Women s Reproductive Rights Essay - 1199 Words

Corah Hauser Miss Windish English II 3 October 2017 Women’s Reproductive Rights What if a sixteen year old decided to apply to adopt a child? She’d be denied that from the get-go, right? Of course, she’s way too young, not nearly mature enough, can’t support herself on her own, etc. If all of this is true, then why should a sixteen year old rape victim have to raise a child she didn’t plan for? Even women who aren’t ready to start a family or any other reason, shouldn’t have to. All women deserve true information and the access to safe and legal abortions. The case of Roe v. Wade is basically what started the political side of things. In 1969 a divorced Norma McCorvey was seeking abortion for an unwanted pregnancy. At this time, it†¦show more content†¦This benefitted the US in that it was more available to women in need. The downfall was that it brought about a division in the public. Many states are still restricting the availability of abortion even after this ruling because of how hard the pro-life group is working to overturn it (Bailey 5). Pro-life groups can view abortion as murder. Since the cells of the fetus in the very beginning of the pregnancy are technically living things, they can be considered â€Å"alive.† (Should Abortion be Legal?) While these cells are technically alive, they are still completely dependent on the mother for absolutely everything. The cells couldn’t develop at all if it weren’t in the uterus. â€Å"Human life in its fullest sense includes the ability to exist as a separate being and to be conscious - aware of one’s surroundings and to be able to think, feel, and respond to them.† (Bailey 6) The decision to terminate the pregnancy should be decided well before the point where the fetus could survive outside of the uterus besides in the extreme cases. It’s also argued that everyone can prevent pregnancy. Sure, the only way to really do this is to practice abstinence, but not everyone chooses to do this. Some who are otherwise abstinent can’t control rape. The victim isn’t at fault and should have every right to terminate that unwanted pregnancy. Some who don’t practice abstinence could still be at a disadvantage. With Planned Parenthood centers being shut down and poor sexual educationShow MoreRelatedPro Choice Vs. Abortion1298 Words   |  6 Pagesthe women’s movements started in the early 1970’s, a question sometimes asked is that, if part of the population are so pro-life and worry about protecting a fetus, how come when the child is conceived they suddenly bash at you for having that unwanted child anyways, and that is hypocritical. In this essay, details include would be why people choose to be pro-choice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the battle for reproductive justice for women and th eir right to make decisions for their body, advocates thatRead MoreThe Second Wave Of Feminism799 Words   |  4 PagesThis essay examines the question, â€Å"To what extent was the second wave of feminism (in the 1960’s and 1970’s) successful in achieving equality for women?† The essay is introduced by describing why the second wave of feminism developed and the aims of this second wave of feminist. The essay is broken into two parts. The first part of the essay discusses the impact of women s rights activist on legislation. It is argued that the second wave feminist were unsuccessful in gaining equality in terms ofRead MoreReproductive Rights as a Historical and Feminist Issue914 Words   |  4 PagesReproductive Rights as a Contemporary and Historical Feminist Issue Essay #1 / Final Exam American Women’s History H. June Laves One of the biggest issues facing women in American society today has been an issue bouncing around in politics for decades: reproductive rights. Women can never have equal opportunity to men without equal opportunity to make their own decisions about their bodies. Reproductive rights for women not only include the right to abort a pregnancy, but it also involvesRead MoreThe Historical Development Of Feminism1452 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Urban dictionary, feminism is defined as â€Å"the advocacy of women s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. It is the belief that all people are entitled to the same civil rights and liberties and can be intellectual equals regardless of gender. The basic idea of feminism revolves around the principle that biological elements need not dictate intellectual and social functions, capabilities, and rights.† What is the feminist movement? According to Wikipedia, theRead MoreA Brief Note On Women And Women s Rights Violated1692 Words   |  7 PagesWomen In Croatia-Reproductive Rights Violated The country, Croatia, is where the focused group is located. Croatia is located in southeastern central Europe, and has a population of over four million. Croatia wasn’t considered an independent country until 1991. It was under control by different powers throughout history including â€Å"the Hungarians, the Turks, and the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg dynasty† (â€Å"Croats†). Croatia was a part of groupings when having an upper ruling, and this was part of Croatia’sRead MoreShould Abortion Be Controlled Or Handled?1470 Words   |  6 Pageshandled is a very big topic in the United States. The rates of abortion have grown since the legalization. Whether or not women make the decision to have an abortion can be differentiated by whether its rape related or just because of not wanting the child. Should women be able to have an abortion when they please or are these baby’s tiny humans from the time of contraception? Some women make decisions on if they want to get abortions based on the prices or whether society will judge them based on theirRead MoreEssay1145 Words   |  5 PagesAssessment task 2- Scenario 2 Urinary tract infection is one of the most common infections diagnosed among women in the world. There has been increasing concern for alternative method to treat urinary tract infection over antibiotics since misuse of antibiotics can led to bacterial resistance(Scholes et al., 2004). This essay will establish PICO (population, intervention, comparison and outcome) question in the given scenario where a 22 year old Susan visits the GP with symptoms of urinary frequencyRead MoreIntimate Partner Violence By New Zealand1300 Words   |  6 Pagesissue is Intimate partner violence. One of New Zealand’s increasing issues is Intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV is recognized as a major public health threat and a significant social issue. IPV is observed as one of the world’s most serious human rights concerns due to its widespread. As exemplified by New Zealand legislation the Domestic Violence Act 1995 considers IPV to constitute a category of family violence. According t o the Act, IPV involves an individual committing violence against anotherRead MoreBirth Control And Reproductive Rights1513 Words   |  7 PagesIn the early 1900 s Margaret Sanger revolutionized the lives of women forever by securing the rights of women to control their own fertility and the rights of a child to be wanted. Today we take birth control for granted and it is indeed a right that we give little or no thought too therefore It is difficult to imagine Sangers struggle to introduce birth control and reproductive rights in the U.S.A as being fraught with controversy and causing her to be pursued as a criminal. The Comstock ActRead MoreEthics Reproductive Technologies. Nicole Hedrick. Baker1371 Words   |  6 PagesEthics Reproductive Technologies Nicole Hedrick Baker College HSC 402A /Dr. Eric Oestmann/Seminar One Position/Argument Essay Abstract There are people around the world trying to have children right now, that cannot and need to use services like reproductive technology to even have the chance of a little one in their future. NRTs are one thing that can help, and it is moving forward with the advancements in technology and science. With this huge advancement in technology and science, many people

Buddhism Buddhist Belief Of The Beginning - 1342 Words

Buddhism Provide your response in this column. According to Buddhist cosmology, â€Å"there are multiple possible states of existence, including hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and gods† (Fisher, 2014, p. 148). However, these reincarnations are temporary and flawed because they are trapped in a cycle of samsara (Fisher, 2014, p. 149). Buddhist also teaches that â€Å"the creation of the universe isn’t known. Instead, they teach that when a universe is destroyed, then another will form and take the place of the previous one (Buddhist Belief of the Beginning, n.d.). Buddhist believes â€Å"the pattern of death and rebirth is eternal, and so it is pointless to single out any one beginning† (Buddhist Belief of the Beginning, n.d.). Buddhist Belief of the Beginning. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2016, from http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/buddhist-belief-beginning-3365 Fisher, M. P. (2014). Living Religions (Ninth ed.). Pearson: Upper Saddle River, N.J. Provide your response in this column. Buddhism is a nontheistic (does not believe in god or gods) religion (Fisher, 2014). They believe that there is no particular God who had created the world (Fisher, 2014). Buddha himself is not worshipped as well. â€Å"Buddhism is not centered around the concept of God or an universal supreme being, who is responsible for the creation and dissolution of the world and the existence of sentinel beings† (V, J., 2016). Fisher, M. P. (2014). Living Religions (Ninth ed.). Pearson: Upper SaddleShow MoreRelatedBuddhism, Religion, And Religion1155 Words   |  5 PagesMany wars have been fought based on religion. Countless Disputes, debates, and lives. But, there is one religion that doesn t concern wars, or even violence. Buddhism. 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These experiences have allowed me to stay open-minded and interested to learn about other cultures and ways of life. One particular religion that I did not consider myself well versed with was Buddhism. From my previous encounters with this religion, I had learned that its teachings embody the idea of karma and rebirth. As means to broaden my knowledge and learn more about the religious ideologies and practices behind Buddhism, I spoke with Professor AnnRead Mo reSimilarities Between Buddhism and Christianity814 Words   |  4 Pagesglobalization. It is generally acknowledged that Buddhism and Christianity are ancient and global religions; however, whether the belief in Buddhism is credible or not, has sparked spirited debate. The Christian believes the Buddha is a â€Å"shadow†, and he is not to be believed. Actually, there are some similarities in terms of histories, main figures, and beliefs between Buddhism and Christianity. In order to solve sources of conflict, the Buddhists and the Christians should understand the parallelsRead MoreBuddhism and Christianity1411 Words   |  6 Pagesthough there were unquestionably many fewer Christians than Buddhists in Asia Up until the turn of the sixteenth century Christianity endured great persecution in China and Japan. Christianity became extinct in China and Japan until sixteenth century when European Christian missionaries first came to Asia. Upon meeting Buddhist monks the Christian missionaries realized there seem to be many similarities between Christianity and Buddhism. They noticed many other similarities in doctrine and booksRead More Comparing Buddhism and Christianity Essay1410 Words   |  6 PagesComparing Buddhism and Christianity In the early sixth century Christianity was evolving at a rapid pace. The spread of Christianity was not only moving westward through Europe, but it was also moving eastward down the Silk Road. 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Academic Goal Essay Example For Students

