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Diminished responsibility usually serves to reduce the charges of murder to those of manslaughter. The defense of a diminished responsibility is available inAustralian Capital Territory. In Australia diminished responsibilities comprise of three main elements whereby the accused person must be abnormal, the abnormality must have risen from a certain specified cause and finally the said abnormality must have impaired the defendant’s capacity to comprehend his initial actions (David, 2001, pp. 10). Abnormality of the mind can be as a result of various factors. The mental health can be caused by factors such as injuries or diseases. In theAustralian Capital Territory, the court orders detention in custody until the Mental Health Tribunal says otherwise (Ian, 2005, pp. 479). This paper aims at analyzing the major legal consequences in treating patients without their consent.

Informed consent is usually a phrase that is used legally to show the consent that a person offers meets some standards. Informed consent is usually given basing on a patent implication, facts as well as bearing on the future consequences of a certain action. There are some acts which can not take place unless there is an informed consent. In a situation where people are usually considered to be unable to give consent because may be they are mentally ill or underage, another person for example the legal guardians or parents can come in. In some cases where a person is given insufficient information in order to come up with a reasoned decision, there are always some serious ethical issues that do arise from that.

Consent is usually quite complex when it comes to evaluating since neither the consent expressions nor expression of the comprehension of the implications might mean that a rational consent was given. In a country likeAustralia, a patient centered approach is usually taken. The informed consent of the jurisdictions hence requires that risks to be disclosed as well as the risks that are of relevance to the patients. The approach combines both the subjective as well as the objective approach.

The ability of giving a rational consent is usually governed by the requirement to be competent. In the jurisdictions of the common law, the adults are usually presumed to be competent to go ahead and give consent. However, the presumption is usually rebutted in scenarios where by there is an issue of mental illness and other incomptencies.

There are instances whereby the patients refuse to consent because of religious grounds and other issues for example the age.  For example in the Australian jurisdictions, there is a certain legislation that does allow some treatment forms for the minors without having the parents’ consent. In most parts ofAustralia, blood transfusion can be as well be given without the parental consent in case the child is in danger or in an emergency situation (Staunton & Mary, 2007, pp. 137). The standard consent inAustraliais usually established by common law. At common law incase of lack of individual consent to the medical treatment usually renders medical practitioners to be liable of damages of assault as well as battery (John & Philip, 1983, pp. 211). However, any emergency situation is usually an exception to the common law rule (John & Philip, 1983).  Emergency situations are circumstances where medical treatment is always required to save individuals life or better still prevent some grave injuries to health.

The medical practitioners should offer consent to the patients explaining to them the magnitude of their problems and what ought to be done. Before they embark on any serious treatment with the patient, they should first have the consent of the patients . However, in other cases of emergency consent is not required. Incase of breach of consent, the doctors are liable of damages.

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Manifest destiny was one of the 19^th century American beliefs of the fact thatUSA was meant to expand across North American continent from Atlantic seaboard all the way toPacific Ocean.  Manifest destiny and advocates believed on the fact that expansion was not just wise but quite inexorable and apparent. Between 1800 and 1850 the Americans experienced a marked change as far as national unity was concerned. The expansion boosted national unity between 1800 and 1823, the treaty of 1818 andLouisiana Purchase boosted the national unity as it helped spur up the era of wonderful feelings and also displayed loyalty.  It also marked the downfall of the federalists who were reduced to mere sectionalists. The expansion also helped in simulating the economy thus there was peace. However, the expansion also destroyed the national unity because of the outstanding issues of slavery and to an extent there was disunion between various groups (Ray & Martin, 1982). It separated the country leading to the Mexican American war. It led to the widening of the gap between the poor and the rich people.

Q2.      The industrial revolution was of great benefit to the economy and the economic development ofUSA. It showed the inventions of the weaving and spinning machines thus increasing theAmerica’s growth. It transformed the economy into a modern urban state of industrialization. Industrializations inUSAled to the expansion of the transport industry which had a great impact on economy (Margaret & Howard, 2005, pp. 478. The electricity was harnessed and there was improvement of the refining process and leading to an accelerated production. Generally there were transitions from the hand made products to the machine made. The home made products were also transformed to factory productions. Industrial revolution created more jobs to the citizens thus leading even to the printing of more money and growth as far as economy is concerned.

Q3.      In the 19^th century, a new industrial order led to the reshaping of theUSA. Some new systems like technology, resource development, transportation, invention, communications, labor, corporate management, finance and others boosted the industrial productivity and growth. Businesses expanded to curb the costs as well as competition and control efficiency and increase control. Workers found job satisfaction, power and the free time also reduced as the numbers of people in the factories mushroomed. The life of Americans was boosted. The new order was welcomed with mixed reactions of most Americans accepting it and being happy. They accommodated it and accepted some low paying jobs as well as lay offs and the creation of unions as they bargained for better wages. However, others rejected it through some mechanisms like absenteeism, slowdowns as well as quitting through forming radical unions for example Knights of Labor. The immigrants were the most favored by the industrial order and took advantage of it while most Americans responded rationally (Dominic, 2003, pp.6).

Q4.      In the American history, the term Gilded are is the era of rapid population and economic growth inUSAduring the era of post civil war. Many social, economic and political shifts were already taking place in the gilded age. One of the most crucial shifts in the architecture that took place in the great depression ended the state buildings and creation of public spaces for example parkways and parks.  The shift and the changes that took place were rather smooth. Through the designing of the country’s estate, the landscape architects had a prospect and opportunity of experimenting with a vast range of some design constructs. The architecture profession at this era thrived.  This impacted a lot in Americans coming to an understanding about themselves (Roosevelt, n.d).  It drove them closer to God and helpedUSAseparate fromEurope.  Spanning sinceJefferson’s time to transcendentalists up to today, the public space has had a major significance on Americans. The public spaces included city parks, state parks, parkways and others. The public space was created through the New Deal.  It led to issues like leisure and changes in aesthetics (Roosevelt, n.d). The public space was meant to relieve the urban stress caused by commercialization and industrialization for example the parkway.  These were also places that the Americans could redefine themselves. Some principles of picturesque naturalism were created and during this era of great depression, there were road constructions. The government also offered various jobs to those people who were unemployed so that they could build the required facilities. People participated in some leisure activities in the public spaces thus life was much better.

Q5.     The progressive era inUSAwas an era of reform that basically flourished during 1890s to 1920s.  Keeping the issue of corruption from politics was the main agenda of the progressive era. The progressive movement was essentially an effort of curing many ills that the American society developed during industrial revolution. It was driven by reformers that were focused on change both politically and socially. The success as far as progressivism was concerned owed so much to the publicity that was generated by writers, muckrakers who detailed on the horrors of urban slums, poverty, corruption, child labor and factory conditions. One of its success is that the reforms helped to pave way for the regional planning divisions and promoted local control as well as planning professionalisms ( Elisa, 2002, pp. 11). It also helped in unleashing a new pattern of the suburban development.  Despite some of the success it brought like cubing some social evils like child labor and others, it however had its weaknesses and failures. They differed in their analysis of the problems and how they were supposed to solve them (Thomas & William, 2007).  Other failures were failures of the planning system that comprised of divisions of planning authority.

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Hobbes is remembered as one of the greatest philosopher of late 16^th century and 17^th century. Hobbes was basically concerned about the political and social order. He sought to answer the question on how the human beings can avoid fear of civil conflict and live together at peace with one another. The focus of his study was on right of the individual, character of political order and the men natural equality. To explain his ideas he used the concept of ‘sovereign power’ and ‘state of nature’. According to Hobbes, a true legitimate political power should be made through people’ consent and be a representative of all being ruled by such a government. His viewed liberal law as one which allows people to do all that is not explicitly forbidden by such law.  Hobbes was a proponent of the materialism which claims that all things are constitute of material which result to material interactions. (Morgan 2005).

Hobbes proposed that people should be their obedience to group or person who they will empower to decide on their behalf on both the social and political issues. The group or person to be obeyed is what he referred as ‘sovereign power’. He claimed that, if this did not happen, state of nature will take its course and will be the only option to the people. To him, the state of nature is comparable to civil war where there exists universal insecurity, human cooperation is impossible and all people have no reason to dread about violent death. (Morgan 2005).

Much of Hobbes work was influenced by the conditions in which he lived in. England was undergoing through political, religious, military and economical upheavals.  The rich and the poor were all largely divided.  Inequality prevailed in the country while the upheavals of civil wars lead to rise of strong political and religious groups.  Hobbes was opposed to any challenge against the king.  Hobbes intellect was driven by two aspects. He was opposed to religious authority and theories that defended and accepted such authority. He was also interested in emerging scientific methods and geometry. These two aspects determined how he presented his views. Hobbes proposed that religious disputes should always be kept out of politics. According to him, the subjects duty to God should not override their duty to obey the sovereign power but it should also be the role of the sovereign authority to determine which religious believes suite its subjects. He used deductive science that always borrowed conclusions from basic principles. Based on human motivations and action he was able to propose a political system that he thought will ensure civic peace and disposition mankind in fulfilling their civic duty. (Morgan 2005).

Hobbes also described society as a population which should be subject to a sovereign authority. It is from sovereign authority all individuals should derive their natural rights and expect to be protected. He argued that abuse of power by the sovereign authority is acceptable as a price to peace. On the other hand, he claimed that rebellion should only be acceptable when severe abuse of power occurs. Sovereign authority should be allowed to control civil, judicial, ecclesiastical and military powers. To him, government does not exist in natural condition.  In such natural condition, it is only mother authority on child exist since the child is much weaker than the mother and need her to survive. Among the adults the case is different. Any adult is capable of killing the other. The weakest are capable of persuading others to kill the strongest when he/she is at sleep.  Adults are equal in one way or another. This makes them able to threaten one another lives. (Morgan 2005).

State of nature is unlikely to develop an authority that will order human beings lives. Based on this, he opposed the religious claims that monarchs had God given right to govern over people. Thus, it is the role of human being to free themselves from the role of nature by organizing a form of government to which they will grant powers to make social and political decisions on their behalf. He claimed that any attempt to undermine such government will lead to unsuccessful move away from disorderly state of nature that will result into social and political conflicts. (Morgan 2005).

Hobbes also claimed that cooperation of the arms supporting the government will also determine how first the society will transit from state of nature to artificial state where their affairs are run by a one sovereign authority, peace and cohesion are prevalent and all people are subjective to the orders of the government.  Any attempt by the government supporting arms to separate is doomed to bring awful consequences unless some effective authorities replace these arms. (Morgan 2005).

Hobbes asserts that peaceful cooperation will not exist at all in the absence of overarching authority. The human beings will not live in security and peacefully without a government.  In absence of the government, people will not only compete but also compete violently in effort to secure basic needs of life and also further other material gains. Individuals will challenge others and fight, which is an occurrence that will be propelled by the fear and urge to ensure personal safety. Additionally, individuals will seek reputation/glory for no reason and also be protected from others harms and ensure that others will be afraid to challenge them. (Morgan 2005).

However, his critics claim that his work viewed human beings as solely self interested.  Others argues that this view lead to misconception of how people can live together peacefully without having to submit fully to group or individuals supposed to make all their social and political decisions. His claim that only an unaccountable sovereign can ensure order in the society has also received different views. In our present world, justification of human authority is very imperative.  Some rules are also accepted by few, political and social inequalities also continue to be questioned, and religious disputes are eminent and disputed.  Thus we still live a world where rights to all need to be allowed without discrimination.  However as Hobbes concern was, there is a need to establish who will enforce this. This links to political powers. Who should be entitled to this power? This is the question which Hobbes was trying to answer.  Some critics of Hobbes’s argument that only subjection to a sovereign group or person could result into order, have been basing their argument on existence of authoritarian authorities which have lead to more disorder despite being sovereign.  John Locke also argued that human beings cannot live together in absence of persuasive and effective justifications of power. He also claimed that there should be well established systems to ensure that political authority do not overstep their authority and deny their subjects of their rights. (Morgan 2005).

Hobbes argument is that individuals are selfish, coward while others are vainglorious. Others possess all these traits. Many individuals will opt to use violence as mean of attaining their ends in cases where some forces do not exist to stop them. His claim that some individuals behave fearfully, selfishly or vaingloriously has some truth in it.  If an individual thinks somebody is a threat he/she would rather attack first. One will gather reputation, as someone who is powerful and unbeatable if he thinks to have so many potential attackers. It is the wickedness of bad people that compel good people to have recourse as they seek to protect themselves especially in war time.  He also claimed that it is also hard for covenants to take place in state of nature society. One party will tend to fail in performing its part as they are no contracts enforcing authorities. The agreement is only likely to be performed by the weakest. Trust in which much of human cooperation relies on will not exist. State of nature will not develop trust and this will not allow for many human society achievements. This argument is based on the necessity of reciprocating fairly to others.(Morgan 2005 p568).

