Slumdog Millionare Essay Example for Free

Slumdog Millionare Essay In the late 1800’s there lived well-known Hindu monk by the name of Swami Vivekananda. It was his reputation to be wise and many people looked to him for guidance. One of his most famous quotes states, â€Å"the great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful. † This statement is one that can have many different meanings to different people. One may find that this quote is enough to bridge the gap between the western mindset and a fundamental ideology of a belief found amongst the people residing in India. In some senses there can be made a correlation between Vivekananda’s quote and a boy who plays the main character named Jamal, in the 2008 film â€Å"Slumdog Millionaire† directed by Danny Boyle. Jamal’s story of success can be related to Vivekananda’s quote as well as the topics discussed in class through many ways. A few of these ways include the belief of karma, dharma, and oneness. It is arguable that Vivekananda is discussing the idea of both karma and dharma in his quote. Jamal follows his dharma throughout the film by being a good brother to Saliam to spite some of the wicked ways his brother has treated him growing up. He is also following his dharma by caring for Latika even though situations are not always ideal for the couple. Jamal’s ridged childhood has scared him emotionally, but he managed to make a negative into a positive. Jamal learns, grows, and develops an optimistic outlook on life trying to make the best of what he had given his situation. Even when Jamal’s situation was worsened by external forces in addition to internal conflict he did not allow negativity to stand in the way of what he knew was right and wrong. Through following his moral compass Jamal followed his dharma. Following his dharma had a definite influence on Jamal’s karma. Throughout the film. Jamal does good things because he knew that they were the right thing to do, and not because he is trying to get anything in return. One example of an act of good karma belonging to Jamal might be said to be the first time that he helped friend Latika. Through comforting her after the loss of her parents, looking out for her as â€Å"the third musketeer† and sheltering her in the rain he was incurring good karma. In addition to the goodness of Jamal’s actions that radiate through the theme of the film, Jamal exemplifies truly trying to achieve oneness. Jamal’s innocence as a child and his selflessness as an adult are just two things that truly helped him to achieve oneness. It might even be said that after the film was viewed one can make the assumption that oneness was achieved for Jamal at the end. Once the couple reunites after being torn apart many times through their lives it might be said that when the couple finally walks into their future together there is a notable sense of harmony that can be observed. Conclusively, the film â€Å"Slumdog Millionaire† it is arguable that the main character Jamal achieves oneness, inherits good karma through his actions, and truly strives to do good therefore having a positive effect on his dharma. Jamal can even be said to have reached true success according to Vivekananda’s quote. This is true not because he has made it so far in the game show, but rather because he has found happiness by being an unselfish person and asking for nothing in return for his good deeds.

Psychology of Aesthetics: Overview of Theories

Psychology of Aesthetics: Overview of Theories How is aesthetic experience linked to familiarity and information? Critically discuss at least two theoretical perspectives and provide evidence based on the literature. The phenomenon of aesthetic experience refers to a preference judgement to sensory experience. This hedonic response has its roots from the philosopher Baumgarten 1750 (as cited in Reber et al, 2004) who likened the concept of sensation and perception pertaining to beauty, appreciation and art. The philosophical approaches influenced the endeavor to discover contributors to aesthetic experience. Conversely, Fechner adopted an empirical approach rather than the complex philosophical approaches to understanding aesthetic experiences. For instance, experimentation on stimulus properties and preference responses provided a more organized bottom – up approach. (Shimura and Palmer, 2014) Gestalt psychologists took on a holistic approach to the principles of perceptual organization. For instance, the principle of familiarity suggests that objects appear to be grouped if the groups are assured to be familiar or meaningful. (Goldstein, 2002) Another principle proposed is that stimulus patterns are pictured in a style that is the most simplistic. For example the Olympic symbol is not usually perceived as nine shapes within five circles but simply as five circles. Thus, Gesalt account does provide a reason into the perception of stimulus. However, Gesalt principles do not explain the role of familiarity and simplicity of information in aesthetic experience. (Goldstein, 2002) One explanation introduced by the processing fluency is the ease of processing information which consists of perceptual fluency and conceptual fluency. (Reber et al. 2004) Perceptual fluency refers to the ease of processing the perceptual features of a stimulus (Jacoby and Kelley,1987). Whilst, Conceptual fluency is the ease of processing the meaning of a stimulus, or the fluency of conceptually driven processing (Whittlesea, 1993). Prior exposure to stimuli can increase processing fleuncy this is the mere exposure effect report by Zajonc (1968) He theorized