Academic Goal Essay The Goal in 885 Words Here are the principles behind the dramatic turnaround story in The Goal, in 885 words. Ready? Start counting now: The goal of a manufacturing organization is to make money. Jonah poses this as a question: What is the goal? and Rogo actually struggles with it for a day or two, but any manager or executive that cant answer that question without hesitation should be fired without hesitation. But then again, the goal isnt clear to everyone. One of the characters in the book, an accountant, responds to an offhand comment about the goal with a confused The goal? You mean our objectives for the month? Thats sure to strike a chord with a lot of readers. At an operational level, measure your success toward the goal with these three metrics: Throughput The rate at which the system generates money through sales. Inventory The money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell. Operational expense The money the system spends in order to tur n inventory into throughput. You could rephrase it this way and someone does, a bit later in the book: Throughput Goods out; the money coming in. Inventory Materials in; the money currently inside the system. Operational expense Effort in; the money going out. Obviously, your job is to minimize expense and inventory and maximize throughput. Adjust the flow of product to match demand. In particular, dont trim capacity to match demand. Its a standard cost-cutting procedure, sure. But youll need that capacity later, if youre serious about increasing throughput. Find bottlenecks. If manufacturing is whats limiting your throughput, then the problem isnt that people arent working hard enough. You have bottlenecks in your manufacturing processes that are holding up everything else. Find the bottlenecks and do everything you can to fix them. Increase their efficiency, even at the expense of efficiency in non-bottleneck places, because the efficiency of a bottleneck directly determines t he efficiency of the entire process, all the way through final payment. In the book, a variety of steps are taken to elevate and circumvent the bottlenecks. This is where the results start showing up on the bottom line. Soon the plant can actually use information from the bottleneck to do an effective job of scheduling work and (for the first time) reliably predicting when orders will be ready to ship. Dont be afraid to have resources idle. Its better than putting them to work producing excess inventory that you cant sell. Decrease the unit of work. If youve got people idle, you can afford to have them do their work in smaller chunks. Under a cost-accounting model, this hurts their efficiency by removing certain economies of scale. But you have much faster turn-around time. Everyones more flexible. Work flows more smoothly. (Well, this is what the book says.) jorendorff.com ; Articles ; The Goal The Goal A Process Engineering Novel I read Eliyahu M. Goldratts novel The Goal the oth er night, instead of sleeping. The book has two parts. In the first 264 pages, a manufacturing plant manager turns his failing plant into a tremendous success. That part of the book ends with the managers promotion to a position with oversight over several failing plants. In the second part of the book (73 pages), the manager prepares for his new job by trying to deduce a repeatable process of ongoing improvement. Hes trying to make sense of what happened in the first part of the book so hell have half a chance of repeating that success on a greater scale. For now, Ill set aside considerations of why The Goal is a novel, how effective it is as a book, whether it succeeds as literature, and so on. This article is primarily about the ideas behind the book, and why some are valuable while others are probably quite useless. How to Turn Around a Failing Plant The first part of the book is about a manufacturing plant. The protagonist, plant manager Alex Rogo, turns around a failing plant by following the advice of his guru, Jonah, a physicist turned university professor and corporate consultant. The guru is a very busy man, and he casts his pearls sparingly. Rogo plays the tough role of figuring out what they mean (i.e. explaining them to the reader) and putting them in action (i.e. convincing the reader that they could really work). The essence of this first part of the book is found in the gurus occasional pronouncements. I believe The Goals success stands mainly on the strength of these insights. Heres what the guru has to say. (The parts in maroon are direct quotes from the book.) The goal of a manufacturing organization is to make money. At an operational level, measure your success toward the goal with these three metrics: Throughput The rate at which the system generates money through sales. Inventory The money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell. Operational expense The money the system spends in order to turn invent ory into throughput. Adjust the flow of product to match demand. Find bottlenecks. Dont be afraid to have resources idle. Decrease the unit of work. Thats it. The Goal in 87 words. (If you prefer to have The Goal in 885 words, read this more expanded summary.) In just two words, The Goal would be summarized like this: product flow. The plant management approach advocated by the book is based on a fundamentally new way of looking at the problem: think of your plant as a machine through which product flows. Your job is to overhaul the machine to maximize its throughput, minimize the buildup of pressure (inventory) within it, and minimize the cost (operational expense) of running it. In short, or so I gather, all of this is a scathing indictment of, and alternative to, the cost accounting method of measuring plant efficiency and success. It sounds dead-on to me, although this isnt my field. The portrayal of cost accounting given by the book is probably a bit of a straw man. But thats p ar for the course. How to Solve Problems in Management After the plant becomes tremendously profitable and there are promotions all around, something a bit extraordinary happens. Rogo and his crew decide to look back over the successes of the first part of the book and see if they can figure out why it succeeded?and whether it can be repeated. Eventually they distill it down to this (written on a whiteboard): Identify the systems constraint(s). Decide how to exploit the systems constraint(s). Subordinate everything else to the above decision. Elevate the systems constraint(s). Warning!!!! If in the previous steps a constraint has been broken, go back to step 1, but do not allow inertia to cause a systems constraint. A constraint is the generalization of a bottleneck. It might not always be a manufacturing bottleneck. Sometimes the constraint is weak demand, or some other unrelated problem. Im an engineer by training, and this reminds me of something. I hope you dont mind if I go off on a huge tangent, because thats what Im about to do. The Scientific Method In grade school, I was taught that theres a single scientific method that is followed in all scientific research. I had quizzes where I had to write down the scientific method verbatim, as it was in the textbook. It was as though it mattered that the scientific method was exactly six steps, although in a few years the school would get new textbooks and suddenly there would be only four steps. Different formulations of the scientific method would emphasize different parts of the process. Heres one formulation I just grabbed from a Web site: Observe a phenomenon. Hypothesize an explanation for the phenomenon. Predict some measurable consequence that your hypothesis would have, if it turned out to be true. Test your predictions experimentally. Heres another one: Purpose Determine what you want to learn. Research Find out as much as you can about the subject. Hypothesis Make an educated guess at the answer t o the problem. Experiment Test your hypothesis. Analysis Record and consider the results of the experiment. Conclusion Determine whether your hypothesis is correct. Report your results so that others can benefit from your work. The first formulation seems to be written from a scientists rather abstract point of view. The second is more oriented toward grade school or high school students. But the essence of the scientific method is one step: experiment. People are always observing weird phenomena and then speculating about what causes them, coming up with new off-the-wall explanations. It comes naturally. What doesnt come naturally is finding ways to rigorously test those explanations to see if theyre actually worth anything. Thats what the scientific method does. By experiment alone, science ruthlessly divides the wheat from the chaff, the potentially true from the provably false. No other step of the processes listed above is really fundamental. Experiment is the scientific met hod. The Seven-Step Problem-Solving Paradigm Once I got out of grade school, I thought I had left behind the rather pedantic insistence on specific steps of the scientific method. Then, at university, I took a class from the dean of the physics department. He insisted that every problem on every test be solved according to the seven-step problem-solving paradigm. I want to and I can. Define the situation. State the objective. Explore the options. Plan your method of attack. Solve the problem. Look back. The irony of a problem-solving process in which one of the steps is Solve the problem was not lost on me. But thats not why the seven-step problem-solving paradigm is stupid. Over the course of my college career, there was not one problem that I solved because I applied the seven-step paradigm. It therefore had no value to me. I had my own paradigm, which was much more direct. Here it is, with the benefit of hindsight. For easy problems: Read the problem. Write down the answer. For h arder problems: Understand the problem. Figure out the solution. After I manage to crack the problem in my head, finish writing down whatever is needed to get credit for it. This worked fine. There are two problems with the seven-step paradigm. First, its largely unnecessary. In most cases, most of the steps can be dropped. So Occams Razor hacks it to bits. Second, and more damning, is that the paradigm doesnt model the way people really think. Figuring things out is an unstructured activity. You bring all your experience and knowledge to bear, you look at the problem from several angles, you draw some diagrams, and you think you see an approach. So you try it. And it doesnt work. Or it starts to get really involved and you think, Surely this isnt what the professor intended me to do. So you start over. In my experience, this is the most effective way to attack small problems. iD5? I graduated and got a job as an engineer with a software consulting company. Astoundingly, this compan y had a five-step project paradigm. In this case, however, it served a purpose: to separate our clients from their money. (Arguably, the company had its eyes on the goal.) The paradigm was called the iD5 methodology. I dont remember what the i stood for?probably the name of the company?but here are the 5 Ds. Discover Define Design Develop Deploy This was purely a marketing tool. There was nothing behind these five words. But unfortunately, they did have an impact. The problem is that the real process of software engineering is iterative by nature. You must deploy something simple very early, or you risk spending too much effort on something your customer doesnt want. But by the time any engineer came in contact with a client, the client had already been sold on our companys magical iD5 methodology. So the engineers hands were tied. Today, the successor to that company has a new methodology, called by a different name, with three phases: Conceive, Architect, Engineer. To me, it seems this is better, inasmuch as its even more vague and therefore less constraining. The Point of It All My point with all these examples is that general problem-solving paradigms are 90% fraud. Its great to have an organized mind, but following some kind of vague process by rote doesnt help anyone keep things straight. Still, in some cases theres a kernel of something important at the heart of the process. Lets return to the whiteboard in The Goal: Identify the systems constraint(s). Decide how to exploit the systems constraint(s). Subordinate everything else to the above decision. Elevate the systems constraint(s). Warning!!!! If in the previous steps a constraint has been broken, go back to step 1, but do not allow inertia to cause a systems constraint. Is there anything important here? Whats the bottom line? This boils down to: Find the problems. Fix the problems. Make sure you dont create other problems. It seems to me theres no special insight here after all. But that doesnt mean there arent broader lessons to be learned from the first half of The Goal. Its just that Rogo and his team didnt find the lessons that most readers really need to learn. And since Im so smart, heres what I think those lessons are. Keep the goal in mind. In The Goal, starting over from the first principle yielded a lot of surprising results. Question your systems and your metrics. If your metrics look great but youre not profitable, youre measuring the wrong things. Aggressively hunt down and identify your problems. Stay focused. If you have a lot of problems, maybe theres a common root cause. Dont settle for treating the symptoms: cure the disease. In the book, Rogo doesnt really understand the problems at all until Jonah points them out, and several times during the book the team at first fails to make some key distinction about what the problem really is. Once youve found the real problem, aggressively pursue every solution possible. The idea is that youve found a block thats pre venting you from reaching your goal. Have the courage of your convictions. Question everything again after youve fixed it. You have a chance to foresee the next problem. Rogos team misses this chance once or twice, and Rogo kicks himself for it later. (Something else remarkable happened in The Goal. Success bred on success. Rogos courage in re-evaluating everything, discarding the old rules, and taking action empowered the rest of his team. It started them thinking. Each time one problem was solved, it gave somebody on the team an idea for how things could be improved further. They started showing the initiative to pursue ideas that they would otherwise have dropped and forgotten. I think this really happens in business. Leadership makes a difference.) The general lessons of The Goal are about coping with new ideas, staying focused, questioning everything, and boldly addressing problems. By the end of the book, Rogo has internalized these lessons. But they are never presented as a w hole to the reader. The Goal as a Book Ill add a few last comments about The Goal as a novel and why it was framed this way. The Goal is extremely readable. Its all written in the present tense, using small words and a conversational tone. Theres a harmless little subplot involving Rogos disintegrating family life, which provides a nice change of pace once in a while. (Goldratt vaguely implies that the theory of constraints can be effectively used in ones home life, but the book doesnt really pursue it.) The characters are bland but likeable. Goldratt mentions in a preface to the second edition of The Goal that he believes a persons own thought processes are the best teacher. To that end, he uses something like the Socratic method in his novel. But unlike Platos Socratic dialogues, in which the hapless victim is overwhelmed by the dizzying force and speed of Socrates penetrating lines of questioning, Goldratt has Jonah ask a question and then abandon Rogo to struggle through to the answer on his own. Rogo puts the pieces together very slowly, so an astute reader will suspect many of the answers before Rogo discovers them. This is an interesting teaching method. I think it is probably quite effective. Nonetheless, I would have preferred The Goal as an 18-page white paper. So why was The Goal a novel? Bottom line: its easy to sell ideas in novel form. There were already a dozen essays or articles on manufacturing management paradigms; you couldnt sell those. Novels sell better than essays. Theyre more readable. Once you realize that managers will buy thousands of copies of a business novel and make it required reading for their subordinates, a novel is the only way to go. (Also, The Goal was originally intended as marketing for Goldratts plant management software company.) My main objection to The Goal is that its fiction. Rogo makes a few changes, and his problems miraculously go away. It just works. Granted, the policies seem like good sense. But the unrealist ic points are glossed over. Maybe plant managers in real life have the authority to adopt dramatic changes in the way they operate, the way Rogo did. Maybe its easy to convince your top accountant that all his models are wrong, even though you have no accounting experience yourself. Maybe the average plant has an IT department that can create new scheduling software out of thin air in a few days. Maybe not. Goldratt claims a lot of real-life plant managers say theyve turned The Goal into a documentary. 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To what extent does the language we speak influence the way we perceive the world free essay sample

The most interesting question in linguistic is whether and how language affects the way we remember things and the way we perceive the world and this idea was first introduced by the influential linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf (Harley, 2008). Statements, attempting to illustrate that language is the medium by which one views the world, culture, reality and thought have aroused an intense desire in not only scholars but also for non-scholars to validate of disprove this hypothesis. Most researchers today currently argue one of the following three positions in relation to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis or Linguistic Relativity: language heavily influences thought, language does not influence thought or language partially influences thought. This essay will intend to focus on those three positions and argue that the language we speak partly influence the way we perceive the world, but language does not regulate realism. Benjamin Whorf, like Sapir studied Native American languages. We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent does the language we speak influence the way we perceive the world? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Whorf sites several examples form the Native American language, Hopi, to support his hypothesis that thought is strongly based on language. According to Whorf the Hopi language does not contain any words, grammatical constructions or expressions that refer to the English concept of â€Å"time†. Whorf goes on to explain that it is possible in the Hopi language to express the world or reality in ways other than what many languages refer to as â€Å"time†. The Hopi view of reality is specific to the language and can only be best expressed if one is familiar with the language (Carroll, 1956, p. 57). In this example where Whorf feels language strongly influences thought, he is often criticized with circularity because he infers cognitive differences between two speakers from an examination of their respective languages. His proof of cognitive differences is only based on reiteration of the linguistic differences (Harre, 1990, p. 5). A common argument for the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is the perception of colour across languages. According to the hypothesis, if one language categorizes colour differently than another language, then the different groups should perceive it differently also. In a study done in the 1970’s a group of researchers studied the difference in perception of colour in English compared with a small tribe from Papua New Guinea called Berinmo. The Berinmo were given a sample of 160 different colours and asked to categorize them. The Berinmo not only had less categories, they did not differentiate between the English colours blue and green, however, they did draw a category between colours in their language â€Å"nol† and â€Å"wor† which in English would both be perceived in the category of yellow. The researchers found that the Berinmo speakers were better at matching colours across their â€Å"nol†, â€Å"wor† categories than across the English blue and green categories and English speakers were better at matching colours across blue and green than across the Berinmo â€Å"nol† and â€Å"wor† (Sawyer, 1999). According to the researchers by showing that the colour perception of the two language groups is dependent on the categorization in the language, the results support the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. There are three main points that researchers use to dispute the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: translatability, differences between linguistic and non-linguistic events and universals. Translatability is a common argument scholars use against the hypothesis, for although language may differ considerably in the way they express certain details, it is still quite possible to translate those details from one language to another (Harley, 2008). The argument made by Eric Lenneberg against the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is that linguistic and non-linguistic events must be separately observed and described before they can be correlated (Carroll, 1956, p. 28). He argues that there is no way to define language as influencing thought when there is no distinction between these two events and that the evidence which supports language as influencing thought is based purely on linguistic differences. The third argument that gives evidence against language influencing thought is the concept of universals. According to Harley (2008), in examining this thought in relation to linguistic relativity all cultures would be related and have similar realities which is in deep contrast with Whorf’s ideas that all cultures see the world differently because of their language. The writings of Sapir and Whorf brought about a huge change in the way scholars view language and thought. Researchers scurried to find evidence that would give the hypothesis validity. Although the research is easy to formulate, the problem lies in finding a set of variables that accurately test the hypothesis. Most researchers up to this time have found it hard to conclude that language determines thought, however through examples from Whorf’s studies in Hopi and other observations from researchers it is valid to suggest that language does partially determine thought. In determining linguistic relativity the question is not whether a language affects ones thoughts but to what degree (Wierzbicka, 1992, p. 7). Many examples are given to support a weak interpretation of linguistic relativity. One experiment done by Linda Rogers gives evidence to support a weak interpretation. Rogers read a story to a group of bilingual children while recording their brain-wave patterns. She first read the story in English while observing that the children’s brains were active in the left hemisphere and then read the story in Navaho and observed their brain activity in the right hemisphere. This according to Rogers gave evidence to the fact that English as a noun-cantered language was processed in the left side of the brain and the Navaho as a verb-cantered language was processed in the right side of the brain. This gave evidence to the fact that although the same story was told to the same children they processed the story differently according to which language it was told in (Gill, 1997, p. 140). Another example is a study contrasting Japanese and English passive constructions done by Agnes Niyekawa-Howard in 1968. The study explains that Japanese has two types of passive constructions in which when one is combined with the other the meaning changes so that the subject of the sentence was caused to take the action that is found in the verb. In translating stories from Japanese to English this construction was not seen, however, in the translation from English to Japanese the Japanese translators included this construction. Similarly when asked to interpret cartoons that dealt with interpersonal conflict, the Japanese were found to attribute responsibility for the negative outcome to others more than did the English. The study’s purpose was to show that although not consciously seen by native Japanese, this construction of grammar contributes to a perceptual habit or cultural outlook in the Japanese culture (Salzmann, 1993, p. 163). In conclusion, language and society are intertwined that it is impossible to understand one without the other. There is no human society that does not depend on, is not shaped by, and does not itself shape language (Chaika, 1989, p. 2). This statement best defines the relationship between language, thought and reality for language not only shapes the way reality is perceived but reality can also shape language. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis has changed the way many people look at language. It has influenced many scholars and opened up large areas of study. While many like Sapir and Whorf support the notion that language strongly influences thought and others argue that language does not influence thought, the evidence from research indicates that language does influence thought and perception of reality but language does not govern thought or reality. (1237 words)

