the Obama government. One of them is their involvement with the Muslim countries. The United States is a Christian nation and a strong supporter of Christianity. The involvement of the government in the affairs of the Muslim nations is hence causing many worries among some citizens. This is also so considering the efforts of the country to fight terrorism that is dominant in the Muslim countries. They feel that such involvement will tamper with the fight against terrorism. There is also the issue of gay and lesbianism where a big percentage of the tea party members disapprove it. The government has laid down policies that allow gay and lesbian marriage (O’Hara, 74). A survey was also carried out which proved that gay and lesbian couples had too much political power. The point at which the arguments were raised signifies that the majority of the tea party movement of 2009 is staunch Christian believers who are fighting for the spirituality of the nation. They feel that the government is leading the entire nation contrary to the Christian principles that they profess. In supporting the Muslim nation and giving political powers to the gay and lesbian societies, they feel that there will be a moral degradation on the nation.

In the just concluded midterm November elections a key player was the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, which was formed in partnership with the John Bolton, a former US Ambassador to the United Nations. Initially Bolton had established the Election-Day-Tea Party as a project, with objectives of promoting participation and awareness for the November 2 2010 midterm elections. The company was mainly against the Obama administration blaming of the tyranny and the many economic problems facing Americans today. In fact, they had fifty seats races presently occupied by Congress members who advocated for the Obama agenda. Ambassador John Bolton was quoted in the media saying that, “… Election Day Tea Party is a great way for US citizens to participate in a productive, substantial way, no matter where you were in the great land of Americas.” This in itself meant that the Obama administration had no values and the national love of freedom and there was too much fear of tyranny. In fact, their campaigns revolved around the idea that Obama was out of touch with the people who elected him to power, therefore the tea party movement wanted to correct this. To them the American dream was no way and the soft heart Obama was giving Muslim nations was driving the nation to dictatorial regimes like in Iran and Pakistan.

By concentrating on the fifty seats in the House of Representatives, the tea party founders had an idea that it was the only way to start the reverse process of bring the country back to the American declaration of independence principles of a free nation, fiscal responsibility, and respect of the constitution.

Effects of music therapy on Alzheimer’s patients

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Alzheimer’s is a common disease that affects the brains of mainly the elderly people that leads to progressive memory loss and reasoning ability that was discovered by Alois Alzheimer in 1906( Martinez).  According to Cannobio, the disease which mostly attacks people between the ages of 40-90 does not have a specific cause but the damage it causes to some areas of the brain lead to progressive and irreversible loss of thinking capabilities of the brain (Cannobio, 2006). The thought process of these patients gets tampered with hence their social and work life is affected. The condition of patients with this disease is bound to worsen because the brain cells loose their functioning capability and ultimately die.

Rothfeld and Romaine state that some changes in the biological and chemical processes in the brain as a person grows old allow deposits of proteins which in turn lead to development of this condition (Glenn, Rothfeld & Romaine, 2005). These proteins which they identity as Tangles and plagues are protein structures that cause the death of the brain cells for they kill and destroy and nerve cells. As people grow, so do these structures. A patient with Alzheimer’s condition, their protein structures rapidly increases which causes blockage of the communication being relayed by the brain and hence the nerve cell activities are distracted eventually. Most often, an individual will experience confusion and problems in remembering things while at times there are those who think slowly. If such symptoms are detected, an individual is supposed to visit the physician who will check the cells of the brain which is malfunctioning.

This disease though irreversible and incurable can be controlled through the use of music therapy (Jeong, 2008) .The aim of this research is to evaluate the reasons as to why these patients need music therapy. This condition has no treatment or cure, but several measures can be used to prevent or rather delay the inception of the condition.

The kind of music listened to by the patients should be one that makes them feel relaxed and at home. The fast kind of music listened to be young adults is not very common to this therapy since it is considered noisy and unorganized. The kind of music induced to the systems of these patients will either worsen or improve their conditions. In order to come up with credible facts on the issue research would also be done in a care facility for patients with the disease. It is expected that the findings of this research would be helpful to patients with the condition and further people will adopt the use of music therapy to help patients with the condition.

