Rationale and Methodology

The biblical account of the battle between David and Goliath is a story which offers inexhaustible life-lessons. For instance, when seen within the context of problem solving, one can put on the shoes David and say, â€Å"Goliath is so big, I don’t stand a chance†, or â€Å"Goliath is so big, I can’t miss. † Suffice it to say that these perspectives sufficiently determine whether one ends up as triumphant or looser in life.This paper presents an analysis of the rigors involved in ensuring the continued presence and progressive expansion of BAE Systems in Kava, an island in the South Pacific which, by right of analogy, is one humungous Goliath both literally and figuratively. As such, this paper is not so much concerned with providing concrete alternatives as prospective solutions in view of the aforesaid goal, as this is more an attempt to firstly identify the issues and problems that the company presently faces. It is also to be expected that the norms go verning critical thinking shall be employed herein in as many instances as possible.Circumscribing Goliath: Challenges and Opportunities in Kava Alex’s candid but straightforward assessment of the conditions in Kava clearly states the need for a lot of brainstorming. As in the case for most strategic planning, one sits on a problem with thoughtful consideration to determine all contributing causes in order to address them with correct solutions. Simply put, to solve a problem means to first identify it, give it a name, determine its enormity, measure its impact, and even anticipate its damage. In fact, the rules governing scientific investigation (and even correct logic for that matter) also suggest the same thing.Solving problems, it maintains, â€Å"begins when (one) is confronted with something that appears to need explanation† (Copi and Cohen, p. 552). Unless one is willing to take time in studying the intricate details of the problem, one is most likely to ‘ miss’ the target in the process. Besides, most psychologists have noted that â€Å"most people’s spontaneous and intuitive approaches to problems† end up â€Å"frequently wrong† (Halpern, 1996, p. 6). Taking time to map subsequent courses of action truly starts with going into the problem with much thought and consideration.After all, having a â€Å"well defined† or â€Å"ill-defined† problem determines the success rate of anyone who tries to get into the bottom of a given crisis (Halpern, 1996, p. 317) The first task in slaying the Kava-Goliath therefore lies in this: circumscribe it. On the one hand, one can look at Kava with eyes fixed on the challenges it poses; i. e. , one needs to isolate the problems (Sofranac, 2006). First, the problem of geography. Kava is an island; and most likely, its being separated from mainland economies can mean that transporting goods to and from the place will be more costly than doing business in an easily accessible land.Not only would it mean higher budgetary allocation for transport of BAE Systems goods, it can also spell delays and – in times of typhoons, tornadoes or volcanic eruption – suspension of business all together. Second, the problem of demography and its influence on Kava’s economy. It was said that nearly 50% of the island’s population are 15 years and below. If one were to translate it in economic transcripts, it would be safe to assume that only 40% of the population, or less, are working to fuel the economy. A portion, say 5-10% of the population must be regarded as incapacitated and/or elderly.Thus, the younger composition of Kava’s demography means that its economy more consumptive than productive. This does not yet consider the state of health of the working populace. In an island – contained as it were – where HIV or Avian flu is reported, the rate of business expansion is most likely to be affected by the workfo rce either suffering from, or fearing the spread of the diseases thereof. Third, on the viability of return investment for BAE. There is a need to consider the nature of the business the BAE Systems is engaged with, in relation to the needs of the island.These factors properly determine the health of the supply and demand market which BAE needs to handle. It must be noted well that BAE supplies products which are not so much accessible to, or are needed by general public consumers. BAE Systems deliver products which include, but not limited to communication and identification devices, â€Å"navigation and warfare solutions†, warfare systems, fighters and missiles, â€Å"countermeasure for both military and commercial aircraft†, among others (Wikipedia). On the other hand, one may also need to look at Kava with eyes fixed on opportunities; i. e. , one needs to also explore alternatives (Sofronac, 2006).While Kava may be an island full of challenging conditions for the c ompany, it is not an utterly hopeless place to conduct business with. One should also consider that its economy is driven by production of Petroleum, a lucrative and profit generating business to say the least. Surely, this type of business needs to protect itself from threats of terrorism, which the country is not unfamiliar with. Second, one should consider too the cheap but quality cost of labor throughout the island.It is something that the company can capitalize from, in order to create an excellent workforce for the company. One may also explore the cheaper operation costs for the company as the island seems to produce an array of crop-produces for its own consumption. Preliminary Recommendation: First things first To be sure, the process of formulating problems does not end up with the identification of forces involved only. There is a need to further classify them. At the very least, one needs to see which problems are urgent – and therefore needs immediate attention – as against which ones need long term attention due to complexity.The continued presence of BAE in Kava demands that it first focus on squaring with the urgent problems at hand: the high cost of having to weather geographical and environmental difficulties, the equally costly transport of goods and services (because it is an island), the need to establish cheap but competent workforce, and the tall prospect of having the business survive the supply-demand market. Since in most decision making process, one would find being confronted with a multitude of goals given a limited number of resources (Betsch and Haberstroh, 2004, p.1), ensuring that these aforementioned priorities are first met will be fundamental l to the achievement of such goal BAE sets. Critical thinking dictates that in a decision making process, â€Å"maximizing payoffs and minimizing risks† is a rule of prime importance (Betsch and Haberstroh, 2004, p. 1). While there are other smaller, but legitimate concerns to address – such as logistics, difference in time frame, re-supply issues, among others – contemplating seriously on solving the most fundamental concerns pertinent to doing business is an essential ingredient to savoring success.References Betsch, T. and Haberstroh, S, eds. (2004). The Routines of Decision Making. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Copi, I. and Cohen, C. Introduction to Logic (Tenth Edition). Prentice Hall International Editions. Halpern, D. (1996). Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Sofronac, R. (2006). Preparing Business Scenario Analyses. University of Phoenix: Unpublished Reprinted with permission. www. wikipedia. com. Retrieved 09 June 2008.