The Art of Casting †Theology Essay

The Art of Casting – Theology Essay Free Online Research Papers The Art of Casting Theology Essay Gene was the embodiment of the movie â€Å"A River Runs Through It†. He was an expert in the art of fly casting. He even tied his own flies. I longed to learn the art of fly casting from him. But, alas, we moved from North Dakota and I never did learn to fly cast. What comes to your mind when you hear the word â€Å"casting†? It has many interesting and varied uses. The Word of God instructs us in the art of casting in many scriptures. Jesus even taught His disciples how to cast their nets for a great catch of fish. (Luke 5:5; John 21:6) How much time, work, and energy we would save if we would follow the Lord’s direction and in faith and obedience cast our net where He tells us. There is much benefit and blessing in casting according to the Word of God. Let’s consider some areas where the Bible teaches the benefits of the art of casting. CASTING AWAY STONES is sometimes necessary. Solomon tells us that there is a time for everything. â€Å"A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones . . . a time to tear down and a time to rebuild† (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Perhaps your seasonal time is to cast away stones and rebuild. It could be your business, your marriage, your ministry, or your life. It could mean casting away the stones in your heart. But when you rebuild, make sure you start by taking â€Å"the stone that the builders rejected† – Jesus the Chief Cornerstone. He alone can give you the lasting stability that you need. (Matthew 21:41; I Peter 2:4-7; Isaiah 57:13-14) FORCASTING the weather has become an acceptable science. Jesus rebuked those who forecast the weather by the signs of the sky, but would not perceive and believe the signs of His return to this earth. The prophecies in the Word of God forecast the coming of Christ for His Church. (Matthew 16:1-4; 24; I Thessalonians 5:1-9) Study the forecast. CASTING YOUR CARES AND BURDENS ON THE LORD is the way of peace. â€Å"Casting your care on Him for He cares for you† (I Peter 5:7). You don’t need to carry your heavy burdens. Cast them on the Lord. Why? He cares about you and He is strong enough to carry them. (Psalm 55:22) Perhaps you need to do some casting right now. Go ahead. CAST NOT AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE. The Israelites of old missed out on the promised land because they doubted God’s ability and intention to bring them into the land. Put your confidence in the Lord. He is able. â€Å"Therefore do not cast away your confidence which has great recompense of reward† (Hebrews 10:35-38 KJV). It is not a time to draw back – but to draw near. CASTING FOR A THEATRICAL PRODUCTION IS DECIDED BY TALENT AND BEAUTY. But Jesus chose the cast of His disciples, mostly from simple, unlearned men. One of my most memorable Easters was while pastoring in South Dakota. That Easter my wife directed a production of â€Å"The Last Supper†. The cast was not made up of professional actors, but rough rugged men. Vern was a meat-cutter who was battling cancer. Being in the production had special meaning to him as a new believer. When the 12 disciples were told by Jesus that one of them would betray Him, they, one by one asked, â€Å"Master is it I?† The narrative of the play was very moving. You could feel the very presence of God. Shortly after the production, Vern went home to be with the Lord. Like the 12 disciples, these men in the cast were unlikely to be chosen by a professional director. But the followers of Christ’s cast are not chosen by talent or appearance, but by the grace and mercy of God.  "For by grace are you saved by faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast† (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV). â€Å"CAST YOUR BREAD UPON THE WATERS and after many days it shall return† (Ecclesiastes 11:1). Jesus amplified Solomon’s advice. â€Å"Give and it shall be given to you, pressed down shaken together and running over† (Luke 6:38). Do you want to be blessed? Cast your bread, your substance on the waters. CASTING YOUR SINS behind His back is God’s promise for those who repent and confess them. (Isaiah 38:17) â€Å"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness† (I John 1:9-10). He will cast our sins as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12) CASTING OUR CROWNS before the One who died for us and arose victorious will be a privileged act of worship in heaven. (Revelation 4:9-10) God makes all of those who receive Christ kings and priests. We will cast those crowns before the Lamb of God who made us worthy by His blood. (I Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10) Don’t wait until heaven – cast your crown before Him now in praise, thanksgiving, and worship. As we practice the art of casting, God’s benefits will overtake us and bless us. (Psalm 103) Jesus is Lord. Research Papers on The Art of Casting - Theology EssayRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayHip-Hop is ArtThe Spring and AutumnComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementThe Hockey GameAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Incorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in Capital

Leedsichthys - Facts and Figures

Leedsichthys - Facts and Figures Name: Leedsichthys (Greek for Leeds fish); pronounced leeds-ICK-thissHabitat: Oceans worldwideHistorical Period: Middle-Late Jurassic (189-144 million years ago)Size and Weight: 30 to 70 feet long and five to 50 tonsDiet: PlanktonDistinguishing Characteristics: Large size; semi-cartilaginous skeleton; thousands of teeth About Leedsichthys The last (i.e., species) name of Leedsichthys is problematicus, which should give you some clue about the controversy occasioned by this gigantic prehistoric fish. The problem is that, although Leedsichthys is known from dozens of fossil remains from around the world, these specimens dont consistently add up to a convincing snapshot, leading to grossly divergent size estimates: more conservative paleontologists venture guesses of about 30 feet long and 5 to 10 tons, while others maintain that superannuated Leedsichthys adults could attain lengths of over 70 feet and weights of over 50 tons. Were on much firmer ground when it comes to Leedsichthys feeding habits. This Jurassic fish was equipped with a whopping 40,000 teeth, which it used not to prey on the larger fish and marine reptiles of its day, but to filter-feed plankton (much like a modern Blue Whale). By opening its mouth extra-wide, Leedsichthys could gulp in hundreds of gallons of water every second, more than enough to cover its outsized dietary needs. As with many prehistoric animals discovered in the 19th century, the fossils of Leedsichthys were an ongoing source of confusion (and competition). When the farmer Alfred Nicholson Leeds discovered the bones in a loam pit near Peterborough, England, in 1886, he forwarded them to a fellow fossil hunter, who misidentified them as the back plates of a stegosaur dinosaur. The next year, during a trip overseas, the eminent American paleontologist Othniel C. Marsh correctly diagnosed the remains as belonging to a giant prehistoric fish, at which point Leeds made a brief career of excavating additional fossils and selling them to natural history museums. One little-appreciated fact about Leedsichthys is that its the earliest identified filter-feeding marine animal, a category that also includes prehistoric whales, to attain giant sizes. Clearly, there was an explosion in plankton populations during the early Jurassic period, which fueled the evolution of fish like Leedsichthys, and just as clearly this giant filter-feeder went extinct when krill populations mysteriously plunged at the cusp of the ensuing Cretaceous period.

Marx Communist Ideals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marx Communist Ideals - Essay Example In chapter I, Bourgeois and Proletarians, one is advised to go through the pages of human history. According to communist philosophy, it is the history of class struggles. One finds the pairs of opposites at all levels and in all segments of the society. Whether slave or the master, serf and lord, plebeian and patrician, they are constantly engaged in mind-war situations. The hidden grudge exists against each other at all times. The oppressed class is weak in financial resources to fight back. It is unable to challenge the capitalists at will. We know from history that when such fights on a large scale occurred, they resulted in a revolutionary reconstruction of the society, and the upper classes faced the total ruin, many lost their lives or forced to give up their wealthy possessions. The subordinate gradations of the society challenged the upper classes. (Mark’s Communist Party Manifesto-1848) In any given period, including the present era of technological and internet revo lutions, a clear cut division exists in the society— Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. The bourgeoisie is clever to adapt to changed circumstances and convert them to its advantage. Its adventurism of profitability and limitless aggrandizement for wealth goes on unabated. Capitalism has done irreparable damage to established national values and national industries and the process continues even now. It denudes the human being, robs him of the values and sentiments, and chisels a production unit out of him. It bears enormous stress on his mental faculties in the game of fierce competition, where marketing of the products is the ultimate goal, no matter how one does it! A sadistic joy erupts in the business circles by throwing the other man (the competitor) out of the ring. Artificial wants are being created, which in fact are damaging to the health of an individual. Workers are driven to the wall, trade unionism becomes their option to seek their rights, management becomes their sw orn enemy and they believe that the unions need to be at permanent war with the management on one pretext or the other. National level union leaders are on record to say, that they are not concerned with the productivity and it is the sole business of the management how to get it from the workers. Management also devises new strategies to challenge the working style of the unions. In the process, both have unleashed powers, which they are unable to control, without inflicting self-damage. A worker no more finds charm in his work; he is just a screw of the machine that he operates. His future depends on the volatility and mood of the market and he is totally at its mercy. The recent recession is a glaring example. When the market tumbled, the demand for the goods crashed, several millions workers were rendered jobless. Let the American Constitution swear by capitalism and the concept of free society. The story and discussions contained in the two books, The Grapes of Wrath by John St einbeck and Waiting for Lefty (a drama) by Clifford Odets, unfold the ground realities in the country. The writings of Odets are one of commitment to Communist ideology, his Leftist leanings are no hidden agenda, he is quite blatant about his convictions, and he has depicted the conditions obtaining in the American Society of 1930s. He has provided an able dramatic presentation of the social injustices which is the root cause for an

P2P Networks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

P2P Networks - Essay Example At present, a majority of these P2P file sharing networks offer very little limitations as to the kind of files that are being exchanged across this network, especially since this type of sharing is done directly with other computers, meaning, you are downloading from another person’s computer and vice versa. In the end, it will leave a user being entertained or gratified while the copyright laws of the content creators are being breached. The rights of all should be acknowledged and copyright laws should be respected. In other words, some regulations need to be implemented to reduce if not completely halt the illegal distribution of copyrighted files. The Entertainment Industry especially has since been plagued with the many acts of piracy, which is not good for business and also unethical. Can you imagine a business that gives out their merchandise as freebies everyday? Exactly, they would be broke! Now try and relate that to the Entertainment Industry. Producers invest a lot of money in it expecting to make a profit from sales. The only thing is that, it is not being sold; instead it is being distributed for FREE by probably millions! Due to the nature of this file sharing, each computer downloading from each other, a more rational argument on who to blame for the illegal activities taking place there would be the administrators. It is almost certain that there are professionals out there who can maybe add some HTML script to the site to help differentiate between copyrighted material, non-copyrighted material and material available under a Creative Commons License. Copyrighted material should be blocked from being added to the site and its searches in the first place. This way, copyrighted material cannot be downloaded from a particular P2P site and this is the administrator’s responsibility. Personally, the Researcher uses a P2P network. Despite its unscrupulousness, their lack in restrictions screams â€Å"it’s a flea market, buy