 

As a solution to result of state of nature, Hobbes argued that government/sovereign authority should be established by the people. Such authority will set up well established framework of law, clearly stating the judgment and punishment and also provide for enforcement of such punishments. Although it may be argued that individuals may have reasonable sense of what is wrong and right, absence of government will make individuals unwilling to be subjective to this reasonable sense of right and wrong. There also exists difference among individuals of what is right and wrong. (Morgan 2005).

Additionally, individuals will naturally seek to ensure their self-preservation. Such urge may lead them to act violently against others. He also urges that, individuals under state of nature not only have the right to ensure their self preservation but also judge what will secure them self preservation. Hobbes, claims that human never judge wisely. Morals in state of nature are relative. The absence of trust and feeling of insecurity will push the individuals not to solve their misunderstandings peacefully. No one has a right to judge others doings as bad. Every person is a judge of his/her own and be ready to face the counter reaction of others. The war of every man to every man will never cease. In nature of state, notion of justice and injustice, right and wrong do not exist. Individuals have a right to everything including others’ body and lives. No authority to object any individual desire to acquire an object, ones labor, and have other person killed. (Morgan 2005).

Some Hobbes critics perceived that his claim of absence of moral constraints in human living in the state of nature was a bit misleading. They believe such individuals will only exist in the absence of social interactions where idea of what is right or wrong will never exist. They argue that, this is viewing human beings as if they have emerged from earth as mushroom does.

They also term it as a mere description of interaction of amoral and selfish human beings. (Morgan 2005).

Based on such view of state of nature, Hobbes give a case why sovereign authority is important in ensuring disorders in the society are eliminated. He claims that judgment should only be sole province of the sovereign. However his claim will only be accepted by those who are less optimistic about human judgment.  His claim that individuals have unlimited obligation to the sovereign authority is also unacceptable to those who believes in democracy where liberty maximization is emphasized as the government continues to rule over the subjects. (Morgan 2005)

Despite this criticism, it is universally agreed that peaceful coexistence among people is indispensable.  It should be sort through all means even it means sacrificing some liberty, going through inconveniences, and even making some compromises. State and law are very necessary to ensure enforcement systems in the society so as human beings may cooperate peacefully. However, it is unacceptable to have only one judge as he/she may turn out to be very faulty given that human judgment is faulty and weak.  The great concern should be how to divide power among various individuals and peacefully adjudicate moral and political judgment.  Institutions and standards that provide for compromise on different conflicting judgment should also be established. With such consideration, Hobbes work will contribute towards finding a solution to ensuring peaceful coexistence and disposing of mankind toward fulfilling their civic duty.

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There are four major socialisation agents that will determine the development trends of any child. The family is the major socialisation agent for any child. The parents model the child during their formative developmental stages. Research on how the influence of the mental health status of the parents can be contained from influencing the personality of a child is therefore long overdue.

This paper seeks to identify the extent and the frequency of influence of the mental illness of parents on the self esteem, social identity and the social relationship of a child. The paper attains this objective through a qualitative research undertaken. The paper finds a positive correlation between the aforementioned aspects; hence due leverage for the research course. The paper then makes recommendations that it does deem salient that would be incidental in alleviating the state.

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Research Findings and Discussions

4.1 Introduction

This chapter undertakes a thorough analysis of the research findings that were gathered via the research instruments. The data collected is analysed using charts and a summarizing statement given thereto and relative to the research hypothesis, research question and the purpose of this research. Clearly, in one way or other, the mental health of a parent or parents have an effect on the self esteem, social relation and the social identities of the children.

 

 

4.2 Analysis of the findings

4.2.1 The Effect of Mentally Challenged Parents on the Self Esteem of Children

The self worth of any child seems to be largely hampered in circumstances where the parents have some mental challenges. The research showed that those children who have parents with mental challenges tend to avoid having friends or even for those who had friends they had the least preference having them come visiting.

Children with parents who have mental challenges are not readily appreciated by the parents. Or at the very worst, the children are admonished by the parents. This makes the children have a feeling of their self worth being lowered or lacking at all. When the children were asked about whether they are appreciated by their parents, most of them felt that their parents never showed their appreciation for their worth.

 

Children with parents who have mental illnesses are not adequately appreciated by their parents. According to skinner, this affects the overall self esteem of an individual. Appreciating the child makes the child to feel being worth.

Most of the parents with mental challenges tend to use derogatory statements on their children. This makes the children have a feeling of a lowered self esteem. Parents who have mental challenges use words such as ‘stupid’, ‘lazy’ among a host of others indiscriminately. This tends to utterly lower the self esteem of the children.

 

 

The chart shows that children whose parents are mentally challenged are prone to reproach and chide. Basically, a combination of these makes the children feel devoid of any self worth.

4.2.2 The Effect of Mentally Challenged Parents on the social relationship of Children

When children with parents with mentally illnesses were asked about whether their friendship was affected by the fact that they parents had mental challenges, a large proportion of the children agreed that they had opted not to have friends because of the conditions of their parents.

 

The reason for which the children may not invite friends to their homes is because they tend to feel that if their friends visited and noted the condition of their parents their self worth would be lowered and demeaned.

The evaluation of the self worth of any individual is always based on the friends and the family of any individual. It is, perhaps, for this reason that most of the children with parents who have mental incapacity have to avoid having their friends to come and visit them.

The children who had mentally ill parents also showed dissatisfaction over the need for their friends visiting. The children thought that perhaps if their friends new about their parents, their self worth would be undermined. Overall, this has an effect on the social prospects of the children. This also contributes to the fact that most of the children who come from such families will avoids going out for social functions. The feeling is that they will be the object of reproach.

It is evident from the data that children whose parents have mental challenges will do anything to avoid social events and joints. The reason is that they feel that they may be the area of focus for their peers.

4.2.3 The Effect of Mentally Challenged Parents on the social identity of Children

Any child will always feel safe being identified with their parents. If the child is separated from their parents, the children seem to feel as being robbed of their social identity. The children who had been separated from their parents felt as missing something when they were separated from their parents.

In affirming this, the research showed that children who had parents with mental illnesses were more likely to spend their time for schooling at home to take care of their parents. Within the mindset of these children they

It is evidently clear that children whose parents have mental challenges will do anything for their parents with the presumption that they may get well and reduce their social stigma. It is from the stigmatizing experience that these children have that they will always feel empathetic for anybody with mental disability.

The data collected concerning the empathetic behaviour of the children adduced this assertion. The children whose parents have mental illnesses have increased empathy to the mentally challenged persons because they have had a real touch of how it feels being parented by such parents and have the least wish that anybody else does.

This chapter gives sufficient evidence that the self esteem, the identity and the socialisation prospects of any child whose parents are mentally ill will always be affected. This affects the approach of any child towards the way the child interacts with others and the learning process.

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Summary Conclusion, Discussion, Recommendation and Implication Summary

5.1 introductions

The parent child relationship, according to Uysal, is distressed if the parents have mental illness. According to Nicholson et al, Parent-child relationships are frequently distressed because mentally ill parents have very poor nurturing capabilities and this tampers a blow on the social development of the children. In addition, parents who had mental illnesses are seen as less concerned with the sociability of their children.

This study brings out clearly the effects that the trauma of having a parent who is mentally ill will have on any child. Given that the self esteem is a very cardinal aspect in the learning and the socialisation prospects of any child, this study is in all aspects justifiable. The concentration of the learner will always be hampered if the learner feels that his/her self esteem is low or if he feels his identity is threatened.

The study had sought to identify the effects of the mentally ill parents on their children’s social relationship. Clearly from the gathered data, it can be inferred that children whose parents are ill will prefer being alone. Where they make efforts to socialise, they tend to avoid having their friends meet with their parents.

5.2 Discussions

The research also had a cardinal purpose of identifying the effects of the mentally ill parents on the self esteem of the children. Because the research does show that mentally ill parents rarely appreciate their children, it is indicative that the children will tend to feel less acknowledged. Acts such as the embrasure of children lacks in such families; yet this gesture is a show of appreciation of the children. The absence of this gesture makes the child feel that his self esteem is low.

The paper had another central objective of finding the correlation between the mental illness of parents and the social identity of the children. The children with parents who had mental challenges were found to be making all the efforts to avoid social places with their peers. This hampers the sociability of the child. Given that the research addresses these salient aspects, it inherently validates its purpose.

The study had three research questions that were meant to be answered by the end of the research. The research ardently answers the three research questions that centrally guided the research. The three questions were effectively addressing the issue of the influence of parenting on the personality of the child.

It is very apparent that children whose parents are mentally ill have lower levels of socialisation. The children tend to do this because they feel having mentally ill parents is more of a social weakness or at most this condition will be equally attributed to them. This makes the children avoid in total or in part social places.  It is resultant from this that the children whose parents were mentally ill would not invite their friends to their homes, neither would they freely go out with their friends.

The children believe that if they go out with their peers, they would simply end up being subjects of discussion and scoff for their peer because of the condition of their parents. While the peers may not be aware of the conditions of their parents, the child’s subconscious convinces them that the peers are in fact aware of the conditions of their parents.

Once the children get used to avoiding their peers and social places, this affect their social relationship and equally their personality. Overall, the social development of the children is dully affected and equally affects the learning process of the children. There should be alternative ways of averting this scenario to avoid ugly personality traits resultant from this parental influence.

The evaluation of the self is normally based on how the other people evaluate the child. This starts with the parents. In cases where the parents are not able to fully appreciate the parents because of their mental illness, the child’s self esteem remain low through their life. Brem et al argue that self esteem is based both on the self and the group. Hence, if the group creates a negative impression of the child, the child feels that his worth is low.

Parents, in this context, who are not able to appreciate their children make the children feel unworthy and hence the lack of self esteem. In retrospect, parents who are mentally ill may not appreciate their children. Though the child might understand that the parent is mentally ill, it affects the child in the long run. Some of the parents who are mentally ill are recorded as having the least mode of appreciation for their children even when they do the right thing.

Mentally ill parents, the research gathers, more often reprimand their children and names call them. This makes the child live with the feeling of being unappreciated.  In addition, the children tend to end up believing that the only way out was reprimand and abuses.  Children who have the least worth directly make them feel as having the lowest self esteem. In this way, the research adequately answers the second research question on whether having mentally ill children will affect one’s self esteem.

The research equally reveals that while some of the children may not want their friends to come visiting because they do not want them to understand the condition of their parents, the children will do anything for their parents to have them recuperate. This implies that the role of the parents, despite being mentally ill, is highly appreciated by the child. The child makes efforts to stay home with the parent with a presumption that the parents may just get well.

The research also reveals that children whose parents are mentally ill have high degree of empathy than those who do not have such parents. It is apparent that children who have gone through these experiences understand the plight of those in this condition and would not wish that anyone else be in such a condition. This act of being empathetic has an effect on the personality traits of the child; hence the condition makes the sociability of the child exclusive.

The children whose parents are mentally ill also tend to feel low about their own social identity. Given that the mentally ill parents look less accommodating, the children tend to also limit their perception of others. Subsequently, they end up having accommodation of other people, particularly their peers. The lack of accommodation would be evidenced through the fact that such parents appreciate their children neither do they embrace.

During the early years of development the reinforcement of the children behaviour is of central vitality; hence ignoring this centrality just deals a blow on the personality of the child. Through the address of these salient issues, the research answers the third question which seeks to find the correlation between a child’s personality and the mental health of their parents.

The study makes the hypothesis inherent in the research alternative. In deed, the presence of mentally ill members of the family deals a blow on the social and personality development of the child. The social relationship, the self esteem and the social identity of the child is negatively impacted on with this phenomenon.

The methodology used in the research was interviews and the use of questionnaires. The data collected was analysed using qualitative methods that yielded results that were sufficiently indicative of the fact that the there was indeed an empirical relationship between the personality of a child and the mental wellbeing of the parents. While the method would have lend itself to a number of bias, the results were quite representative of the ideal state.

The bias was relatively low given that only those who had interacted with children in such circumstances were sampled to complete the questionnaires or to be interviewed. Given that the children who were in this condition were given the first priority, the research reduced any biases considerably.

The sampling procedure was multifaceted; randomised and then stratified. This further reduced the bias as mentioned above. The respondents were given a period of two weeks to ensure they had ample time within which the questionnaires would be completed. Those who were interviewed, selected randomly, were give a formally appointment to avoid cases of ambush.

The research’s reliability was ascertainable as the research instrument used were only destined to adduce whether mental illness of parents had any effect on the self esteem, the social identity and the social relationship of their children. Clearly, the research was very specific on what it was destined to determine. In addition, the strategies of the research were developed to ensure that under similar research objective(s) and research question(s), the research would yield similar results.

Given the tidal role of personality in the teaching learning and development processes, the research reliability was treated in high esteem. A high protocol of the research was therefore upheld. This was meant to ensure that anyone who had the interest of determining the reliability of the research was dully satisfied with the research outcome under similar research questions and objectives.