the more often an individual is exposed to an object the more likely they are to develop a preference for stimulus that is familiar than unfamiliar. He demonstrated the causal relation between mere exposure and attitude enhancement. Through a series of experiments nonsense words, Chinese ideographs and photographs of faces were presented in counter balanced order to participants and rated on a scale of how good or bad stimulus words meant and how favorable photographs were. Liking for a stimulus was found to be positively related to the amount of stimulus exposure. The proximity of experienced fluency and preference judgment can lead participants to misinterpret fluency as their preference reaction to the stimulus. Hence, repeated exposure of a stimulus increases perceptual fluency, which in turn increases the likelihood of misattribution to preference for stimulus. (Bornstein and D’Agostino, 1994).The mere exposure effect can provide an account for, different cultural preferences seen in society. For instance, Hannon et al. (2012) used simple rhythms common in American and Turkish music, complex rhythms common in Turkish music and highly complex rhythms not found in Turkish and American music. Turkish participants performed accurately in simple and complex conditions. However, they performed less accurately in highly complex condition. Conversely, Americans performed accurately when detecting disruptions to the simple rhythm. However, they performed less accurately on the complex and highly complex conditions. Nonetheless , the robustness of the mere exposure effect is controversial. Kali (1974) exposed children aged seven, nine and eleven years old to Chinese characters. Children then ranked the stimuli according to liking. The seven and nine year olds preferred the familiar characters and the eleven year olds preferred the novel stimuli. Another set of ranks taken three weeks after indicated that eleven year olds preferred the more familiar characters. It was proposed boredom effects intervened on preference ratings. Indeed, Borstein et al. (1990) suggests That, simple stimuli become boring in comparison to complex stimuli. Berlyne 1960,1974 (as cited in Messinger,1998) proposed that intermediate levels of information produce the highest ratings.Thus, Uncertainty of information is related to aesthetic preference in the inverted U shape function rather than the linear function proposed by the mere – exposure effect. Whilst, preference was based on stimulus related arousal, preference increases to maximal liking, as arousal potential reaches the optimal level. Furthermore, arousal leads to a decrease in liking thus displeasure increases. ( Martindale et al. 1990) This idea of information on preference derived from information theory which is based on mathematical principles. (Berlyne,1957) utilizing a logarithmic equation to measure information yielded by all possible combinations of a given number of stimuli. When there are equally likely possibilities in a stimulus set, the higher the figure the more informational stimulus tends to be, since more combinations are involved. Martindale et al. (1990) tested Berlyne’s predictions. In the first experiment they asked participants to rate their liking for a series of random polygons varying in size and number of turns. A rating scale has the advantage that it provides a degree of opinion rather than a binary response. Results indicated that polygons with ten turns were preferred and that size had no effect on preference. However, when the same experiment was repeated with a larger range of size and complexity levels. Preference was linearly related to complexity. This questioned the ecological validity and generalizability of Berlyne’s model. Martindale et al. (1990) This contradiction challenges the processing fluency account as a simple stimulus should be preferred as there is less information compared to complex stimulus. Perhaps the mediation of other factors plays an important role, such as expertise and expectation. Reber et al (2004) when expectections of complex stimuli are violated by e asy processing then this creates pleasure. Reber et al. (2004) Asethetic pleasure has been found to vary among experts and novices. People who are novices tend to prefer simple, protypical stimuli such as symmetry whereas experts prefer complex, asymmetrical stimuli. (McWhinnie, 1968) Preference for symmetrical sequences in body movement was investigated by Orgs et al. (2013). Participants were exposed to either symmetrical or asymmetrical sequences. Both groups, then rated the sequences. Results indicated that both groups rated symmetrical sequences higher. Participants in the asymmetrical group displayed an increase preference for asymmetrical sequences. This can be explained by the mere exposure effect. The influence of aesthetic preference on compositional structure and postural information may differ among novice and experts. Moreover, other behaviours such as the ability to identify the structure in aesthetic experience and if participants are asked to perform actions instead of using rating scales is to be explored. Jacobsen and Hoefel (2003) showed symmetrical and non symmetrical patterns and recorded whether participants judged them as beautiful or not beautiful. They correlated this to Event related potentials. The results indicated that symmetrical patterns were positively correlated to beautiful judgements. Aesthetic judgements related to anterior frontomedian and right hemisphere activation. This does provide an account of processing aesthetic appreciation occurring in specialized brain