Designs of Heat Exchangers Essay Example for Free

Designs of Heat Exchangers Essay Heat transfer from one substance to another plays a major role in the process of some commonly use technology today. The heat transfer is done to control temperature, to heat up a cooler substance, or to cool down a hotter substance. This process is done by a machine called the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is commonly used in the space heating, in cooling of engines, refrigeration and other processes which need temperature control. They are classified according to their flow arrangement design. One is the parallel-flow design which the two substance flow from the same direction and exit at the same direction also. The other one is the counter-flow design on which the fluids flow on opposite direction. The last one is the cross-flow heat exchanger where the fluids flow perpendicular to each other (Heat Exchanger Design, Inc. 2009). Figure 1. Parallel-flow and Counter-flow Design (Engineering Edge 2009) There are also several types of heat exchangers depending on its design. Some are shell and tube heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, Regenerative heat exchangers and many others. The shell and tube design of the heat-exchanger consists of two sets of tubes. The first set of tubes is where the cooled or heated fluid flows and on the other set of tubes is the fluid that needed to be heated or cooled. The fluids are separated by the tube’s wall. This design ensures a better protection from leakage because of the tube design. So this design is ideal for the treatment of highly pressurize fluids (Kakac Liu 2002:8). The plate heat exchanger is consisting of multiple, thin and slightly separated plates which allow a larger fluid flow area fro heat transfer. It is said to be more effective than the shell and tube design because it provides more surface area for heat transfer. Additionally, the plate heat exchangers have recent developments on its brazing and gasket that makes it practical to use than other heat exchangers. However, the plate heat exchanger is needs a lot of space and it is more susceptible to leakage (Wang, Sunden Manglik 2007). The regenerative heat exchangers are heat exchangers that make use of the heated fluid after a process to be the heating fluid for the next process. This design can be on a plate or shell and tube structure. The advantages of this type are adapted from the design it is structured. Furthermore, this design brought an economical perspective to the first two designs. On the other hand, this design is only intended for the use of gas substances as fluids (Saunders 1988). Figure 4. Regenerative Heat Exchanger (Defense Research Development Organization 2004) The adiabatic wheel heat exchanger is a machine which uses a third substance, fluid or solid, to transfer heat between the streams. The disadvantage of this design is that there will be a small mixing of the two streams in the process of heat transfer (Saunders 1988). The plate fin heat exchanger is highly used in different industries. The plate-fin heat exchangers utilize plates and finned chambers for relatively high heat transfer. It is preferred by other industries because of its ability to transfer heat with to small difference between the streams. Additionally, it has a compact design and is very lightweight (Kakac Liu 2002:17). Another type is the fluid heat exchangers. The process being done is by showering fluids to a gas stream in an upward direction. The process is used in machines that needed gas cooling and purification at the same time (Saunders 1988). Figure 6. Thermal Fluid Heat Exchanger (Thermotech Industries n. d. ) A waste heat recovery unit is a heat exchanger that recovers waste heat from other mechanism and uses it to transfer heat the fluid being heating. This design is very desirable for refineries and plants since they have an abundant amount of waste heat from their machineries. This design is very economical since waste recycled to something useful (Saunders 1988). Figure 7. Waste Heat Recovery Unit (Turner 2005) Dynamic or scraped surface heat exchangers are heat exchangers that have high maintenance cost because of the constant surface scraping. The scraping is due to the process these machines are used. Such processes are heating and cooling of high-viscosity fluids and other highly fouling substance. However, this design has a sustainable heat transfer and it avoids fouling of the surface of transfer (Saunders 1988). Figure 8. Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger (GEA Niro 2008) The phase-change heat exchangers are machines that utilizes liquid and gas phase in heat transfer. These heat exchangers either heat a liquid to boil and evaporate or cool hot gases to condense. This process is common in distillation set ups. The distillation is a process of which a liquid is heated up and cooled down to remove impurities. It is also used in power plants such as nuclear power plants and fossil fuel plants. These power plants usually use steam driven turbines to generate electricity. In which the steam came from the heat exchange between the heater and the liquid (Saunders 1988). The heat exchangers above are heat exchangers which utilizes a wall to separate the two streams of liquids. The classifications above are based on the design of which how the two streams are separated. However, there are other heat exchangers that do not use walls or separators. These are called direct contact heat exchangers. These heat exchangers use two different phases in heat transfer (Saunders 1988). Figure 9. Phase-changed Heat Exchanger (NationMaster. com 2003) There are other heat exchangers in the market today. Some of these are the multi-phase heat exchangers and spiral heat exchangers. Selecting a proper heat exchanger can be a challenging task. It requires technical knowledge about the designs since there are many factors to be taken into consideration. Some are temperature ranges, the composition of the substance to be heated and pressure limits. That is why the decision about the design is made by a computer program or an engineer. Additionally, large companies and corporations tend to design their own heat exchanger to tend to their needs (Wang, Sunden Manglik 2007). Heat exchangers are seen everywhere without you noticing that they are there. The advances in the technology of heat exchangers can produce better results for engineers, researcher and many industrialists since it will increase the efficiency of the process which common machines have today. List of References Defense Research Development Organization (2004). Mechanical Propulsion System. Technology Focus [online] available from http://www. drdo. org/pub/techfocus/oct04/welcomeoct04. html [17 April 2009] Engineering Edge. (2009). Heat Transfer. [online] available from http://www. engineersedge. com/heat_transfer/parallel_counter_flow_designs. htm [17 April 2009] GEA Niro. (2008). Preheating System. [online] available from http://www. niro. com/niro/CMSDoc. nsf/WebDoc/ndkw5y7gby [17 April 2009] Heat Exchanger Design, Inc. (2009). Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger. [online] available from http://www. hed-inc. com/shell-tube. html [17 April 2009] Kakac, S. Liu, H. (2002). Heat Exchangers: Selection, Rating and Thermal Design (2nd Edition). CRC Press Linde Engineering Division (2005). Plate Fin Heat Exchangers. [online] available from http://www. linde-engineering. com/plant_components/plateheatexchanger_aluminium. php [17 April 2009] NationMaster. com (2003). Heat Exchanger. [online] available from http://www. nationmaster. com/encyclopedia/Heat-exchanger [17 April 2009] Saunders, E. A. (1988). Heat Exchanges: Selection, Design and Construction. New York: Longman Scientific and Technical Thermotech Industries (n. d. ) Products. [online] available from http://www. thermotech-finnedtubes. com/products. htm [17 April 2009] Turner, J. (2005). Making the Most of Waste Energy. Science and Technical Information- National Aeronautics Space Administration [online] available from http://www. sti. nasa. gov/tto/Spinoff2005/er_7. html [17 April 2009] Wang, L. , Sunden, B. , Manglik R. M. (2007). Plate Heat Exchangers: Design, Applications and Performance. Southamton, Boston: WIT Press

The Historical Geography of Mesopotamia Essay -- History Iraq Papers H

The Historical Geography of Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region in southwest Asia where the world's earliest civilization developed. The name comes from a Greek word meaning "between rivers," referring to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, north or northwest of the bottleneck at Baghdad. It is known as Al-Jazirah, or "The Island," to the Arabs (3). South of this lies Babylonia. However, in the broader sense, the name Mesopotamia has come to be used for the area bounded on the northeast by the Zagros Mountains, and on the southwest by the edge of the Arabian Plateau, and stretching from the Persian Gulf in the southeast to the Anti-Taurus Mountains in the northwest (5). Only from the latitude of Baghdad do the Euphrates and Tigris truly become twin rivers, the "rafidan" of the Arabs, which have constantly changed their courses throughout the ages. This region was the center of a culture whose influence extended throughout the Middle East and even the rest of the known world. This paper will focus o n the importance of geography in raising this small region to such a level of high importance in the history of the world. Explanation of the Applicable National Standards for Geography The National Standards for Geography are being employed into school education programs throughout the United States. The source for the standards is Geography for Life in which they are published. The book suggests the essential knowledge, shills and perspectives that students should master by grades 4,8,and 12. One of these such standards is "knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places." This is very important to the extent that people cannot fully understand a place unless they first ... ...peoples. The geography of this area certainly played a central role in the importance and influence of these lands. Geography has had a heavy hand in the culture and history of Mesopotamia, as it does in all areas of the world. Works Cited 1. Fertile Crescent Civilizations. http://killeenroos.com/1/mesodata.htm (4-27-99) 2. Fertile Crescent Home Page. http://www.leb.net/~fchp/FC-MNFM.HTML (4-27-99) 3. Kramer, Samuel Noah. The Sumerians. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1963. 4. Mallowan, M.E.L. Early Mesopotamia and Iran. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1965. 5. "Mesopotamia." Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1997. 6. Oates, David. Studies in the Ancient History of Northern Iraq. London: Oxford UniversityPress, 1963. 7. Oppenheim, A. Leo. Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1964.

Summary of the Stanford Prison Experiment

Summary of the Stanford Prison Experiment Nicole Bennett University of Winnipeg The Stanford Prison Experiment involved 24 male college students from North America who volunteered locally through advertisements in newspapers. The volunteers had to be living or staying in the Stanford area, totally healthy – psychologically, mentally, emotionally and physically – as well as willing to participate in the study for around 1-2 weeks. For their participation, volunteers would receive a $15 per day compensation.The Stanford Prison research team relied on outside consultants to help them construct a believable prison in the basement of Stanford's Psychology Department. Their prison contained prison cells, a bathroom, an eating and exercise yard, a solitary confinement room and an intercom system to make announcements to the prisoners. Researchers could observe the guards and also the prisoners using a secretly placed system of video cameras and microphones.Researchers divided the 24 volunteers into two random groups. One group was assigned to be the prison guards while the other group became the prisoners. The volunteers assigned as prisoners learned of their involvement and role through being arrested by real police officers in their homes on campus. What followed was an investigation into human nature. Prisoners experienced extreme degradation, punishment, despair, oppression and depression as they began to wholly believe they were prisoners.The guards took their role quite seriously as they strictly enforced the law and asserted their given power and authority. The Stanford Prison Experiment, which was supposed to last for two weeks, ended after six days when researchers realized that guards were becoming incredibly abusive and that the prisoners were beginning to forget that they were not actual prisoners. What this experiment shows is that we adapt and conform to social roles more easily than thought.

Look Before You Leap Essay

Frankenstein is not a literary island, isolated and alone. It is connected to a great many literary works by some common themes. One such theme is the idea of experimentation. Mythology in particular and history in general, has shown us that the right to experiment comes with an equal responsibility to stop and think about what we are doing before we do it. Time and time again we have heard the story of Frankenstein. Equally well known is that of Einstein and his search for the secrets of the atom. Both of these show that reckless experimentation without adequate research can prove deadly due to unforeseen results. Victor Frankenstein provides an excellent example of how not to make decisions. This man ran headstrong into every decision he had to make, without at any point stopping to think about what he was doing. He shows us his lack of regard toward the responsibility he clearly had as the creator of the monster. His greatest mistake is when he doesn’t take the time to consider the results of his actions before the initial creation. He then exacerbates his error by abandoning his creation, like the teenage mother who, upon discovering her inability to care for her child, leaves it to fend for itself. Had Victor taken the time to contemplate his actions, he surely would have not created his monster, and he, William, Elizabeth and the rest of his family would have lived in peace. It is pretty basic knowledge that Albert Einstein worked with the scientists of the Los Alamos National Laboratory to facilitate the splitting of the atom, and consequently the development of the atomic bomb and the modern nuclear weapon. What is lesser known is that Einstein realized the result of his possibly misguided actions and immediately began to attempt to ensure that his research not be used. He campaigned within the scientific community, and begged the President not to misuse everything he had spent his life coming up with. In the end, however, 90,000 people died and 180,000 people were injured when the first two atomic weapons were released on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Had Einstein thought through the possible consequences of his work, he likely would never have been involved with the  Manhattan Project. As it was, he lived his life feeling guilty about the loss of life that he felt was his fault. A common archetype of these tales of woe is that with the ability to experiment comes an innate responsibility to consider the consequences of your actions prior to acting on your ideas. History has shown that those who act impulsively eventually succumb to their lack of foresight and live to regret the results.