American Government: The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights is the first ten of the amendments in the United States Constitution which was ratified in 1789. The Bill of Rights was drafted to limit the powers of the federal government and to enhance protection for all of the individual citizens.Amongst the rights that the Bill of Rights promotes are the following: (1) right to speech; (2) freedom of the press and religion; (3) right to keep and bear arms; (4) freedom of assembly; (5) freedom to petition; (6) protection from unreasonable search and seizure; (7) protection against cruel punishment; (8) freedom from self incrimination; (9) right to speedy and impartial trial; (10) and representation by counsel (â€Å"United States Constitution†).The Bill of Rights is an essential and fundamental part of the United States Constitution, as it mirrors the struggle of the citizens to fight for their freedom and rights. The ratification of the Bill of Rights came from the government's purpose of protecting the individual righ ts. Democracy and liberty were amongst the top priorities in drafting the bill. These two have become the main aspects of the framework for shaping the way policies and laws were formulated (â€Å"The Bill of Rights† and â€Å"The New Nation†).However, there were still flaws and issues that the bill was not able to cater to. Although the intention of the bill was to provide protection for individuals, there were issues relative to it that weren't tackled in the bill. For example, slave trade wasn't given priority in the bill of rights which made the issue even worse during the Civil War (â€Å"The New Nation†). But nonetheless, the Bill of Rights still stands as the heart and soul of the American Consitituion as it reflects all the struggles towards freedom by the American community.Works Cited The Bill of Rights: A Brief History. 4 March 2002. American Civil Liberties Union. 20 February 2008 The New Nation (1790-1828). (n. d. ) America's Library. 20 February 2 008 United States Constitution. (n. d. ) Cornell University Law School. 20 February 2008

