Bob took a pistol with him on a visit to the hospital to see his Essay

Bob took a pistol with him on a visit to the hospital to see his terminally ill father. At his father's request, Bob killed hi - Essay Example Bob action can be considered to be well thought before committing the crime because he carried a pistol with him to the hospital to see his father. A loaded pistol by any definition is a lethal weapon and the action of carrying it to the hospital, a place that does not present any reasonable threat to his life or that of his father is an indication of his intention to kill. In this case, his action amounts to murder and he is guilty of first-degree murder if it is not proved that, his terminally ill father requested Bob to shoot and kill him. However, if his father requested Bob to shoot him in the head and kill him, Bob’s action amounts to the crime of assisting self-murder and hence he would answer to the charges of manslaughter. According to Jordan, Van Dyke and Malone (2008,) helping someone to commit suicide is a criminal offense in the United States. In this case, if it is established that Bob assisted his father to commit suicide by obeying his request to shoot him, he is guilty of second-degree murder. The laws governing assisted self-suicide vary in different states across the US, and Oregon is the only jurisdiction in the world that allows doctors to assist terminally ill patients to commit self-suicide (Siegel, 2008). References Jordan, P., Van Dyke, M. & Malone, L.(2009).

The Damage Of Theft To A Company Business Essay

The Damage Of Theft To A Company Business Essay Employee theft is always been costly to any business. This is still more appropriate in case of big retail chain organizations. The enhanced security arrangements in the recent times have made this topic more important than ever. This research is conducted to investigate the possible reasons for employee theft in supermarkets in Malaysia. It identifies the relationship between various factors with the employee theft behavior. It aimed to develop a model to help big retail chain organizations to design effective internal control systems to prevent/reduce employee theft. This chapter covers the following sections: 1. Background to the research 2. Malaysian retail industry and retail shrinkage 3. Research problem, issues and objectives 4. Justification for research 5. Whats new in this research? 6. Organization of this thesis 7. Definition of terms and 8. Summary 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH Retailing crime continues to be a challenge for businesses in the USA and elsewhere (National Retail Security Survey, 2003). Retailing crime is financial loss attributable to a combination of various factors like customer theft, employee theft, internal error (administrative or process error) and supplier-vendor frauds. The recent worldwide shrinkage survey revealed 42.4% of the retail shrinkage was due to customer theft, 35.3% due to employee theft, 16.9% due to internal error and 5.4% due to suppliers-vendors frauds. Total global shrinkage in the 42 countries surveyed costs retailers U.S. $107.3 billion ($107,284 million), equivalent to 1.36% of retail sales: a serious threat to retailers bottom lines particularly at a time when many retailers are beginning to feel the pinch of an economic downturn. A key point to be noted is that the cost of shrink is ultimately borne by not only retailers, but also by consumers and society at large. Here Shrinkage or shrink refers to an accountan cy figure, reflecting the difference between the financial revenue the business should have received (based upon inventory and purchases) and the amount actually received. (The Global Retail Theft Barometer, 2010). The Barometer further confirms that retail shrink is a global issue: it is a common problem across all countries, regions and market sectors. The Barometer further points out that In 2010, thieves stole a very wide range of merchandise, but tended to focus on expensive popular branded items including: razor blades/shaving products; cosmetics/face creams and perfumes; smart phones and electrical gadgets; alcohol; fresh meat/expensive foodstuff; electric toothbrushes, electronic monitoring devices; infant formula and coffee; DVDs and electronic games; fashion (especially branded items, leather, handbags and accessories); sports-branded goods and sports shoes; electronic goods; branded sunglasses and watches. The survey tells that over 6.2 million customer and employee thiev es were apprehended last year. Employee theft is second major component of retail shrinkage due to the huge retail space in supermarkets and big size retail organizations. Employee theft can be defined as the theft of anything of value from the retailer by an employee or accomplice. The term anything of value includes cash, merchandise, property, services and information. Employee theft occurs mostly at the checkout area followed by the sales area and the customer desk/courtesy area (Hollinger and Clark, 1983). The theft methods include stealing merchandise, stealing cash, retaining receipts to show stolen items were paid for, voiding a sale or making a no-sale after a customer has paid and pocketing the cash, overcharging, shortchanging, coupon stuffing, credits for nonexistent returns and sliding product through the lane without charging. Other examples include warehouse personnel stealing stocked items, and cleaning and maintenance personnel removing valuables with the trash. Employee theft also takes place at the point-of-receipt of merchandise and includes losses due to payment for goods not received. Employee theft is any use or misuse or stealing of employers assets by the employees without permission to do so (Justice J. Walsh, 2000). Money is the most common asset that is stolen from employers. Theft of time happens when an employee is paid for the time which he/she did not work. Usually this happens by falsifying of time records. Technically, theft of time also includes employees who are not working while on the job, although legally this is very difficult to prove. Theft of supplies is another usual form of employee theft. Examples of this form of theft are office supplies (computers, papers, cabinets, etc.) and restaurant supplies (food, silverware, condiments, etc.). Another example of theft of company property is product displays. Overcharging the customers and subsequently pocketing the extra cash can totally affect a business credibility, because it affects not only the employer but also the customers. If the customers find out that a business is overcharging, it can hu rt that business growth. This is very familiar in restaurants because many restaurants do not keep a close eye on their employees actions. Stealing information is perhaps the most damaging form of theft. Familiar examples of this nature are theft of trade secrets and product designs. A number of studies have been conducted in United States, Canada and in European countries about the employee theft in retail organizations and super markets. The US Chamber of Commerce estimates that US employers lose $20 billion to $40 billion a year due to employee theft. It also states that 30% of all business failures are caused by employee theft (David J Shaffer and Ronald A Schmidt 2006). For every dollar stolen, supermarkets need to sell at least $50 more of goods to make up the loss (George H Condon, 2003). Happy employees steal less in United States (Jennifer Korolishin 2003). Shrink losses due to employee theft can equal the profits in Canada (George H Condon 2003). 1.2 MALAYSIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY AND RETAIL SHRINKAGE Malaysias retail trade touched at RM122.54 billion for the year 2009, up 106.37 per cent from 2005. Growth has averaged 26.59 per cent yearly from 2005 to 2009. Retail sales touched RM59.38 billion during 2005, increased to RM71.69 billion during 2006, gone up to RM95.67 billion in 2007, improved to RM116.10 billion during 2008 and risen to RM122.54 billion in 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, it touched the ever seen highest amount of 32.33 billion (Department of Statistics, Malaysia). From 2006 to 2008, increased urbanization and education saw Malaysians become even more sophisticated and demanding with their shopping experiences. This brought about the development of quality, world-class malls across the country in this period, such as 1Borneo; these malls house a strong array of international brands which are uniquely suited to the discerning needs of consumers. Therefore, new lifestyle retail concepts have become more popular in Malaysia, with retailers offering unique merchan dise to cater to the needs of specific consumers. For instance, Robinsons Malaysia has 50 to 60 exclusive brands for shoppers, whilst Tangs in the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur claims to be the Generation Three Tangs store, a store that encompasses Tangs signature shopping concepts alongside being localized to meet the needs of Malaysian consumers. Store-based Retailing Achieves a Better Performance Inevitably, store-based retailing maintained its dominance from 2006 to 2008, with slightly stronger growth than non-store retailing. The development of shopping malls across the country from 2006 to 2008, especially in secondary towns, such as the opening of The Spring in Sarawak and East Coast Mall in Kuantan, further boosted the performance of store-based retailing. Direct selling continued to dominate non-store retailing, with internet retailing exhibiting the strongest current value growth, albeit from a small base. Interestingly, non-store retailer Dell also opened its first physical counter at Tec Asia in early 2008, representing an increased crossover by non-store retailers in an effort to expand their growth. Employee retail theft in select retail businesses in Malaysia during 2009-2010 The Global Retail Theft Barometer was released in October, 2010 for the period between July, 2009 and June, 2010. In Malaysia, 19 retailers with a combined sale of US$1.974 billion participated in the survey. The findings of the survey reveal that as a percentage of total sales, retail shrinkage in Malaysia was 1.53 per cent. In this, the customer theft amounts to 51.6% (US$132.10 million) This was followed by employee theft at 22.3 % (US$57.09 million) and supplier or vendor theft at 5.9% (US$15.19 million). The remaining 20.2% of financial loss amounting to US$51.71 million was due to administrative errors. As per the findings of The Global Retail Theft Barometer, the methods of employee retail theft in select Malaysian retail businesses are as follows: Table 1.1 Main methods of employee retail theft in select retail businesses in Malaysia: Cash, coupons and vouchers 18.6% Merchandise 38.3% Refund fraud, false markdown 27.3% Large financial frauds 6.9% Collusion 8.9% Total 100 Source: The Global Retail Theft Barometer, 2008 RESEARCH PROBLEM, ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES It is a difficult job to correctly approximate the amount of revenue lost through employees theft by way of cash, goods, and services because much of these activities remain undetected, unnoticed or unpublicized. It has been estimated that as much as 75% of losses attributable to employee theft is undetected because of the difficulty in separating inventory shrinkage into its major internal (theft) and external (shoplifting) component parts (Green, 1997). Like the Global Retail Theft Barometer, many other studies have also made an attempt to identify the base rate for employee theft (see Ash, 1988; Brooks and Arnold, 1989; Jones et aL, 1990; Slora, 1989; Wimbush and Dalton, 1997). The results have shown a wide-range of estimates ranging from 3 to 62 percent. Thus it could be seen that employee theft is an expensive problem for an organization; it has been reported as 10 times as costly as Americas street crime (Greenberg, 1997). The amount of property theft alone has been estimated to be $40 billion per year (Shapiro, Trevino, Victor, 1995), and about one third of employees admit that they steal from their employers (Kamp Brooks, 1991). Researches on antecedents and other correlates of employee theft have focused on two broad categories of factors: individual (personality) factors and situational factors. Both of these factors are important and have practical implications for businesses. Individual factors are variables that employers mostly cannot control; employers may only be able to respond to them. Situational factors such strong policies about theft, safeguards, etc., are much more under the control of employers. The central objective of this research is to investigate the key research problem: What are the factors contributing to workplace theft behavior of the employees of retail floor of super markets in Malaysia and how the internal control systems help to prevent/reduce the workplace theft behavior in case of the employees of Supermarkets in Malaysia. The following are the research objectives to investigate this key research problem: Objectives: a) General objective: To study the various factors contributing to the intention to steal in the supermarkets in Malaysia and also to study the relationship between the internal control systems and workplace theft behavior in the supermarkets in Malaysia. b) Specific objectives: 1) To identify the possible reasons leading to the intention to steal by the employees in supermarkets in Malaysia. 2) To find out the relationship between the individual factors and the intention to steal in supermarkets in Malaysia. 3) To find out the relationship between the organizational factors and the intention to steal in supermarkets in Malaysia. 4) To find out the relationship between the intention to steal and the workplace theft behavior of the employees of supermarkets in Malaysia. 5) To determine the moderating effects of internal control systems between the intention to steal and workplace theft behavior of the employees in supermarkets in Malaysia. 6) To identify the effective internal control systems to prevent/reduce employee theft in supermarkets in Malaysia. The research issues and related objectives to investigate the research problem are described in Table 1.2 Table 1.2 Research Issues and Objectives Research issue Research objective 1. What are the reasons contributing intention to steal by the employees in retail floor of supermarkets in Malaysia? To identify the possible reasons leading to the intention to steal by the employees in supermarkets in Malaysia. 2. What is the relationship between theindividual factors and the intention to steal in supermarkets in Malaysia? To find out the relationship between the individual factors and the intention to steal in supermarkets in Malaysia. 3. What is the relationship between theorganizational factors and the intention to steal in supermarkets in Malaysia? To find out the relationship between the organizational factors and the intention to steal in supermarkets in Malaysia. 4. What is the relationship between the intention to steal and the workplace theft behavior of the employees of supermarkets in Malaysia? To find out the relationship between the intention to steal and the workplace theft behavior of the employees of supermarkets in Malaysia. 5. What are the moderating effects of internal control systems between the intention to steal and workplace theft behavior of the employees in supermarkets in Malaysia? To determine the moderating effects of internal control systems between the intention to steal and workplace theft behavior of the employees in supermarkets in Malaysia. 