Julieus Ceasar Essay

Julieus Ceasar Essay Julieus Ceasar Essay Both speakers are connecting to Caesar by trying to prove a way to make Caesar either stay home or got to work. One speaker is Calpurnia, she wants Caesar to stay at home, because she has a feeling that Caesar might die. The other speaker is Decius Brutus and he wants Caesar to go to work so that he and his friends can kill him. Both speakers have their own reasons that want to make Caesar want to stay but what Calpurnia said wasn’t enough so he was frightened. I think that Caesar would believe Brutus more because Brutus sounds more realistic than Calpurnia does. The words that Calpurnia uses in the passage are nervous because she doesn’t want anything to happen to her husband. She also uses the words I circled to try and convince Caesar not to go to work. On the other hand the words that Brutus uses are more persuasive because he twists the things Calpurnia says and make them seem positive. He also says things like that make Caesar want to go to work like when Brutus says, â€Å"If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper, ‘Lo, Caesar is afraid’?†. This quote shows what people will think of Caesar is he listens to his wife and stays home. I believe that Brutus is more persuasive because he gives great examples. The examples that both passages give are okay, but some are better like when Calpurnia said that she had a bad dream about Caesar’s death. Calpurnia says, â€Å"Your statue spouting blood in many pipes†. This quote shows that if Caesar goes to work and get crowned there will be bloodshed. Obviously the example that Calpurnia gave Caesar wasn’t enough to convince Caesar to stay home so he leaves his home and ran into Brutus, who convinced Caesar to go to work and get crowned. Decius Brutus says, â€Å"If you shall send them word you will not come, their minds may change†. This quote means that if Caesar doesn’t show up to get crowned, the crowd of people won’t want him as king any more. In both of the passages the speakers both talk in a different point of view, Calpurnia speaks in first person, while Brutus talks in second person. Calpurnia speaks in first person because she is trying to get a point though Caesar in hopes to convince Caesar

The Emily Sander Murder Case

The Emily Sander Murder Case Emily Sander was a Kansas college student that was reported missing on Nov. 23, 2007. A massive search was launched for Sander, who was last seen leaving a bar with a man identified as 24-year-old Israel Mireles. Investigators said the two met that night at the bar. Sanders car was found the next day in the parking lot of the bar. Mireles worked as a waiter at an Italian restaurant that was located near to the hotel where he lived. When he did not show up for work, his boss went looking for him at the motel. The motel room appeared to be the scene of a struggle and a large amount of blood was in the room. Authorities began a manhunt for Mireles and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Victoria Martens. A rental car Mireles was driving was found in Texas Tuesday where Mireles had relatives. Police believed Mireles may be headed to Mexico. Double Life As the investigation intensified, it was discovered that Sander led a double life as a porn star named Zoey Zane. Family members have confirmed that nude photos of Sander posted to the web were, in fact, Emily Sander; friends at Butler Community College confirmed that Sander was involved in Internet porn. She enjoyed it. She is a young teenage girl and she wanted to be in the movies and enjoyed movies. She needed the extra money, Nikki Watson, a close friend of Sanders told reporters. Nobody in El Dorado knew besides her close friends. Sander was paid 45 percent of the revenue generated by the paid membership site. Investigators said the site had 30,000 subscribers who paid $39.95 a month. Dental Records Confirm Body as Emily Sander On November 29, six days after Sanders went missing, a body of a young woman matching the physical description of Sanders was found 50 miles east of El Dorado, Kansas. Dental records were used to confirm the identity to be that of Emily Sander. An autopsy was performed, but the results were sealed pending the arrest and trial of the killer. Arrest On December 19, 2007, authorities arrested Israel Mireles, 24, in Melchor Muzquiz, Mexico and was held pending extradition to the United States. Mireles was charged in Butler County, Kansas, with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of 18-year-old Emily Sander Mexican authorities knew of the whereabouts of Mireles as early as Dec. 3, but they held off arresting him until Kansas prosecutors guaranteed them that they would not seek the death penalty if Mireles was found guilty of capital murder. Also found in Mexico was Mireles 16-year-old girlfriend, Victoria Martens, who was eight months pregnant, according to police reports. Initially, Martens refused to return to Kansas, even though prosecutors promised that there would be no charges filed against her. According to Victorias mother Sandy Martins, her daughter thought the trip to Mexico was a vacation. Mireles was also charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child after authorities learned that Martens was pregnant. Trial Mireles was extradited back to the U.S. on June 26, 2009. His trial began on February 8, 2010, and lasted four days. During the trial, the results of the autopsy were presented to the jury.   According to Sedgwick County coroner Jaime Oeberst, Sander was stabbed twice in the chest and strangled with a telephone cord. It also appeared that she had been pulverized from being struck multiple times with a beer bottle. Victoria Martins testified that Mireles claimed that he had been in a fight with a man. The two met later the night of the murder at Martins grandmothers house, then left for Mexico. Mireles attorney said that her client was innocent and that after he and Sander had sex, a man showed up and began fighting with Mireles. He took off and when he returned he found Sander bloody and dead. In a panic, he dumped her body off U.S. 54. Prosecutors said that Mireles showed no remorse whatsoever during the case. He was found guilty of rape and capital murder. On March 31, 2010, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He currently resides at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Effective Supervision Can Minimize Staff Turnover from Burn-Out in Thesis

Effective Supervision Can Minimize Staff Turnover from Burn-Out in Direct Care Staff in Adolescent Residential Settings - Thesis Example Contemporary studies are now offering new insights regarding turnover problem with regards to direct care workers. Most of the studies which can be found can give data taken from interviews with employees and employers, in a study that I have found, the author looked at the problem from a bigger perspective. In the study conducted by Brannon (2002), he examined factors that looked at health facilities with very high and very low direct care worker turnover rates from a middle referent group. From there, he explored the possibility that high turnover and low turnover are distinct occurrences having different originators. The findings in the study suggest that researchers must avoid using a linear function of a single set of predictor model when looking at facility turnover. The study revealed that a relationship between supervisory staff and the home health aide is a significant contributor to worker satisfaction and turnover. In another study which focused on direct care worker-supervisory relationships in the context of hierarchy, it was found out that supervisory staff often blame the cause of recruitment and retention problems to the worker’s personal problems, dysfunctional family structure, and lack of respect for the job (Bowers 2003). It is rarely recognized by supervisors that organizational structure, or mistreatment or poor management by higher employees as a reason for turnover. Most of these top level staff often complain about the long hours of work they spend on paperwork which according to them causes less communication and contact with residents and direct care workers (Bowers 2003). Another study conducted by the California Association of Homes and Services for the Adolescents found unswerving complaints from direct care staff that they feel that they themselves and the work that they do are not given due importance. Using in-depth interviews, it was known that many of the reasons previously

Role of Social Systems Theory and the Family within Society Essay

Role of Social Systems Theory and the Family within Society - Essay Example The ideal should be to provide as good a practical service to clients as possible rather than the testing of ideas. Social systems theory is a method of understand various systems that humans interact with in an effort to provide answers for the problems of social functioning that may occur for both individuals and groups. Throughout the history of sociology there have been various attempts to construct what might be termed as a "grand theory" of human social interaction (Jokisch, 2001). Talcott Parsons was one of the first sociologists to offer a single theory. Parsons saw systems as an analytical tool to understand certain processes that were occurring within society. By contrast, e was followed up by the specific features of Niklas Luhmann, who first used the term social systems theory (Luhmann, 1995). Luhmann suggests that systems exist as a discrete entity that can and should be studied in and of itself. As Moeller et al. suggest, the originating point of nearly all social systems theory is that "it no longer holds that current society can be successfully based on the basis that it is (or should be) fundamentally humane, and that it is, on principle, an assembly of individual human beings" (Moeller, 2006). Thus social systems theory avoids the temptation to indulge in what may be seen as unfounded generalizations about the "nature" of human beings or far reaching conceptualizations that ignore reality. The basis of Luhmann's ideas is communication. He sees social systems as essentially systems of communication. A system is defined by a boundary between it and its environment, dividing it from a hopelessly complex and chaotic exterior. The systems is then, through simple logic, less complex and less chaotic than the exterior. Luhmann argues that if a system fails to maintain its identity, it cease to exist as a system and dissolves back into the overall environment from which it emerged in the first place. Elements are filtered by the system into some kind of organization within what Luhmann termed as autopoiesis, literally "self-creation", a term he borrowed from cognitive biology. Social systems are autopoietically closed as they use and rely upon resources from the environment, but these resources do not necessarily become part of the system's environment. With some reason, much of social systems theory has been criticized as rather remote and perhaps not too relevant to the actual world that human beings inhabit. The fact that the study of humans as discrete individuals is rejected by Luhmann et al. seems to lend support to these criticisms. As Weiner (1978) it might be difficult to associate such esoteric theories with their application within the resoundingly practical world of the delivery of human services to at need groups, families and individuals. But seeing society as a system, and one in which the constituent parts can be analyzed and perhaps even categorized according to similar types that have been discovered before is of use to the delivery of human services. Many societies may seem so utterly complex that the only method of dealing with them is on a case-by-case ad hoc basis rather than through some kind of systematic paradigm. Systems theory may help in answering a number of basic questions regarding human services. As Gardner (2003) suggest,

Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Business - Research Paper Example the major scholarly concern, and employees must realize that the success of their work heavily depends on how well they recognize, understand, analyze, and apply their knowledge of orality and literacy in practice. It is essential to determine how the first language acquisition and orality set the stage for the successful transition children from preschool to school environments; to understand and evaluate the changes that occur to literacy and orality in children in school environments; the impact of literate communities on the development of orality and literacy in individuals, including children; to evaluate the impact of family and social surrounding on how children treat language (Minami, 2002). That the first language acquisition and the development of orality in children sets the stage for the subsequent development of written language is difficult to deny, and the students in this module should be able to assess and discuss the changes that occur to orality and literacy in children’s transition from home to preschool. Here, the role of family is determining and even crucial, for it is in families that cultural socialization of preschool children takes place. Thus, students must realize that as soon as the child is sent to school, the emphasis of cultural socialization shifts from family to school environments and the latter become the major sources of language development and make children reshape their experiences and language patterns (Minami, 2002). Few employees possess knowledge and skills necessary to distinguish between orality and literacy and to explain conditions necessary for literacy to develop and sustain. Obviously, â€Å"whenever human beings exist they have a language, and in every instance a language that exists basically as spoken and heard, in the world of sound† (Ong, 2002), but even the richness of gesture cannot disrupt the link between literacy and oral speech language – even sign languages used by the deaf heavily rely on