The Effects of Neuromarketing in Consumer Behavior

Neuromarketing helps many companies and academics to understand how the neurons in our brains behave in such a way that stimulates and influences our desire to consume products from a particular brand. The purpose of my research was to find out what influences my buying decisions referencing the book Buy-ology by Martin Lindstrom, which talks a about a Neuromarketing study that used 2,000 volunteers from around the world and related to the concepts learned in Consumer Behavior class. A personal consumption Journal is an excellent source of information that describes in detail my personal consumption experiences helping me to be more attentive of my consumer habits when marketers try to influence my judgment towards a product. The journal of Stephen J Gould states that â€Å"introspection involves the provision of verbal data about one’s own experiences that are consciously available only to oneself†. The data I collected with my journal was important and useful because it gave me the opportunity to compare the findings of Lindstrom with my personal experiences as an active consumer of a capitalist society. The journal was a challenging task for me because it took me a long time to be adapted to maintain up to date the log, eventually it became a routine. My consumer journal revealed that I was constantly seduced by companies to buy more products of their brand using my sensory receptors to attract my attention. An example was Victoria secret, my favorite lingerie and beauty store that seduce me to enter the store with an appealing smell and a mannequin wearing beautiful lingerie. Once you walk into the store there is a feeling of privacy and comfort. A quote from my Journal says â€Å"the lovely smell and texture of the Victoria secret cream increase my desire to come back and buy more products†. I immediately related my experience with the concept learned in class about sensation which is the instant reaction of the sensory organs to a stimulus. Companies try to create unique scents for their products in order to remain in the mind of the shoppers. One example is the Johnson and Johnson’s baby cream that just by a quick smell of the product; you will be immediately transported to your childhood memories. Lindstrom states that these kinds of associations are why companies use the mell of vanilla which is found in breast milk. An experiment carried out by a clothing store revealed that when the vanilla scents were sprayed across the women’s department, sales of the female merchandising increase in high numbers. Today companies are more frequently adopting the Sensory branding because if the consumer perceives a enjoyable scent with an attractive and seductive product, we are more likely to remember the product making it easy to the company to stay in your subconscious. Many companies around the world are using Neuromarketing to meet success in launching their new product. One example is Christian Dior, which scanned its new perfume J’adore to a series of FMRI studies to determine its ad placements in the market. As a result, they gathered a great success in selling their perfume J’adore and coincidentally having me as one of their loyal consumer. Neuroscience is so powerful that can even determine by brain scans how much a consumer is willing to pay for a good or service. Lindstrom conducted a series of studies on how a consumer perceives prices and if it had an influence on the decision of buying the product. He says â€Å"When subjects view luxury products such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci being sold at full price, both the nucleus accumbens and the anterior cingulated light up, showing the pleasure of anticipatory reward mixed with the conflict about buying such an expensive doodad. But when consumers are shown the same products at a significant discount, the â€Å"conflict† signal decreases as the reward activation simultaneously goes up† (Lindstrom, 2008, 197). In my log, I wrote my experience when buying a dress for a special dinner I had in October. I went to the Guess store to try to find the perfect outfit for my special occasion, all the merchandise I liked was at retail price so I decided to go to Macys and look in the guess section for my surprise the dress I wanted in guess was priced at 25% off at Macys. In my mind the price of the dress persuade me to buy the item thinking that I was getting a good deal. The study of Lindstrom and my personal experience was a clearly example of reference prices which is the price a consumer utilize as a source for comparison in judging another price. Lindstrom recalls an interesting study in his book performed by researches from Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology in which they asked twenty volunteers to position their pleasure and delight of different priced wines under an FMRI. The trap was that two of the wines were presented twice, one with a high price and the other with a low price. The findings of the researches state â€Å"When the expensive wine was presented, there was a flurry of activity in subjects’ medial orbitofrontal cortices, where they perceive pleasantness-indicating that the higher price of a product enhances our enjoyment of it†. In my opinion, the use an expensive product makes us feel pleased because in our minds we relate quality with expensive prices which is not always true. In Colombia the prices of low quality clothing are very high compared with the income of the population. Every time I go back home I complain about the market and their prices, entrepreneurs tend to take advantage of the people by buying merchandise at a low price in the U. S and china and selling in Colombia for five times the wholesale price. I understand that is a business and profit need to be made but an extremely high price in products limits the consumer capacity to consume. The book Buy-ology by Martin Lindstrom explains how his recent research in Neuroscience reveals revolutionary