6. What are the effective internal control systems to prevent/reduce employee theft in supermarkets in Malaysia? To identify the effective internal control systems to prevent/reduce employee theft in supermarkets in Malaysia. Employee theft in a retail organization can be defined as the theft of anything of value from the retailer by an employee or accomplice. The term anything of value includes cash, merchandise, property, services and information. In retail organizations employee theft occurs mostly at the checkout area followed by the sales area and the customer desk/courtesy area (Hollinger and Clark, 1983). Methods include stealing merchandise, stealing cash, retaining receipts to show stolen items were paid for, voiding a sale or making a no-sale after a customer has paid and pocketing the cash, overcharging, shortchanging, coupon stuffing, credits for nonexistent returns and sliding product through the lane without charging. Other examples include warehouse personnel stealing stocked items, and cleaning and maintenance personnel removing valuables with the trash. Employee theft also takes place at the point-of-receipt of merchandise and includes losses due to payment for goods not received. US reta ilers have recognized for years that employee theft is a huge and growing problem (Mathews, 1997). These losses were, on average, 1.72 percent of retail sales, comparable in magnitude to retail profit margins as a percentage of sales. Surveys by UKs Center for Retail Research (2001) and the Retail Council of Canada (2001) broadly corroborate these figures and demonstrate that concern about retail shrinkage is not restricted to US retailers alone. Together, with the amounts stolen, the cost of preventing theft imposes a substantial burden on retailers. Employee theft has been cited as a primary factor in 30 percent or more of all business failures (Snyder et al., 1991). Theft from retailers can result in bankruptcy or near closure. It results in lost raises and bonuses if not layoffs for employees, and higher prices for customers as the following quote argues: A store operating at 3 percent profit on sales would have to sell $1,216.66 worth of merchandise a year to make up for the da ily loss of a ten-cent candy bar. Just to cover a yearly loss of $1,000 in thefts, a retailer would have to sell each day over 900 candy bars, or 130 packs of cigarettes, or 380 cans of soup. Faced with such unreasonable selling volumes most small business people are forced instead to raise their prices and lower their ability to compete (Verril, 1999). Researchers and employers appear to agree generally on how to define employee theft. Researchers studying this phenomenon have defined employee theft broadly as an employees unauthorized taking, control, or transfer of money, goods, and/or services of an employer committed during the normal course of work activity (Merriam, 1977). Organizations create policies that fit this general definition and further identify the specific types of behavior considered to be theft in their particular context. By enacting such policies, organizations seek to shape the employee perceptions of inappropriate behavior. However, these policies often fail to generate a common perception among employees as to the types of behavior considered employee theft. While most employees agree that some types of behaviors (such as stealing cash) are theft, other types of behaviors are seen by employees as more ambiguous. For example, the unauthorized taking of food by restaurant workers would be included in the above definition of theft, but some employees may consider such stealing a perk of the job. Indeed, researchers suggest that employees are unlikely to share common definitions of employee theft (J. Greenberg, 1998; L. Greenberg Barling, 1996; J. Greenberg Scott, 1996; Hollinger Clark, 1983; Tatham, 1974). Hollinger and Clark (1983) found that several types of employee theft occur in organizations and that social norm consensus did not exist among the employees they interviewed with respect to acceptable and unacceptable (theft) behavior. Social norm consensus represents the amount of agreement among coworkers as to whether a specific type of behavior constitutes theft. This research also is consistent with Mischels (1973) work on cognitive social learning, which suggests that situations vary in the degree to which they determine and limit individuals attitudes and behavior. That is, situations with a high degree of social norm consensus serve to limit individuals to specific thoughts and actions. Social norm consensus is likely to play an important role in labeling an ob served behavior as theft. Although some theoretical work (J. Greenberg, 1998) indicates that lack of agreement among organizational members as to what is considered theft and non-theft is likely to affect whether a particular individual defines a specific incident as employee theft, this has not been empirically demonstrated. There has been some previous research on the matter of retail employee theft, although in recent times there seems to have been a dearth of interest in this topic. For example, Tatham (1974) conducted a survey of retail employees to determine their perceptions of theft from their employers. They classified the respondents into two groups: non-takers, that is, those who do not steal from their employers; and takers, those who engage in stealing. An interesting finding was that, though non-takers were less reluctant than takers to report fellow employees who engaged in stealing, in general, there was much reluctance by employees to report fellow employees who stole. Tatham also found that there was little effect of the value of the item taken on the employees admission to stealing. Hair et al., (1976) conducted a survey of some 254 retail employers to assess their perceptions of, and responses to, employee theft. They found that employers were likely to underestimate the level of emplo yee theft. As did Tatham (1974), they also found that the value of the item taken by the employees had little effect on the employees admission of stealing; however, it had a substantial influence on the employers perceptions of what constituted stealing. While Tatham (1974) found that some 50 percent of employees reported stealing from their employers, about 80 percent of retailers in the Hair et al.,(1976) study believed that employee theft accounted for less than 2 percent of their total shrinkage and that no more than 2 percent of their employees stole. Other researchers engaged in this stream of research have looked at such issues as: personnel selection and its contribution to reduction of employee theft (Brown and Pardue, 1985; Jones et al., 1990); the impact of product identification and posting of losses from shrinkage on employee theft rates (Carter et al., 1988); and the use of internal control procedures to stem employee theft (Kennish, 1985; Snyder et al., 1989). In more recent work, Oliphant and Oliphant (2001) used a behavior-based method in an effort to determine the level of shrinkage in a drug store outlet in the USA, and to assess reliability of the employers estimates of the level of shrinkage. Rather than posting shrinkage information on individual targeted items in the employee break and lunch area, the researchers posted the total dollar amount of shrinkage and the number of items missing due to shrinkage. During the eight-week period of their study, the store achieved an 82 percent decrease in the number of items stolen each week and a 74 percent decrease in monetary loss. Working in conjunction with the retail store, these researchers were able to assist with identification of and reduction in theft of store merchandise by employees. Bamfield (2004) surveyed 476 major European retailers regarding shrinkage and found variations in the shrinkage rates across countries. European retailers ranked employee theft second among the sources of shrinkage (29 percent), in contrast to the USA, where employee theft was perceived by retailers to be the leading source of shrinkage (47 percent). Though retail employee theft can take many forms (for example, giving of unauthorized discounts, theft of cash, theft of merchandise, time theft, violation of sick leave and time-off policies, and so on), the theft of cash and merchandise is most profound, and, so, is the focus of our attention. Retailers continue to struggle with this issue and continue to use a number of different policies in an effort to avert, or minimize, the problem. Among the policies are: pre-employment screening; policy and procedure manuals; loss prevention awareness programs; human resources programs, including decent retail wages and employee incentives; as w ell as various detection procedures (National Retail Security Survey, 2003). In spite of these factors, retail employee theft still continues to be the factor that contributes most to retail shrinkage in the USA. Hence, there should be focus on efforts to understand retail employee theft. The idea of employees stealing is such a difficult concept for many managers to comprehend that they do not use the words, theft or stealing, to describe the deviant actions of employees. Euphemistic or politically correct words such as inventory shrinkage, spoilage, pilferage, shortage, unaccounted loss, or defalcation are more commonly used to describe employee theft, which reflects an attitude of denial and avoids the image of criminal activity. Because an employee is considered part of the family, it is hard to accept that someone you hired and worked with would steal from you. When caught, employees are often treated less harshly than someone not employed who steals from the firm (Kennish, 1985). Many employers consider employee theft as an unpreventable, unpleasant situation which is just part of doing business (Kennish, 1985). They expect employees to steal. The problem of employee theft is further exasperated by what constitutes employee misconduct. Some employers believe a pencil here and there, use of the copier for personal use, or five dollars worth of long distance calls per month on the office phone are acceptable. When employers exhibit such an attitude, it establishes an organizational atmosphere that management condones employee theft (Kamp and Brooks, 1991). Thus, employees view stealing from the company as an acceptable and justifiable behavior. It also makes it difficult to prosecute stealing, since it is difficult to determine what level of stealing is unacceptable. Employers face the prospects of going out of-business if they cannot control the costs of lost services, cash, and products. Statistics provided by the US Chamber of Commerce indicate that 50 percent of all small business failures in the first year of business can be attributed to employee theft (Business Strategy, 1995). Insurance companies estimate one-third of all business failures can be attributed to employee theft (Miner and Capps, 1996; Snyder and Blair, 1989; Snyder et aL, 1989; Bourke, 1992). The alternative is to develop anti-theft measures (i.e. honesty tests, surveillance devices) to prevent employees from stealing which then add costs to doing business. The employer must decide which costs are greater; to catch a thief, or to accept it as the inevitable (Taylor, 1986) and pass these costs on to the consumer by raising the prices. However, to determine a cost benefit analysis, one must know the amount of employee theft being conducted. As stated earlier, it is difficult to determine the amount of business losses attributed to employee theft. For example, in the retail sector, shrinkage losses are attributed to shoplifting, employee theft, administrative error, and vendor fraud. Distinction among these categories is difficult to calculate. Most companies cannot measure the amount of employee theft accurately and the amounts that are calculated are at best, informed guesses (Baker and Westin, 1987). Robinson and Bennett (1995) used a broad category of deviant workplace behaviors within which theft may be investigated. Two dimensions of deviance, ranging from minor (m) to serious (s) and organizational (o) to interpersonal (i), can be combined to form four counterproductive behavior categories: property deviance (s, o), production deviance (m, o), political deviance (m, i), and personal aggression (s, i). In this study, they focused on the model dimensions of serious and minor incidents of organizational deviance, or production deviance and property deviance. These categories subsume specific behaviors of time theft (production deviance) and physical theft (property deviance). Property deviance includes employee behaviors that involve the unauthorized taking, control, or transfer of money or property of the formal work organization by an employee, either for the employees own use or for sale to another, during the course of occupational activity (Greenberg, 1997; Hollinger Clark, 1983b). It includes behaviors such as misuse of employee discounts; taking merchandise, supplies, or information for personal use or sale; filching money or production materials; and falsifying time records. The boundaries of employee theft as defined here do not include theft of coworker property. Production deviance includes what has been referred to as work withdrawal behavior. These behaviors can take the form of reduced productivity, increased absenteeism and tardiness, low job involvement, and low organizational commitment (Hanisch, Hulin, Roznowski, 1998). The production deviance construct also includes behaviors such as leaving work early and taking unauthorized breaks (Blau, 1998). Individuals engage in these behaviors to maximize or maintain social and organizational roles. When these motives conflict with formal job responsibilities or when employees are dissatisfied, individuals minimize time spent on formal job tasks (Hanisch Hulin, 1991). Production deviance behaviors that result in the reduction of time working (e.g. tardiness, absenteeism, abuse of sick time, unauthorized breaks, socializing, loitering) are considered to be time theft. Many researchers use attitudes such as dissatisfaction to predict deviant employee behavior (Bolin Heatherly, 2001). According to Murphy (1993), satisfied individuals tend to exhibit pro-social behaviors, whereas unsatisfied individuals tend to commit acts of property and production deviance. Hanisch and Hulins (1991) definition of work withdrawal assumes that dissatisfaction is the catalyst for behaviors such as time theft. Individuals involved in employee theft also are often involved in other deviant behaviors (Murphy). Hollinger and Clark (1983b) found relations between job dissatisfaction and property deviance among samples of retail and hospital employees, but not manufacturing employees. They also found a significant relation between job dissatisfaction and production deviance (i.e., work withdrawal or time theft) in all three industries. Differences between the strength of relation between satisfaction and property deviance and satisfaction and production deviance could occur because of perceived differences in organizational sanctions for these behaviors. Johns (1998) suggested that work context may constrain the exhibition of one withdrawal behavior while allowing the expression of another theoretically related behavior. Hanisch et al. (1998) suggested that the set of withdrawal behaviors that manifests as a result of negative job attitudes is a function of the situation and job constraints. These sanctions and constraints would be communicated by an organizations climate for theft. According to Murphy (1993), many researchers have acknowledged the importance of situational factors to employee deviance, but few have examined this relationship. Boye and Jones (1997) suggested that the effect of specific aspects of climate for theft should be examined. Climate for theft includes the opportunity to steal and the perceived and communicated norms of the organization, management, and work group. Included in these norms is the attitude toward theft, perceived extent of coworker and management theft, perceived certainty of sanctions for theft, and perceived severity of sanctions for theft. Hollinger and Clark (1983a) examined the conditions under which employees commit theft. They found that the perception of certainty and severity of organizational sanctions were related to employee theft. The perceived certainty of sanctions had a stronger relation with theft than did the perceived severity of sanctions. The least theft occurred in situations in which sanctions were p erceived as severe and certain. Greenberg (1997) suggested that norms, unwritten rules that guide behavior and contribute to an organizations climate, often condone or encourage employee theft. For example, managers who engage in theft may establish a norm that such behavior is tolerated. Managers also may encourage theft by allowing employees to use equipment and materials for personal use or rewarding extra behaviors with free or highly discounted products (Greenberg). If steal-friendly norms have been established and the organizational climate is perceived as permissive to such actions, employees may steal to fit in or get along with their coworkers. Consistent with this climate-based influence, Hollinger and Clark (1983b) found that the influence of coworker attitudes on theft behavior was stronger than that of management sanctions or employee fear of reprisal. Thus a number of studies are availa