The research’s validity was measurable through the research’s central object of establishing the correlation, if any, between a child’s self esteem, social identity and social relationship and the mental wellbeing of the parents. The research instruments remained geared toward adducing this correlation.

The efficacy of the applicability of the finding from the research to other cases external to this research was also informative of the research’s validity. The research’s construct validity sufficed the research’s central object. Resultant, the research found due leverage for further research and follow-ups on the findings.

5.3 Recommendations

This research finds sufficient correlation between the state of health (mental) of the parents and the personality development traits. Traits such as self esteem, self identity and social relation are determined through the way the parents interact with their children. Clearly, parents who have mental illnesses have exclusive interaction with their children hence affecting the sociability of the children. The following recommendations are worth adoption in such circumstances.

Children whose parents are in acute mental illness condition would be separated from them early enough before they start sensing the parental shortfalls. This would assists in averting cases of children loosing their personal esteem resulting from parental reprimands.

If the parents happen to lose their mental capacity when the children are of age, the children should be separated from their parents before their personality gets devastated. Where the children are so attached to the parents to be separated, the children should be offered frequent guidance and counselling to ensure their self esteem, social identity and social relationships are not affected.

5.4 Implication for Future Research

It is apparent that however strong the child may be, there is a reasonable level of damage the mental illness of the parent has on the self esteem, social identity and social relationship of any child. Future research therefore has much on its account that would be done if the state has to be alleviated.

Most importantly, future researches need to seek to find means and ways through which the parents can appreciate their children even when they are mentally ill. This would assist boost the self esteem of the children whose parents have mental illnesses.

Future research should also seek the best counselling methods that would have the children with mentally ill parents remain socially sober despite the reprimand and the lack of appreciation from the parents.  This will assist the children socialise positive regardless of the mental state of their parents. Overall, this will assist develop the right personality traits amongst the children.

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The Boeing Company is a defense and an aerospace corporation that was founded by William Boeing inWashington. It has expanded over many years and merged with McDonnell in the year 1997. Boeing developed military jets for example B-47 Stratojet as well as B-52 Stratofortress bombers in the year 1940s and 50s. The D1-9000 is a Boeing company document which does address their supplier and the internal system. It establishes AQS tools, the supplier quality rating, the basic system and finally the advanced quality systems (AQS, 2000). The company relies immensely in common ground that a quality system is established and hence it forms a platform for a continuous effectual improvement. The Boeing Company which has been the leader of aviation and aerospace is widely known because of its skilled engineers. Millions of the commercial passengers fly their jets. Boeing has providedUSAgovernment with the best fighters and the bombers as well as the systems of missiles. It is therefore imperative to embark on some of the techniques the manufacture systems used in their company.

Computer Integrated manufacturing systems involves the entire integration of all manufacturing enterprises through using data communications and integrated systems as well as other data communications in order to enhance the personnel and organizational efficiency. The objective of CIM is to simplify the entire production design, processes as a major foundation to integration and automation. It integrates the entire productions and also does support all processes using the computer networks, business software and other technologies (Kraebber & James, 2004).

A manufacturing system involves the configuration of the computer controlled workstations where by materials are usually handled as well as machine loaded.  Most of the Boeing employees are familiar with the lean concepts, global manufacturing, and supplier relationships. An efficient and a lean manufacturing operation is the main heart of the Boeing system of production and are very useful to the commercial airplanes as far as the global market and competition is concerned. The company is liable in managing some of the defects as well as continuing to focus on quality in all the production lines in order to remain successful and competitive.

Its production system involves various elements that do work to ensure there is an output of highest quality of the cost effective services and products in the least time. Its principles which involve six sigma, lean manufacturing, value streams, the global manufacturing as well as managing all the supply relationships are some of the elements that are quite critical as far as the competition of the company is concerned.

One of their prospects comes when they are managing their value stream which involves building of the airplane. It does represent the entire production of building the airplane from the raw materials to what we can call as the finished output. One of the main methodologies that help the Boeing Company meet all their challenges is the ‘six sigma’. It helps the manufacturers in their major quest of designing, building as well as delivering perfect products through reduction of variation and defects hence enhancing quality that results in cost savings.

The ‘six sigma’ usually refers to all the manufacturing processes which produce quality at 3.4 defects in a million opportunities (Debby, 2003). For Boeing Company to integrate the manufacturing systems in their company it had to come up with a production model that catered for issues like raw materials, capital, energy and labor. As far as raw materials are concerned, they usually work with other third parties known as TMX who help in logistics that involve the allocation of the raw materials to the subtier and the major suppliers. They work closely with their supplying base in order to get a clear picture of demand across the entire industry. They have strong teams that comprise of the procurement group that belong to their major suppliers (Debby, 2003). It consistently works with their workers and suppliers in order to ensure there is a steady supply of the raw materials that are needed in the vast production.

The company has a labor team that are responsible in implementing and defining the corporate strategies in maintaining and attaining technical excellence that includes enhancing all yields of Boeing’s investments that are technologically related. The aerospace process of manufacturing comprises of a complex scenario that ought to be validated so that manufacturability can be determined as well as low production costs.

The manufacturing processes and systems are combined with the simulation of technology in order to reduce the costs. A flexible manufacturing system is a stable or flexible automation whereby various tools are usually linked together via a material handling system and hence all the system’s aspect is controlled by one central computer.

The manufacturing classification usually depends on the type of product to be manufactured and is classified according to how the merchandise is usually produced in the entire manufacturing system and how customer demand is satisfied by the production strategy. During the manufacturing system classification, the production operations are usually divided in five groups. First the aerospace company has to come up with a project and lay down the strategies that are integral and those that are of benefit to them. Then there is the job shop manufacturing whereby it is a process of production where the manufacturer receives the engineering specifications from customers and then utilizes on the intermittent method of production because of a limited demand by the customers (Kraebber& James, 2004).

The project category under classification is comprised of many parts of a similar kind in order to come up with a similar thing. The other classification is called repetitive which has various characteristics.  It makes sure that the order for the repeated business is 100% and the fact that the orders have a fixed routings on the machine production. The line classification entails delivering at a shorter time than the stipulated time of building it. Finally, the continuous classification of the manufacturing system entails more characteristics like the fact that product is quite predictable.

The strategies of production are based on some factors like the manufacturer pace and time as well as the customer’s. At Boeing Company, the production strategies were used in matching the manufacturer to their lead in order to integrate the raw materials.  They had to accept a long lead of manufacturing since engineering design was also part of the process. That is called the ETO or the Engineer to Order stage.  The other match is the Make to Order which comes after the design and engineering process has been proven. In the Assemble to Order match or stage, all the parts of the final product are carried into a finished inventory and the Company had to determine or verify it. Basically the market underwent market research whereby they lay their options, strengths and weaknesses and opportunities. During market research they analyzed other big companies that were doing well and their competitive strategies.

The second is management review whereby they had to discuss about the entire project and air their views. Design engineering is the third stage, then production engineering, manufacturing and finally the customer use. That was the main product development cycle that they used to come up with competitive products.

In carrying out all these strategies, they had to have some corporate goals, visions and missions in order to perform all the financial functions and also plan. The customers are the main target and they had to watch out on the competitors too.  During the stiff competition they underwent, the company announced in the year 2003 about 787 and the fact that it was to be assembled in its factory which was inEverett.  Instead of having to come up with a complete aircraft, the final assemblies do employ about 800 to around 1,200 people who are to join completed subassemblies and also integrate some systems.

Steps taken in order to realize mass customization is in two areas. One is the Product Design for the Mass customization and then the Mass Customization manufacturing system. Things like aircraft and automobiles are quite complex and the Mass Customization Manufacturing usually faces divergent challenges in achieving critical goals of the reduced production cost and lead time.

The Boeing Company is one of the most successful Companies globally. For it to apply the manufacturing systems it underwent various processes in order to gain acceptance from the customers. It has gone various phases of competition with other successful companies. The manufacturing system is quite beneficial as it offers effective finished output despite the issue of time constraints.  Finally the manufacturing system enables the possibility of the customer coming to the product.

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Fraud, waste and abuse prevention in Medicare is a hard task that needs full commitment of those entrusted in it. It should encompass government oversight, key compliances processes, training and disciplinary procedures.

For any of these actions to succeed types of fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare should first be understood. Fraud, waste, and abuse include comes in terms of false claims. It practically means asking the government to pay an item or service that was not or should not be provided. It is an attempt to steal from the government. It is an attempt to defraud the government. False claims include request for payment s for altered, forged prescriptions: Shorting, which entails partially filling the prescription quantity prescribed but at the same time charging for full prescription with no arrangement to pick up the remainder: Submitting the same claim twice or double billed prescription: Claims that are submitted to multiple payers for same prescription: Claiming for a more expensive brand name prescription drug when a generic was dispensed: Prescription of drugs supposedly dispensed as written although they were not:  and finally improperly keeping an overpayment. (University of Phoenix .n.d.)

False Claim Act is one of the federal government efforts to prevent this crime.  This act prohibits consciously presenting false payment claim to the federal government, forcing someone else (e.g. a plan sponsor or pharmacy Benefit Manager) to submit a false claim for payment to the federal government, making or using false documents to get a claim paid by the federal government, scheming to get a false claim paid by the federal government, avoiding or decreasing obligation to pay or reimburse the federal government through making or using a false record. In addition to this, the False Claim Act also protects who reports plans to defraud the federal government i.e. the whistle blowers. The act prohibits any retaliation against employees who report or aid in investigation of false claims. It also states that there should be no negative employment consequences such as being demoted, fired and being suspended from the employment.  Additionally, the act provides for potential remedies to any retaliation which include job reinstatement accompanied with double back payment and any other necessary special damages. (University of Phoenix .n.d.)

The other measure has been federal penalties. Various federal penalties could include heavy financial penalties, criminal prosecution and exclusion from participating in Medicare and Medicaid. A company employee or an individual may also sue anyone involved in fraud on behalf of the government. To encourage such moves by individuals, the plaintiff is entitled to a share of total award while the remainder goes to the government. State false claims acts have also recently been increasing in number. Deficit reduction encourages state false claims statutes

The government has also sought anti-kick back statutes which make it a crime to knowingly and willfully offer, pay, solicit or receive any remuneration to encourage reward referrals of patients who receive items or services under government health care program coverage.  Those involved in such acts may be imprisoned, fined, excluded from Medicare and Medicaid, face very costly civil penalties,  or be prosecuted under various similar state laws. (University of Phoenix .n.d.)

It is possible to bring dispensing and billing complaints against pharmacies: such complaints may be against deceptive marketing about plan benefits, cases where billing for drugs is not provided, billing to someone else plan card, illegal substitution of drugs, overcharging and other issues related to pricing,  asking extra uncompensated amount from  the beneficiary, any gift given as an incentive to enroll in a particular plan and directing beneficiary to a certain plan in exchange for payments by that plan.(University of Phoenix .n.d.)

 

Setting up of compliance programs make sure that statutory and regulatory requirements are met.  This should be ensured through setting code of ethics to ensure medical practitioners are committed legal and ethical obligations, clearly specify all employees duties, and inform employees of the consequences of not performing such responsibilities. Strict enforcement of such code of ethic should be emphasized. Including compliance officer will also help prevent waste, abuse and frauds in Medicare and Medicaid. The compliance officer duties should be to enforce code of ethics, development, implementation and enforcement of the program, oversee the compliance training, development and implementation of a compliance system, following up all cases of alleged frauds and abuse, reporting any potential fraud and abuse to the relevant authorities, conducting internal audits and monitoring provision of the services as well as billing practice. (University of Phoenix .n.d.)

In addition to this, it may be necessary to establish a compliance committee depending on company size. This committee should work hand in hand with the compliance officer and also provide an oversight and direction to the compliance officer. Plans to operate compliance programs should also be instituted. This should include the reviews of the contracted pharmacies and also partnering with other non company parties in conducting the compliance activities.

Those who work under Medicare and Medicaid programs should undergo training to familiarize the trainees with issues of waste, fraud and abuse, educate them about obligations under the program, spotting and reporting fraud, abuse and waste, the rights of those who may report potential waste, fraud and abuse. The confirmation of annual training should be met. Such training may be specialized or general. Employees who are more intimately involved in providing services under federal health care programs should undergo specialized training that will focus on additional elements relevant to them. Employees who need specialized training are those who deal with dispensing drugs, filling claims, billing coding, sales as well as marketing of health care products and services.  Reporting of the cases of potential fraud, waste and abuse should also be made easy.  It may be directly to the supervisor, appropriate department or through a centralized system at place of work. Confidentiality of this information should also be assured as the law requires. Sponsors to plan may also have hotlines for reporting beneficiary or subscriber fraud, waste and abuse.  In reporting of suspected non compliance, the reporters should be urged to report much details as possible which should include the description of the of the type of conduct at issue, individual suspected of the conduct and any documentation which reflect the conduct in question. The investigation of the case may be required to call upon the reporter for more information and the outcome will dictate the necessary action, such action may include corrective measures to avoid such future occurrence, any of the stipulated disciplinary action or both. Other steps may include making a referral to federal law enforcement agency, relevant plan or authority. Follow up of any timely made complaints should be emphasized.  It should to the knowledge of all employees that they have a duty to report any suspected fraud, waste and abuse as well as cooperate in any resulting investigations. Any employee who fails to live up to such duties should be subject to disciplinary action, termination or retraining. The compliance officer together with the human resource and legal departments should work together in determining action to be taken against any employee who fail to live up to this duty. (University of Phoenix .n.d.)