concepts about how people are influence by various advertisements strategies. Lindstrom through a detail study of the brain evaluates the effectiveness of the subconscious ads and is able to determine that they are actually more effective than the traditional advertisement logos. In his book he explains the effectiveness of subliminal advertisement campaigns and depicts real life scenarios of the marketing world. Lindstrom in his three year study, with a cost of seven million, engaged some of the top Neuroscientists – Dr Gemma Calvert current chair in applied Neuroimaging at the University of Warwick, England and founder of Neurosense in Oxford was in charge of overseeing the research team for this study. One of the conducted case studies was to discover if subliminal messages would produce cravings similar to the ones generated by the traditional logos. They picked the tobacco industry for this experiment since it is one of the industries which have been forced to adopt new marketing strategies due to the global tobacco advertisement ban effort. Tobacco companies such as Marlboro and Camel have implemented subliminal messages in response to this ban which have now, after this research, proven to be more effective. Lindstrom writes â€Å" More fascinating still, when Dr Calvert compared the brains’ responses to the two different types of images, she found even more activity in the reward and craving centers when ubjects viewed the subliminal images than when they viewed the overt images. In other words, the logo-free images associated with cigarettes, like Ferrari and the sunset, triggered more cravings among smokers than the logos or images of the cigarette pack themselves† ( Lindstrom, 2008,84). Formula one being one of the top most watched sports in the world created an association between the competing teams and tob acco brands. Prior to the tobacco bans Formula one teams’ were sponsored primarily by cigarette companies such as Marlboro, Camel, Lucky Brand, etc and their logos were decaled all over the cars. For all those who were acquainted with the sport, this long-lasting relationship between teams and tobacco brands created an association in people’s perceptions that still exist today even when the tobacco logos have been removed form the cars. A clear example of this is Ferrari with Marlboro, their cars, drivers and mechanics jumpsuits are red just like the Marlboro original brand logo, but more interesting that this long lasting partnership with Phillip Morris was the barcode logo that they had been using up until the beginning of this year, which according to the experts, resembles the bottom of a Marlboro cigarette pack. John Britton, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and director of its tobacco advisory group, states, â€Å"according to the Times: â€Å"The bar code looks like the bottom half of a packet of Marlboro cigarettes. I was stunned when I saw it. This is pushing at the limits. If you look at how the bar code has evolved over the last four years, it looks like creeping branding. † (Pitpass. com). As being a Formula One fan myself, I experienced similar results to those conducted by Lindstrom. In my Journal, I noticed that my friends and I were always purchasing Marlboro cigarettes after watching a race. Unconsciously, I was having a desire to smoke without having being exposed to a Marlboro logo but instead having watched a red Ferrari car race around a circuit for two hours. This indicates that Marlboro has used subliminal message campaigns effectively through their partners creating a greater desire in consumers to purchase their product. This notion contradicts some of the findings of the effectiveness of subliminal persuasion in the book Consumer behavior (chapter 6). The book consumer behavior says â€Å"There is no evidence that subliminal advertising persuades people to buy goods and services. A comprehensive review of the literature indicates that subliminal perception has no effects on attitudes toward products and consumption behavior and that most of its effects were discovered in highly artificial situations†. In my research, I learned a lot about the mirror neurons which are accountable for why we imitate other individual’s behavior. The mirror neurons are responsible for when we try to lower our voices when someone is whispering. In terms of consumer behavior we can relate this concept to when we go to the mall and see a mannequin with an amazing dress with the matching shoes and purse that make her look elegant and slim. The consumer immediately buys the dress thinking that we as consumers are going to look the same if we acquiring the style and image that the store wants to sell us. In my journal, I found many scenarios where the mirror neurons influenced my rational thinking and caused me to unconsciously purchase what the store was displaying. In my visit to Hollister, one of the top 10 US clothing brands, I saw a female model at the entrance of the store wearing ultra casual red sweeter that immediately caught my attention because the color was perfect for the Christmas season, which then lead me to go inside the store to purchase the sweeter. The mirror neurons triggered my desire to buy the cool-looking sweeter I saw at Hollister. In conclusion, I was overwhelmed by the responsibility that our neurons and subconscious plays in our consumer behavior and how we attach to certain brands. In my opinion, Neuromarketing will soon be an essential source of information for marketers in terms of predicting the future of a new product in the market. The book Buy-ology explains the latest findings involving brains scans and successfully related to sales and purchases. Overall, Buy-ology gave me the opportunity to compare the statements of the book consumer behavior with the findings of Lindstrom and Dr. Calvert. After the consumer behavior class, I have come to acknowledge my consumer habits and be aware of the marketing strategies that influence my decision-making process.