Effectiveness of Support for Children in Homeless Families

Effectiveness of Support for Children in Homeless Families The whole issue of parents and children in need is a vast, complex and ethically challenging one. This review is specifically charged with an examination of those issues which impinge upon the stresses and strains that are experienced by parents of children in need. A superficial examination of these issues that are involved in this particular area would suggest that there are a number of â€Å"sub-texts â€Å"which can all give rise to this particular situation. Firstly, to have child in need is clearly a stressful situation for any parent.(Meltzer H et al. 1999) This can clearly be purely a financial concern and a reflection of the fact that the whole family is in financial hardship, perhaps due to the economic situation or perhaps due to the actions of the parents themselves. Equally the need of the child can be a result of anon-financial need, so we should also consider the child who is in some way handicapped, ill, emotionally disturbed or perhaps in need in some other way. This produces another type of stress on the parent, and these stresses are typically longer lasting and, in general, less easily rectified than a purely financial consideration of need. (Hall D1996). It is part of the basic ethos of the welfare state that it should look after its less able and disadvantaged members. (Welsh Office 1997).Parents of children in need will often qualify in this definition. We shall therefore examine the various aspects of this problem. Literature Review Effectiveness of family support for children in homeless families We will make a start by considering one type of child in need. The first paper that we will consider is that of Prof. Vostanis (Vostanis2002), which looks at the mental health problems that are faced by deprived children and their families together with the effectiveness of the resources that are available to them. It is a well written and well researched paper, if rather complex and confusing in places. We will consider this paper in some detail as it provides an excellent overview of the whole area. The paper starts with a rather useful definition for our purposes. It qualifies the deprived child, initially in terms of a homeless family, that being : A family of any number of adults with dependent children who are statutorily accepted by local authorities (housing departments) in teak, and are usually accommodated for a brief period in voluntary agency, local authority or housing association hostels. This period of temporary accommodation can vary enormously depending on the time of year and the area considered, and can range from a few days to perhaps several months. The target in Greater London is currently storehouse homeless families within 4-6 weeks. In London particularly, the homeless families can be placed in Bed Breakfast accommodation.(D of H 1998) In this respect, the immediate family support mechanisms do appear tube in place. Vostranis however, goes on to make the observation that despite the fact that the definition of the homeless family is rather broad, it does not cover all of the potential children in need, as those children and their carers who have lost their homes but have managed to live with relatives, on the streets or perhaps live as travellers, are not covered by the statutory obligation to provide housing. The official figures therefore, he observes, are generally an underestimate of the true situation. The official figures for the homeless families are put (in this paper) at 140,000. (Vostanis Cumella, 1999) The authors give us further information in that many families will become homeless again within one year of rehousing and the typical family seen is the single mother and at least two children who are generally under the age of 11 yrs. They also observe that the typical father and adolescent child tend to be placed in homeless centres. (Doff H 1995) In exploration of the particular topic that we are considering, the authors give us the situations that typically have given rise to the degree of parental stress that may have led to the homelessness. They point to the fact that a homeless family is usually homeless for different reasons to the single homeless adult. Vostanis (et al 1997)is quoted as showing that 50% of the cases studied were homeless as direct result of domestic violence and 25% as a result of harassment from neighbours. The authors observe that the numbers in this category(and therefore the problems), are rising. (Welsh Office 1999). There are a number of section to this paper which are not directly referable to our considerations. We shall therefore direct our attention purely to those parts that have a direct bearing on the subject. One particularly useful and analytical part of the paper is the section that details the characteristics and needs of the target group. This is a very detailed section, but it makes the point that the children in need in this group are particularly heterogeneous, generally all with multiple and inter-related needs. Homelessness is seldom a one off event. This particular observation, (say the authors),is crucially important for the development and provision of services. Most families have histories of previous chronic adversities that constitute risk factors for both children and parents (Bassuk et al,1997). Such events include family conflict, violence and breakdown; limited or absent networks for family and social support; recurring moves; poverty; and unemployment. Mothers are more likely to have suffered abuse in their own childhood and adult life and children have increased rates of placement on the at-risk child protection register, because of neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse. If we specifically consider the health needs of this population, the authors categorise them thus: The children are more likely to have a history of low birthweight, anaemia, dental decay and delayed immunisations, to be of lower stature and have a greater degree of nutritional stress. They are also more likely to suffer accidents, injuries and burns. (BPA 1999) Some studies have found that child health problems increase with the duration of homelessness, although this finding is not consistent. Substantial proportion of homeless children have delayed development compared with the general population of children of a similar chronological age. This includes both specific developmental delays, such as in receptive and expressive language and visual, motor and reading skills, as well as general skills and educational status (Webbet al. 2001). It is for this reason specifically, that it has proved extremely difficult to assess the effectiveness of the family support services because of the multivariate nature of the problems that are presented. The authors point to the fact that one of the prime determinants of the degree of support available, is the actual access that the families have to these services. Many sources (viz. Wilkinson R 1996), equate the poor health of the disadvantaged primarily with the lack of access to services. One immediate difficulty is the current registration system in the UK. In order to be seen in the primary healthcare team setting, one must be registered with a named doctor. In the majority of cases that we are dealing with here, they have moved area and registration is probably not high on their list of priorities. One can argue that there is the access to the A E departments of the local hospitals but there is virtually no continuity here and they arena geared up to provide anything other than immediate treatment. (HallD 1996). This fact restricts their access to primary healthcare team procedures such as immunisations and other preventative medicine health clinics.(Lissauer et al, 1993) . By the same token these groups also have restricted access to the social services, whether they be the access teams, the family teams or the family support units and other agencies. The authors also point to other more disruptive trends in this group such as an inability to attend a particular school for fear of being tracked by an abusive partner. It follows that these children do not have a stable social support of a school. They are denied such factors as peer groups, routines and challenges which are both important protective and developmental factors. (Shankleman J et al2000). The summation of all of these factors, and others, is that the effectiveness of the family support services is greatly reduced by the mobility and the transient nature of the family unit. Quite apart from the difficulties outlined above relating to the problems of access to avenues of help open to the child in need and their families there are the problems engendered by the fact that social service departments indifferent areas of the country may not have immediate access to the previous records giving rise to many potential, and real, problems with continuity of care. This problem is brought into more immediate focus when one considers the increased frequency of child protection registrations in this particular group. (Hall D et al 1998). One specific analysis of the family support services of this particular group comes in the form of the psychiatric services. In the context of the title of this piece, it demonstrates how these particular services,(but not these alone), are failing to deal with the totality of the problem. All of the aspects that we have outlined so far are conspiring to dilute the effectiveness of the services provided. The fact that they are a mobile population with no fixed address means that some of the services may choose to invoke this as a reason for not making provision for them, particularly if resources are stretched. If more resources are given, then they are typically preferentially targeted at the single adult homeless population where the need is arguably greater. The authors of this paper point to the fact that this may not actually be true as some studies have shown that homeless single mothers and their children have a 49% psychopathy rate and only an 11% contact with the support services. (Cumella et al, 1998). The impact of this fact on the children can only be imagined. To an extent however, it can be quantified as the authors cite other studies which show a 30% need rating for children, (they do not actually define exactly what their perceived level of need was), contrasted with a 3% contact rate for children and adolescents in this area. (viz. Power S et al. 1995). Suggestions for improvement Putting these considerations together, the authors outline a set of proposals which are designed to help improve the access to some of the essential services. The model that they propose could, if successful and with a degree of modification, prove suitable for adaptation to other areas of the family support services. It is not appropriate to discuss this model in detail, but suffice it to say that it has tiered structure so that the degree of distress and need is titrated against the degree of input generated. One of the reasons that we have selected this particular paper to present in this context is for its last section. It proposes a â€Å"family support services model† which has been developed and pioneered in the Leicester area. In the context of our review, it is worth considering in some detail. A service provided through a family support team (four family support assistants).This is designed to detect a range of problems at the time of crisis; manage a degree of mental health problems (behavioural and emotional); provide parenting-training; support and train housing(hostel) staff; co-ordinate the work of different agencies; and provide some continuity after rehousing by ensuring intake by appropriate local services. The family workers are based at the main hostel for homeless children and families. Other, predominantly voluntary, services have established alternative posts, such as advocates and key workers. Whatever the title of the post, it is essential that the post-holder has some experience and on-going training in mental health and child protection, so that he or she can hold a substantial case-load, rather than merely mediate between already limited services. The family support workers have direct access to the local child and adult mental health services, whose staff provide weekly outreach clinics. Their role is to work with the family support workers another agencies, assess selected children and families, and provide treatment for more severe problems or disorders such as depression, self-harm and PTSD. A weekly inter-agency liaison meeting at the main hostel is attended by a health visitor, representatives of the local domestic violence service and Sure Start, There are also close, regular links with education welfare and social services. The aim is to effectively utilise specialist skills by discussing family situations from all perspectives at the liaison meeting. A bimonthly steering group, led by the housing department, involves senior managers representing these agencies, as well as the education and social services departments and the voluntary sector, and they oversee and co-ordinate the service. This appears to be something of an exemplar in relation to services provided elsewhere. The paper does not provide any element of costing sin this area neither does it provide any figures in relation to its success rates, contact rates or overall effectiveness. In conclusion this paper is an extremely well written and authoritative overview of the situation relating to the stresses of the homeless parent with children and the effectiveness (or lack of it) in its ability to reduce the stresses experienced by the homeless children in need and their parents. It proposes remedies but sadly it does not evaluate the effectiveness of those remedies. The effectiveness of the support services on families of children with psychiatric morbidity In order to address these shortcomings we can consider another paper by Tickler (et al 2000). This looks at a similar outreach set up which has been designed to capture the families of children in need who might otherwise slip through the net. This paper is written from different perspective and specifically analyses the effectiveness of these services as they pertain to an entry cohort of 40 families. This particular study was set up after preliminary work was done in the Birmingham area with 114 homeless families and this study defined the needs of the families but did not quantify their support systems.(Vostanis et al 1998). This paper set out to identify and measure the support systems available and their effectiveness as far as the families were concerned. The stresses encountered were partly reflected by the incidence of psychiatric morbidity. The mothers in the group were found to have over 50% more morbidity than a matched control group. The children in the group were found to have â€Å"histories of abuse, living in care, being on the at-risk protection register, delayed communication and higher reported mental health problems.† Allot which adds to the general background stress levels. (Kerouac S etal. 1996). This particular study found that despite the psychiatric morbidity in the children, (estimated to be about 30%), and the psychiatric morbidity in the parents, (estimated at about 50%), only 3%of the children and 10% of the parents had had any significant contactor support from the social services. In this respect, this paper is very useful to our purpose as it quantifies the levels of intervention and access to healthcare resources that this particular group has. By any appreciation, it would be considered woefully inadequate in any society that calls itself civilised. In the terms of the title of this piece, the effectiveness of the family support services is minimal. Suggestions for improvement Like the last paper discussed, this one also considered how best to tackle the problem, and this one is of much greater value to us, as it specifies a response, or intervention, to the problem in much the same way as the Vostranis 2002 paper did, but it makes the same measurements as it did prior to the intervention, and therefore allows us an insight into the actual effectiveness of the intervention. The way this particular study worked was to assess the problem (as it has been presented above), devise an intervention strategy and then to measure its effect. This particular study goes to great lengths to actively involve all the appropriate agencies that could help the situation by having a central assessment station that acted as liaison between all of the other resources. In brief, it actively involved liaison with the following: Education, social services, child protection, local mental health services, voluntary and community organisations to facilitate there-integration of the family into the community, and particularly their engagement with local services following rehousing; and training of staff of homeless centres in the understanding, recognition and management of mental illness in children and parents. This is essential, as hostel staff often work in isolation and have little knowledge of the potential severity and consequences of mental health problems in children. It was hoped that, by doing this, it would maximise the impact that the limited resources had on reducing the levels of morbidity and stress in the families of the children in need. Results The post intervention results were, by any estimate, impressive considering the historical difficulty of working with this particular group (OHara M 1995). 40 families (including 122 children) were studied in detail. The paper gives a detailed breakdown of the ethnic and demographic breakdown of the group. By far the biggest group were single mothers and children (72%) The results showed that the majority of referrals were seen between1-3 times (55%), with a further 22% being seen 4-6 times. It is reflection of the difficulty in engaging this type of family in need that over 25% did not actually keep their appointments despite the obvious potential benefits that could have been utilised. The authors investigated this group further and ascertained that a common reason for nonattendance was the perception that the psychological welfare of the children was not actually the main concern. The families perceived that their primary needs were rehousing and financial stability. Other priorities identified were that physical health was a greater priority than mental health. The authors also identify another common failing in the social services provision, and that is the general lack of regular contact. They cite the situation where some families cope well initially, apparently glad to have escaped an abusive or violent home situation, but a prolonged stay in a hostel or temporary accommodation may soon precipitate a bout of depression in the parents and behavioural problems in the children of such parents. (Brooks RM et al 1998). They suggest that regular re-visiting of families who have been in temporary accommodation for any significant length of time should be mandatory. This paper takes a very practical overview by pointing out that workability of the system is, to a large extent, dependent on the goodwill of a number of committed professionals. The authors state that this has to be nurtured and they call for sufficient funding must be given to enable this particular model to be extended to a National level. Thus far in the review we have considered the effectiveness of the service provision in the support of the families of the children in need in one specific target grouping, those who are stressed by virtue of the fact that they are homeless. We will now consider the literature on a different kind of family stress, and that is when a parent dies. This leaves the children with a considerable amount of potential emotional â€Å"baggage† and the surviving parent with an enormous amount of stress. (Webb E 1998). Effectiveness of support services in the case of parental bereavement An excellent paper by Downey (et al 1999) tackles this particular problem with both sensitivity and also considerable rigour. It is a long and complex paper, but the overall aims and objectives are clear from the outset. The structure of the paper is a prospective case study which aims to assess whether the degree of distress suffered by a family during a time of bereavement is in any way linked to the degree of service provision that is utilised. The base line for this study is set out in its first two paragraphs. Parentally bereaved children and surviving parents showed a greater than predicted level of psychiatric morbidity. Boys had greater levels of demonstrable morbidity than did girls, but bereaved mothers showed more morbidity than did bereaved fathers. Children were more likely to show signs of behavioural disturbance when the surviving parent manifested some kind of psychiatric disorder. (Kranzler EM et al 1990). The authors point to the fact that their study shows that the service provision is statistically related to a number of (arguably unexpected[Fristad MA et al 1993]) factors namely: The age of the children and the manner of parental death. Children under 5 years of age were less likely to be offered services than older children even though their parents desired it. Children were significantly more likely to be offered services when the parent had committed suicide or when the death was expected. Children least likely to receive service support were those who were not in touch with services before parental death. Paradoxically the level of service provision was not found to be statistically significantly related to either the parental wishes or the degree of the psychiatric disturbance in either the parent orchid. (Sanchez L et al 1994) The service provision did have some statistical relationships but that was only found to be the manner of the parental death and the actual age of the child at the time. The authors therefore are able to identify a mismatch between the perceived need for support and the actual service provision made. Part of that mismatch is found to be due to the inability of the social services and other related agencies to take a dispassionate overview. Elsewhere in the paper the authors suggest that there are other factors that add to this inequality and they include lack of resources and a lack of specificity in identifying children at greatest risk.