Exploring the Transformation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in The Narra

In "The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca", Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca’s fight for survival, while being deprived of the basic necessities of life, proves there is a change in him from the beginning of the narrative to the end. This transformation, though, affected multiple aspects of de Vaca, including his motives, character, and perspective of civilization. Cabeza de Vaca’s experience is crucial to the history of America, as well as Spain, because it was one of the first accounts that revealed a certain equilibrium between the mighty and superior Spaniard and the Indian, once the Spaniard was stripped of his noble stature. The idea of nakedness is consistent throughout the narrative and conveys the tribulations he experienced and a sort of balance between him and the Indians. The original intentions of conquering and populating the area between Florida and a northern part of Mexico quickly shifted Cabeza de Vaca’s focus to the need to survive. His encounter with diff erent Indian tribes and ability to get along with them (no matter what the means), and then prosper as a medicine man, shows that through his beliefs in Christian faith, and in himself, he turned the failure into an unexpected success. The nature of the Narvaez expedition was intended to be like that of any other Spanish exploration to the New World. Panfilo de Narvaez, who was selected as governor of Florida and who financed the expedition, was also appointed the commander in chief by emperor Charles V. Cabeza de Vaca was appointed royal treasurer of the voyage for his brightness and noble character. The Spaniards were to conquer the land of Florida in the name of the Charles V and the nation of Spain. They expected to take on and overcome any natives who got in their way and to reap all of the wealth and materials of worth that they came across. When the ships arrived at the western coastline of Florida, they were greeted with a storm. This was just a sign of things to come for the fleet. The storm forced the ships to land at a different bay than what they planned on. From this point the governor wanted to move inland and explore the terrain. Meanwhile he also wanted the ships to sail along the coast until they r eached the correct bay. This commenced the downfall of the conquest. Cabeza de Vaca, as well as the commissary and other elites on the expedition, tried to persuade the governor that ... ...survival. Cabeza de Vaca cannot thank God enough for carrying him through the terrible times that he and the few remaining Spaniards went through as captives of the Indians. He feels a sort of accomplishment for making it through and comes out with a better appreciation for life. After experiencing what it was like to have been an Indian and a slave, and after being on the verge of death several times, the fact that Cabeza de Vaca was able to keep his composure and take each day at a time is astonishing. Of course, like a worthy Christian, Cabeza de Vaca gives God all of the credit in the world for his survival and success. However, it is Cabeza de Vaca’s faith in himself and determination that allow him to survive and go through the changes that he makes. It is almost a riches to rags, and back to riches story. However, the riches at the outcome of the expedition are far different from the riches going in. These new riches are not measured in gold or land, but in the appr eciation for human life and the struggle for survival which made a better man out of him. Work Cited Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca. "The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca" University of Nebraska Press, 2003.