It should be made a law and essential part of Medicare and Medicaid Programs Company not to retaliate to any employee who reports, potential fraud, waste or abuse in good faith. Retaliation should not be imposed and be tolerated even in cases where good faith allegations are not sustained after the investigation. The employee who reports such cases should not be subject to reprisal, disciplinary action or reprimand, fired and demoted. The non retaliation policy should however not protect poor work performance and therefore individual who report wrong doings may be subject to disciplinary action owing to poor work performance or violation of any set policy. (University of Phoenix .n.d.)

Disciplinary procedures for non compliant conduct should take the following course:  First, appropriate department should conduct an investigation which should include an interview with the potential witness, review the documentary and determine the appropriate method on a case-by-case basis. The second step will depend on the outcome of the first step. If non compliance conduct is found, some steps may be taken. Compliance officer should notify the appropriate officials, remedial action such as reprimand, suspension, retraining, moving the non compliant employee into another position or termination may be taken. Corrective action may also be taken so as to avoid occurrence of similar non compliance instance in future. It may also be necessary to notify the appropriate federal authority. Employee found not to have complied can be excluded from participating in the provision of health services under federal health care programs. (University of Phoenix .n.d.)

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Family health assessment aims at using a holistic approach to ensure the health of individuals, communities and families to ensure that care remains client centered. It focuses on ensuring that families acknowledge their health needs and address them by planning proper intervention strategies. Often, those individuals who are vulnerable may required an intervention that is supportive and on going so as to ensure health gains remain sustainable. The Gordon assessment has 11 components which are used to assess a family’s health (Edel and Mandelman, 2005).

Using Gordon’s assessment, the family profile is as follows. The family has a mother (39years), father (46years), four children, two girls (5 and 4 years old) and two boys (16 and 10 years. All the individuals are in good health. The ten year old boy was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 3 and OCD at the age of 6.

On the Health Perception/Health Management Pattern, the family scores themselves 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. 5 years ago the family rated themselves at 7 as well. The family does not use alcohol, smoke or use any drugs. The father has thalassemia minor, a genetic disorder inherited from his father. The 4year old daughter also inherited the blood disorder. The father mostly feels fatigue. The daughter was diagnosed with the blood disorder at one year when her hemoglobin was low.  The mother is in good health though she has minor gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). She takes protonix daily. The 5 year old boy and the 16 year old boy have no health conditions. The family engages in exercise activities such as hiking, biking, camping though not on a daily basis.  The parents also have an elliptical which the parents use about three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes a time.

Nutritional/metabolic pattern

The family attempts to eat a healthy diet on a daily basis consisting of low fat/sodium, high fiber and consumption of whole wheat bread and white bread. The father tries to ensure that the children eat healthy meals. He mostly broils or bakes the fish/meat. The family ingest juices in moderation and they try to take as much water as possible. His role as the main person in food preparation has helped to ensure that the children eat healthy. Gordon’s framework refers to influences that affect food intake; these include knowledge of food preparation, family values and others. The person who prepares, secures and serves also influences the food intake (Janice, 2004). The father is so far a positive influence as far as healthy food intake.

The children enjoy eating vegetables. When making French fries at home, the family uses yams which are a healthier approach. Generally, the family’s appetite is good and none of the family members have shown changes in skin, hair, body weight or nail texture. However the father’s weight has been fluctuating since he lost his job and he has been spending a lot of time for caring for the children. He aims to lose 25lbs. The mother has lost 20lbs and has attained a favorable body weight. Her BMI is 22.6. The children are within the appropriate weight for their height or age according to the pediatrician.

Elimination pattern

The pattern of elimination varies with every individual in the family. The father has regular bowel movements (every morning after breakfast). The mother and the five year old daughter often suffer from constipation; the other three children have at least one bowel movement every day. There have not been any difficulties in voiding noticed recently. The appearance of the urine is yellow and clear without sediments. There is no pain on urination for any of the family members. The family uses laxatives only occasionally, particularly after a plane trip or a long car trip.

Activity/ Exercise pattern

The family does not exercise daily but they have an active lifestyle. The family enjoys activities such as hiking, swimming, hiking, camping and biking. The parents exercise on an elliptical. The children play sports like soccer, basketball and baseball during the school year. They are also involved in other activities such as karate, dance, piano and guitar lessons. Other family activities include watching television, playing video games though these are regulated and viewed as a reward. These activities help the family to build trust and unity.

Sleep/rest pattern

The quality and quantity of sleep seem to be adequate for this family because the children have a routine for sleep. The children sleep 9-10 hours every night while the parents sleep for about 6-7 hours. The quality of the mother’s sleep however may not be so good as she has to work alternate shifts due to her nursing job. This creates a potential problem as it is possible the mother may not get adequate rest especially when she has to work during the night and still keep up with the housework later in the day.

Cognitive perceptual pattern

None of the family members has any cerebrovascular disorders, neurologic infections, autoimmune disorders, neuropathies, oncologic and degenerative neurologic disorders. The mother, daughters and ten year old son all have one sensory input disorder which is an eye disorders. The boy is long-sighted, has astigmatism and a left lazy eye while their mother is short-sighted. The daughters are also long-sighted. The father underwent laser eye surgery 5years ago which resolved the need for him to wear glasses though he seems to encounter vision problems once in a while. There no other sensory disorders within the family. The father reports suffering from joint/muscle pain frequently which is relieved by use of cold or heat applications.

Self-perception/self-concept pattern

The ten year old boy has trouble expressing himself as a person due to his disability. There were vital cues that showed identity confusion, disturbances in self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness and altered body image. The boy has been receiving treatment for his depression though there still remains work to be done. The family reports themselves as being able to adjust to changes such as loss of employment and income. They are also aware of the risks to health posed by a failure to cope with change.

Roles and relationships

With regard to their current major relationships and roles in the family, the individual family members described the role of the mother as the main bread winner and the father as the care giver. Several issues such as the threat of change, actual change and loss are issues that may cause stress especially for the mother who has to combine both work and family roles.

Coping and Stress management

When asked how the family copes with stresses, they reported that it took them a couple of years to learn how to manage stress effectively. The coping strategies that the family uses include spending time with a friend or close family member, taking time away from one another and working. The family understands that stress is a necessary part of life. The mother pointed out that stress becomes problematic when the tolerance to stress is weak affecting a person’s daily activities.

Sexuality and Reproduction

The mother reported that she has had eight pregnancies and 4 births. The parents reported that they did not have difficulty in sexual functioning and had a satisfactory sexual relationship. They mentioned that the two older boys get sex education within the school system however they also reinforce the issues at home. The older boy has been taught the importance of proper testicular self-examination. The mother conducts regular breast self-examination.

Values and Beliefs

The family reports not having specific religious practices but they report that they believe in doing the right thing and being a good person generally. The family indicated that they value the family most. They are a close knit family and do a lot of activities together.

Summary

Holism and the totality of the individual’s interaction with the environment form the foundation for the family health assessment (Heardman, 2008; Janice, 2004). Gordon’s framework provides a solid position from which nurses can participate together with clients in decision making for their own healthcare. This family currently has a good health status. They do not have any obvious illnesses, rather they have regular health maintenance habits and regular health check ups. The family is generally health conscious. The family has a high level of physical activity and does not use drugs, alcohol or tobacco. They have a healthy diet consisting of high fiber foods and low fat foods with sufficient intake of fluids. They also have good elimination patterns with the exception of two family members who were having constipation. Leisure and recreation is mainly through outdoor activities and activities with the family.

The perception parameters are normal in all the family members, sleep is normal, rest is adequate for the children but the parents’ quality of rest and sleep seems inadequate. The family members are satisfied with the family relationships and roles. The mother has had 8 pregnancies and 4 childbirths, two girls and two boys. Both parents have a satisfactory sexual relationship and the two boys received some sexual education both at home and school. The family does not have any special religious practices but believe in doing the right thing and treating others the way one would want to be treated.

Nursing Diagnosis

• Anxiety related to being out of work manifested by difficulty in sleeping and verbalization of stress by father (Heardman, 2008)
• Disturbed sleeping pattern related to altered activity patterns manifested by difficulties in sleeping and changes in activity level
• Potential for interrupted family processes related to father’s recent job loss and mother’s combination of work role and family roles manifested by mother’s report of inadequate sleep and father’s statements of feeling useless.

Family Health Promotion Strategies

Several family health promotion strategies can be applied as interventions to the diagnoses above. One of the major stressors in the family is the fact that the father has no job. To deal with this the father has been occupying himself with caring for the family. The anxiety can be reduced by the father looking into employment agencies where he can find employment in line with his qualifications and experience. Additionally, he could also identify a hobby that he has that could provide an avenue for earning money. It will keep him occupied while at the same time bringing in some money for the family. This intervention needs to be done as a combined effort between the nurse, the father and the family so that the nurse provides assistance in identifying the father’s strengths and does not control the situation.

The mother also needs to rest more due to her alternate shifts. She could schedule a specific time for sleeping after doing a night shift and make sure she adheres to this. The older children can also assist in the household chores so as to leave their parents with more time for rest and sleep. This is bound to reduce their exhaustion levels and also contribute to strengthening the family unity. This should be done in cooperation with all the family members.

Systems Theory

The systems theory holds that objects relate to each other by interdependence or regular interaction (Skytnner, 2005). According to the systems theory, the whole is greater than the sum of all parts (Skytnner, 2005). Changes in these parts (subsystems) lead to changes in the whole system, that is what affects the subsystem will eventually affect the system. The system usually works to restore homeostasis in response to changes.  This system theory guides the assessment of family in the sense that most families are systems with subsystems. Most families also fall on a continuum that falls between dysfunctional and healthy. The actions of family members affect all the members of the system. When individual members change, the family (system) seeks to restore itself. In this way a family is greater than the sum of its parts.

Conclusion

Gordon’s framework is a helpful tool in making family diagnosis. It is useful in determining the psychosocial functioning of the family and provides a framework for intervention by providing the necessary information about family members and their interactions and roles.

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Public relations department is one of the key functional unit of any organization, whether government and or privately owned. It provides a channel through which information flow from organization to the public and vice versa. It is fundamental in shaping the image of organization image and fostering good relationship with the public. Choice of public relations channels is very important to an organization. Effectiveness of such channels in achieving desired goals is also very crucial. Gradual changes both in business and public environment has also a key role in determining the best research channel to use e.g. internet access, increase in literacy levels, media coverage, people understanding of their rights, diversity in terms of preferences among individuals and so on also influences the public relations procedures of an organization. The procedures used should aim at earning understanding and while at the same time seek to influence behavior and opinion of the targeted audience. (Theaker 2004 p 4)

An ever changing environment and highly competitive business environment has made research in public relations to be very important. Additionally, effectiveness of public relations programs of an organization also affects its performance and loyalty of its customers in case of business entities. The organization public relations procedures should therefore seek to meet the changes in the environment they operate in. One way of ensuring good public relations is by carrying out research so as to identify the relevant areas of improvement so as the necessary steps can be proactively taken instead of reacting to negative effects associated with bad image. Thus research in public relations has become an important aspect. (Theaker 2004)

Development of research in public relations has been propelled by the shift of public relations as a communication technique in which production and distribution of information is the only role to communication manager role in which the focus is building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders. Thus in achieving this, adopting the necessary standards has become important and indispensable. Technology, along with gradual changes in management environment has also called for more accountability. Both informal and formal research has become very relevant in evaluating the organization operations. Need for research for evaluation and measurement of public relations has also continued to gain momentum. Evaluation of public relations has also become one of the constituents of the prevailing issues in public relations research. (Grunig 1983; IPRA 1994)

Additionally, efforts of various scholars to write on this topic has lead to understanding of public relations and also identified gaps of knowledge that requires to be covered through more research on public relations.  There has also been call for scholars not only to understand public relations as persuasive communication only meant to bend public thinking, but also to understand and be updated to the current environment happenings and react to the changes accordingly.(Marvin 1984). There has also been questioning of the whole theoretical basis of public relations and the need to review them through carrying pure and basic research. (Macnamara n.d.: Daymon & Holloway 2010,)

 

 

Formative (strategic) and evaluative research emphasizes have gradually been becoming part of various organization in their effort towards attaining a competitive advantage against the competitors. This has been more than monitoring the media reports. The research has also moved beyond the four basic types of public relations research which include environmental monitoring, communications audits, public relations audits and social audits.(Macnamara n.d.).