(Harrington R 1996) The authors examine other literature to back up their initial precept that bereaved children have greater levels of morbidity. They cite many other papers who have found distress manifesting in the form of â€Å"anxiety, depression, withdrawal, sleep disturbance, and aggression.†(Worden JW et al. 1996) and also psychological problems in later life(Harris T et al. 1996). In terms of study structure, the authors point to methodological problems with other papers in the area including a common failing of either having a standardised measure or no matched control group(Mohammed D et al 2003). They also point to the fact that this is probably the first UK study to investigate the subject using a properly representative sample and certainly the first to investigate whether service provision is actually related to the degree of the problems experienced. The entry cohort involved nearly 550 families with 94 having children in the target range (2-18). With certain exclusions (such as two families where one parent had murdered the other etc.) and no respondents, the final cohort was reduced to 45 families and one target child was randomly selected from each family. It has to be noted that the comparatively large number of on-respondents may have introduced a large element of bias, insofar as it is possible that the families most in need of support were those who were most distressed by the death of a family member and these could have been the very ones who chose not to participate. (Morton V et al2003) The authors make no comment on this particular fact. The authors should be commended for a particularly ingenious control measure for the children. They were matched by asking their schoolteacher to complete an inventory of disturbed behaviour on the next child in the school register after the target child. A large part of the paper is taken up with methodological issues which ( apart from the comments above) cannot be faulted. Results In terms of being children in need, 60% of children were found to have â€Å"significant behavioural abnormalities† with 28% having scores above the 95th centile. In terms of specific service support provision, 82% of parents identified a perceived need for support by virtue of the behaviour of their children. Only 49% of these actually received it in any degree. Perhaps the most surprising statistic to come out of this study waste fact that of the parents who were offered support 44% were in the group who asked for it and 56% were in the group who didn’t want it. The levels of support offered were independent of the degree of behavioural disturbance in the child. Suggestions for improvement As with the majority of papers that we have either presented here or read in preparation for this review, the authors call for a more rationally targeted approach to the utilisation of limited resources. The study also provides us with a very pertinent comment which many experienced healthcare professionals will empathise with, (Black D1996), and that is: Practitioners should also be aware that child disturbance may reflect undetected psychological distress in the surviving parent. While not suggesting that this is a reflection of Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy, the comment is a valid reflection of the fact that parental distress may be well hidden from people outside of the family and may only present as a manifestation of the child’s behaviour. (Feldman Met al. 1994) The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are that there is considerable gap in the support offered ( quite apart form the effectiveness of that support) in this area of obvious stress for both parents and children. (Black D 1998). This study goes some way to quantifying the level of support actually given in these circumstances. Effectiveness of support in families where there is domestic violence We have considered the role of the effectiveness and indeed, even the existence, of adequate support services for the children in need and their parents in a number of different social circumstances. The next paper that we wish to present is an excellent review of the support that is given to another specific sub-group and that is women and children who suffer from domestic violence. Webb and her group (etal 2001) considered the problem in considerable (and commendable) depth The study itself had an entry cohort of nearly 150 children and their mothers who were resident in a number of hostels and women’s refuges that had been the victims of family violence at some stage in the recent past. The study subjected the cohort to a battery of tests designed to assess their physical, emotional and psychological health, and then quantified their access to, and support gained from, the primary healthcare teams and other social service-based support agencies. This study is presented in a long and sometimes difficult tread format. Much of the presentation is (understandably) taken up with statistical, ethical and methodological matters – all of which appear to be largely of excellent quality and the result of careful consideration. Results The results make for interesting and, (in the context of this review), very relevant reading. Perhaps one of the more original findings was that nearly 60% of the child health data held by the various refuges was factually incorrect. This clearly has grave implications for studies that base their evidence base on that data set(Berwick D 2005). Of great implication for the social services support mechanisms was the finding that 76% of the mothers in the study expressed concerns about the health of their children. Once they had left the refuge there was significant loss to the follow up systems as 15% were untraceable and25% returned to the home of the original perpetrator. The study documents the fact that this particular group had both high level of need for support and also a poor level of access to appropriate services. In the study conclusions, the authors make the pertinent comment that the time spent in the refuge offers a â€Å"window of opportunity† for the family support services to make contact and to review health and child developmental status. This is not a demographically small group. In the UK, over 35,000children and a parent, are recorded as passing through the refuges each year, with at least a similar number also being referred to other types of safe accommodation. Such measures are clearly not undertaken lightly with the average woman only entering a refuge after an average of 28separate assaults. One can only speculate at the long term effects that this can have on both the mother and the children. Suggestions for improvement In common with the other papers reviewed, this paper also calls for greater levels of support for the families concerned as, by inference, the current levels of effectiveness of the family support services is clearly inadequate. Conclusions This review has specifically presented a number of papers which have been chosen from a much larger number that have been accessed and assessed, because of the fact that each has a particularly important issue or factor in its construction or results. The issue that we have set out to evaluate is the effectiveness of the family support services which are specifically aimed at reducing the stress levels for the parents of children in need. Almost without exception, all of the papers that have been accessed (quite apart from those presented) have demonstrated the fact that the levels of support from the statutory bodies is â€Å"less than optimum† and in some cases it can only be described as â€Å"dire†. Another factor that is a common finding, is that, given the fact that any welfare system is, by its very nature, a rationed system, the provision of the services that are provided is seldom targeted at the groups that need it the most. One can cite the Tickler (et al 2000)and Downey (et al 1999) papers in particular as demonstrating that substantial proportion of the resources mobilised are actually being directed to groups that are either not requesting support or who demonstrably need it less than other sectors of the community. Some of the papers (actually a small proportion) make positive suggestions about the models for redirecting and targeting support. Sadly, the majority do little more than call for â€Å"more research to be done on the issue†. In overview, we would have to conclude that the evidence suggests that the effectiveness of the family support services in reducing stress and poverty for the parents of children in need is poor at best and certainly capable of considerable improvement. References Bassuk, E., Buckner, J., Weiner, L., et al (1997) Homelessness in female-headed families: childhood and adult risk and protective factors. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 241–248 1997 Berwick D 2005 Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 316. Black D. 1996 Childhood bereavement: distress and long term sequelae can be lessened by early intervention. BMJ 1996; 312: 1496 Black D. 1998 Coping with loss: bereavement in childhood. BMJ 1998; 316: 931-933 BPA 1999 British Paediatric Association. Outcome measures for child health. London: Royal College of Paediatric Effectiveness of Support for Children in Homeless Families Effectiveness of Support for Children in Homeless Families The whole issue of parents and children in need is a vast, complex and ethically challenging one. This review is specifically charged with an examination of those issues which impinge upon the stresses and strains that are experienced by parents of children in need. A superficial examination of these issues that are involved in this particular area would suggest that there are a number of â€Å"sub-texts â€Å"which can all give rise to this particular situation. Firstly, to have child in need is clearly a stressful situation for any parent.(Meltzer H et al. 1999) This can clearly be purely a financial concern and a reflection of the fact that the whole family is in financial hardship, perhaps due to the economic situation or perhaps due to the actions of the parents themselves. Equally the need of the child can be a result of anon-financial need, so we should also consider the child who is in some way handicapped, ill, emotionally disturbed or perhaps in need in some other way. This produces another type of stress on the parent, and these stresses are typically longer lasting and, in general, less easily rectified than a purely financial consideration of need. (Hall D1996). It is part of the basic ethos of the welfare state that it should look after its less able and disadvantaged members. (Welsh Office 1997).Parents of children in need will often qualify in this definition. We shall therefore examine the various aspects of this problem. Literature Review Effectiveness of family support for children in homeless families We will make a start by considering one type of child in need. The first paper that we will consider is that of Prof. Vostanis (Vostanis2002), which looks at the mental health problems that are faced by deprived children and their families together with the effectiveness of the resources that are available to them. It is a well written and well researched paper, if rather complex and confusing in places. We will consider this paper in some detail as it provides an excellent overview of the whole area. The paper starts with a rather useful definition for our purposes. It qualifies the deprived child, initially in terms of a homeless family, that being : A family of any number of adults with dependent children who are statutorily accepted by local authorities (housing departments) in teak, and are usually accommodated for a brief period in voluntary agency, local authority or housing association hostels. This period of temporary accommodation can vary enormously depending on the time of year and the area considered, and can range from a few days to perhaps several months. The target in Greater London is currently storehouse homeless families within 4-6 weeks. In London particularly, the homeless families can be placed in Bed Breakfast accommodation.(D of H 1998) In this respect, the immediate family support mechanisms do appear tube in place. Vostranis however, goes on to make the observation that despite the fact that the definition of the homeless family is rather broad, it does not cover all of the potential children in need, as those children and their carers who have lost their homes but have managed to live with relatives, on the streets or perhaps live as travellers, are not covered by the statutory obligation to provide housing. The official figures therefore, he observes, are generally an underestimate of the true situation. The official figures for the homeless families are put (in this paper) at 140,000. (Vostanis Cumella, 1999) The authors give us further information in that many families will become homeless again within one year of rehousing and the typical family seen is the single mother and at least two children who are generally under the age of 11 yrs. They also observe that the typical father and adolescent child tend to be placed in homeless centres. (Doff H 1995) In exploration of the particular topic that we are considering, the authors give us the situations that typically have given rise to the degree of parental stress that may have led to the homelessness. They point to the fact that a homeless family is usually homeless for different reasons to the single homeless adult. Vostanis (et al 1997)is quoted as showing that 50% of the cases studied were homeless as direct result of domestic violence and 25% as a result of harassment from neighbours. The authors observe that the numbers in this category(and therefore the problems), are rising. (Welsh Office 1999). There are a number of section to this paper which are not directly referable to our considerations. We shall therefore direct our attention purely to those parts that have a direct bearing on the subject. One particularly useful and analytical part of the paper is the section that details the characteristics and needs of the target group. This is a very detailed section, but it makes the point that the children in need in this group are particularly heterogeneous, generally all with multiple and inter-related needs. Homelessness is seldom a one off event. This particular observation, (say the authors),is crucially important for the development and provision of services. Most families have histories of previous chronic adversities that constitute risk factors for both children and parents (Bassuk et al,1997). Such events include family conflict, violence and breakdown; limited or absent networks for family and social support; recurring moves; poverty; and unemployment. Mothers are more likely to have suffered abuse in their own childhood and adult life and children have increased rates of placement on the at-risk child protection register, because of neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse. If we specifically consider the health needs of this population, the authors categorise them thus: The children are more likely to have a history of low birthweight, anaemia, dental decay and delayed immunisations, to be of lower stature and have a greater degree of nutritional stress. They are also more likely to suffer accidents, injuries and burns. (BPA 1999) Some studies have found that child health problems increase with the duration of homelessness, although this finding is not consistent. Substantial proportion of homeless children have delayed development compared with the general population of children of a similar chronological age. This includes both specific developmental delays, such as in receptive and expressive language and visual, motor and reading skills, as well as general skills and educational status (Webbet al. 2001). It is for this reason specifically, that it has proved extremely difficult to assess the effectiveness of the family support services because of the multivariate nature of the problems that are presented. The authors point to the fact that one of the prime determinants of the degree of support available, is the actual access that the families have to these services. Many sources (viz. Wilkinson R 1996), equate the poor health of the disadvantaged primarily with the lack of access to services. One immediate difficulty is the current registration system in the UK. In order to be seen in the primary healthcare team setting, one must be registered with a named doctor. In the majority of cases that we are dealing with here, they have moved area and registration is probably not high on their list of priorities. One can argue that there is the access to the A E departments of the local hospitals but there is virtually no continuity here and they arena geared up to provide anything other than immediate treatment. (HallD 1996). This fact restricts their access to primary healthcare team procedures such as immunisations and other preventative medicine health clinics.