Fight Club’s Cult: Manipulation and Thought Reform

Andrew Epstein Professor Powell English 1A: 3:15 TR 18 February 2010 Fight Club’s Cult: Manipulation & Thought Reform Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer asks the question, â€Å"How many more Jonestowns and Wacos will have to occur before we realize how vulnerable all humans are to influence? †(3) With this, Singer– a clinical therapist who specialized in brainwashing and coercive persuasion, considered a giant in the field of cult behavior– brings the normallytaboo topic of cults in our society to the forefront of discussion. People must be informed and understand what a cult is, and how cults use thought-reform as a means to manipulate and control the masses. If people are left uneducated, senseless acts of self and social destruction will continue to be carried out by followers of proclaimed prophets. Shoko Asahara’s cult_ _â€Å"Aum Shinrikyo,† which translates to â€Å"teaching of the supreme truth† (Wessinger 121), an organized and violent group, has correlating similarities to Tyler Durden’s following. Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club_ _is a book about a man that creates a following in the form of a modern day cult, in which he uses its members to carry out acts of social terrorism, violence, and self-destruction by means of manipulation and thought reform. In order to understand cult behavior in Fight Club, one needs to understand the characteristics of a cult and how they are defined. â€Å"Cults are not a unique species of human group; they are the endpoints on a continuum† (Andres 1-7). A common misconception of cults is all cults are religious. Although many are, religious beliefs alone do not dictate the qualification of what a cult is. Singer describes that â€Å"cultic relationships† better define the parameters of what qualifies a cult, and that a cult can usually be identified by three factors despite its belief system (7). Of those factors, â€Å"Origin of the group and roles of the leader,† insists that most of the time there is one person in charge and in control of the decision making process for the cult and its members (Singer 8). Although cults range from a wide variety of categories and beliefs, cult leaders usually have uniform characteristics: â€Å"Cult leaders are self-appointed, persuasive persons who claim to have a special mission in life or to have special knowledge. Cult leaders tend to be determined and domineering and are often described as charismatic. Cult leaders center veneration on themselves† (Singer 8). Tyler was a party of one who had the charisma and ideology that appealed to the impressionable minds of people looking for something more. The followers of Fight Club looked at Tyler and saw everything they wanted but could not be themselves. â€Å"I love everything about Tyler Durden, his courage and his smarts. His nerve. Tyler is funny and charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not† (174). Tyler Durden is a leader, he has the ability to shape the minds of his followers through his power of persuasion. Whether it be the Fight Club, Project Mayhem, or one of Project Mayhem’s subdivisions, Tyler’s members abided by core beliefs and rules given by himself, and were eager to progress in Tyler’s self destructive behavior. Tyler believed that in order to gain enlightenment, to know who we really are, â€Å"First you must hit bottom† (76). Tyler’s followers want to be him, to think, and act as he acts. There was no questioning Tyler’s logic, his follower’s followed. â€Å"The structure or relationship between leader and followers,† states that; â€Å"Cults are authoritarian in structure. Cults appear to be innovative and exclusive. Cults tend to have a double set of ethics† (Singer 9). Even though a leader may appoint people to act in higher positions of authority to guide other members, the leader’s authority supersedes all. The cult leader offers its members something unique, something that can only be found through membership, and that in becoming one of the following makes that person â€Å"special† (Singer 9). It is normal that there are a strict set of rules, or a code of conduct between members that is not held to non-members. Whereas deceiving an outsider is completely acceptable, doing the same to a fellow member would not (Singer 9). The defining relationship of Tyler Durden in Fight Club is, without a doubt,leader to his followers. Tyler doesn’t refer to himself as a prophet or god; however, he does interpret with accuracy how his followers perceive him. â€Å"Tonight, I go to the Armory Bar and the crowds part zipper style when I walk in. To everybody there, I am Tyler Durden the Great and Powerful. God and father† (199). In order to further the development of Fight Clubs and Project Mayhem, Tyler appointed chapter leaders to instill the rules and beliefs he created. The chapter leaders obediently did as they were taught to do because in Fight Club, â€Å"You don’t ask questions,† and â€Å"you have to trust Tyler† (122,125). Interfere with Tyler’s goals, and Tyler will kill or castrate the opposition. â€Å"The coordinated program of persuasion,† is the â€Å"crucial factor in the definition of cults† (Singer 10). Cults tend to be totalistic, or all-encompassing, in controlling their members’ behavior and also ideologically totalistic, exhibiting zealotry and extremism in the worldview. Cults tend to require members to undergo a major disruption or change in life-style† (Singer 10). Cults may start similar to what could be compared to a part time job, in wh ich a member or in our example, an employee takes part in an activity or event for some sort of end result, whether it be self satisfaction or in the case of an employee, money. At some point the goal of the cult is to have its members completely invested, or a full time employee. This includes a life that can be compared to military lifestyle, in which members are often dehumanized, told when to eat, drink, sleep, and what to wear. This often results in abandoning their non-cult life completely in order to further â€Å"become immersed in the group’s major purpose† (Singer 10). Fight Club’s members transition from part time to full time, consisted of belonging to Project Mayhem or one of its several subdivisions. Tyler’s mission was to free the people from whom he thought were slaves to society. Tyler wanted to change the world, destroy the old and create a new world of a more basic need. â€Å"It's Project Mayhem that's going to save the world. A cultural ice age. A prematurely induced dark age. Project Mayhem will force humanity to go dormant or into remission long enough for the Earth to recover. † â€Å"This was the goal of Project Mayhem,† Tyler said, â€Å"the complete and right away destruction of civilization† (125). Project Mayhem’s group dubbed â€Å"space monkeys† (12) was stripped of all possessions except that which was required by Tyler. Dehumanized and stripped of their previous life identities the space monkey’s goal was to serve Tyler and membership required giving total control to the cause. â€Å"Only in death will we have our own names since only in death are we no longer part of the effort. In death we become heroes† (178). Fight Club’s members were manipulated to the point of partaking in acts of violence for recognition, and finding death for the cause to be heroic. Tyler’s control of his members is absolute and unquestioned. To begin understanding the complete and total control cults tend to have over its members, one must understand the thought-reform process. Brainwashing is the technique used by cults to strip its members of their freewill and carry out the cult leader’s ideals that define his or her cult. This includes, but are not limited to, organized acts of violence including; social terrorism, murder, and self destruction (Singer 82). The word â€Å"brainwashing,† or thought reform, was birthed in the 1950s during the Korean War when captive United States troops returned home appearing to be â€Å"converted Communists† (Taylor 3). Even when free from captivity and having no contact with any Communist interaction, theses soldiers denounced loyalty to their own country, and praised of the Communist way of life. Edward Hunter, CIA operative who investigated the reasoning behind the apparent odd behaviors for returning troops, was the first to â€Å"publicly christened† the term brainwashing said, â€Å"The intent is to change a mind radically so that its owner becomes a living puppet—a human robot—without the atrocity being visible from the outside. The aim is to create a mechanism in flesh and blood, with new beliefs and new thought processes inserted into a captive body. What that amounts to is the search for a slave race that, unlike the slaves of olden times, can be trusted never to revolt, always be amenable to orders, like an insect to its instinct† (Taylor 3). While technological advances and modernization of growing societies have changed the way thought reform is implemented, the core foundation and overall goal still has the same purpose of control. Harmful effects on cult members thought processes tend to come from the techniques of control implemented from within the cult. Utilization of these techniques is used to socialize members into the cultural environment of the cult can produce â€Å"feelings of guilt, dependency, low self-esteem, worthlessness, anxiety and hopelessness in vulnerable individuals† (Walsh). Robert Lifton was one of the early psychologists to study brainwashing and mind control. He called the method used thought reform_ _(Walsh). He identified eight processes used to alter the minds of subjects. While all of the processes have some direct content relating to Fight Club, there are three that fit best. Lifton describes â€Å" milieu control,† as â€Å" control of human communication†(Walsh). This is how the individual communicates with the outside world and how the outside world communicates to the individual, meaning like Tyler’s space monkey’s, who practices and recited Tyler’s rhetoric, these individual’s are cut off from worldly means of communication, entertainment, and normal social interaction because they are seen as corrupt. These individuals receive and transmit information through a filter of cult ideology. Lifton suggests, â€Å"Mystical manipulation is the use of an extensive personal manipulation to provoke specific patterns of behavior in a seemingly spontaneous way,† and that, â€Å"they suggest that there is an induction of dependency by manipulative and exploitive techniques of persuasion and control† (Walsh). This is best depicted in Fight Club by the way Tyler uses his charismatic personalities to influence his members that Fight Club is what they need in order be awakened from their boring lives of slavery in the corrupt consumerist world. Lifton’s Doctrine over person states, â€Å"A situation in which the doctrine of the group shapes the reality of which the member must exist† (Walsh). This makes their pre-cult lifestyle unappealing, and progresses their â€Å"new identity based on the new ideology† (Walsh). Tyler uses this idea in Fight Club to convince members that life outside of Fight Club is nothing more than a role being played to mask their true identity, eventually resulting in full recruitment in to one of Fight Clubs subdivision’s, and abandonment of their previous lifestyle completely. These methods of thought reform are commonly found in cult’s who practice radical religious beliefs and/or acts of violence in the name of its cause. Aum Shinrikyo, or â€Å"The Aum† was a cult which began operations in Japan, tried to bring world change through â€Å"techniques of guerrilla warfare† (Walsh 119-128). The Aum became a â€Å"legally registered religion in 1989† starting with approximately 4,000 members (Wessinger 130). By the mid-90s its membership had more than doubled at an estimated 10,000 members in Japan, and having expanded its reach including about 30,000 members in Russia (Wessinger 131). Aum Shinrikyo is an aggressive, highly organized, educated, extremely violent, and has the wealth to make serious impacts on society. Like Tyler’s Fight Club, â€Å"Aum Shinrikyo offered an alternative to lifetime employment in unfulfilling work† (Wessinger 131). Many of Aum Shinrikyo’s members hold positions of power, are highly educated, and have specialized skills. They include; scientists, military personnel, police officers, and political officials that contribute to the organization (Wessinger 135). Tyler’s Fight Club is similar in construction to Aum Shinrikyo, in that its members are well distributed throughout the societies in which it is established, giving the organization the power to infiltrate and execute acts of social terrorism. Shoko Asahara said, â€Å"Aum is a mighty obstacle to the evil that rules this world† (Wessinger 120). Similar to Tyler Durden, Shoko Asahara conducted the business of his following with violent measured attacks on society and anyone who was a threat to his organization or its ideals. Aum Shinrikyo’s violence began internally, beatings of members in order to become closer to â€Å"clairvoyance† expanded to attacks on enemies and society (Wessinger 123). Although different in beliefs, Aum’s pattern of progression follows a very similar structure to that of Fight Club. Similar to Fight Club’s subdivisions such as Project Mayhem, Aum Shinrikyo uses specialized member’s devoted to carrying out acts of violence towards enemies. Threats to hinder or expose any criminal aspects, or cult activities of both organizations were counteracted with acts of violence and brutality. Aum Shinrikyo assassinated defecting members, journalist, prosecutors, judges, and anyone else who opposed their endeavors (Wessinger 133). Extreme acts of violence in able to progress forward in cult behavior and goals is what directly link Aum Shirikyo and Fight Club together. In understanding the inner workings of cult behavior, it is evident to what Tyler’s following_ _is, what it does, and how it gains control of members. One can see how Fight Club’s cult behavior show uniform similarities to the characteristics that define a cult. In addition, understanding how a cult controls its members by means of manipulation and thought reform, in order to implement core beliefs, participate in acts of violence, and recruit members; one can grasp how powerful the control cults can have over their members. In looking at Aum Shinrikyo, a violent and socially destructive organization, we are able to see the consistency between Shoko Asahara’s and Tyler Durden’s following. Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club depicts the story of a man who build’s himself a clearly definable cult, in which he uses its members to carry out acts of social terrorism, violence, and self-destruction by means of manipulation and thought-reform. Works Cited Andres, Rachel, and James R. Lane. Cults & Consequences: The Definitive Handbook. Los Angeles: Jewish Federation Council, 1988. Print Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York: Norton, 1996. Print. Singer, Margaret Thaler. Cults in Our Midst: The Hidden Menace in Our Everyday Lives. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996. Print Taylor, Kathleen. Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control. Oxford: Oxford University, Print. Walsh, Yvonne. â€Å"Deconstructing ‘Brainwashing’ Within Cults as an Aid to Counselling Psychologists† Counselling Psychology Quarterly_ _June 2001: 119-128. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 March 2010 Wessinger, Catherine. How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate. New York: Steven Bridges, 2000. Print. _ _