Knowledge on appropriate research design, construction and use of questionnaire, sampling, collection and analysis of statistics has gradually become of great importance. Research in public relations has become an on-going integral process. Contemporary research on public relations has been involving fact-finding, planning, communication and evaluation of the progress of the recommended way out by such research. Action, communication and the evaluation aspects of the research in public relations has become part and parcel of many organizations. Many organizations have also been gradually emphasizing on the importance of research in public relations to ensure effectiveness of programs and assess the effects of the programs. (Hunt & Grunig 1984; Macnamara n.d.)

Research have become an important tool while focusing on public relations messages readability, assess whether language used was factual or emotive. Through research, involvement of the readers in an effort to find if they had a problem with sentences order, the paragraph or ideas is also possible. In addition to this, research has become useful gathering information about the stakeholders view about the public relations program, understand the preference of various demographic groups, lifestyles, values and attitudes to the organization and media use. research also helps an organization to have knowledge of the relevant channels to use in communication with the target audience i.e. is it through the internet, TV channels, Radio, Newspapers, or other information posting channels.(Traedwell 2003)

Research has also become an important instrument in unraveling unnoticed attitudes about companies operations, and help in understanding the organization environment under which the organization is operating in. Such knowledge enables the public relations personnel to make relevant public relation strategies in line with the current organizational environment. Understanding of political, legal and regulatory bodies and knowing what these bodies say about the organization is also very important to public relations program of the company. Research has eventually been the best way in attaining such information.  Research also involves understanding the industry in which the organization operate in; what are others doing in ensuring good public relations? It has become a powerful instrument in ensuring good communication among the employees, and the management. (Traedwell 2003 p 55).

Gradually, many organization have been employing research in ensuring the message sent to the public about the organization is well written and meets with the expectations of the organization goals and cannot mess the organization image Research has also become vital in ensuring that such messages are free from confusion, and ambiguity as the right communication techniques is unraveled. The media available to reach out to the audience are also known through research. Such knowledge has become very helpful to the organization as the public relations department get informed of the most appropriate media to reach the specific audience. Research has also become imperative in evaluating certain program ie helps in knowing if certain program achieved its aims intended by the organization.(Traedwell, D (2003)

The development of research in public relations has seen use of various. Qualitative research method has become more applicable for the public relations study. This method enables researchers to be closely involved with the research participants. While developing a research for public relations, the researcher should first identify the problem. In identifying the problem, the researcher should seek to understand what is happening, know the exact problem, source of the concern, what the problem involve or affect, who are involved or affected by the problem, how are such parties affected or involved, and finally establish why such problem concerns the organization and the other stakeholders which may include the customers, government, non governmental organization, investors, employees and so on. The research development should then identify relevant parties involved in the study as the researcher seek to unravel the best solution to the problem. These will be source of primary information to the research study. This step should involve choosing an appropriate sample from the population of the affected parties. Random sampling methods are best method as they are free from biasness of the researcher. The research should also consult secondary sources on studies handling the same problem at hand or any problem related to such problem so as to give the researcher an insight to studying how to solve the problem at hand. Qualitative should be used as this is the best for social sciences as such research will be an attempt to study human behavior and factors surrounding such behavior. (Daymon & Holloway 2010).

However development of research in public relations has not been free from barriers. This includes lack of budgetary allocation, and time by various organizations. In addition to these inadequate understanding of research in public relations has been lacking. This has been due to lack of knowledge of nature of public relations and its function to the society. Fundamental questions about public relations have also not been clear to many people. Lack of research methodology for evaluating public relation programs, objective have in the past been cited as the main cause of image problem of public relations. (Grunig 1983)

 

 

Trends in research techniques given new technology:

The influence of technology on research techniques is unavoidable and very eminent in our contemporary world. Technology has come up with less costly research techniques. A researcher may not be required to physically administer questionnaire to the respondents or even conduct face to face interviews with the respondents. The internet (World Wide Web) has become one of the most utilized tools in carrying out research in public relations. For instance certain posting on the internet meant to communicate to the intended audience may provide for commenting from the reader; which may include evaluation of the message, any point not understood, any complaint about the organization and so on. Such information is usually gathered together and analyzed so as to create more effective public relations programs and also ensure good organization image. Nowadays, questionnaires may be posted in the website where respondents may access them and respond to them accordingly. Interviews can also be conducted online through chatting where the interviewer may communicate with the respondent as if it was a face to face interview. Email is another internet component which is also very useful in carrying out research in our contemporary world. The targeted respondents may be emailed with questionnaires to answer and also be requested to email back the filled questionnaires.  Televisions have also been utilized in carrying out research in public relations.  Nowadays, it is possible for researcher to communicate with viewers, have them comments on issues being researched on as the researcher collects the information for further analysis.  Radio stations are also important channels that have been used in research. Since this channel reach out to many people, organization researchers secure programs with specific radio station so as to collect information related to problem at hand by collecting listener’s views about the organization and what they feel should be corrected. (Silverman 2004 p119; Rust & Espinoza 2006).

Ethical Issues in Research

Ethical issues in research revolve around the participants in a certain research. A research should be based on voluntary participation. The participants should not be coerced to participate in a certain research. For instance, a public relations research which involves employees of the organization should not involve coercing the chosen employee to participate in such an exercise. It should be under the prerogative of the targeted respondents to choose whether to participate or not. Any use of threat, and force will lender the research exercise unethical and may compromise the accuracy of the findings and consequently miss the aims of the research. (Behi & Nolan n.d.; Chensey 1993)

Another ethical issue associated with voluntary participation is the right to withdrawal from participating in a certain research if one feels uncomfortable with the process. Such assurance is very important in every research and will also not result into coercion of the participants to continue in a process they feel uncomfortable with e.g. the participant may feel that his/her continual of participation in the research threatens her/his life , then it will be ethical to allow him/her withdraw from the whole process. (Behi & Nolan nd; Chensey 1993)

Second ethical issue includes ensuring an informed consent. It is the obligation of the researcher to inform the intended participants of all what the research involves, any danger and a risk associated with the research, so as they make an informed decision on what they are just about to participate in.  Research ethical standards requires researcher not to involve the participants in research that may lead to participants harm owing to their participation. In case of public relation research, researcher should first of all explains what the research involves, any risk associated with the research and avoid involving the participants in a research that may lead to their harm; owing to their opinions, views and so on. This ethical issue is also important in cases where minors may be included as part of the targeted participants. In such a case the parent consent or the authority to which decision of the minor are entrusted should give the consent. It may also be required for the parent to such participants consent to the participation of their children. The parent, or the head of the institution in which the minor is residing should sign a consent declaration form. (Behi & Nolan nd; Chensey 1993)

Third ethical issue involves confidentiality. The researcher should guarantee the participant of the confidentiality of the information they give i.e. the information will not availed to another party who is not directly involved in the research. This is an important ethical issue which if not assured, the participants may refrain from giving accurate and more information e.g. A public relations research involving the employees, the customers, and even those closely related to the organization management for instance needs to ensure confidentiality is maintained. Employees will not be ready to give any information which they think will affect their employment or relationship with the employer or with other employees if confidentiality is not assured. Those closely related to the employees or management of an organization may shy from giving negative views about the organization if they may think such information will not be taken in good faith by the management or employee. In the same case, customers not like to be known to have given certain information about the organization in which they usually shop from. Thus confidentiality assurance will greatly influence quantity and quality of information availed by the participants. Some targeted participants refuse to participate if they think such information is likely to be leaked to another party. (Behi & Nolan nd; Chensey 1993)

Confidentiality assurance may not be enough to convince some targeted participants. In such a case, anonymity will be another ethical issue. This ensures that the participant remains unnamed throughout the research. The researchers themselves are also not expected to know the participant’s name. This guarantees enough privacy although it may not be feasible in real cases. (Behi & Nolan nd)

In case a certain program is being studied, the right to service may also be another ethical issue. Such case arises when a no-treatment control group is required. In this case a no treatment control group entails a group of participants supposed not to get treatment or program being studied. Those supposed to part of no-treatment control group may feel unequally treated by the researcher and that their rights have been denied. (Behi & Nolan nd; Chensey 1993)

Other ethical issues in research include the integrity of the researcher, field of study, cultural variations, and role conflict.  Most participants are not likely to cooperate with researchers who they question his/her character. They will be reluctant to offer information required. They will not trust his/her assurance of confidentiality and anonymity. Field of study may also be part of ethical concern to the participants. Some cultures may not encourage participating in a research involving unacceptable activities although this usually affects the scientific research mostly in medicine. Cultural variation may also lead to an ethical issue as people are diverse in terms of cultural believes e.g. some respondents may require to know the religious beliefs of the researcher before availing any information to him/her. (Behi & Nolan nd; Chensey 1993)

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The early stages of development of any child play a very cardinal role in the future of any child. These stages should therefore be handled with expended zeal. In general living with overly depressed parent tends to increase the risk of a child’s cognitive development. Besides, this brings about behavioral problems among children. In a report, maternal depression, poverty, children’s cognitive and family status are all products of the economic state of the family (Child Development, p 810).

Research finds a consistent correlation between the child’s intellectual development, cognitive development and poverty. Poverty is particularized in the development of the child. Gulati et al (Gulati, J. K., Dutta, J., p 122) argues that persistent poverty levels are in fact as detrimental to the child as illnesses.

The effects that are experienced in the cognitive and affective domains have a direct effect on the educational outcomes and the development of any child. These effects are both indirectly and directly moderated, mediated transitional processes. Within the precincts of this argument, strategies for the alleviation of poverty are central if these far reaching effects of poverty are to be mitigated.

Research shows (Pesonen, A., Räikkönen, K., Heinonen, K., Andersson, S., Hovi, P., Järvenpää, A., Eriksson, J. G., Kajantie, E., p 613) that Children who come from poor families are found to have retarded growth. This is experienced particularly in the ages of two years to four years. The research reveals that poor children tend to be shorter than their counterparts from rich families.  Similar traits are experienced in the development of cognition. In the final analysis, the poor child’s development is hampered altogether.

In addition, underprivileged children had small body sizes than their counterparts regardless of the size of the parents. Subsequent, research shows that poor children are more prone to health issues than those who hail from well off families. Some of the diseases tend to impede the developmental prospects of the child. Most particularly, the research sees malnutrition as a common problem.

When developmental tests are undertaken on the children, those who hail from affluent families have higher developmental outcomes while those from poor families have delayed development. Within the utility of the study of human development, there is sufficient modus operandi for follow-ups on the matter and far reaching implications of the entire state. Through the stages, the child has varied physiological and psychological needs. The state of the parent plays a role in the effectiveness and efficacy of provision of the said needs.

Developmental Stages and the Probable Effects of Poverty

Introduction

An overview of the developmental stages and the needs of each stage would give a basis for a better understanding of the effects of poverty on the development of the child and any adolescent. The stages developed herein are based on the Erik Erickson’s eight developmental stages.

Within the mandate of Erickson, the developmental stages overlap and a smooth interlope of the stages depends on the provision of the necessary requisite needs; physiological, biological and psychological needs (Holzer, H J., Schanzenbach, D., W., Duncan, G J.; Ludwig, J., p 51). The satisfaction of the needs are largely dependent on the economic wellbeing of the parents.

Erickson treats each stage as a psychosocial crisis. He argues that the crisis needs resolution. Subsequent, the resolution of the crisis has to be undertaken through a concerted effort by both the child and the environment. The environment revolves mainly around the role of the parent in the development of the child.

Erickson asserts that the stages have to be perceived in an architectural sense such that each stage has to be handled with utter keenness if the child has to undergo a successful transition from one level to another. According to Erickson (Fauth, R. C., Leventhal, T., Brooks-Gunn, J., p 81) the analogy of building a house serves the right approach to the care giving and the resolution of the crisis during the development of a child. If the development of a child is hampered at some level, like in the construction process, Erik argues, the entire process is treacherous.

Developmental Stages and Poverty

At birth, the infant has to learn some basic trust against basic mistrust. This stage comes in the period between one and two years (Fauth, R. C., Leventhal, T., Brooks-Gunn, J., p 69). The handling of the child by the parents at the stage determines the child’s feeling of security and mistrust. When the child is well-handle, loved or nurtured, the chid develops optimism and feelings of security. Children in environments shrouded in poverty and lack are seen to be prone to feelings of insecurity and mistrust.

During early childhood, a child will experience a second crisis that is psychosocial. This is experienced in the ages between 19 months to about 42 months. Erickson asserts that a well ‘parented child’ has better chances of developing both cognitively and affectively (Wood, D., p 711). The children bred in well off families are believed to come out of this stage very self-confident; with a lot of initiative and independence. In the event that children are not well bred during this stage, the children come out to be stubborn and with a lot of negativism.