Final Case Study and Strategic Plan- Starbuck's Global Quest 2006

Final and Strategic Plan- Starbuck's Global Quest 2006 - Case Study Example Introduction In the modern world, coffee is one of the most popular refreshment beverages with nearly US$80 billion sales in retail every year. Starbucks is one of the largest coffee houses of the world, with 20,366 stores in 61 countries (Alvarado et al., 2007; Khattab et al., 2013). Starbucks started its venture in 1971 in Seattle Pike place with the objective of providing coffee with immense quality and taste. It was initiated by three academics Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel and Gordon Bowker. Starbucks in later years was joined by Howard Schultz who led the marketing strategies to make it famous worldwide. In 1982, the company was taking a new outlook in its endeavor after Schultz visited Italy and saw a promising future for Starbucks in the coffee industry. He utilized the resources and the ability of Starbucks in providing quality beans for establishing a coffee bar named as II Giornalle. The concept of coffee bar was proving to be a successful endeavor for Starbucks. Due to the ac ceptance of Schultz’s strategies Starbucks gained importance in the market and it was highly appreciated by the people. Through his strategic management skills and marketing skills, he purchased Starbucks in the year 1987 and renamed it as Starbuck Corporation. The coffee bar II Giornalle was renamed as Starbucks Corporation by Schultz as the brand was known by people and was readily acceptable. Schultz was by then the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company and was trying hard to implement strategies to expand the business and make outlets in various regions such as Chicago and Vancouver. In the 1990s, the company saw expansion by opening 676 stores and providing in-house music to make the people feel relaxed while enjoying the coffee. Starbucks flourished worldwide by the year 2000 and is still strategizing to make the business more popular and financially sound (Shah et al., 2010). The present mission of the company is â€Å"to inspire and nurture the human spirit â €“ one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time† (Starbucks Corporation, 2013). The company ranks 208th in the Fortune 500 list along with generating revenue of US$13,299.5 million (Cable News Network, 2013). The performance of the company experiences upsurge in the revenue but its profit earning is considerably low due to several factors such as competition from the rivals. Thesis Statement The objective of the study is to evaluate the economic, marketing and the financial condition of Starbucks. The organizational structure and the issues faced by the company are evaluated. Correspondingly, a report entailing three-year strategic management proposal to Starbucks’ managing board of directors would be provided. Economic Assessment The economy of a country plays an important role in the success and failure of a business. The global turmoil in the economy in the recent past affected the business of various companies and also affected the strategies they implemen t. The economic slowdown of various countries affected the consumer behavior pattern and hence affected the profit of the companies in the recent past years. With regard to Starbucks, the economic condition also affected the profitability and the market share of the company as the countries such as Greece and Spain which were like cash cow turned out to be question mark. This implies that the market share

Opinion Essay on 'The Interest Communities' Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Opinion on 'The Interest Communities' - Essay Example Webber believes that a person’s work environment and the people within their work community is not their place-community, as it is only a place in which they work. Where they live and interact with people outside of work, however, is their place-community. Though the article was written in 1964, Webber’s insights in regards to neighbourhoods and neighbourhood change can be applicable to the present. Webber states that communication between people, outside of the work environment, depends solely on the proximity between where the person is and where they want to go. He goes on to say that while proximity is important, accessibility to the place is another vital factor. In the 1960s, due to the lack of technology that we have now, the only way people could really communicate with friends or attend clubs or meetings would be to drive to them. There were no methods such as e-mail, text messaging, cell phones, or the perks of having the Internet, so they would have to depend on places that were close to them and within driving range. Even though this generation has every possible method of communication, many people still depend and rely on the places that are closest to them. The closer a place is and the easier it is to get there, the more likely a person will go there than elsewhere. Furthermore, as in the 1960s, in this day and age, people also depend on what they have close to them in regards to friends and companions – the closer a neighbor is, the better the relationship could be. According the Webber, neighbourhoods change according to the times and the growth of businesses. Though people prefer to live closer to their place of employment, and the majority of them move to be closer to their businesses, their place-community remains to be the place they spend their time outside of work. The main people of communication are not the people they work with, but with the people that they associate with outside of