areas. Nevertheless, this correlation does not mean that specialized brain activation causes aesthetic preference for symmetrical patterns. Event related potentials (ERP) are difficult to detect in the electroencephalograms (EEGS) the ERP is combined with other electrical signals. However the procedure offers a non-invasive technique compared to other procedures which expose participants to radiation or injection. (Kolb and Wishaw, 2009) In addition, the variety of aesthetic preferences are not captured by the forced choice methods. Preference for symmetrical patterns may be due to fluent processing as there is less information to process. (Reber et al. 2004) The preference towards a given feature over another is not well explained. Bar and Neta (2006) Adopted an evolutionary perspective, they proposed sharp objects signal danger and curved objects signal safety. They found a preference for curved objects. Furthermore, there was no difference in reaction time, which challenges the perceptual fluency account. Findings support the mere exposure effect as real objects was preferred over novel patterns. Evolutionary perspective poses issues of falsification however, Carbon (2010) used realistic images of cars from 1950 to 1999 and found a preference for curved models, although fashion trends can also have an impact. The stimuli used is more realistic than rating polygons. In addition, this illustrates aesthetic experiences can change over time. The majority of the studies discussed explore aesthetic liking, however, many dimensions of aesthetic experiences exist. Such as, the pleasure of negative emotions is not captured well. In overview, the studies discussed suggest that the familiarity, novelty, complexity, simplicity of information plays an important role in aesthetic experiences. ( Zajonc,1968; Messinger ,1998) That is, preference for something is in between familiarity and novelty. As boredom intervenes with preference and familiarity. (Borstein et al.1990)Novelty can violate expectations and signal danger. (Reber et al.2004;Bar and Neta, 2006) This is similar for complex and simple information. Preference for something is between easy and challenging stimulus. ((McWhinnie,1968) Preference for things that is known can explain cultural differences in aesthetic experiences. (Hannon et al, 2012) Through neuroaesthetic approaches, specialized brain areas can be linked to aesthetic experience. (Jacobsen and Hoefel, 2003) Despite, different tastes neuroaesthetics can offer a way of investigating the underlying mechanisms involved in the aesthetic experience to generate a set of principles that influence aesthetic experiences. In a nutshell, the theoretical perspectives indicates detecting regularities and understanding information is something humans find aesthetically pleasing. References Bar.M,Neta.M (2006) Humans prefer curved visual objects. Psychological science,17,645-648. Berlyne.D.E. (1957) Uncertainity and conflict: A point of contact between information-theory and behaviour – theory concepts. The psychological review. 64,6. 329-339. Borstein.E.R,Kale.R.A,Cornell.R.K. (1990) Boredom as a Limiting Condition on the Mere Exposure Effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.58, 5, 791-800 Borstein.R.F, D’Agostino.P.R. (1992) Stimulus recognition and the mere exposure effect. Journal of personality and social psychology, 63, 545-552. Carbon.C.C. (2010) The cycle of preference: long –term dynamics of aesthetic appreciation. Acta psychologica, 134, 233-244. Goldstein.B.E (2002) Sensation and perception (6th edn) USA: Wadsworth. Hannon, E. E., Soley, G., Ullal, S. (2012, February 20). Familiarity Overrides Complexity in Rhythm Perception: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of American and Turkish Listeners. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. Jacobsen.T, Hoefel.L. (2003) Descriptive and evaluative judgement processes: Behavioural and electrophysical indices of processing symmetry and aesthetics. Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience.4, 289- 299. Jacoby, Larry L. and Colleen M. Kelley (1987),Unconscious Influences of Memory for a Prior Event, Personality Social Psychology Bulletin, 13 (March), 314-336. Kali.V.R (1974) Familarity and attraction to stimuli: Developmental change or methological artifact ? Journal of experimental child psychology. 18, 504 – 511. Kolb.B,Whishaw.Q.I (2009) Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology. (6th edn) New York: Worth publishers. McWhinnie.J.H. (1968) A review of research on aesthetic measure. Acta psychologica. 28, 363-375. Martindale.C,Moore.K,Borkum.J. (1990) Aesthetic preference: Anomalous findings for berlyne’s psychobiological theory. The American journal of psychology. 103,1, 53-80. Messinger.M.S (1998) pleasure and complexity: Berlyne revisted. The journal of psychology. 132, 5, 558-560. Orgs.G,Hagura.N,Haggard.p (2013) learning to like it: Aesthetic perception of bodies, movements and choreographic structure. Consciousness and cogition. 22, 603-612. Reber.R,Schwarz.N,Winkielman.P. (2004) processing fleuncy and aesthetic pleasure: is beauty in the perceiver’s processing experience ? Personality and social psychology review, vol: 8, 4, 364-382. Shimaura. P.A,Palmer. E.S.(2014) Aesthetic science connecting Minds, Brains and Experience. New York: Oxford university press. Whittlesea. A.W.B (1993) Illusions of familiarity. Journal of experimental psychology: Learning, memory and cognition. 19,6,1235-1253. Zajonc. R.B (1968) Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of personality and social psychology. 9, 1- 27.