Children from families that are in incessant lack of basic needs end up missing the love and attention of the parents, hence developing resentment which impedes their overall development. On the contrary, children from poor families seem to be ashamed of their selves. These attribute inhibits the development process of the children (Walker-Dalhouse, D., Risko, V. J., p 84). Within the strength of this argument it is clear that the endowment of the family will always have an effect on the development of the child through the domains. Children from poor family are believed to have less affection than children who come from families where the parents provide everything that the child asks.

During Erickson’s third developmental stage, the play stage, play is a common feature yet with very pivotal roles in the development of the child. However, the environment of the child determines the nature of play the child is bound to get engaged (Pesonen, A., et al p 617). While children from rich families will have to engage in plays items that are technological in their orient, the counterparts from poor families have no choice on play items except those provided by nature.

Where the children are provided with sufficient play items, the development of their psychomotor skills is relatively fast. The child develops skills on how to imagine and develop solutions to problems if the play items provided ignite the mind towards the same. However, it needs to be appreciated that children from poor families have no access to such play items. Their family struggles to provide the basic physiological needs as postulated by Abraham Maslow (Holzer, H J., Schanzenbach, D., W., Duncan, G J.; Ludwig, J., p 42).

Socially, play ignites the sense of cooperation with others. Where the families are in abject poverty and lack, children may have the least opportunity for interacting with others. Where such an opportunity is accessed, the children have no chance for interaction with others as they tend to feel ashamed of the status of their family as has been mentioned. Within the strength of this argument, the social development of the child tends to be impeded.

During school age, according to Erickson, the fourth level psychosocial crisis is solved. This happens during the junior and earlier years of the high school. During the stage, children are expected to master formal skills that would be utilised in life. While this stage would be effectively resolved, the diversity in the endowment of the background of the children presents a challenge (Wood, D., p 711). Children from poor families may not attend school after all or at their very best; their attendance would be very inconsistent. These inconsistencies may bring about lapses in the development of the child.

The well endowed families on their part have the children fully in the system. These children are fully trained through the school system how to interact with the others through teamwork, free play and adjustment. While those from poor families may have these traits very inherent in them, without the exposure, the traits can not be adequately developed.

Erickson (Holzer, H J., Schanzenbach, D., W., Duncan, G J.; Ludwig, J., p 49) argues that children filled with guilt and shame experience inferiority and defeat even in circumstances where the defeat is not forthcoming. Children who are not exposed to school environment, Erik argues, are not self-disciplined. He believed that through the homework given to the children, the children are able to handle tasks on their own (Fauth, R. C., Leventhal, T., Brooks-Gunn, J., p 57). Poor families may perhaps not even provide the basic requisite for the child to attend school. In the final analysis, such children end up lagging behind in their cognitive development prospects.

When children effectively master their arithmetic, reading and social studies, they gain confidence in their lives. Continued tackling of the homework given to the children on daily basis makes the children develop self-discipline of an annual basis. The successive resolution of the challenges inherent during the learning stages further gives the children a feeling of autonomy and initiative.  Children with initiative will have a better chance of developing industry compared to those who are withdrawn. However, children who have feelings of mistrust have tendencies of doubting their future.

At the age of between 13 years and 20 years , the child, who will have turned into an adolescent starts attempting to find the answer to the question, ‘who am I’. The adolescent experiences identity diffusion and learning identity. During the stage, the adolescents try to experiment with their delinquency, rebellion and self-doubt. The adolescents tend to be diffused in what right way they are supposed to move.

According to Erickson (Santa, A., p 70), a successful adolescent will always precede a successful adulthood. At the stage, the young adult develops self-certainty. Though this is the ideal case for an adolescent from an average family, children from poor family exhibit opposite traits of self doubts and self-consciousness. During the stage, children experiment with constructive roles and avoid negative traits (Rodgers Jr., Harrell R., Payne, L., p 14). However, Erickson argues that this stage is largely influenced by the earlier stages of development.

Where the child has been bred well from the initial stages of development, Erickson asserts that the psychosocial traits are well developed through life. During the later stages of adolescence, the child develops sexual identity. The child identifies himself or herself with either manhood or womanhood. The adolescent at these stages tries to seek for leadership and particularly through inspirations from individuals.

On the contrary, children from poor families are more preoccupied with their survival needs than any inspiration. Overall, the children from the poor families lag behind in their psychosocial development. Consequently, whereas those from the well-to-do families are preoccupied with inspirations that are congruent and desirable, the poor are trapped in the fulfilment of physiological needs.

Ardently, Erickson (Walker-Dalhouse, D., Risko, V. J., p 86) finds a pronounced correlation between the endowment and the psychosocial development particularly during adolescents. He claims that children from endowed families have a big advantage in the psychosocial development compared to their cronies from poor families particularly during adolescent.

‘……in our culture, adolescence affords a “psychosocial moratorium,” particularly for middle – and upper-class American children. They do not yet have to “play for keeps,” but can experiment, trying various roles, and thus hopefully find the one most suitable for them.’

From,  Fram, M. S., Miller-Cribbs, J. E.; Van Horn, L., p 314

 

It is evident from the quote that indeed the children, then adolescent, have the least consideration towards their psychosocial development. Erickson emphasises the two classes; the middleclass and the upper class.

In the sixth stage of development according to Erickson, two phases are experienced. Adolescents develop isolation traits versus intimate traits. Vividly, those whose background is a poor one will tend to have feeling of resentment and would prefer being left with only those in their class. Those from the rich background feel confident and stretch out their hands for love.

Those from the poor background would have extraverted reactions to the intimacy. They may opt to go it alone resultant from the experience they had with their parents.  The adolescents from the rich families however feel confident making relationships particularly having experienced tranquillity through their family. Besides, what can enhance the relationship in terms of education and resources appears to be readily at their disposal.

Working trends are developed during the early adolescent stages and are expected to be utilised in the seeking and the provision of basic needs for the family. In the seventh stage, the psychosocial crisis seeks for much generativity which is exercised in the relationships through to marriage and parenting (Reyes, H., Pérez-Cuevas, R., Sandoval, A., Castillo, R., Santos, J. I., Doubova, S. V., Gutiérrez, G., p 76). This motivates the adult to develop senses of productivity and creativity.

In the event that the psychosocial crises are effectively resolved, the adult develops integrity and peak adjustment. In addition, the adult becomes independent and tries to adapt to the new roles developed. The young adult becomes intimate without the least strain, regret and guilt. On the other hand, where the young adult did not resolve the psychosocial crisis adequately, one approaches life with much disgust and despair (Fram, M. S., Miller-Cribbs, J. E.; Van Horn, L., p 317).

The foregoing discussion gives a clear correlation through the stages between poverty and the psychosocial development. However, it equally needs to be appreciated that the there are other factors coupled with poverty. Given the multifaceted nature of psychosocial development, the resiliency theory is worth review for thorough gain of insight into the developmental stages.

Application of the Resilience Theory to Developmental Stages

While the theory is a broad based affair, it does largely apply to psychological traits in its analytical process. The theory is a broad field of study, cutting across policies, families and workplaces particularly looking at the traits that are inherent within the socialization process of persons (Gulati, J. K., Dutta, J., p 120). The theory cuts across all the aspects. However, the theory finds much application in the study of the development of children.

The theory has been taken to have pronounced reference to the successful adaptation and the competence of individuals to their environment. The proponents of the theory argue that the adaptation tools are mainly intellectual ability and temperament. Clearly from the foregoing discussion, it is clear that the endowment of the family has a surmountable influence on the development of the child.

Subsequent to the influence, any child has to adapt to the environment adequately to be able to go through the developmental stages. In adapting to the environment, four basic factors are central in the psychosocial development of any individual (Rodgers Jr., Harrell R., Payne, L., p 17). The factors are inclusive of the positive mindset of the individual, security of attachment, social support and the development of competence among individuals. The social support emanates from the school, religious groups, the family and the neighbors.

According to the resilience theory, the security of attachment of the child is the main determinant of the child’s wellbeing. When the child is securely attached, they tend to develop tools for self soothe, trust, love and develop problem solving approaches for themselves. Children who receive inconsistent and care that is less responsive have the tendency to become indiscriminant in seeking for assistance and love from their peers (Child Development, p 799). This is because these children tend to feel very insecure besides feeling very disorganized in their undertakings.

The resilience theory asserts that good care for the children normally increases their cognitive skills. If for example, a family has frequent discussions and readings together, the child brought up within such families normally have their children enter school more prepared than families that leave their children on their very own. On the other hand those that are brought up without this attention are analyzed as taking longer to catch up in class.

The attachment of the children to their families and their environment are therefore very important for the support of the learning process of children because it increases the resilience of the children. Parents who live in abject poverty will have the least time for their children and could not have the resources for the furthering the any discussions and talks with their children. The attachment acts as protective factor for the child.

According to the resilience theory (Walker-Dalhouse, D., Risko, V. J., p 85), the attitude, the level of confidence and the beliefs of the child determine the child’s approach to the resolution of any life stresses that would affect the child. Children who are made to feel as victims as a result of their struggle towards resolving a conflict end up being less assertive, energetic and positive. Such children end up believing that they are not able to bring about the necessary changes that they have yearned.

Optimism is a very important aspect during the development of any child (Wood, D., p 710). The optimism will only be brought up in an environment that has security of attachment for the child. This will be attained through supporting the children when they have any challenges. For example, when a child falls out of their mistakes, he should not be victimized but should be encouraged to stand up.  Such children end up developing feelings of resentment.

However, it needs to be appreciated, according to the resilience theory, that the temperament of a child equally plays a very essential role in the development of optimism within the child (Santa, A., p 68). Though temperament is an inborn trend, the reaction of the parents towards the actions of the children has a large effect on the development of the children and should be treated with utmost care (Joav H., Morad, M., Carmeli, E., p 5). The parent’s reaction and attention to the concerns of the child therefore determines the overall reaction and development of the child. In case where the parent is equally stressed from life stresses, the child may be devastated and therefore affect his development. The parent has to be very patient to foster the attachment.

The belief system of the child is also developed to a reasonable extent by the school, the entire family and the religious group. These institutions provide a powerful means of inoculation for the children against any stresses. In addition, adults that live in the neighborhood and at school have an equally important role in molding the belief pattern of the child (Child Development, p 804). The peers that the child meets at the church, the synagogue or at the mosque also impart very cardinal values in the child. These peers are seen as instilling moral compass utilizable in situations that would otherwise be dicey.

According to the resilience theory, children should develop some competencies to their core. Once the children have the knowledge that they are able to adequately handle certain tasks believed to be challenging. This feeling is seen as a means of sustenance for the child through challenging circumstances. Consequently, when children are brought up to handle challenging tasks, they end up making efforts through life with believe that they are capable. This becomes reinforcement and a driving force behind the development of the child.

Goal setting is very tidal in the resilience theory (Santa, A., p 66). However, the setting of goals will always differ from the one family and child to the other. Children who come from middle class and upper class families are said to set their goals very high irrespective of their capabilities. On the other extreme, children from the lower cadre of society are said to set their goals and aspiration very low regardless of their capabilities. This is attributed to the children’s diverse exposure. Children from rich families are relatively exposed. The counterparts from the lower class are not informed enough to make informed choices that are in line with their capabilities.

The community (Reyes, H., et al, p 79) and the school have a big role in the development of the child. Nevertheless, it needs to be observed that the children from poor backgrounds and those from rich backgrounds would not be schooled in the same school. The facilities that are provided in the schools are different and hence preparing the child for varied life challenges as though their psychosocial needs are not similar. This brings about the differences in the psychosocial development as has been discussed through this paper.

Conclusion

The environment under which the child is brought up determines the psychosocial development of the child. While the development will take place according to the stages of development by Erickson, (Gulati, J. K., Dutta, J., p 116) the family’s overall endowment can not be wished away as a factor that influences the development of the child. This environment determines the nature of the socialization agent that the child interacts with and hence the overall development. It is evidenced through the discussion that children from well-off families will have the best facilities for their development while those from poor families tend to develop by shear fluke.

The resilience theory seems to support the whole hypothesis that in deed, a richly endowed environment is capable of offering the best that would support the cognitive, affective and social development of any child. The secure attachment of the child to the community, the family and the school setting is imperative for the development of the child (Rodgers Jr., Harrell R., Payne, L., p 13). When the children grow up with the belief that their action can make a difference, their development all round is bolstered. Overall, whatever the capability of the child, the environment and the endowment of the family play a key role in the psychosocial development of the child.

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Ever since the 1930s, economic crises have been common around the world. This was the case particularly with the developing economies going through trade and financial liberalization in the post-1980 period; however it has become the case also for the developed economies with the current crisis ongoing since 2007. With every crisis, economists seek the proper way to smooth out the deterioration of economic balance. For some economists, crises – including recessions – can be overcome through liberal economic policies that have to do with private sector efforts. On the other hand some economists think that state intervention is more than necessary in times of economic crises. For these economists who are for state interventionist policies, government has the means to help economy recover in times of crises. Accordingly, government spending is therefore an influential tool for recovery.