Organisational management

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Organizational and people management is crucial in any organization if goals have to be achieved.  Organizations have embraced various management and leadership skills in a bid to remain competitive and ensure that their goals are achieved. Besides achieving these goals, there are other aspects that are supposed to be looked at, in order to ensure the personnel is working in accordance to the organizations objectives. Due to the complexity of organizations, these issues have to be carefully put into consideration. Managing the complex levels of any organization must therefore, be a key competency of top management in any organization. (Martha, Aulrich and Amman, 2007, p.4). These range from employees emotional intelligence, motivation, conflict management, managing change and even empowering the employees. It is also important to be keen on the effectiveness and efficiency of the available systems, in order to ensure the organization uses maximum resources and reaps maximum benefits. This paper seeks to understand the above concepts in relation to a given case study.

Leadership styles

            Leadership styles vary from organization to another. These include; the autocratic leadership Style whereby the manager retains a lot of power and authority to make decisions. There is no consultation involved when major decisions are not being made nor are the opinions and inputs of others sought.  This is type of leadership is considered the most traditional. Employees are given orders without explanations and are in return allowed to obey them. Bureaucratic leadership style is characterized by the management follows laid out policies and procedures. This is style is more of an enforcement and if any thing is not in the set out rules then consultation has to be done. Management in this system is usually referred to a leadership ‘by the book’. Democratic leadership style also known as the participative style, allows for employees to participate in the decision making process. The management in this kind of leadership keeps the employees informed about the on goings in the organization, and are also involved in the problem solving processes. The manager consults the employees to get their opinion on various issues.Laissez-faire leadership style is more of a ‘hands off’ type of leadership, where there is little or no leadership or direction given to the employees. Employees enjoy as much freedom as possible and also determine their goals, resolve problems and even make important decisions. This type of leadership is practical where the employees are highly skilled educated and experienced. In the above case study leadership is more of Laissez-Faire whereby there is no direction. The management meets but instead of discussing issues the president presents his suggestions which are not questioned. This explains why no one is ready to listen to Jason. In this organization the bureaucratic and democratic styles could be considered in order to ensure the managers have a say but at the same time laid out procedures are followed.

Managerial skills

           Managerial skills are skills that every manager needs to posses in order to perform their duties and activities that are associated with the managerial position. The key managerial skills are technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills. Technical skills include specialised skills which are professionally in nature such as engineering, accounting among others. These are skills that are specifically learnt in a school setting. These are skills essential at lower levels of management. A human skill entails the ability for the manager to be able to work and deal with other people in the organisation both in an individual and group setting. This is a very crucial skill considering most of the time the manager deals with people directly. These are skills essential at the at all levels management. Conceptual skills are skills that enable a manager to conceptualize complex situations, and be able to come up with viable ideas and solutions.  Conceptual skills are essential if the manager will be able identify opportunities, identify problem areas and understand how to run the organisation. These are skills essential at the top levels of management. Other management skills include communication skills which helps one to effectively communicate with others .These  include listening and presentation skills, effectiveness skills  are key in  maintaining  high standards through setting standards, priorities and  reviewing operations. Interpersonal skills these are essential when working with people who are diverse and from different cultures, interpersonal skills entail networking with other organisations, coaching and even mentoring. Negotiation skills also fall under this category. In the above case study, most of these skills are lacking .For instance, the president’s conceptual skills are poor and that why his ideas are being called ‘idiotic’ and stupid’. The management’s negotiation skills are also very poor in that they are not willing to challenge the authority. Michael’s effectiveness skills are also very poor in that instead of facing the predicament before him, he is ready to sweep it under the carpet rather than confront or even discuss it.

Conflict management

 Can be defined as the process of identifying and solving conflicts in a fair and efficient way. There are various styles of managing conflict ranging from use of force, whereby the manager or owner uses their position to make decisions regarding the impending conflict regardless of how the employees feel about it. Such a decision if final and not up for discussion. Accommodation is whereby the employees are allowed to make decisions without taking into consideration if it’s the best decision, or how it makes the managers feel. In compromising, a solution is come up with and this solution is meant to make both parties happy, but without giving in to any of the sides. Avoiding as a conflict management style is whereby one completely ignores the conflict or the issue at hand. Any steps to eliminate the conflict are also avoided.  When embracing collaboration the manager or owner sits down with those involved, listen to both sides and try to come up with solutions. If this is not possible they try to come up with the best solution possible. Salami notes that, in a case where force and avoiding methods are used employees react by withholding their behaviour. When collaboration compromising and accommodation methods are used to resolve conflicts, the employees tend to reciprocate to this kind of leadership and perform more. (Salami, 2010, p.78)

In the above case study, collaboration is the best conflict management style that could have worked. For instance, Patrick would have sat down with part of the management, maybe two or three individuals discussed the issues and then presented them to the larger group of managers and directors. This way he would present a more professional face.