Report For The Child Protection Case Conference Social Work Essay

Report For The Child Protection Case Conference Social Work Essay This report is prepared for the use of a Child Protection Case Conference for the five members of the Jones family. The Jones family consists of Mark (25) And Sue (21) and their three children John (6), Emma (4) and David who is just 3 weeks old. The conference is being held to consider the extent to which the needs of John, Emma and David are being met, as also the risks to which they are exposed. With the Child Protection Conference being a meeting between the parents of children and the people from different agencies who know the family, this report aims to provide a brief detail of the family scenario and a reflective commentary on the family circumstances, suitably supported by the theoretical and practical knowledge of the author on the risks faced by the children and the framework chosen for such risk assessment. This introductory section is followed by a brief overview of the case, a reflective commentary and finally a summative section. 2. Brief Case Details The appendix to this report provides details about the family scenario and can be accessed by users of this report. To state very briefly, the Jones family has three children. John, the eldest child suffers from speech delays and is exhibiting behavioural difficulties at home and school. He demands individual attention and has tendencies for uncontrollable anger and physical violence with children as well as grownups. He has also exhibited delinquent behaviour and has been reported for shock lifting. Emma, the second child is good natured, loves going to school, has been assessed to be developmentally advanced and loves her father. David, the newly born is a premature child and is not in the best of health. It is difficult to feed him and he cries often. Mark Jones the father has a history of youth offence, criminal behaviour and domestic abuse. He has grown up in poor social and economic circumstances and is now working as a driver of heavy vehicles, a job that often keeps him away from home. Sue the mother, had her first child when she was 15 and suffered from post natal depression. Not in the best of health and having suffered from domestic abuse, she finds it difficult to take care of her three children. Whilst she comes from an affluent background, she has little contact with her parents, who disapprove of Mark. 3. Reflective Commentary Caring and protecting children is now at the very core of the social work system of the UK (Cleaver, 2004, p 14). Whilst the importance of protecting, nurturing and nourishing children and the need to provide them with appropriate environments for achievement of physical, emotional and mental development has always been felt to be important by policy makers in the UK, a number of episodes that have taken place over the years show that children continue to be exposed to various dangerous and need suitable protection. The deaths of Victoria Climbie and Aliyah Ismail in 2000 and 1998 (BBC News, 2005, p 1) created enormous media uproar and public outrage and led to numerous legal and policy measures that aimed to protect and safeguard children (Norton, 1999, p 1). The recent deaths of Baby Peter and Khyra Ishaq, who died in terrible circumstances, the first on account of violence at the home (Duncan, et al, 2008, p 1) and the second from starvation, revealed that children continue to be in danger and in need of protection and safety, both in and out of their households (Carter, 2010, p 1). Appendix 2 provides horrifying details on a number of children who experienced violence that resulted in serious injury and even death. I have, in these circumstances tried to synthesise the various legal and policy measures that are available in the UK for protection and safety of children as well as assessment of the risks to which they are exposed, for the consideration of the Child Protection Conference on the needs of the children of the Jones Family. The legislative framework for child protection in England and Wales is provided by the Children Act 1989, further amended by the Children Act 2004 (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). The act defines harm as ill treatment or impairment of physical or mental health or physical, emotional, social, intellectual or behavioural development. The act also enshrines important principles. The paramountcy principle implies that the childs welfare should be paramount for decisions on his or her upbringing. The wishes and feelings of children should also be ascertained before the passing of any order (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). All efforts should be made for preservation of the home and family links of children. The law also underlines the importance of parental responsibility in the bringing up of children (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). A number of other acts like the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 also lay down the law on protection of children in different circumstances (NSPCC, 2010b, p 4). Apart from extensive legislation for safeguarding and protecting children, the government has introduced a series of policy measures after the death of Victoria Climbie and the publication of the Laming Report in 2003 (Department of Health, 2003, p 7). The Every Child Matters Programme details governmental policy for ensuring the safety, nourishment, growth and development of all children in the country (Department for Educationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2005, p 4). The guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children: a Guide to Inter-Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children defines child abuse and neglect and provides guidance on the action that agencies should take to protect children. The Framework for the Assessment of Children in need and their Families provides guidance to professionals to identify children in need and ascertain the best possible ways of helping such children and their families (NSPCC, 2010a, p 3). The children in the Jones family are being currently challenged by difficult circumstances. Mark, the father has a job that keeps