Outline of Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Outline of Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example It explains how nature tries to balance the differences of men and women so they will be able to mate. An example is the equalization of testosterone levels between the sexes. Studies by Dr. Marazziti, a professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pisa revealed that other levels of hormones, like serotonin and oxytocin gets altered in the early phases of a romance, but eventually goes back to normal after some time. Related to the article of Kahn, this article, a magazine article whimsically written as a narrative discusses the physiological effects of romance. It reports anthropologist Helen Fisher’s studies on the biochemical pathways of love in all its manifestations: romance, lust, attachment, etc. Fisher has done experiments on people â€Å"in love† by putting them in MRI machines and studying how their brain works when shown a photograph of their beloved ones. It was found out that the effect is stimulating the part of the brain associated with reward and pleasure and stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for creating intense energy, exhilaration, focused attention, and motivation to win rewards. The article also discussed studies by Donatella Marazitti, (previously mentioned in the annotation before this current one) who studied the similarities of low serotonin hormone levels of people in love and people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It also shares other biological effects of passion and romance, the way dopamine levels of passionate lovers are high when a romance is new but when it gets comfortable enough, couples thrive on oxytocin, the hormone responsible for attachment to one another. This article reports the advantages of sex and gets into a discussion of non-verbal signals women give out during the courtship period of a romantic relationship. Some signals that women give out when they are interested in a man is flashing eyebrows, eye contact, smiling, primping, showing of palms, running fingers

Outsorcing and Exchange Traded Funds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Outsorcing and Exchange Traded Funds - Essay Example These reasons have been adduced as the causes of outsourcing by United States. It has therefore become a trend for developed economies to outsource their processes to emerging markets. Emerging economies are those economies with relatively cheap cost of labor. As a result of outsourcing their processes, multinational companies have to exchange their home currencies in the foreign exchange market in order to acquire the currencies in the countries of operations. Exchange rate is the price of one currency in terms of problems. In this paper, the US dollar has been compared with Brazilian currency, the realm, over the last five years (Lydon, 2005). Business process outsourcing has been made in the information technology sector, financial sector, telecommunication sector and other after sales services. Brazil has become a preferred country for outsourcing since this has become one of the government strategies to create more employment opportunities and increase the gross domestic product . As a matter of fact, Brazil has become a preferred calling center. The rate of exchange in the years has kept on varying depending on the forces of demand and supply in the various countries. The country is rated next to Mexico and Europe irrespective of the proximity of these states. The preference of Brazil has been favored by the time zone, strong government support, conformity of culture high rates of fluency and growing technology (Stouffer, 2011). With the increasing outsourcing in Brazil, 25000 direct jobs and 75000 indirect jobs have been created. One of the major sectors that have actually grown is the IT section where the country’s size is the 8th in the world. The pooled skilled labor has enabled outsourcing in this country a preference. Outsourcing in the banking industry and the information providing areas has made Brazil increase it’s outsource capacity. The question that many ask is whether the fluctuating Brazil currency could be a hindrance to outsou rcing in Brazil. When companies establish their operations in a foreign country, the challenge that must be met is the competition with the home companies (Casale, 2008). The history of the US dollar against the realm from 2006 is as follows. In 2006 the realm per US dollar was 2.27 and 1.9 in the year 2007. As from the information, the realm gained against the US dollar and therefore any US firm that outsourced in Brazil had to incur additional cost for labor purposes (Lydon, 2005). In the year 2008 the exchange rate per US dollar was 1.63 and 1.95 kin the year 2009. The steadiness of the realm against the dollar therefore reduces the risk that is associated with operations in foreign countries. In the year 2010, the dollar was traded at 1.82. In as much as the rate has varied in the 5 years, it is worth realizing that the variation in the cost of the dollar has promoted the outsourcing to Brazil. Indeed, Brazil may be ranked the second after the giant outsourcer which is India. Th e decreasing value of the realm compared to the dollar could be a reason as to why Brazil could be the second option for countries to outsource. A stable currency is necessary in instances that outsourcing decisions are to be determined. The real against the dollar has remained stable between 1.7 and 1.9 to the dollar and this has made the United States be a desired place to outsource. There are several strategies that any firm with off shore outsourcing must do to ensure that