Hong Kong

What about Hong Kong? If we explore the culture of Hong Kong through the lens of the 5-D Model, we can get a good overview of the deep drivers of its culture relative to other world cultures. Power distance This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.At 68 Hong Kong has a high score on PDI – i. e. a society that believes that inequalities amongst people are acceptable. The subordinate-superior relationship tends to be polarized and there is no defense against power abuse by superiors. Individuals are influenced by formal authority and sanctions and are in general optimistic about people’s capacity for leadership and initiative. Individualism The fundamental issue addr essed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.It has to do with whether people? s self-image is defined in terms of â€Å"I† or â€Å"We†. In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. At a score of 25 Hong Kong is a collectivist culture where people act in the interests of the group and not necessarily of themselves. In-group considerations affect hiring and promotions with closer in-groups (such as family) are getting preferential treatment.Whereas relationships with colleagues are cooperative for in-groups they are cold or even hostile to out-groups. Personal relationships prevail over task and company. Communication is indirect and the harmony of the group has to be maintained, open conflicts are avoided. Masculinity / Femininity A high score (masc uline) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour.A low score (feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine). At 57 Hong Kong is a somewhat masculine society –success oriented and driven. The need to ensure success can be exemplified by the fact that many will spend many hours at work.Service people (such as hairdressers) will provide services until very late at night. Another example is that students care very much about their exam scores and ranking as this is the main criteria to achieve success or not. Uncertainty avoidance The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways.The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected in the UAI score. At 29 Hong Kong has a low score on uncertainty avoidance. Adherence to laws and rules may be flexible to suit the actual situation and pragmatism is a fact of life. The people in Hong Kong are comfortable with ambiguity; the Chinese language is full of ambiguous meanings that can be difficult for Western people to follow. They are adaptable and entrepreneurial. Long term orientationThe long term orientation dimension is closely rel ated to the teachings of Confucius and can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue, the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view. With a score of 96 Hong Kong is a highly long term oriented society in which persistence and perseverance are normal. Relationships are ordered by status and the order is observed. People are thrifty and sparing with resources and investment tends to be in long term projects such as real estate. Traditions can be adapted to suit new conditions.

Effective Dialogue in Fiction

Effective Dialogue in Fiction The art of great dialogue is a skill that- when authors master it- holds the key to changing a mediocre story into a great one. Dialogue is what draws readers into the moment, and what gives that sensation of time and place, allowing us to hear what the characters are saying as if we are there with them.Just as good dialogue is an essential ingredient to a good story, bad dialogue can ruin an otherwise great narrative. The difference between good and bad dialogue is often a matter of one or two words, and those words are typically modifiers. Yes, most authors have it- that fatal attraction to the adverb when writing dialogue:But, in art, how do you create without descriptors, she said despairingly.Art tends to overcomplicate itself, he replied, with a knowing smile.The above examples show one of the most common mistakes writers make. Adverbs tend to show hesitation, self-doubt, even fear that what you are writing needs validation. The overuse of adverbs and adjectives, particularly w ithin the structure of dialogue, is the mark of a timid author who believes that what his characters say isnt revealing enough for effective characterization.When dialogue is right, we know. When its wrong we also know- it jags on the ear like a badly tuned musical instrument.Stephen KingStephen King, one of the most prolific novelists of our time by the sheer quantity of successful books he has written, points out that the first step to creating good dialogue is to listen to others talk. In his book, On Writing, King begins his foray about bad writers and equally bad dialogue with this simple advice: The job [of writing good dialogue] boils down to two things- paying attention to how the real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see.Readers subconsciously (and sometimes consciously) pick up on disingenuous conversation between characters. Its the reality in which fiction is based, and one that is necessary to hold together a good story. King points out that often, what people say reveals more about them than they realize. The rule is: the more authentic your character seems, the more your reader will connect with him or her. The same goes for dialogue; when what the character says is authentic, the adverbs that decorate he said or she said not only become unnecessary- they become distracting. Which takes the greater talent: describing to the reader how something is said, or guiding the reader to fill in that subtext correctly on his or her own?Then, there is always the cardinal rule of writing great fiction, which states that a writer should never say what he or she can show. If your character is a poorly educated one, the words he says can let your reader know:Them aint got no sign on the door, he said.A writer might be tempted to follow those words with he said dumbly or he drawled, but what is the point? This is when dialogue is honest and revealing at once, and stands on its own to provide enough characterization without the addition of modifiers.If the words of your character cant convey the message you want, before resorting to the adjective or adverb, let their actions tell the rest of the story.You can do what you want, she said, as the frayed thread on her shirt suddenly became more interesting than his response.We know from this excerpt that the woman is cutting the man off, that the conversation is over- the readers imagination is then led to supply the subtext. We dont need a she said nonchalantly or a she said coolly. The authentic words followed by revealing action say all that needs to be said.Despite the dos and donts mentioned above, some writers are simply born with a natural ability to create believable, engaging dialogue. Although many readers cant pinpoint exactly what it is that they like about a certain author, good dialogue is usually what draws them into a story and keeps them there. The authors who tend to write great dialogue are not usually the loner type- they like to have conve rsations with people and like to observe the way people speak, to whom they speak, and what they say.Stephen King points to a great example of H.P. Lovecraft, a writer who is hailed as a master storyteller but has never been known for his great dialogue. King credits this unfortunate truth with Lovecrafts personal life, stating that although Lovecraft was able to communicate with acquaintances via correspondence, he did not like conversation and spent much of his life as a recluse.Lovecrafts example proves that a writer is more or less limited to his ability in the craft of writing. Some things can be taught, while others can only be accepted. Lovecrafts lack of believable dialogue might have been what kept him from having a wider audience, but his writing still has an almost cult following. Lovecraft accepted his limitations and focused on poetically dense descriptions and startling plot twists rather than authentic characterization.If you want to create better dialogue, and dont m ind leaving your house, your best bet would be to get out in public, attend a party, and find every way possible to listen to others speak, observe how others respond, and memorize the brutally honest details. This simple exercise could do wonders for your ability to write effective dialogue.

The American Presidential Election Process essays

The American Presidential Election Process essays The presidential election process is a long and complicated procedure. Currently, we elect our president and vice-president by an indirect device known as the Electoral College. Under this system, each state has as many electors as it has representatives and senators. Candidates who win a plurality of the popular vote in a state secure all the states electoral votes. To win a presidential election, a candidate must appeal successfully to the big states, such as California and Texas. Many people are dissatisfied with are the country's current election process. A candidate could win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote, and thus lose the presidency. This method has led to a lot of controversies and may eventually lead to election reforms. One proposal concerning the presidential election process is to have a single national primary four months before the final election. Currently, there is a very tight presidential primary schedule. This process generally favors the candidate with the most financial backing. In this years primary season, there is a massive amount of primaries held on March 7. Shortly following these primaries is an even bigger barrage of caucuses and primaries. This favors the candidate with the most money, for he will be able to spread his ideas to many states in a short amount of time. A candidate with vast resources will not even have to campaign in every state because his state party establishments do the necessary things to make sure the voters hear their platform. The present alignment of state primaries is rather ineffective due to the tight schedule. Having a single national primary four months before the election seems like an appropriate alternative to the current system. This would give a ll of the candidates enough time to campaign effectively. Additionally, it would abolish the problem of states holding useless primaries. Primaries that occur after the nominee is determined are pointless. One na...