Government spending is classified into three parts. One of them is government acquisition of goods and services to satisfy the needs of individuals and / or society known to be government final consumption spending. The other one is acquisition of goods and services in order to supply benefits for the future, mostly related to infrastructure investments, known to be government gross capital formation, where acquisition of goods and services can be realized by the production of the government. Government expenditures that are not about acquisition of goods and services, but do cover transferring of money as in the case of social security payments, are known to be transfer payments. Government final consumption spending and government gross capital formation make up the largest items in gross domestic product (GDP) of an economy.

All these three types of spending can be financed through taxation, seignorage and government borrowing. Government final consumption spending and government gross capital formation make up the largest items in gross domestic product (GDP) of an economy. Governments can attempt to stimulate economies in times of stagnation, crises or recession through government spending. There are examples of efficient fiscal stimuli through increased government spending to help economies recover from recession like the spending that occurred during 1930s to help the United States out of recession.

On the other hand, there might be cases that fiscal stimuli may not be efficient compared to expectations. It was John Maynard Keynes, who first thought that government spending could be an efficient fiscal tool who led to the use of term known to be Keynesian economics in time[1]. According to Keynesian (and to some extent post-Keynesian) economics, increased government spending is expected to increase aggregate demand, and therefore raise consumption that will stimulate the economy as a whole. On the other hand, classical economists do not like government intervention; however they approve it to a certain extent. Neo-classical economists think that government intervention should not be an alternative for recovery in times of economic recession. For neo-classical economists, in the short run government spending can provide stimulus to aggregate supply. However, they argue that the long run effects will be negative and that also even if the economy is not intervened to function through its own mechanisms; it will recover through the competitive price dynamics.

Economic recession stands for business cycle contraction implying a general slowdown regarding economic activities over a determined period of time. Macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, capacity utilization, profitability and profits of companies, incomes of households, investment spending and naturally employment all go down and / or decrease during times of recession. Moreover bankruptcies and unemployment goes up during recessionary times.

In brief, this paper will be about the investigation of the impact of the government spending through fiscal stimulus on economic recessions. Accordingly, answers to some questions in conjunction with the recession-related topics shall be sought, while the emphasis will be on the relationship between the government spending and the process of recovery from economic recessions. Empirical evidence, as well as past data regarding fiscal stimuli used to revive economies in times of recession will be analyzed so as to understand and serve the hypothesis of the paper, which is “A package of fiscal stimulus through increased government spending can be an effective means to stabilize the economy in the short run.”

1. 1.                  Literature Review on the Relationship between Recession and Government Spending

This section goes through the literature on the relationship between government spending and recession. The section consists of three parts, first part deals with studies that find government spending to be ineffective during times of recession; second part is about the studies that find government spending to be effective. The last subsection consists of studies that claim that government spending during times of recession can be effective or ineffective depending on the conditions.

 

1.1.      Studies that Find Government Spending to be Ineffective During Times of Recession

There are no clear relationships proven by economists regarding the effects of government spending on growth including times of recession. On the other hand, there are a number of findings that provide support for a negative relationship between economic recovery and government spending in the long run. For instance, government spending had an adverse effect on the economy of the United States of America (the U.S.) for the period between 1970 and 1995, which included some economic crisis times for the U.S. such as the oil shock of the 1970s.[2] The state of the recession experienced in the U.S. in 1990 – 1991 was triggered as a result of a consumption shock along 1990 – 1991, which was directly affected by the U.S. attack against Iraq during those years. Although government spending was high along 1990 and 1992 thanks to the military expenditures on the rise; the recovery from the recession was rather slow.[3] Although Blanchard (1993) does not say it directly, it can be seen from this analysis that government spending might not have direct effects on growth specifically related to the mood and confidence of customers. In case of Israel, her economy for the 1952 – 1965 periods, the exogenous military factors were also thought to be much effective, which was highly dependent on government spending to survive for the pre-1970 period.[4]

From a similar point of view, Fölster and Henrekson (2001) have found that enlarged public expenditures had a negative effect on growth for some rich economies for the 1970 – 1995 periods. Government consumption had adverse effects on economic growth for 98 countries that were analyzed for the 1960 – 1985 period.[5] Government consumption usually slowed down economic growth pace of economies.[6] The cross country data for the period between 1960 and 1985, showed that the ratio of imported to domestically produced capital goods in the composition of investment has had a significant positive effect on per capita income growth rates especially in developing countries.[7] Using an endogenous growth model of an open economy, Lee (1995) found that government consumption of economic output was directly related to slower growth.

Developed economies such as the U.S. economy might put great emphasis on grants-in-aid as part of government spending during economic recession times along 1960 – 1985, with some exceptions. Battaglini and Coate (2008) have recently analyzed the behavior of fiscal policies related to government spending; where they thought that a cyclical behavior for fiscal policy could be exist. Battaglini and Coate (2008) have found that government debt usually went up during economic growth times, while they went down during recessions, resembling government spending trends that are down during recessionary times, as well. Government size had an essential role on economic growth, meaning the larger the government the higher unemployment rates for the OECD economies analyzed for 1970 – 1999 period.[8] Through analysis of OECD countries for 1975 – 1998 periods found that the ratio of government spending to GDP was going up at times of recession through government consumption, transfers, subsidies and capital expenditures, although there are no clear evidences that such an increase eventually leads to recovery from recession.[9] A study on a sample of 92 countries and a sample of OECD countries concluded that the more volatile the economies, the less growth pace they have. Additionally, if governments tried to stabilize the volatility through increased government spending, there is more possibility that there will be a recession. The study outcome depicted that government spending to stimulate or stabilize the economy did not give the desired results.[10]

There also exists a negative relationship between economic growth and government spending in the recessionary post-war situations. This was finding of a study that analyzed 113 countries.[11] Another study carried on 59 middle income countries analyzed for 1960 – 1985 period also showed a similar relationship. However, the negative effects of government spending were three times stronger for socialist economies compared to other economies that were analyzed. This finding could be a denominator of the need for efficiency for government spending, for government spending in non-socialist countries does not give so negative results comparatively.[12]. Fall in fixed investment was also found to be the main reason for the economic recession in the USA economy despite the growth in government spending in the second half of the 1940 – 1950 periods. [13]

The studies exemplified in this section have the following common characteristics:

–               They were usually carried out for the period between 1960 – 1995;

–               They do not directly show that government spending has adverse effects for recovery from recession; nevertheless its negative effects usually stemming from inefficient allocation and use of sources do depict a negative relationship between government spending and recovery from a recession.

–               There are exceptional cases like the military situation in Israel, or the direct vulnerability of the U.S. economy from global conditions due to the size of the economy, or the post World War II period in the United States, which still point that government spending is far from being effective for recovery.

–               Less developed economies are less responsive to efforts to help end recession through government spending.

 

1.2.      Studies That Find Government Spending Effective in Times of Recession

Despite the widely accepted mainstream idea that government spending to boost economic growth during times of recession is not effective, there are studies that imply a positive relationship between economic growth and government spending as well. For instance, crowding out and rent seeking concerns can be overestimated and that the effects of public investments on growth could be positive.[14] Additionally, government spending could be effective for economies, specifically on the levels of output.[15] Moreover, there are many studies that have shown the efficiency of government spending on education resulting with economic growth. However, this is usually long-run growth phenomena less related with recessionary times. [16]

Government spending on capital formation, development assistance, private investment and trade-openness has positive effect on economic growth.[17] A study that analyzed 19 OECD countries for the period 1970 to 2002 found that increased government spending through expansionary fiscal policies could be more effective during times of recession, compared to times of economic expansion. It was also found that this effect was felt more deeply in economies where consumer credit depth is less comparatively. [18]

On the other hand, neglecting government spending as an option to boost economic growth and to recover from recessions might lead to worse situations. [19] Kormendi and Meguire (1990) have shown that the government policies that were applied by the British government in 1930 and 1980s contrasted with each other. While policies that were applied in 1930 were partially useful and they were demand-side policies that necessitated government support and spending; it was just the opposite case during 1980s. Although economic parameters have shown slight recovery due to increased privatization and less government interference in the economy during recession times in Britain in 1980s, this was done at the cost of unemployment policies that led to poverty of millions in the country.

Also, the economic parameters were still shaky in 1990s despite reduced government intervention in time. As a result, government supported economic development boosted by government spending is still a requirement for economies.[20] Pollin (2002) has analyzed the state of the U.S. economy from the end of 1990s to 2001. The recessionary period observed by Pollin (2002) was partially overcome thanks to increased government spending. However, these expenditures owed much to the money collected by local and national governments in 1990s and they were consumed to help economy boost. Moreover, increased military spending due to expenditures made after September 11 terror attacks and before the war with Afghanistan were also effective to help the U.S. economy recover from recessionary situation.

The studies exemplified in this section contained supporting evidence for efficiency of government spending during times of recession with the following general characteristics:

–               The studies have a Keynesian or pro-Keynesian approach to economy and income distribution. Social stability and equality of income distribution are essential for the researchers of these studies.

–               The studies generally cover periods along 1970 – 2001.

–               The studies also show that efficiency or inefficiency might not be directly related to government spending or private investments, which means that government spending is not to blame alone in cases of unsuccessful recovery attempts.

 

1.3.        Studies That Find Government Spending both Effective and Ineffective with Respect to Changing Conditions in Times of Recession

In addition to positive and negative approaches to the relationship between governments spending and growth during recession times, there are some studies that do not support both but have a relative approach. Effectiveness of fiscal policies including government spending and taxation policies could turn out to have stronger effects when market actors’ expectations of economical outcomes are more accurate.[21] Also, Corsetti, Meier and Muller (2009) have analyzed the global recession of 2008 – 2009 concentrating on the case of fiscal stimulus through an analysis that investigates cross-border spillovers. When they analyze a debt-financed government spending scenario under 2008 – 2009 global recession conditions, they see that such spending leads to higher future taxation, which adversely affects private spending. In time overall spending has a decreasing tendency.

Nevertheless, government spending stimulus could come out to be effective in the short-run during recessions according to the same research, while leading to positive cross-border spillover effects by affecting long-term interest rates. Short term stimulus policies supported by government spending could be effective when they are followed by medium term consolidation plans requiring some limits on spending. Additionally, government spending had limited effects when the economy is subject to global and or foreign effects. [22].From a similar point of view, Darby (1982) point out that has shown some evidential points that are related to reasons that lead to and out of recessions. Taking 1973 – 1974 recession as an example, Darby has shown that the outside price effects caused by oil price fluctuations led to the recession, where government spending or not spending would have had little recovery effects.

Also regarding the recent global economic recession that began in 2007, Hannsgen and Papadimitriou (2009) also offer new programs that could be supported by government spending as has been the case with the New Deal program in 1930s. Despite the mainstream critical analyses of the New Deal program, which put forth that it was not effective; the new global crisis requires economists to go through the positive and negative points embedded in this program.[23] New Deal was usually seen as a failure attempt including increased government expenditure to boost economic growth and recover from recession, for it was not until the eve of World War II for the U.S. economy to start to function efficiently. However, New Deal had positive outcomes with respect to regulatory and labor relations legislation, and government spending and taxation. However, they also approve that the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933 was administered badly and the help provided by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was too late for a recovery. [24]

Slight recovery from the most recent recession – that initiated with subprime crisis – would also be costly for developed economies that cannot be viewed as simple crises to be solved through monetary or fiscal expansion policies.[25] European countries should combine their efforts to help each other in the European Union, so that the Union as well as its members can recover from recession more quickly and smoothly. This can be done through fiscal policies, including government spending. On the other hand, the largest economic power of the European Union, which is Germany, is reluctant to combine efforts to help recover Union members from such a recession.[26]

Kuttner and Posen (2001) have analyzed the state of Japanese government that is prone to recession and crises since the beginning of 1990s. They argue the effectiveness of Keynesian policies that bring increased government spending with at times of recession. It is difficult to suggest that Keynesian approach to stimulate the Japanese economy was successful or not. Despite the fact that government led policies to boost the economy were not effective on a continuous basis, increased government spending has had stimulating effect on Japan’s economy when applied through multiplier effects as had been proposed by Keynes before. There are cases that the policy was far less effective than expected, but this could be stemming from some other external factors. Nevertheless, Kuttner and Posen (2001) are neutral and neither approves nor rejects the usefulness of increased government spending to recover from recessions.

In a different approach regarding the effects of government spending, Lopez, Galinato, and Islam (2009) have gone through the effects of increased governmental spending during times of recession on air pollution. Just as the uncertain effects of the increased governmental spending on economies during recessionary times, Lopez, Galinato, and Islam (2009) have found that increased government spending had no clear positive or negative effects on environmental conditions and pollution.