him away from home for long periods and he is thus not really able to help in household work or bringing up the children, except by financial support. He has a history of criminality and domestic violence. Even though it should be considered that he is undergoing an anger management programme in order to overcome his emotional instability. Sue, the mother is just 21 and has already had three children. She also has a history of post natal depression, which could possibly surface again after the birth of David, the youngest child who is not even a month old. Coming from an affluent family, with whom she is estranged for some years, she is obviously unused to the very difficult family circumstances in which she is placed and the responsibilities of a mother of three children. The chances of all three children being neglected is very high in these circumstance s, where the father is not at home most of the time and is trying to overcome his emotional instability and aggressive behaviour and the mother is prone to depression, physically tired and worn out and has been burdened with the responsibilities of caring for and bringing up three young children. The three children in the family face the real danger of physical and emotional neglect. Such neglect could specifically harm their physical, emotional and cognitive wellbeing and development, affect their performance at school, expose them to dangers of under nourishment and illness and severely affect their life chances (Howe, 2005, p 31). Neglected children are also more prone to truant behaviour and substance abuse. John the eldest child already suffers from speech problems, attachment disorders, attention seeking behavioural problems, uncontrolled anger and tendencies for violence. Such a situation could have arisen because of attention deficits in his early childhood years and greater attention being given to his younger sister by his father. John now poses a serious physical threat to his two younger siblings because of his rage and violent disposition. Emma and David are open to the risks of neglect, as well as physical harm. Whilst Emma is the favourite of the family and sha res very good relationships with her parents and may not therefore be exposed to neglect, the condition of the youngest child David is precarious. A premature child who is given to suffering from colic, David needs extra care, support and sustenance, which may clearly be beyond the ability and capacity of Sue, in her frame physical condition and her history of post natal depression. Apart from neglect, which could harm her physical and emotional development at a crucial period in her life, he also faces the threat of physical violence from John, who can well hurt him badly in a fit of rage, if his demands for attention are not met. I feel it to be very obvious that the three children in the Jones family are at considerable risk, all three from neglect and the younger two also from violence. The GIRFEC (getting it right for every child) model provides a new approach for identification and meeting of needs of children. The model places the wellbeing of children and provides a common framework for assessment, planning and intervention across all agencies (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). Whilst the GIRFEC is a comprehensive model, it is specifically focused on taking the whole child approach, placing the child at the centre and keeping children emotionally and physically safe. Its ambit is thus broader than mere child protection (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). It adopts a holistic view and an evidence based approach, wherein the participation and opinions of the child and parents are important for good outcomes. The model has three important components, namely the Wellbeing Indicators, My Word Triangle and the Resilience Matrix, which can be used both separately and together for finding the best solution for children in need (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). The My Word Triangle in particular provides guidance to social workers on what children need from people who look after them. These include (a) everyday care and help, (b) keeping the child safe and (c) being there for the child. These three issues are specifically important for considering the circumstances of the three children of the Jones family (Lamey Rattray, 2009, p 2). 4. Summary and Conclusion This report has been prepared for the Child Protection Case Conference to consider the needs of the children of the Jones family, the extent to which they are being met and what more needs to be done to ensure the safety, development and growth of these children. Assessment of risk and ensuring safety of children is a vital element of current social work theory and practice in the UK. Extant legislation and programmes call upon social workers and other concerned agencies like the education and health services to work in close cooperation and collaboration with each other to ensure the safety and protection of children in need and at risk with the help of specific assessment frameworks, tools and processes. An application of the GIRFEC model reveals that the children of the Jones family could face difficulties on account of their parents not being able to provide adequate everyday care and help, keeping them safe and being there to ensure their physical and emotional care. These circu mstances become more ominous in light of the mothers frail health and past history of post natal depression, the frequent absence of the father from home on account of his work and the violent tendencies and behavioural problems of the eldest child. The conference must consider all these circumstances in order to appropriately assess the needs of the children and the extent to which they are being met and thereafter to plan for appropriate interventionist action. Bibliography BBC News, 2005, Climbie report urges childcare reform, Available at: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in/uk//victoria_climbie/default.stm (accessed February 28, 2011). Birchall Hallett, C., 1995, Working together in Child Protection, London: HMSO. Bodley, A., Risk Assessment and Child Protection, Creative Minds, Available at: www.mylearning.org/learning/science/Child%20Protection.