Cómo saber si un migrante está detenido por la migra

Cà ³mo saber si un migrante est detenido por la migra Para saber si un inmigrante est detenido por Inmigracià ³n en Estados Unidos hay que partir del hecho de que no hay listados de detenidos, sin embargo se puede seguir una estrategia buscar y encontrar los nombres de los migrantes en custodia y en quà © prisià ³n estn. En este artà ­culo se explica cà ³mo funciona la base de datos del ICE, la agencia del gobierno encargada de detener a migrantes y que sirve para confirmar si la persona que se busca est detenida y, en caso afirmativo, dà ³nde. Asimismo, se informa sobre quà © hacer cuando el nombre de la persona que se busca no aparece y cuando es necesario contratar a un abogado. Finalmente, se hace una referencia al tiempo que un migrante puede permanecer detenido, a las condiciones de los centros de detencià ³n y cà ³mo buscar a un detenido en una prisià ³n federal o local por un asunto diferente a migracià ³n. Cà ³mo saber si un inmigrante se encuentra detenido por la migra ICE mantiene una base de datos donde puede se puede buscar a las personas que se sospecha han sido detenidas por inmigracià ³n. Puede elegirse el idioma en la parte superior derecha donde pone select a language y con la flechita escoger espaà ±ol, si asà ­ se desea. Es una pgina segura de utilizar donde aplican unos criterios fuertes de confidencialidad. Es decir, a la persona que busca no se le pide ningà ºn dato ni que se identifique o registre de ninguna manera ni tampoco se guarda informacià ³n sobre computadora o IP desde la que se realiza la bà ºsqueda. Clases de bà ºsqueda en base de datos demigrantes detenidos Puede realizarse dos clases de bà ºsqueda. La primera es la conocida como por nà ºmero de extranjero (A-Number)  que es un nà ºmero que tienen tanto los residentes permanentes legales (RPL) como todo migrante que ha tenido contacto con migracià ³n, ya que es el nà ºmero con el que se le identifica. Por ejemplo, es un nà ºmero que aparece tambià ©n en los permisos de trabajo conocidos por sus siglas en inglà ©s de EAD. La segunda bà ºsqueda est reservada para todos los dems inmigrantes, es decir, cuando no tienen ese nà ºmero o no se sabe  y se conoce como  bà ºsqueda  por informacià ³n biogrfica. En estos casos es necesario el nombre, apellido y paà ­s de nacimiento de la persona que se desea encontrar. Tambià ©n ayuda conocer su fecha exacta de nacimiento, aunque à ©ste es un dato que no es necesario. Sà ­ puede ser muy conveniente porque hay nombres y apellidos muy comunes, como por ejemplo Juan Garcà ­a o Josà © Rodrà ­guez, y pueden aparecer varias personas con el mismo nombre, y no ser ninguna la que se busca. No se puede encontrar en este sistema a la persona que han dado un nombre falso, a menos que quien la busca sepa cul es. Si aparece el nombre de la persona que se busca, se sabr donde est detenida. Buscar la pgina de internet del centro e informarse sobre las reglas para recibir llamadas, llamarla o enviarle dinero o cosas y seguir las instrucciones. Personas que no estn incluidas en la base de datos del ICE De los siguientes detenidos no se encuentra informacià ³n: 1.  Menores de 18 aà ±os. 2.  Inmigrantes que han sido puestos en libertad hace ms de 60 dà ­as. En este caso estn incluidas las personas que pueden haber sido deportadas o han salido del paà ­s voluntariamente. Tener en cuenta que las personas recià ©n detenidas pueden demorarse unos dà ­as en aparecer en el sistema. Adems las personas que utilizan nombres falsos aparece con estos, por lo que es necesario conocerlos. Por à ºltimo es posible que los apellidos o el nombre està ©n mal deletreados. Es recomendable en estos casos intentar varias opciones a la hora de escribir un nombre, si con la forma correcta no aparece el que se busca. Cà ³mo obtener de ERO informacià ³n sobre migrantes detenidos Si un migrante del que se sospecha que est detenido no aparece en la base de datos del ICE se puede checar con el oficial de migracià ³n del ERO. Cabe destacar que solamente la familia de un inmigrante detenido o sus representantes legales pueden tener acceso a esa informacià ³n. Para ello deben dirigirse a la oficina del ICE encargada de Ejecucià ³n Legal y Operaciones de Expulsià ³n (ERO, por sus siglas en inglà ©s), que es la responsable de ese caso inmigratorio. Si no sabe exactamente quà © oficina lleva el asunto, puede contactar con la que crea que ha podido iniciar el caso, por ejemplo, la que corresponda a su lugar de domicilio, si es que vivà ­a en Estados Unidos. Si se trata de un inmigrante que acaba de cruzar ilegalmente la frontera, ponerse en contacto con la oficina que corresponda al lugar por donde se crea que se ha hecho el cruce. Adems, los mexicanos tanto en Estados Unidos como en Mà ©xico, pueden marcar al telà ©fono del CIAM, donde brindan informacià ³n para encontrar personas en ms bases de datos y otro tipo de ayuda, como informacià ³n para enviar dinero a un detenido o avisos a familiares de personas en prisià ³n. Este es el telà ©fono y cà ³mo marcar y a quà © horas. Cundo es necesario un abogado para encontrar a una persona detenida por la migra Si un migrante del que se cree que est detenido por Inmigracià ³n no aparece en la base de datos del ICE y/o el oficial migratorio del ERO a cargo de un detenido se niega a dar informacià ³n de dà ³nde est, la solucià ³n es contratar a un abogado migratorio de buena reputacià ³n, que est habilitado para realizar la bà ºsqueda. Adems, un abogado puede ser siempre la mejor opcià ³n para solicitar que se fije una fianza para que el migrante està © libre mientras resuelven su caso o para decidir cul es la mejor estrategia legal. Frecuentemente los migrantes detenidos aceptan un arreglo de salida voluntaria pensando que es lo mejor, pero podrà ­an tener opciones realistas para otros alivios migratorios como por ejemplo un TPS, DACA para muchachos que llegaron a EE.UU. siendo nià ±os, asilo o cancelacià ³n de la remocià ³n. Cà ³mo visitar a una persona detenida por la migra Si al buscar en esta pgina web a un inmigrante encuentra que est â€Å"bajo custodia†, entonces selecciones â€Å"actual centro de detencià ³n†, donde se le dir dà ³nde est y quà © debe hacer para visitarlo, si asà ­ lo desea. Se recomienda que antes de emprender el viaje contacte directamente con el centro y confirme que la persona sigue allà ­ detenida. Hay que subrayar que para realizar la visita se necesita tener un ID con fotografà ­a emitido por una agencia del gobierno. Es muy recomendable que solo vayan de visita a una crcel las personas que se encuentran legalmente en Estados Unidos, como por ejemplo los ciudadanos americanos, los residentes permanentes, o las personas con una visa en regla. Adems, se puede consultar el artà ­culo sobre informacià ³n especà ­fica de cà ³mo marcar, visitar, enviar dinero y averiguar sobre fianza para los casos de migrantes en los centros de detencià ³n de Texas. Cà ³mo saber el estatus de un caso en Corte migratoria Si el asunto corresponde a un Tribunal de Inmigracià ³n se puede llamar al 1-800-898-7180. Si ya se ha recurrido y est ante la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigracià ³n (BIA, por sus siglas en inglà ©s), se puede llamar al (703) 605-1007. Cunto tiempo tiempo puede estar un migrante detenido Depende principalmente del caso de cada uno pero incluso entran en juego otros factores como cun llenas està ©n las prisiones pero puede variar desde unos dà ­as a semanas, meses e incluso, aà ±os. En la actualidad se est aplicando la polà ­tica de tolerancia cero en la frontera, lo cual ha alargado el tiempo que los migrantes pasan detenidos. Cà ³mo son las prisiones migratorias No es posible establecer una unificacià ³n de caracterà ­sticas de las ms de 200 prisiones en las que estn encerrados los migrantes por violaciones migratorias porque varà ­an segà ºn tamaà ±o y tambià ©n segà ºn quià ©n las gestione. Algunas son de ICE, otras son rentadas a condados o ciudades locales y otras son administradas por empresas privadas. En la actualidad, ms del 60% de migrantes detenidos estn en prisiones privadas, lo cual le cuesta al gobierno federal $149,58 por inmigrante al dà ­a. Finalmente, destacar que un migrante puede ser trasladado de una prisià ³n a otra sin aviso previo, incluso puede ser enviado a un estado muy lejano de donde residà ­a o de donde fue agarrado por la migra. Cà ³mo buscar migrantes en prisiones no migratorias Si se cree que un familiar est detenido pero no aparece en la base de datos de Inmigracià ³n es posible hacer una bà ºsqueda en internet para saber si una persona est detenida en alguna de las prisiones federales  que no tienen que ver con asuntos migratorios. En estos casos hay que saber como mà ­nimo el nombre y el apellido del inmigrante que se busca. Tambià ©n es posible que està ©n en un centro que depende de un condado u otra autoridad local. Si tampoco asà ­ se le encuentra, es posible utilizar un conjunto de bases de datos y estrategias de bà ºsquedas en internet con el fin de dar con la persona que se busca. Por à ºltimo, cabe destacar que cuando una autoridad estatal o local arresta a un migrante, es posible que Inmigracià ³n coloque un hold que, de ejecutarse, llevarà ­a al migrante a cumplir la primera detencià ³n y al finalizarla, serà ­a entregado a la migra. Puntos clave para encontrar a un detenido por la migra Buscar primero en la base de datos de ICE de migrantes detenidosSi no aparece, contactar con EROLos abogados migratorios pueden encontrar esa informacià ³nLos detenidos pueden recibir y hacer llamadas y recibir dinero, paquetes y visitas Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Understanding the work of financial markets Essay

Understanding the work of financial markets - Essay Example Therefore, borrowers might end up putting the blame that the unfavorable outcome is as a result of bad luck rather than taking the correct action. A fixed cost has to be paid so that lenders can monitor the actions of borrower. This is not possible because no one would be willing to pay a monitoring cost as they want a free- ride. The solution to this problem is to hire a single monitor to monitor the actions of the borrowers. A single monitor cannot solve this problem alone thus he uses a model of delegated monitoring called diamond model (Diamond 1996 pg 41). They monitor borrowers by promising lenders a fixed return from the diversified portfolio which the intermediaries offer. The diamond model demonstrates how banks have an incentive to act as a delegated monitor and produce the necessary information for efficient resource allocation. Thakor (1996 pg 917) also build another model in view of banks delegated role of monitoring borrowers. This model assumes that there are three typ es of information problem. To begin with, there is incomplete information regarding future projects a firm has or is available. Secondly lenders do not observe how borrowers invest their funds. Lastly, the possibility of borrowers investing in risky projects is very high. The argument of Thakor (1996 pg 917) is that the first problem can be solved by the financial market while the second and third problems can be solved by intermediaries. Thakor also argues that the emerging financial system will be predominated by the banks and the informational advantages of the markets may allow them to develop mature financial system. According to Allen (2002 pg 398), market –based systems such as U.S have... The essay clearly discusses the role of the banks in bank-based system and market-based systems and the informational problems. Market based systems eliminate informational problems. You find that most information is publicly displayed in the market for public listed companies. Then the essay talks about the possible solution. The solution to this problem is to hire a single monitor to monitor the actions of the borrowers. A single monitor cannot solve this problem alone thus he uses a model of delegated monitoring called diamond model (Diamond 1996 pg 41). Then, risk sharing is discussed. Sharing of risks is one of the most important functions of the financial systems and is often argued that the financial markets are well suited in achieving this goal. Afterwards, the essay talks about the corporate governance role. In most countries, the role of corporate control or agency is weak, and as a result banks have been appointed to act as monitors for a large corporation. Financial cris es is another topic that the essay discusses. Banks collect deposits and raise short term funds in the capital markets and invest them in the long term assets. Another important aspect would be that close and durable banking relationships provide better access to clients and eliminate some of the information problems associated with lending. Banking relationships can either be multiple or single. In this report, we have pointed out and discussed the role of banks in the financial systems, comparisons between bank –based and market based systems and their merits and different.