ARE PEOPLE BORN INTO POVERTY MORE LIKELY TO REMAIN IN POVERTY Research Proposal

ARE PEOPLE BORN INTO POVERTY MORE LIKELY TO REMAIN IN POVERTY - Research Proposal Example Despite significant progress being realized in these practices, it is observed that people born poor are more likely to remain in poverty. Thesis: people born in poor families are more likely to remain in poverty Research Questions a) What causes poverty? b) What is the government doing in eradicating poverty? c) Why are poor people more likely to remain poor? Literature review Overpopulation has been considered as one of the main causes of poverty among various individuals across the globe. This is argued from the fact that natural resources, which are the basic factors of production do not expand , while the population grows at an alarming rate. This makes it impossible for the resources to effectively meet the needs for the population; thus, some are deprived access, which make them poor. Poor people usually lack sufficient information on reproduction and family planning. This makes them reproduce at higher rate that the wealthy. This puts strain on the resources at their disposal , making it hard for them to improve their lives. In this regard, governments have implemented various strategies such as providing family planning medication and education to the poor in a bid to counter overpopulation. In some countries such as china, there are regulations on the number of children one can bear, and failure to adhere to the law leads to prosecution. The distribution of resources affects the poverty levels of various persons across the globe; in developed countries, resource distribution among the citizens is fair, while in developing and underdeveloped countries, resource distribution is skewed towards the rich (Cullen, 2010). Though much has been done, in developing countries, to improve the distribution of resources, success levels have been low due to lack of sufficient knowledge. In developing countries, factors such as poor governance manifested through corruption makes the resources available to the wealthy and powerful. This therefore deprives the poor a ch ance to improve their lives and thus there is a high possibility of them living poor for their entire lives. In a bid to ensure that the lives of the poor are enhanced, various strategies to fight corruption have been made by various governments across the globe. Education is an important tool in the realization of the anticipated person or institutional goals. Proper education ensures that individuals are able to interact well with other persons irrespective of the cultural or religious backgrounds. Interaction with various persons may open avenues to better future to an individual (Phan, Hayden & Harman, 2010). Though education, one may get a better job, which will help a great deal in improving his/her life as well as that of those around him. To get better education, one has to study at best institution. This is only available to the rich as they are able to cater for the fees as well as other costs associated with studying. The poor have less capacity to attend such institution s and thus study in low –standard institutions. In extreme cases, they do not study, as they have to look for money to meet their basic needs. In such cases, they are not informed of developments made by the country and usually make bad decision, and this makes them unable to get out of poverty. In a bid to ensure that a higher percentage of the population is educated, some government governments have implemented free education and loans to finance studying

Facebook and the Case for Editing Oneself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Facebook and the Case for Editing Oneself - Essay Example I really liked this person I met at a party, who I would just call Alex. I and a friend of mine freely talked about him on my Facebook timeline. I was quite confident because he was not on my friend's list. The next day, I was surprised when I got a call from Alex because, apparently, he learned about the conversation because he was a friend of a Facebook friend, so he had access to my profile. First, it was embarrassing second, it was disastrous because he turned out to be obnoxious and would post in my timeline rude things. I have to delete my profile and not use Facebook for a month.Sethi cited the problem that many users experience with social media: Facebook is accessible almost to anyone. Sometimes we post things that are intended for friends. But then, our Facebook "friends" and our social network are not all composed of friends but other groups such as family, colleagues, future employees, future partners, and so forth. So it is incredibly difficult, to be honest, and post ju st about everything that transpires in our lives because each of these has different standards of propriety. Sethi pointed out, for instance, that she is careful not to post anything such as short haircuts and other things that might be offensive to her conservative family living in Thailand. It is important to note that the data stored on Facebook could be accessed regardless of location and also time. We post pictures or messages that seem alright today but the case might not be true in the future.