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). Brandon, M., Howe, H., Dagley, V., Salter, C., Warren, C., 2006, What appears to be helping or hindering Practitioners in Implementing the common assessment Framework and lead, Professional working Child abuse Review, 15: 395-413. Carter, H., 2010, The tragedy of Khyra Ishaqs death, Available at: www.guardian.co.uk//khyra-ishaq-starving-death-background (accessed February 28, 2011). Cleaver, H., Walker, S., 2004, Assessing childrens needs and Circumstances, London: Jessica Kingsley. Department of Health, 2000, Assessing children in need and their families: practice guidelines, London: the Stationery office. Department of Health, 2003, The Victoria Climbie Inquiry report of an inquiry by Lord Laming, Available at: www.dh.gov.uk à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  Home  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  Publications (accessed February 28, 2011). Department for Education and skills, 2005, Every Child Matters, Green paper London: HMSO Duncan, C., Jones, S., Brindle, D., 2008, 50 injuries, 60 visits failures that led to the death of Baby P, The Guardian, Available at: www.guardian.co.uk//baby-p-child-protection-haringey (accessed February 28, 2011). Ferguson, H., 2004, Protecting children in Time: child abuse, Child Protection and Consequences of Modernity, London: Palgrave McMillan. Howe, D., 2005, Child Abuse and Neglect: Attachment, Development and Intervention, London: Palgrave Macmillan. Lamey, R., Rattray, M., 2009, The Shetland Guide to GIRFEC, GIRFEC Project Team, Available at: www.shetland.gov.uk/socialwork-health//1GuidetoGIRFEC.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). Norton, C., 1999, The sad life, grim death and terrible betrayal of Aliyah, 13, independent.co.uk, Available at: www.independent.co.uk à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  News  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  UK  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃ‚  Home News (accessed February 28, 2011). NSPCC, 2010a, The child protection system in the UK, National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children, Available at: www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform//child_protection_system_wdf76008.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). NSPCC, 2010b, An introduction to child protection legislation in the UK, National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children, Available at: www.nspcc.org.uk//child_protection_legislation_in_the_uk_pdf_wdf48953.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011). Unity Injustice, 2005, A Child Protection System so secret it Kills, Available at: www.unity-injustice.co.uk/child_victims.htm (accessed February 28, 2011). Wilson, K., James, A., 2007, The child Protection Handbook, London: Bailliere Tindall Ward, H., 1998, Using a Child development Model to assess the outcomes of Social Work Interventions with Families, Children and Society, 12 (3): 202-211. Appendices Appendix 1 Child Protection Case Conference Based on the Jones Scenario. (To consider to what extent the needs of John, Emma and David are being met). The Jones Family: background January 2010 The Jones family recently moved out of a council flat in city to small town rural area. They are struggling to pay the mortgage on their two bedrooms flat. There is no outside play area, and the flat is accessed via outside stairs. Mark Dad- 25 years old. Mark has a criminal record as a youth offender. He has a history of domestic abuse and is undertaking an anger management program. He is employed as an HGV driver. He has a large extended family. Marks background is working class with poor socio-economic circumstances. Sue Mum 21years old. At age 15 Sue had postnatal depression which was not recognized. She has a poor relationship with her own parents. They are very affluent; Sues mother continually expressed her disappointment in Sue when she was growing up and does not approve of her relationship with Mark. Sue has never worked she is pregnant with her third child. John Son (of Mark and Sue) 6 years old John has severe attachment issues. He is exhibiting behavioural difficulties and has a significant speech delay. He has been identified as requiring Additional Support for Learning. Emma Daughter (of Mark and Sue) 4 years old Emma is the favoured child. She is an easy child to care for and loves going to the nursery where it has been noted that she is developmentally advanced. She has a very good relationship with her dad. The Scenario: sequence of events Scenario January 2010 John starts at the local primary having transferred from a large school in the city. He is in a composite class of 5 and 6 year olds and he is one of the oldest. John has a significant speech delay. March 2010 Records for John have been requested from his previous school but have still to arrive. Meanwhile, his teacher, Mrs Smith is having difficulty managing Johns behaviour. He is very demanding of individual attention and if this is not forthcoming he becomes very angry. He throws things around the classroom and over the past two weeks has hit three younger children. He has also kicked his teacher. He has been reported for shoplifting and has been grounded by his parents for bad behaviour. His anger is exacerbated because he has difficulty in communicating. Additional information April 2010 David was born prematurely last month, and was small for gestational age. He is difficult to feed and is very colicky. He cries a lot and is now 3 weeks old. Following the birth of David, Mary the health visitor has visited the family home to offer support and advice to Sue. Sue present as tired, flat and listless. The house is disorganised. Sue tells Mary that David is a really difficult baby to feed and that he cries constantly. Mark cannot help as his job takes him away from the family home for extended periods of time. On the rare occasions he is at home, he is tired, irritable and sleeps a lot. The situation in the home is not helped by the constant demands of John. However Emma is co-operative happy and helps her mother around the home and with the baby.