LA Cuisine Marketing Report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

LA Cuisine Marketing Report - Coursework Example It has a wide range of meals to suite all individuals and workouts. The main offering that the restaurant make includes protein booster for body builders, slim fat meals for people who intend to lose weight, high crab meal for those taking endurance training, and low meals for the one who want to acquire a lean body and muscle. The restaurants will offer the customers with advice on the best meals that fit their workout. The restaurants will offer three meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner (Loudon, Stevens, and Bruce, 2004). a. Marketing plan overview Marketing refers to a method of determining the value for ones products or services and taking the appropriate procedure to communicate the information to customers. Before deciding on the price that one will offer in the market, a reasonable analysis should be conducted on the target group or customers. LA Cuisine has clearly identified the target group and analyzed their needs. The restaurants will, therefore, make substantial returns d ue to proper selection of a unique opportunity (Loudon, Stevens, and Bruce, 2004). The researcher who will have the responsibility of marketing the restaurants should put into consideration The Four Ps. These include product, price, place, and promotion. For the researcher to emerge with the best marketing method that LA Cuisine should adopt, they should concentrate emerging with an appropriate marketing plan. Products refer to the commodities that the entity will offer. Price is the charges that the management will be implementing for every commodity or service. Place is the location of the entity where the business will take place. Promotion refers to the various strategies that the business will offer to help people find about the product. Where the researcher concentrates on the above, LA Cuisine will be successful to dominate the market of serving their customers with the best services (Website marketing plan, 2012). Marketing objectives The objectives set out the goals that th e business wants to achieve in the course of the marketing process. LA Cuisine should aim at attaining various objectives that will lead to success and comprise of both corporate and functional objectives. Corporate objectives are the one that concern the business as a whole, while functional objectives are the objectives for various marketing activities. For a business to be successful, the objectives should conform to the SMART criteria below (McDonald, and Wilson, 2011). 1. Specific- the objectives should state exactly what should be achieved. 2. Measurable- the objectives should be flexible in a manner that the management can measure them. It should be possible for the management to determine if they achieve their objective. 3. Achievable- the various laid out objectives should be realistic. They should conform to the resources of the entity. 4. Relevant- the objectives should have material relevance to the staff who have the responsibility of achieving them. 5. Time Bound- the management should set the objectives with a time-frame in mind. This will ensure that the management sets realistic and attainable deadlines for various objectives. LA Cuisine should follow the above criteria to achieve the set objectives. With a strict adherence to the above criteria, the company will derive fruitful results in achieving the stipulated results. Marketing ethics This is a field that deals with the various moral principles that govern regulation and

Hierarchy vs Heterarchy in Organizational Structures Research Paper - 1

Hierarchy vs Heterarchy in Organizational Structures - Research Paper Example Conversely, a heterarchical structure supports the autonomy of the workers from the various departments of an organization. In essence, this structure advocates for horizontal management of the affairs of an organization, as opposed to a vertical management, embraced by a hierarchical organizational structure. The management of an organization can take either a centralized control of operations or decentralized control of operations. Depending on the structure that an organization adopts, both structures have their merits and demerits in terms of improving the operations of an organization. In some organizations, the management often prefers controlling every aspect of operations under their supervision. This calls for a situation where employees work according to the management’s preference. On the other hand, there are organizations that prefer giving employees space to undertake their own initiatives within the work environment so long as these initiatives can improve the o rganization’s performance (Diefenbach and Sillince 1518). In this paper, I will examine the debate that surrounds hierarchy versus heterarchy in organizational structures and their successes and limitations in an organization’s setting. Having a command center in any organization is essential because of those under the top management work according to orders from the management. This is a key feature of organizations based on a hierarchy structure. Organizations operating in this line often embrace a vertical line of authority where there are levels and each level has an authority figure. In essence, this involves embracing an office cadre where authority starts with CEO moving to the bottom level of the organization. At each level, there is an authority figure with employees under him or her. This organization helps to simplify the chain of command, but the overall authority lies with the CEO of the organization.

Explain the relationship between power and pornography in Carter's The Essay

Explain the relationship between power and pornography in Carter's The Bloody Chamber - Essay Example Marquis subjugates the girl by means of a pornographic linkage. Marquis controls the girl by means of her pornographic image in her own eyes. After reaching Marquis’ bed chamber, the girl sees so many mirrors on the walls. Marquis informs the girl about her inferior status as compared to his own by undressing her. When the girl after being undressed watches herself in the numerous mirrors, she regards herself as a piece of assessment and no more. When she is being assessed extremely by the Marquis, she considers herself as a lamb chop as she says that he â€Å"examined her, limb by limb† and she also considers her confrontation with her husband as â€Å"the most pornographic of all confrontations†. Therefore, because of her nudity and pornographic exposure, she regards herself in the power of Marquis with no self will. The choker that the Marquis asks the girl to continue putting on can also be seen as a tool for controlling the girl. The girl tells, â€Å"He made me put on my choker†. She put on the choker while she did not want to as â€Å"it was cold as ice and chilled† her. The choker can be seen as a subjugation symbol that is employed by the Marquis. He asked the girl to put it on as he wanted to exercise his full control over her. As far as the pornography in this scene is concerned, it is wholly pornographic. The choker is a symbol of power that Marquis exercised over the girl by making her put on the choker always. When the Marquis tries to kill the girl, he orders her to be there and informs her that he will kill her. In that scene also, he asks the girl to put on her gems as a symbol of his power over the girl and tears her clothes away and subjugates her in her pornographic imagery. Marquis exercised control over the girl by means of her pornographic images. He maintains his control over her by making her put on the choker that works as a symbol of his power over him while he continues to assess the girl

Human resource management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Human resource management - Assignment Example The HR manager might view flexible working schedules to maximize productivity throughout an 18 hour cycle. Thus, scheduling labour to meet goals sees the exploitation of talent in the same way that tangible resources are exploited. The soft model of HRM is more people-centred and deals with creating motivational strategies, coaching, or mentoring to achieve high levels of employee commitment and trust. Soft HRM policies consider employees emotional capacity and psycho-social needs and then integrates policy formation objectives with these principles in mind. In soft thinking, the employee is a method to achieve competitive advantage through commitment-building (Armstrong 2008). IR is primarily concerned with the relationship between union bargaining and employees (Elvander 1998). Storey (1992) recognises fundamental shifts from IR to HRM based on key dimensions of practice, policy and specific business goals. Whilst HRM often includes strategies that are people-centred, IR is more tr ansactional in nature, delivering rewards that are highly contingent on performance. The HR school of thought is more unitarist in nature, whilst IR is more pluralist. Storey (1992) sees negotiation as a primary aspect of line management activity in IR with HRM more of a facilitating role. Specific norms demand compliance in IR theory whilst HRM focuses on building policies and practices around vision and mission. In personal experience, the strategic role of line management is to recognize contingencies where the organisation must have practices aligned with needs for organisational performance. Strategic HRM for line management is to identify a best practice model and continue to create strategies aligned with efficiency. Strategic HRM views all organisational divisions and practices to be an amalgamation to achieve best practice, productivity and profit. The implications to employees are diverse training to recognise inter-dependencies and higher demands for performance to achiev e long-term goals related to business strategy. Flexibility in the workplace Personal experience describes a flexible model that involves changing contracted hours and periodic placement to perform job responsibilities in order to provide childcare. Under this model, the employee required 30 weeks of employment and must have had no negative assessments associated with periodic performance reviews. This model provided opportunities to replace the traditional Monday-Friday schedule with Saturday working in exchange for a weekly day off and also implementing telecommuting resources for those in service roles. Flexible models provide opportunities for building employee satisfaction and can be implemented according to business needs, such as customer service output expectations or when the business intends to expand its service to include weekend consultation for clients. Thus, it has competitive advantage capabilities and also the ability to create a more productive workforce. Armstrong (2008) identifies that flexible working concepts provide the ability to create a better skilled employee population, such as what occurs in job sharing. When employees are able to experience other divisional roles, they become more fluent in practices and procedures that can, in the long-term give the business more competitive advantage. A disadvantage to flexible working is the ability to determine whether pay is competitive to the labour

Transportation safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Transportation safety - Essay Example This is done in the belief that at lower speeds, they can get drunk and still control their cars with ease. This has in turn led to increased accidents on our roads. Use of road bumps also helps reduce road accidents. The bumps help reduce the speed at which cars move especially at pedestrian crossings. On the other hand these bumps often cause accidents especially when not clearly marked as the drivers at high speed normally don’t get a clear view of the bumps as they approach them. This normally leads to the cars veering off the roads and causing accidents (Hauer, p41). Use of traffic police is always believed to be a major measure in curbing road carnage. They are deployed along highways and in major towns to enforce traffic rules, especially elimination of unroadworthy vehicles on the road. These policemen are usually underpaid and this makes them engage in corruption activities. They get bribed and let go of unroadworthy vehicles, drunk and careless drivers, leading to accidents. Road signs are also used to reduce road accidents. Most motorists often feel safe at the sight of a stop sign, but this is not the case in an intersection when other drivers ignore the rules and run into stop signs. Stop sign running is always caused by impatience of drivers who assume that there are no other motorists as they cross intersections. Some signs especially those faded usually cause confusion to drivers, leading to accidents. Therefore, in applying the road safety measures to curb road accidents, care must be taken to ensure that these same measures do not increase the chances of crashes in the transportation