Empowerment

         In this context empowerment refers to the practice of sharing information, power and also rewarding employees. This is with the aim of encouraging them to make important decisions and also solve problems and even initiate new programmes in order to improve performance and service delivery. When an employee is empowered they are offered the right skills, resources, authority and rewards and they are also motivated. In return they are expected to be responsible and accountable. In this case study its clear that the employees are empowered considering that Michael is so concerned about his department and has taken responsibility to the extent of protecting this department from any negativity. However this empowerment is also limited in that they have to depend on the president’s suggestions rather than make their own decisions and present them to the president which makes them more accountable.

Motivation

     Refers to the  factors both  intrinsic or extrinsic  that stimulates the  desire  and  energy that enables the employees to  be  interested in their job and the roles they are given  continually  and also  persist  with the aim of achieving their  goals. Motivation could be as a result of ones personal needs, rewards and incentives, and even individual expectations. In the above case study its evident that  there is no motivation  the fact that only Jason was willing to fight, to ensure that  his department  doesn’t go down presents a case of a don’t care attitude ,whereby the managers were not motivated enough to be ready to stand  for what they believed is right.

Efficiency and Effectiveness

 Efficiency refers to the comparison between an out put be it a product or an activity and what can be achieved with the same resources. Efficiency refers to doing something right, in the right manner with the aim of getting the maximum output while using minimum resources. Effectiveness on the other hand refers to the extent to which an activity manages to achieve the function which it was supposed to. While efficiency focuses on the processes involved in getting the final output, effectiveness focused more on the final output rather than the process. In the above case study it is evident that the top management is not keen on efficiency and the available information can not ascertain if effectiveness has been achieved. This is because despite the fact that Jason has raised his concerns, no one is willing to listen to him. At the same time, he is supposed to deliver in his department.

Change management

          Refers to a set of processes employed by an organization, to ensure that there are significant changes implemented in an organization in a systematic and controlled manner, in order to effect organizational change. The goal of the organizational change is to ensure that the members receive it with minimum resistance. According to Kim (Kim, 2004, p.82), change in itself is always associated with anxiety, fear and tension and even resistance. If organizations do not take some time to lay the ground work, there must be a degree of resistance to change.

If there is minimal resistance, the transformation brought about by the change will be effective and orderly.The ADKAR Model identifies five stages which have to be realized for change to be fully implemented. These include; creating awareness of the impending change and why it is necessary, having the desire and motivation to change, having the knowledge on how to implement the change, having the means and the ability to change through skills and behaviour in addition to reinforcement or support that will enhance the change, to ensure that they don’t revert back to the older systems.

In the above case, it is evident that the management was aware of the importance of change but lacked the desire to change. Considering Jason lasted for only three months, this means that his new ideas were not welcome and that is why he didn’t manage to convince his boss and also his peers and therefore had to quit.

Emotional intelligence

         This refers to an individual’s ability, capacity or skill to identify, evaluate and control emotions of oneself and even others. According to Salami, individuals with high emotional intelligence are able to process the situation and seek for adaptive strategies of coping with unfair treatment in the organization, by assertively seeking coping strategies, and assertively seeking fair treatment from their employers rather than seeking maladaptive coping strategies. (Salami, 2010, p. 79).It is evident that Jason has this trait, in that he had to practice how to answer the president. Michael is also emotionally intelligent in that he knows the repercussions of emotional outbursts and that’s why he strategies on how to behave in the meeting. However this emotional intelligence is used in a negative way. Michael should use his emotional intelligence not only to avoid hurting the president but also putting into consideration the well being of the organization.