American Intervention in WWII Essay -- World War II

World War II is generally viewed to be a moral war, or, as Howard Zinn would put it, â€Å"a good war.† This conventional impression of World War II results from American propaganda, along with misinterpretations of related events. Quite the contrary, the United States’ foreign policy, especially during World War II, was driven by imperialist goals rather than humanitarian concern. These foreign interventions are usually justified using political ideologies that advocate the spread of democracy but the United States government fails to act in the interests of the common people in other countries; instead, the US government intervened in foreign countries to protect its own needs and those of its private corporations. In addition, the United States faced competition from other countries, Japan for example, and was naturally pressured into maintaining its superiority internationally. In order to preserve its power, the American government used its ties with Europe to try and amass as much power needed. In the end, this American competition with Japan, American relationship with Europe and the civil injustices within the US prove that this war, as good as it may seem, was motivated by imperialist objectives. American intervention in World War II is generally viewed as a positive act because, as Howard Zinn described, â€Å"It was a war against an enemy of unspeakable evil. Hitler’s Germany was extending totalitarianism, racism, militarism and overt aggressive warfare†; by merely entering the war, the United States gives off an impression of compassion and interest in the welfare of other people. American reaction to Mussolini, for example, demonstrated that, on a rather superficial scale, the United States did in fact attempt to h... ...Pain of WWII Interned Japanese Americans†. BBC. 2009. Web. March 29th 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17080392. Grevin, James. â€Å"History of US Foreign Policy since World War II.† Internationalism. 2004. Web. March 30th 2012. http://en.internationalism.org /ir/113_us_policy.html N/A. â€Å"How did Participation in America’s Wars affect Black Americans?†. American Studies Today Online. 2007. Web. March 28th 2012. http://www.americansc. org.uk/Online/Woodland.htm Office of the Historian. â€Å"The Atlantic Conference and Charter, 1941†. US Department of State. Web. March 30th 2012. http://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/AtlanticConf. Steven. â€Å"World War II: A People’s War?†. Libcom. 2009. Web. March 27th 2012. http://libcom.org/history/world-war-ii-peoples-war-howard-zinn Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper Collins,.2003.

Tension in Witchs Money Essay -- Witchs Money Essays

Tension in Witch's Money  Ã‚   In John Collier's "Witch's Money," the stranger who suddenly appears in a remote mountain village in Spain is initially seen by Foiral as an unwelcome madman. Certainly his surrealist description of the landscape must seem a symptom of insanity to one unfamiliar with the trends of modern art. Once he offers a nice sum of money to buy Foiral's house, however, the stranger is treated with a new attitude. He is still not completely accepted by the community that he has moved into, but he does wield a new type of power simply because only he can produce cash from paper billets. With his magic cheques, though, the stranger creates a tension that grows into an economic struggle between himself and his community. Even worse, the stranger unknowingly creates a conflict among the natives of the town who have been a united group. Ultimately, because of the power that the "witch's" money brings into this community, the people of the town -- once happy and content -- are destroyed, and so is the community as a whole. Despite his unconventional art, this stranger is a misbegotten missionary for the decadent values of Western civilization, and with his money he brings the disease of capitalism to the innocent village. One of the first signs of a struggle between the stranger and the community arises when the villagers voice their suspicions about him. They seem to think that the stranger is fabricating details in order to hide a secret perhaps. For example, Arago points out that the stranger claims to have "[come] from Paris" but also "that he was an American" (67). The fact that the stranger has no relations adds to the town's suspicions. More importantly, though, Foiral and the town are skeptical about t... ...e to him'" (75). Thus, at the end of the story the townsfolk laugh at Guis as they march to the bank to demand their money. Guis, they believe, has nothing while they have a remarkable treasure in cheques. Little do they know that disaster awaits when they demand payment for their blank cheques. When their demand is refused, their little town will no longer be happy and content. Moreover, their attempt to cash the cheques will lead to the discovery of the artist's murder and the ruin of the village. The doors of prison will swing shut upon them as quickly as the doors of the bank do. But in reality the village has already been ruined, its innocence destroyed by the capitalistic power of witch's money. Works Cited Collier, John. "Witch's Money." 1939. Short Story Masterpieces. Ed. Robert Penn Warren and Albert Erskine. New York: Dell, 1958. 61-75.   