Human resource management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Human resource management - Assignment Example The HR manager might view flexible working schedules to maximize productivity throughout an 18 hour cycle. Thus, scheduling labour to meet goals sees the exploitation of talent in the same way that tangible resources are exploited. The soft model of HRM is more people-centred and deals with creating motivational strategies, coaching, or mentoring to achieve high levels of employee commitment and trust. Soft HRM policies consider employees emotional capacity and psycho-social needs and then integrates policy formation objectives with these principles in mind. In soft thinking, the employee is a method to achieve competitive advantage through commitment-building (Armstrong 2008). IR is primarily concerned with the relationship between union bargaining and employees (Elvander 1998). Storey (1992) recognises fundamental shifts from IR to HRM based on key dimensions of practice, policy and specific business goals. Whilst HRM often includes strategies that are people-centred, IR is more tr ansactional in nature, delivering rewards that are highly contingent on performance. The HR school of thought is more unitarist in nature, whilst IR is more pluralist. Storey (1992) sees negotiation as a primary aspect of line management activity in IR with HRM more of a facilitating role. Specific norms demand compliance in IR theory whilst HRM focuses on building policies and practices around vision and mission. In personal experience, the strategic role of line management is to recognize contingencies where the organisation must have practices aligned with needs for organisational performance. Strategic HRM for line management is to identify a best practice model and continue to create strategies aligned with efficiency. Strategic HRM views all organisational divisions and practices to be an amalgamation to achieve best practice, productivity and profit. The implications to employees are diverse training to recognise inter-dependencies and higher demands for performance to achiev e long-term goals related to business strategy. Flexibility in the workplace Personal experience describes a flexible model that involves changing contracted hours and periodic placement to perform job responsibilities in order to provide childcare. Under this model, the employee required 30 weeks of employment and must have had no negative assessments associated with periodic performance reviews. This model provided opportunities to replace the traditional Monday-Friday schedule with Saturday working in exchange for a weekly day off and also implementing telecommuting resources for those in service roles. Flexible models provide opportunities for building employee satisfaction and can be implemented according to business needs, such as customer service output expectations or when the business intends to expand its service to include weekend consultation for clients. Thus, it has competitive advantage capabilities and also the ability to create a more productive workforce. Armstrong (2008) identifies that flexible working concepts provide the ability to create a better skilled employee population, such as what occurs in job sharing. When employees are able to experience other divisional roles, they become more fluent in practices and procedures that can, in the long-term give the business more competitive advantage. A disadvantage to flexible working is the ability to determine whether pay is competitive to the labour

Put the best subject you fell its good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Put the best subject you fell its good - Essay Example This may involve the frequency with which earthquakes are experienced in certain regions. In addition, seismicity may refer to the type of earthquake as well as the size of the earthquake experienced in certain regions. Earthquakes are characterized by the shaking of the earth surface, leading to deaths, destruction of properties as well as changes in the physical features of the landscape. Earthquakes can manifest in several fault types. These include the reverse fault, the normal fault as well as the strike-slip faults (Sinvhal, 2010). Each type of fault is associated with a range of earthquake magnitude. Earthquakes majorly occur in volcanic regions. In such regions, tectonic faults as well as magma movements mostly cause them. It is of crucial significance to note that earthquakes are measured through the use of seismometers. These instruments are quite beneficial in measuring the intensity of the earthquake whenever they occur in any region. In addition, the seismometers are also beneficial in measuring other aspects of earthquakes relating to the magnitude of such an earthquake (Sinvhal, 2010). The earthquakes of very low magnitudes are measured using special instruments specifically adapted for such earthquakes of lower magnitudes. One of these instruments for measuring low magnitude earthquakes is called Ritcher scale, which is a part of the seismometer. It is of crucial significance to note that earthquakes occur when the rocks underground break and move under intense pressure and stress. The vibrations associated with the earthquakes makes the rocks underground to break. This leads to release of lots of energy from beneath the ground. This energy is very strong and is capable of causing massive destructions to the landscape itself, infrastructure, structures as well as property (Brumbaugh, 2010). Moreover, the energy released from the underground following the incidences of

Study to evaluate the effectiveness of Self Instructional Module

Study to evaluate the effectiveness of Self Instructional Module A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools. Seizure is a neurological disorder characterised by unprovoked electrical discharges that disrupt the nervous system and can cause abnormalities such as abnormal blood levels of calcium, magnesium, glucose which can trigger one or more seizure conditions that irritate the brain. (Christensen and Vestergaard, 2007) Most people with seizure lead outwardly normal lives. Approximately 80% can be aided by modern therapies, and some may take months or years between each seizure attack. However, this condition can affect daily life of people with seizure, their family and their friends. People with seizures who ignore treatment have, a shorter life expectancy and increased risk of cognitive impairment. People with seizure have an higher risk of poor self -esteem, depression and suicide tendency. These problems may by a reaction that may result in cruelty and avoidance by other people. (http\www.nih.gov) Based on the total projected population of India, the estimated number of people with seizure would be 5.5 million. Based on a single study on the incidence of seizure, the number of new cases of seizure in each year would be close to half a million (Epilepsy status 2009) .The average incidence rate was higher than many developed countries, but lower than the developing countries. (Shankar Saha, and Shyamal Das, 2008) Seizure becomes a medical emergency, when seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes or when a person has many seizures and does not wake up between them. Good healthy habits may help to control seizure such as good sleep habits, stress reduction, proper exercise, good nutrition, regular intake of medicine etc. (Rubin and Kornblau, 2009) NEED FOR THE STUDY Many people with seizure also live with ever present fear of getting another attack. The risk of seizure acts as a barrier for their independence; In USA people with seizure or other handicaps cannot be denied employment or access to many educational, recreational or other activities due to their seizure. However one survey in India showed that about 56% of people with seizure finish high school education and only 15% finish college education. These rates are found lower than those of the general population. These numbers indicate that some important barriers still exist for people with seizure. The risk of seizures becomes a barrier for peoples recreational choices; sports is a positive factor in life which is best for the person to participate. Women with seizure are often concerned about whether they can become pregnant and have a healthy child. This is usually a possible situation. Probably 90% women with seizure have the chance of bearing a normal healthy baby and the risk of birth defects is only associated with pregnancy and delivery. The researcher personally felt that seizure episodes are common and often recurrent if the patient does not maintain good health habits. The knowledge level regarding safety measures on management of seizure is essential for people. So the researcher got interested to prepare a Self Instructional Module regarding promotion of safety measures among patients with seizure. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The study to evaluate the effectiveness of Self Instructional Module (SIM) on knowledge regarding promotion of safety measures among patients with seizure and primary care givers in selected Hospitals at Salem. OBJECTIVES To develop and validate Self Instructional Module regarding promotion of safety measures for patients with seizure and primary care givers. To assess the knowledge score on Safety measures regarding seizure management before and after exposed to SIM among patients with seizure and primary care givers. To find out the association between pre-test level of knowledge with selected demographic variables (Age in years, Educational status) RESEARCH HYPOTHESES: (Level of significance p H1: The mean post-test knowledge score after exposed to SIM will be higher than the mean pre-test knowledge score among patients with seizure. H2: The mean post-test knowledge score after exposed to SIM will be higher than mean pre-test knowledge score among primary care givers of patients with seizure. H3: There will be significant association between the pre-test knowledge level on promotion of safety measures among seizure patients with their selected demographic variables. H3(a): There will be significant association between the pre-test knowledge level on promotion of safety measures among seizure patients with their age. H3(b): There will be significant association between the pre-test knowledge level on promotion of safety measures among seizure patients with their educational status. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS 1. Effectiveness: In this study Effectiveness refers to the significant difference in mean pre test and post test knowledge score regarding promotion of safety measures on management of seizure among the samples. a). Knowledge of patients with seizure : In this study , it refers to the level of information which is known by the patients with seizure regarding promotion of safety measures which includes drug regimen; marriage and pregnancy ; relaxation therapy and safety measures on management of seizure which will be assessed by using a structured questionnaire, with Multiple choice questions . The scores will be interpreted as below 50% Inadequate knowledge; 50% 75% moderate knowledge and above 75% adequate knowledge. b). Knowledge of primary care givers of patients with seizure: In this study; it refers to the level of information regarding promotion of safety measures which includes care of patient during and after seizure by the primary care giver which is assessed by structured questionnaire that contains multiple choice questions. The scores will be interpreted as below 50% Inadequate knowledge; 50% 75% moderate knowledge; above 75% adequate knowledge. 2. Primary Caregiver: In this study; it refers to a person who is being with the patient and giving care before, during and after a seizure attack. 3. Self Instructional Module: Section-1: For patients with seizure: In this study; it refers to a self explanatory guide regarding the promotion of safety measures on management of seizure. It gives information regarding meaning of seizure, its causes, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, complications, and management of seizure. Section 2: For primary care givers of patients with seizure: In this study; it refers to set of guidelines regarding promotion on care of patients with seizure for the primary care givers. It gives information regarding the care of patient during after seizure. 4. Patients with Seizure: In this study, it refers to individuals who are diagnosed as patients with seizure for the past one year and who attend the out- patient department for regular treatment in selected Hospitals at Salem. 5. Safety Measures on Management of Seizure: In this study it refers to the information regarding safety measures on drug regimen; relaxation therapy; care during and after seizure which should be followed by the patient to avoid physical as well as mental harm. 6. Demographic Variables: a) Age in years: In this study the age group from 20 to 60 years was included. b) Gender: It refers to the sex of the patient with seizure and primary care giver (male and female). c) Educational status: In this study primary school to post graduate level were included. d) Family member in health profession: In this study; it refers to the individual in the family who is working as doctor, nurse, physiotherapist or other health personnel. ASSUMPTION The knowledge on seizure and care during seizure is essential for people to lead a healthy life and to promote psychosocial well being. The improved knowledge will help in preventing the further attack of seizure. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION Formal permission will be obtained from the concern authority from the Neuro Hospital OPD where the study is conducted. Written informed consent will be obtained from the samples after explaining the usefulness of study. DELIMITATIONS Sample size is delimited to 30 patients on regular treatment and their primary care givers who attend OPD. Patients with seizure who are accompanied by primary care giver. Study is delimited to those who will be available for post test. SUMMARY This chapter dealt with the introduction, need for the study; statement of the problem; objectives; hypotheses; operational definitions; assumption; ethical consideration and delimitations.