(Lissauer et al, 1993) . By the same token these groups also have restricted access to the social services, whether they be the access teams, the family teams or the family support units and other agencies. The authors also point to other more disruptive trends in this group such as an inability to attend a particular school for fear of being tracked by an abusive partner. It follows that these children do not have a stable social support of a school. They are denied such factors as peer groups, routines and challenges which are both important protective and developmental factors. (Shankleman J et al2000). The summation of all of these factors, and others, is that the effectiveness of the family support services is greatly reduced by the mobility and the transient nature of the family unit. Quite apart from the difficulties outlined above relating to the problems of access to avenues of help open to the child in need and their families there are the problems engendered by the fact that social service departments indifferent areas of the country may not have immediate access to the previous records giving rise to many potential, and real, problems with continuity of care. This problem is brought into more immediate focus when one considers the increased frequency of child protection registrations in this particular group. (Hall D et al 1998). One specific analysis of the family support services of this particular group comes in the form of the psychiatric services. In the context of the title of this piece, it demonstrates how these particular services,(but not these alone), are failing to deal with the totality of the problem. All of the aspects that we have outlined so far are conspiring to dilute the effectiveness of the services provided. The fact that they are a mobile population with no fixed address means that some of the services may choose to invoke this as a reason for not making provision for them, particularly if resources are stretched. If more resources are given, then they are typically preferentially targeted at the single adult homeless population where the need is arguably greater. The authors of this paper point to the fact that this may not actually be true as some studies have shown that homeless single mothers and their children have a 49% psychopathy rate and only an 11% contact with the support services. (Cumella et al, 1998). The impact of this fact on the children can only be imagined. To an extent however, it can be quantified as the authors cite other studies which show a 30% need rating for children, (they do not actually define exactly what their perceived level of need was), contrasted with a 3% contact rate for children and adolescents in this area. (viz. Power S et al. 1995). Suggestions for improvement Putting these considerations together, the authors outline a set of proposals which are designed to help improve the access to some of the essential services. The model that they propose could, if successful and with a degree of modification, prove suitable for adaptation to other areas of the family support services. It is not appropriate to discuss this model in detail, but suffice it to say that it has tiered structure so that the degree of distress and need is titrated against the degree of input generated. One of the reasons that we have selected this particular paper to present in this context is for its last section. It proposes a â€Å"family support services model† which has been developed and pioneered in the Leicester area. In the context of our review, it is worth considering in some detail. A service provided through a family support team (four family support assistants).This is designed to detect a range of problems at the time of crisis; manage a degree of mental health problems (behavioural and emotional); provide parenting-training; support and train housing(hostel) staff; co-ordinate the work of different agencies; and provide some continuity after rehousing by ensuring intake by appropriate local services. The family workers are based at the main hostel for homeless children and families. Other, predominantly voluntary, services have established alternative posts, such as advocates and key workers. Whatever the title of the post, it is essential that the post-holder has some experience and on-going training in mental health and child protection, so that he or she can hold a substantial case-load, rather than merely mediate between already limited services. The family support workers have direct access to the local child and adult mental health services, whose staff provide weekly outreach clinics. Their role is to work with the family support workers another agencies, assess selected children and families, and provide treatment for more severe problems or disorders such as depression, self-harm and PTSD. A weekly inter-agency liaison meeting at the main hostel is attended by a health visitor, representatives of the local domestic violence service and Sure Start, There are also close, regular links with education welfare and social services. The aim is to effectively utilise specialist skills by discussing family situations from all perspectives at the liaison meeting. A bimonthly steering group, led by the housing department, involves senior managers representing these agencies, as well as the education and social services departments and the voluntary sector, and they oversee and co-ordinate the service. This appears to be something of an exemplar in relation to services provided elsewhere. The paper does not provide any element of costing sin this area neither does it provide any figures in relation to its success rates, contact rates or overall effectiveness. In conclusion this paper is an extremely well written and authoritative overview of the situation relating to the stresses of the homeless parent with children and the effectiveness (or lack of it) in its ability to reduce the stresses experienced by the homeless children in need and their parents. It proposes remedies but sadly it does not evaluate the effectiveness of those remedies. The effectiveness of the support services on families of children with psychiatric morbidity In order to address these shortcomings we can consider another paper by Tickler (et al 2000). This looks at a similar outreach set up which has been designed to capture the families of children in need who might otherwise slip through the net. This paper is written from different perspective and specifically analyses the effectiveness of these services as they pertain to an entry cohort of 40 families. This particular study was set up after preliminary work was done in the Birmingham area with 114 homeless families and this study defined the needs of the families but did not quantify their support systems.(Vostanis et al 1998). This paper set out to identify and measure the support systems available and their effectiveness as far as the families were concerned. The stresses encountered were partly reflected by the incidence of psychiatric morbidity. The mothers in the group were found to have over 50% more morbidity than a matched control group. The children in the group were found to have â€Å"histories of abuse, living in care, being on the at-risk protection register, delayed communication and higher reported mental health problems.† Allot which adds to the general background stress levels. (Kerouac S etal. 1996). This particular study found that despite the psychiatric morbidity in the children, (estimated to be about 30%), and the psychiatric morbidity in the parents, (estimated at about 50%), only 3%of the children and 10% of the parents had had any significant contactor support from the social services. In this respect, this paper is very useful to our purpose as it quantifies the levels of intervention and access to healthcare resources that this particular group has. By any appreciation, it would be considered woefully inadequate in any society that calls itself civilised. In the terms of the title of this piece, the effectiveness of the family support services is minimal. Suggestions for improvement Like the last paper discussed, this one also considered how best to tackle the problem, and this one is of much greater value to us, as it specifies a response, or intervention, to the problem in much the same way as the Vostranis 2002 paper did, but it makes the same measurements as it did prior to the intervention, and therefore allows us an insight into the actual effectiveness of the intervention. The way this particular study worked was to assess the problem (as it has been presented above), devise an intervention strategy and then to measure its effect. This particular study goes to great lengths to actively involve all the appropriate agencies that could help the situation by having a central assessment station that acted as liaison between all of the other resources. In brief, it actively involved liaison with the following: Education, social services, child protection, local mental health services, voluntary and community organisations to facilitate there-integration of the family into the community, and particularly their engagement with local services following rehousing; and training of staff of homeless centres in the understanding, recognition and management of mental illness in children and parents. This is essential, as hostel staff often work in isolation and have little knowledge of the potential severity and consequences of mental health problems in children. It was hoped that, by doing this, it would maximise the impact that the limited resources had on reducing the levels of morbidity and stress in the families of the children in need. Results The post intervention results were, by any estimate, impressive considering the historical difficulty of working with this particular group (OHara M 1995). 40 families (including 122 children) were studied in detail. The paper gives a detailed breakdown of the ethnic and demographic breakdown of the group. By far the biggest group were single mothers and children (72%) The results showed that the majority of referrals were seen between1-3 times (55%), with a further 22% being seen 4-6 times. It is reflection of the difficulty in engaging this type of family in need that over 25% did not actually keep their appointments despite the obvious potential benefits that could have been utilised. The authors investigated this group further and ascertained that a common reason for nonattendance was the perception that the psychological welfare of the children was not actually the main concern. The families perceived that their primary needs were rehousing and financial stability. Other priorities identified were that physical health was a greater priority than mental health. The authors also identify another common failing in the social services provision, and that is the general lack of regular contact. They cite the situation where some families cope well initially, apparently glad to have escaped an abusive or violent home situation, but a prolonged stay in a hostel or temporary accommodation may soon precipitate a bout of depression in the parents and behavioural problems in the children of such parents. (Brooks RM et al 1998). They suggest that regular re-visiting of families who have been in temporary accommodation for any significant length of time should be mandatory. This paper takes a very practical overview by pointing out that workability of the system is, to a large extent, dependent on the goodwill of a number of committed professionals. The authors state that this has to be nurtured and they call for sufficient funding must be given to enable this particular model to be extended to a National level. Thus far in the review we have considered the effectiveness of the service provision in the support of the families of the children in need in one specific target grouping, those who are stressed by virtue of the fact that they are homeless. We will now consider the literature on a different kind of family stress, and that is when a parent dies. This leaves the children with a considerable amount of potential emotional â€Å"baggage† and the surviving parent with an enormous amount of stress. (Webb E 1998). Effectiveness of support services in the case of parental bereavement An excellent paper by Downey (et al 1999) tackles this particular problem with both sensitivity and also considerable rigour. It is a long and complex paper, but the overall aims and objectives are clear from the outset. The structure of the paper is a prospective case study which aims to assess whether the degree of distress suffered by a family during a time of bereavement is in any way linked to the degree of service provision that is utilised. The base line for this study is set out in its first two paragraphs. Parentally bereaved children and surviving parents showed a greater than predicted level of psychiatric morbidity. Boys had greater levels of demonstrable morbidity than did girls, but bereaved mothers showed more morbidity than did bereaved fathers. Children were more likely to show signs of behavioural disturbance when the surviving parent manifested some kind of psychiatric disorder. (Kranzler EM et al 1990). The authors point to the fact that their study shows that the service provision is statistically related to a number of (arguably unexpected[Fristad MA et al 1993]) factors namely: The age of the children and the manner of parental death. Children under 5 years of age were less likely to be offered services than older children even though their parents desired it. Children were significantly more likely to be offered services when the parent had committed suicide or when the death was expected. Children least likely to receive service support were those who were not in touch with services before parental death. Paradoxically the level of service provision was not found to be statistically significantly related to either the parental wishes or the degree of the psychiatric disturbance in either the parent orchid. (Sanchez L et al 1994) The service provision did have some statistical relationships but that was only found to be the manner of the parental death and the actual age of the child at the time. The authors therefore are able to identify a mismatch between the perceived need for support and the actual service provision made. Part of that mismatch is found to be due to the inability of the social services and other related agencies to take a dispassionate overview. Elsewhere in the paper the authors suggest that there are other factors that add to this inequality and they include lack of resources and a lack of specificity in identifying children at greatest risk.(Harrington R 1996) The authors examine other literature to back up their initial precept that bereaved children have greater levels of morbidity. They cite many other papers who have found distress manifesting in the form of â€Å"anxiety, depression, withdrawal, sleep disturbance, and aggression.†(Worden JW et al. 1996) and also psychological problems in later life(Harris T et al. 1996). In terms of study structure, the authors point to methodological problems with other papers in the area including a common failing of either having a standardised measure or no matched control group(Mohammed D et al 2003). They also point to the fact that this is probably the first UK study to investigate the subject using a properly representative sample and certainly the first to investigate whether service provision is actually related to the degree of the problems experienced. The entry cohort involved nearly 550 families with 94 having children in the target range (2-18). With certain exclusions (such as two families where one parent had murdered the other etc.) and no respondents, the final cohort was reduced to 45 families and one target child was randomly selected from each family. It has to be noted that the comparatively large number of on-respondents may have introduced a large element of bias, insofar as it is possible that the families most in need of support were those who were most distressed by the death of a family member and these could have been the very ones who chose not to participate. (Morton V et al2003) The authors make no comment on this particular fact. The authors should be commended for a particularly ingenious control measure for the children. They were matched by asking their schoolteacher to complete an inventory of disturbed behaviour on the next child in the school register after the target child. A large part of the paper is taken up with methodological issues which ( apart from the comments above) cannot be faulted. Results In terms of being children in need, 60% of children were found to have â€Å"significant behavioural abnormalities† with 28% having scores above the 95th centile. In terms of specific service support provision, 82% of parents identified a perceived need for support by virtue of the behaviour of their children. Only 49% of these actually received it in any degree. Perhaps the most surprising statistic to come out of this study waste fact that of the parents who were offered support 44% were in the group who asked for it and 56% were in the group who didn’t want it. The levels of support offered were independent of the degree of behavioural disturbance in the child. Suggestions for improvement As with the majority of papers that we have either presented here or read in preparation for this review, the authors call for a more rationally targeted approach to the utilisation of limited resources. The study also provides us with a very pertinent comment which many experienced healthcare professionals will empathise with, (Black D1996), and that is: Practitioners should also be aware that child disturbance may reflect undetected psychological distress in the surviving parent. While not suggesting that this is a reflection of Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy, the comment is a valid reflection of the fact that parental distress may be well hidden from people outside of the family and may only present as a manifestation of the child’s behaviour. (Feldman Met al. 1994) The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are that there is considerable gap in the support offered ( quite apart form the effectiveness of that support) in this area of obvious stress for both parents and children. (Black D 1998). This study goes some way to quantifying the level of support actually given in these circumstances. Effectiveness of support in families where there is domestic violence We have considered the role of the effectiveness and indeed, even the existence, of adequate support services for the children in need and their parents in a number of different social circumstances. The next paper that we wish to present is an excellent review of the support that is given to another specific sub-group and that is women and children who suffer from domestic violence. Webb and her group (etal 2001) considered the problem in considerable (and commendable) depth The study itself had an entry cohort of nearly 150 children and their mothers who were resident in a number of hostels and women’s refuges that had been the victims of family violence at some stage in the recent past. The study subjected the cohort to a battery of tests designed to assess their physical, emotional and psychological health, and then quantified their access to, and support gained from, the primary healthcare teams and other social service-based support agencies. This study is presented in a long and sometimes difficult tread format. Much of the presentation is (understandably) taken up with statistical, ethical and methodological matters – all of which appear to be largely of excellent quality and the result of careful consideration. Results The results make for interesting and, (in the context of this review), very relevant reading. Perhaps one of the more original findings was that nearly 60% of the child health data held by the various refuges was factually incorrect. This clearly has grave implications for studies that base their evidence base on that data set(Berwick D 2005). Of great implication for the social services support mechanisms was the finding that 76% of the mothers in the study expressed concerns about the health of their children. Once they had left the refuge there was significant loss to the follow up systems as 15% were untraceable and25% returned to the home of the original perpetrator. The study documents the fact that this particular group had both high level of need for support and also a poor level of access to appropriate services. In the study conclusions, the authors make the pertinent comment that the time spent in the refuge offers a â€Å"window of opportunity† for the family support services to make contact and to review health and child developmental status. This is not a demographically small group. In the UK, over 35,000children and a parent, are recorded as passing through the refuges each year, with at least a similar number also being referred to other types of safe accommodation. Such measures are clearly not undertaken lightly with the average woman only entering a refuge after an average of 28separate assaults. One can only speculate at the long term effects that this can have on both the mother and the children. Suggestions for improvement In common with the other papers reviewed, this paper also calls for greater levels of support for the families concerned as, by inference, the current levels of effectiveness of the family support services is clearly inadequate. Conclusions This review has specifically presented a number of papers which have been chosen from a much larger number that have been accessed and assessed, because of the fact that each has a particularly important issue or factor in its construction or results. The issue that we have set out to evaluate is the effectiveness of the family support services which are specifically aimed at reducing the stress levels for the parents of children in need. Almost without exception, all of the papers that have been accessed (quite apart from those presented) have demonstrated the fact that the levels of support from the statutory bodies is â€Å"less than optimum† and in some cases it can only be described as â€Å"dire†. Another factor that is a common finding, is that, given the fact that any welfare system is, by its very nature, a rationed system, the provision of the services that are provided is seldom targeted at the groups that need it the most. One can cite the Tickler (et al 2000)and Downey (et al 1999) papers in particular as demonstrating that substantial proportion of the resources mobilised are actually being directed to groups that are either not requesting support or who demonstrably need it less than other sectors of the community. Some of the papers (actually a small proportion) make positive suggestions about the models for redirecting and targeting support. Sadly, the majority do little more than call for â€Å"more research to be done on the issue†. In overview, we would have to conclude that the evidence suggests that the effectiveness of the family support services in reducing stress and poverty for the parents of children in need is poor at best and certainly capable of considerable improvement. References Bassuk, E., Buckner, J., Weiner, L., et al (1997) Homelessness in female-headed families: childhood and adult risk and protective factors. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 241–248 1997 Berwick D 2005 Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 316. Black D. 1996 Childhood bereavement: distress and long term sequelae can be lessened by early intervention. BMJ 1996; 312: 1496 Black D. 1998 Coping with loss: bereavement in childhood. BMJ 1998; 316: 931-933 BPA 1999 British Paediatric Association. Outcome measures for child health. London: Royal College of Paediatric