From the above case study there are various things that Jason did right, first practicing respectful ways of responding to the questions; this way respect and professionalism is maintained among the top leadership. Giving an honest answer to the president without being offensive; this  is because  Jason was  keen enough as outlined in the case study , and  his main  reason was that  that the  presidents suggestions would have a negative  impact on the division. Trying to convince his boss and his peers that the presidents ideas were based on faulty assumptions; this is a clear indication that he made effort to salvage the situation and therefore he cannot be blamed in future.

        There are several things that he should do or should have done differently; Jason should have used the answers he had practiced as a way of showing respect to the president and also create and avenue for more suggestions. He would have gone ahead to present the correct position to the managers.

In future Jason should not postpone important decisions like deciding to talk and try to influence the boss later. This discussion would have had a better impact if it was done before the meeting and not afterwards. Leaving the company after three months; usually this is not usually the best step to take as it is like running from a problem rather than solving it. Even though we are not informed if he met with the president, Jason would have had such a meeting first and tried to give his suggestions before quitting.

          Some of the things Patrick include; asking the managers opinions; this indicates that Patrick was ready to hear others opinions about his suggestions. Agreeing to the managers meeting which was to give a later feedback; this presents him as a person who is willing to listen to others and not dictator.

Things that Patrick should do or would have done differently include: Consulting; Patrick should change his management style to that of consulting before making his suggestions to the managers and directors.  This way he will maintain authority and respect as every one would take him seriously and his suggestions would not carry such connotations as ‘idiotic’ ‘stupid among others. He should also carry out do a thorough research to ascertain why his authority is not questioned. The fact that there was silence when Jason answered him should raise a red flag that all is not well. Under normal circumstances a managers’ meeting should be live with discussions and arguments and not silence whereby only the president speaks.

Michael was right by intervening, after Jason told the president that his suggestions were not practical. This was a very quick way of intervening and probably it salvaged a bad situation.

Michael should do or would have done several things differently; Michael appears as a selfish boss who only wants the best for ‘his department and himself’ at the expense of other employees. In this case we could say he blackmailed Jason. He would have left Jason to be himself and present his case the way he feels appropriate as long as he didn’t not paint the president as ignorant or act in a disrespectful way. Being the director of the Organizational Development and Training Department ,Michael should have consulted with the president  first  with suggestions on how the organization  can  be developed instead of waiting  for the president  to present what is referred in the case study as ‘ idiotic’ or ‘ultimately stupid’ suggestions.

Two additional major issues in this case are ;employee intimidation and  fear; The fact that Jason could not be able to convince his boss or peers that the assumptions that the president had made were not right just shows  how reluctant the employees are to challenge the management. Such issues could be addressed by creating a new environment, whereby employees are able to discuss their ideas   about the organizations. Other avenues such as having suggestion boxes where by they express their views anonymously should also be encouraged.

The other major problem is that of consultation.  For Jason’s immediate boss Michael to request him   not to reject the presidents suggestions, this shows that there is no consultation in this company. The president  should have sat down  with the senior management  first, presented his  ideas and suggestions, request  for the suggestions of others and at long last make the general presentations to the company management. The president Mr. Patrick also made the presentation without consultation and in the end not every one was happy.

The additional information needed regards the organizational management, leadership and the communication strategies adopted by the organization. This is in regard to how the organization is run, who the managers are, their authority and the style of leadership that they have adopted. There are also signs of the employees being disgruntled and also having a don’t care attitude. It is important to understand of Organizational Development and Training Department is the same as the human resource department and if it is responsible for personnel needs. This is because in  situations where employees are well taken care of, there is a sense of ownership  and therefore they can not  sit back and watch the company  they feel affiliated to go down the drain. This department also takes care of communication and if they have effective strategies then such humiliating acts should not be occurring.

Other additional questions that should be asked include:

  1. Was the senior management report presented to the president?
  2. What was his reaction?
  3. Was Jason’s position factual?
  4. If it was factual, why were Jason’s peers not convinced by his position?
  5.  During other meetings, are the opinions of the management incorporated in the final report.
  6. If no what has the top management done about it.
  7. Did Jason share his plans for leaving the company with the management?
  8. What was their reaction?

The above case study is a case of many aspects of organizational management that are not going right. The management should review their system to ensure that employee needs are reviewed in order to encourage more openness.  The organization should also review the management styles in order to come up with an effective system.