Financial Planning Essay

1.How can using personal financial planning tools help you improve your financial situation? Describe changes you can make in at least three areas. Personal financial planning helps you create a stable future and improve helps create a stable future and improve your financial status by creating a plan that lets you save and invest your money so that it can start working for you. A comprehensive financial plan can enhance the quality of your life and increase satisfaction by reducing uncertainly about your future needs and resources. The advantages of personal financial planning can 1. Increase effectiveness in obtaining, using, and protecting your financial resources throughout your lifetime. Secondly, increase control of your financial affairs by avoiding excessive debt, bankruptcy and dependence on others for economic security. Lastly, improve personal relationships resulting from well planes and effectively communicated financial decisions. A sense of freedom from financial worrie s obtained by looking to the future, anticipating expenses, and achieving your personal economic goals. 2.Explain the life cycle of financial plans and their role in achieving your financial goals. Financial and personal satisfaction is the result of an organized process that is commonly referred to as personal money management or personal financial planning. Personal financial planning is the process of managing your money to achieve personal satisfaction. Every person, family or household has a unique financial position, and any financial activity therefore must also be carefully planned to meet specific needs and goals. To achieve these and other goals, people need to identify and set priorities. 3.Discuss the reasons for the changes in your goals and how you’ll need to adapt your financial plans as a result. For many families, one of the biggest sources of disagreements and aggravation is the subject of family financial planning. Before I became a mom I planned on just having fun, shopping all the time and taking road trips but the reason for the changes in my goal is because I have a daughter now I have to think about her and not just myself. Having control of my finances means a lot more than just getting control of money. It means getting a handle on my habits both thinking and spending as well as my short and long term goals. I need to  adapt my financial plans by building new habits, reducing stress, controlling my spending and aligning priorities. 4.How should you use this information to make personal financial and career planning decision? After reading the current and projected trends with regard to the GDP growth, unemployment, and inflation. I plan to finance wisely and not spend money all crazy without a care in the world. I have a family now and I don’t want my daughter to struggle like I have too. As for my career I plan to have short and long term goals. I don’t expect to stay in one field, I always had the mindset to where I want to expand and explore different career path. I know things happen and the economy can be pretty messed up and I don’t want to end up jobless and have to stress about finding a new job so I plan to go beyond the dream I am chasing. However, just in case I was to end jobless smartly financial planning is a good thing to do because I can have money already in the bank and be able to pay my bills without going into debt. No one likes to struggle because all it does is cause s tress and problems, so I plan to stay on the right track and that is continuing going to school and providing a stable life for my family.

Narcotic Drugs

In this paper I will discuss the details the classification of narcotic drugs in criminal law, forensic evidence needed to obtain a conviction in a drug case. The term narcotic implies a state of lethargy or sluggishness. Pharmacologists classify narcotic drugs as substance that bring relief from pain and produce sleep. Unfortunately narcotic has come to be popularly associated with any drugs that is socially unacceptable, as a consequence of this incorrect usage many drug are improperly call narcotics. Most drug laws in the United States incorrectly designated marijuana as a narcotic; even now many drug controlled laws in the United States including federal law, classify cocaine as a narcotic drug (Saferstein 2011, p193). A large number of drug users are in daily contact with a range of criminal justice organizations. The police enforce laws relating to illegal drugs and unlawful activities that surround drug use. It is important to recognize that relationship between drug and crime are unclear. Drug use leads to crime; second crimes leads to drug use and third drugs and crime are related to social force (Hughes, p, 75, 2006). When a forensic chemist picks up a drug specimen for analysis, he or she can expect to find just about anything, so all contingencies must be prepared for. The analysis must leave no room for error because its results will have a direct bearing on the process of determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant. There is no middle ground in drug identification either the specimen is a specific drug or its not and once a positive conclusion is drawn, the chemist must prepared to support and define the validity of the results in the court of law (Saferstein 2011, p204). When someone is accused of a crime involving drugs, more than likely the drugs were taken from their person or property will go from hand to hand as they are processed, analyzed, stored, and sent to the courtroom as evidence. Every time a change of hands occurs, it must be documented to ensure that the evidence was not tampered with or handled negligently. The process that evidence goes through from the time it is seized to the time it reaches the courtroom is called the â€Å"chain of custody. Implementing chain of custody is necessary it’s the start of the foundation of the evidence in question, by showing the absence of alteration, substitution, or change of condition. Specifically, foundation testimony for tangible evidence requires that exhibits be identified as being in substantially the same condition as they were at the time the evidence was seized, and that the exhibit has remained in that condition through an unbroken chain of custody. For example, suppose that in a prosecution for possession of illegal narcotics, police sergeant A recovers drugs from the defendant; A gives police officer B the drugs; B then gives the drugs to police scientist C, who conducts an analysis of the drugs; C gives the drugs to police detective D, who brings the drugs to court. The testimony of A, B, C, and D constitute a â€Å"chain of custody† for the drugs, and the prosecution would need to offer testimony by each person in the chain to establish both the condition and identification of the evidence, unless the defendant stipulated as to the chain of custody in order to save time. Conclusion: Narcotic drugs will forever be around. It’s a complex problem throughout society. It affects people from the newborn stage to old age. Narcotic drugs, takes an enormous toll on lives and communities, especially in developing countries and its contribution to the overall burden and will to increase in the future.