There might be even cases that increased government spending leads to temporary recessions. This situation can take place when interest rates have aggregate supply-side effects prior to and during increased government spending periods. On the other hand, this relationship is usually less clear as the demand and supply effects of interest rates cannot be clearly analyzed through a consisted framework, which prevents a comparison of these effects. Government spending could be causes of recession through directly affecting market interest rates at times.[27]

Boosting economies through government spending at times of recession could give different results depending on the state and size of the economy that is in recession. An analysis of 56 countries as well as G-7 countries to understand the effects of taxation and government spending policies at times of expansion and recession concluded that government spending is usually down, while taxes are up during times of recession in developing countries, which is not the case for developed (G-7) countries.[28] Similarly, government spending usually increases and taxes go down during times of economic expansion in developing countries, which is just the opposite in G-7 countries. The difference between these two types of effects related to fiscal policies could be a result of the different tax bases in these countries highly volatile tax base in developing countries, compared to the developed economies. [29]

1. 3.         Conclusive Remarks

This review on the relationship between increased government spending and (recovery from) recession aimed to go through the pros and cons of government intervention in the economy through increased spending during times of recession. As is clear from the previous studies, there is no clear relationship between the two factors. There are times that increased government spending can be effective, and there are times that it cannot be deemed as effective. It seems that, success or failure of such a policy depends on a number of factors such as the state of the economy in depression (i.e. is it a developed or a developing economy), the efficiency of the use of the government spending (for infrastructure, for economy, for military reasons, etc.), and the state of external conditions (whether the recession is global, whether there are direct factors that lead to recession such as oil prices, etc.). Moreover, choice of government spending as a macroeconomic tool seems to be a political choice as well. If government chooses to increase its spending at times of recession, this means an intervention into economy. Such an interventionist policy might be useful for those supported by the government, while it might come out to be harmful for those not supported by the government; given the reality that government spending is a type of redistribution of income.

4.       Proposal for Econometric Model: The Effect of Government Expenditure on Growth

This proposal will attempt to provide an econometric investigation of the economic effects of government spending on countries’ growth performance. Such an analysis can be conducted in two ways. One way is to pick up a country and carry out a time series analysis. The obvious shortcoming of such an approach is that it will not produce a general conclusion because the results will be based on the dynamics of the particular country that is chosen for the analysis. However, the debate among macroeconomists about the effects of government expenditures on growth is not country specific. In general, while Keynesian economist tend to believe in the merits of fiscal policy, classical economists either emphasise the public authorities to influence economic performance or emphasize the destabilising effects of government intervention (e.g. crowding-out effect; see for example, Barro, 1991; Blanchard, 1993). Both schools defend their ideas on the basis of certain general economic theories which are in principal applicable to all market economies. Hence, rather than the time series analysis of a single country, a cross-sectional study of many countries will be adopted to examine the effects of government spending on growth. The sample of countries will be as large as possible depending on the availability of the data. It will include both high-income and low-income countries. The main objective will be to obtain a general result about the effect of government spending.

The problem with cross-sectional analysis that corresponds to the choice of a particular country in time series analysis is picking a specific year to perform the econometric test. Moreover, according to the neo-classical thesis, cross-sectional analysis cannot capture the destabilizing effects of government intervention, which takes some time to get hold. Yet, it can be argued that economic crises provide the perfect setting to test the effectiveness of government intervention. Notice that government interventions are often assessed in terms of two distinct influences. The first is the government’s impact on long-run growth. In other words, can government help to sustainable growth in the long-run. The second economic role assumed by government involvement is the counter-cyclical effect. For example, governments tend to resort to expansionary policies in case of recession.

The pro-government side of the debate (Keynesians) emphasises the key role public sector can play during recessions. In other words, the crux of the debate is whether governments should intervene to create economic stimulus in case of slowing economic activity. A similar debate arose during the recent global crisis that erupted in 2007-2008 in the financial systems of advanced capitalist economies (Economist, 2010). Thus this study will attempt to provide a cross-sectional examination of the effectiveness of expansionary fiscal policy during the recent global crisis in creating growth.

The method of ordinary least squares will be used to estimate the following cross-sectional model:

 

GROWTH = α + β₁ GOVSPEND + β₂ GOVINV + β₃ PRINV + β₄ OPEN + β₅ RINT

Where

GROWTH = the log change of the real growth rate.

GOVSPEND = the ratio of government consumption spending and transfers to GDP

GOVINV = the ratio of government investment spending to GDP

PRIINV = the ratio of private investment spending to GDP

OPEN = the ratio of exports plus imports of goods and services to GDP

RINT = real interest rate, estimated by the difference between the interest rates on government bonds and inflation rate measured by the consumer price index

 

The model distinguishes two types of government expenditures. GOVSPEND measures the total amount of non-investment expenditures (as a ratio of GDP) which includes consumption spending of the public sector as well as the transfer payments. GOVINV, on the other hand, measures total investment spending of the government at the local and central levels. The objective of introducing separate measures for government expenditure is distinguishing between two principal ways in which the treasury departments inject funds into the economy to foster growth.

Two key additions will be made to the model presented above. First, note that government spending and investment may have lagged effect on growth; that is, it takes some time until this influence becomes effective. Hence lagged values of government spending and private investment will be added to the model as explanatory variables depending on the availability of data as well as the explanatory power of these additions. Also, to take account of region-dependent effects on growth rates, dummy variables will be introduced as control variables. Regional dummies will be determined based on the analysis of the data. A dummy variable for each region with remarkable (positive or negative) growth performance will be added.

According to the Keynesian economists, both coefficients of government expenditures (β₁ and β₂) are expected to be positive. The size of the coefficients may indicate which form of government spending is more effective on growth. A classical economist, on the other hand, would argue that the coefficients should be either statistically not significant (i.e. government spending has no effect on growth) or negative (if, for example, increased government spending crowds-out private investment and thus lowers growth potential of the economy). The empirical results may indicate which approach is more powerful in explaining the effect of government intervention during the recent crisis.

There are three control variables in the model, each accounting for factors that are frequently discussed in the literature as being influential on growth. Private investment is expected to encourage increased levels of economic activity. For classical economists, it is the only sustainable way of growth. Keynesians, on the hand, argue that private investment will remain low during recessions; this is why the government needs to step in. Openness is expected to create a rise in GDP, especially under globalisation. However, note that openness may also limit and even reduce growth rates if the economy in question relies on export-led growth and there is a slowing world demand. Real interest rate is included in the regression equation to take account of the monetary policy. For example, central banks of all major economies, including the US, UK and Eurozone, lowered their lending rate as a response to recession. In others words, if monetary policy is effective the coefficient of RINT should be negative (i.e. higher interest rates causing low growth).

The cross-sectional model is adopted by the model used by Kelly (1997). Notice that the model in this study is constructed to test the short term effectiveness of government spending; hence, variables such as education spending, health expenditures are left out of Kelly’s model. Moreover, real interest rates are included to take account of monetary policy because in many countries expansionary fiscal and monetary policy have been implemented together to fight recession. The cross-section model will use the 2009 numbers. World Development Indicators (WDI) published by the World Bank will be used as the main data source.

The model will be also estimated separately for high-income (OECD) countries and low income countries to test if the level of income or development influences the effectiveness of government intervention. Also Chow test will be used to check if there is a structural break between those two types of countries with respect to fiscal policy effects.

            5.         Preliminary Analysis:

         5.1.         The Effect of Government Spending on Macroeconomic Variables

 

This part of the essay will discuss the effect of government spending on macroeconomic variables such as economic growth, unemployment and private investment. To evaluate the impact of government spending, the trends in forty European countries in 2008 period will be examined. Note that the global financial crisis was triggered by the outburst of the boom in the US housing market in the summer of 2007 and it quickly spread to the entire global financial system during the second half of 2007 and 2008.[30] Many European economies were severely affected by the crisis. As a result, the average annual growth rate of the countries in the sample declined by almost 60 percent from 4.81 to 2 percent. Table 1 presents the growth performance of the continent between 2005 and 2008. Note that the growth performance of the continent is largely improved by the countries in the East. For example, in 2008, the highest growth rate attained by a West European country belongs to Holland, which is below the average: only 1.71.

 

	Average Annual Change in Real GDP (%)
2005	4.26
2006	5.02
2007	4.81
2008	2.00

Table 1. Growth in Europe (2005-2008)

 

The following sections will present a brief descriptive analysis of the relationship between government spending and key macroeconomic variables including GDP growth, private sector investment, unemployment and inflation. The analysis will be based on scatter diagrams and correlation coefficients.

 

         5.2.         Government Expenditure and Growth

 

Figure 1

 

Figure 1 exhibits the correlation between government spending and economic growth in Europe during 2008. The scatter diagram seems to indicate a negative relationship. As the ratio of government spending in GDP rises, the growth performance seems to deteriorate. Correlation between two variables (estimated as -0.3138 verifies this indication) appears to verify this conclusion.

 

 

Figure 2

 

Figure 2 is drawn to have a better look at the cross sectional evidence between growth and government spending. The difference of Figure 2 is that it depicts the association between growth and the log change in government spending during 2009 (that is, from its 2008 value). In this diagram, the negative relationship is even more observable (World Development Indicators published by World Bank were used as the data source in this paper).

Note that correlation coefficient does not imply causality. Hence it cannot be concluded, by looking at the cross sectional evidence for 2008, government spending has adversely affected economic performance. For example, it might be the case that government spending is higher in troubled economies (low or negative growth) because governments in those countries had felt a more urgent need to step in.

To sum up, as for the relationship between growth and government spending, two different causalities can be maintained. According to the first, government spending may contribute or adversely affect economic growth. Pro-intervention Keynesian economists argue for the former; classical economists tend to the latter interpretation (Mankiw, 2002). Yet another interpretation is that the causality runs from growth to government spending, not the other way round. Accordingly, governments tend to increase their spending as a counter-cyclical tool in times of economic slowdown (i.e. when there is little or negative growth; Krugman, 2009); hence, there should be a negative correlation between two variables.

 

         5.3.         Government Expenditure and Private Investment

The so called “crowding-out effect” is the adverse effect of government spending on economic growth. Rising government spending tends to increase interest rates by creating excess demand for loanable funds; high interest rate discourages private investment.[31]

 

 

Figure 3

 

Figure 3 presents the scatter plot of government spending and private investment, both as a percentage of GDP, in forty European countries in 2008. Similar to the case of economic growth, investment seems to be inversely related to government spending. Low investment is associated with high government spending and vice versa. This observation is confirmed by the correlation coefficient (-0.282).

 

         5.5.         Government Expenditure and Inflation

The relationship between inflation (measured by the GDP deflator), and government spending is one of the fierce debates among economists. Anti-government classical economists (e.g. monetarists) argue that government spending is bound to cause inflation in the long-term.[32] A similar argument is made for the current crisis. Some economists raised their concerns about the inflation threat that may show up due to fiscal stimulus programs designed to fight the recession (Greenspan, 2009).

 

 

Figure 4

Figure 4 presents the scatter plot of government spending and inflation, measured by the GDP deflator. There does not seem to be a strong relationship between the two as indicated by the dots scattered around without a clear-cut trend. In other words, government spending does not seem to be associated with high rates of inflation. In fact, the correlation coefficient is slightly negative but its magnitude is close to zero: -0.139.

However, this result is maybe not surprising because it takes some time for the inflationary effects of government spending to be effective. Many economists agree that expansionary fiscal policy may generate inflation in the long-run.[33] To test this idea, the level of government spending of 2007 is compared with inflation of 2008, showed in Figure 5.

 

 

Figure 5

 

Again no relationship is observed. Again, the correlation coefficient is -0.059, indicating virtually no link between 2007 fiscal policy and 2008 inflation.

 

Regression Analysis

Using the regression function discussed above:

GROWTH = α + β₁ GOVSPEND + β₂ GOVINV + β₃ PRINV + β₄ OPEN + β₅ RINT , the following graph can be obtained

 

This shows that GDP increase lead to increase in per capita index which is an indication of increase in government spending has positive effect on the economic growth which is depicted by the increase in per capita index. Although, correlation analysis showed that there exists no clear relationship between the government spending and economic recovery, it is clear in this case, government spending is positively related to economic recovery since the line of the best fit slopes upward.

Conclusion

This work seeks to determine the effects of government spending on economic recovery growth in recessions. It consults various studies which were previously done by other scholars. It is evident that government spending is likely to have mixed effects to the economy. There is no clear indication that government spending is likely to lead to economic recovery from the recessions. The crowding effect of government spending also limits the effectiveness of government spending in ensuring economic recovery. Global economic conditions are also another key aspect that determines the success of government spending in recovering from the recession. A less relationship between the government spending was also noticed. Investment was also found to be inversely related to government spending. On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that government spending has no positive effect on economic growth as shown by the regression graph.

Government spending cannot on its own be a sure way in ensuring economic recovery and growth from recession. It is only through combining both fiscal and monetary policies focus on empowering the private sector involvement in economic activities that economic recovery from recession may be achieved.