Anything Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anything - Essay Example It is particularly motivating to ponder on the colorful illustrations of each tale as well as the fine lines uttered by some magical characters both in movie and in text. For one, Hallmark’s ‘My Life as a Fairytale’ creates to mind vivid depictions of H.C. Andersen’s life story through a mixture of settings, characters, and emotions in a collective presentation where the author’s popular creations reflect his own life. The crippled Henrietta, for instance, is characterized by the mermaid who happens to save a prince in a shipwreck during a squall or terrible thunderstorm then falls in love with him eventually. The sight of the mermaid’s journey to the place of the sea witch is quite horrifying as if one would yield to the feeling of ‘no return’ in a forbidden confinement the mermaid musters all strengths to cross. On hearing and watching how the sea witch exclaims ‘Now put out your little tongue so that I can cut it off!â₠¬â„¢ it feels like her pitching would instantly cast a binding spell of curse. The cutting of tongue must be so excruciating it would make that part of the ocean world itself wail out of a blood-filled pain which the mermaid should bear to have scales turn into a pair of legs. All naked and flawless in her milky white shimmering skin, partly covered with locks of unusual length, the lovely mermaid is found lying fast asleep over the side of the palace by the coast. Even as the prince adopts her to be kept as someone very special, she becomes frustrated to express her love through a muted endeavor. At the tragic end, I wonder what causes more hurting between heart breaking and turning into foams which make her vanish away into another world. When Hans meets two of the sons of Charles Dickens, this is the time he gets prompted to create the story of the brave tin soldier and the two kids listen with eagerness as the storyteller narrates the story on vigorous round tone and using a sma ll figurine representing the tin soldier with one leg who sets off on a noble adventure with the other toys at midnight. The children are amazed at the view of the tin heart brought out of the burning fire and the look on their faces shifts from stern to cheer along as the story goes. In this picture, I can see both the flexibility and rigidity of the streets which I suppose bore much influence on Dickens at the time of his creation of Oliver Twist. Industries are well present everywhere making cacophonous sounds coming out of chugging engines. The varying sights of hustle and bustle make up the crowded city squares and certain places where factories emitting huge billows of smoke are erected and seeing the old-style cars belching sulfur-smelling smog as well as hearing boisterous people of different lifestyles are all worth learning how intellectual writers at that period had enriched their literature as Dickens and Andersen did. Though Hans does not achieve a happy ending with Jen ny Lind, his love interest in reality, his admiration of her sweet operatic voice drives him to write about ‘The Nightingale’. Besides expressing his love by giving Jenny the ring of the princess, Hans takes her to a special place of various ornaments, oriental jars, and other such articles that reflect signs of Asian antiquity then asks Jenny to start letting melodies fill the room and blend in an imperial illusion which she would later gaze at in amusement. A viewer can begin to form an image of

Free

Freedom of speech Essay Freedom of speech and the liberty to uphold oneÂ’s expression has long been the subject of many debates. It has taken centuries if not years for mankind to come to a point where many can easily voice their opinions without having to ponder over the consequences. But one should always know where to draw the line. Freedom of expression also needs to have its limits. Two of the masterminds who put forth their work on liberty and freedom of speech were John Stuart Mill and Jean-Jacque Rousseau. The concepts penned by Rousseau contradict those that were constructed by Mil; while the former focused on the functioning of the society as a whole, the latter advocated the rights of the individual to his freedom. Mill basically argument in his piece ‘On LibertyÂ’ allows for Utilitarian approach. His main idea was to give society and human nature a complete independence to mature and expand in infinite ways and direction. The main idea revolved around the kind of power that can be placed upon the individual by the society, and how that power was wrong unless exercised in self-defense. In particular, minorities were often the ones being oppressed. Mill pointed out that this tyrannical behavior was being supported by the major thinkers of that day. Public opinion followed the opinion of these thinkers and hence ended up doing the same. ‘On LibertyÂ’ sought to diminish the power the society had over an individualÂ’s freedom by giving that individual the freedom of speech. It was identified through the works that most people had precedent and preference which further provoked dissent and thus pressurized people. Mill also noted that there was no way of judging people on their inte rference into another personÂ’s private affairs. MillÂ’s idea of complete and total independence from society is contradicted in RousseauÂ’s works ‘The Social Contract,Â’ according to which man was restricted by the state and society that he existed in, once he became a part of the land he gave up the right to himself; society had a right upon the individual which he agrees to when he chooses to exist within a given society. This, he believed, was done for the greater good of the entire society; thereby his main focus was the society and not the individual, unlike Mill. For Rousseau, society itself was like a collective individual and that collective entity was sovereign and not a singular entity. He  allowed for individuals having their own aims and goals, but asserted that the will of the collective paved way for the greater good. By this definition he gives the society the power to act for the greater good and confirms that authority as absolute. He even goes as far as to recommend the death penalty for anyone who goes against this norm. Their ideas give us two different facets of life. Should one speak oneÂ’s mind or work for the greater good of the society?Mill believed in supporting diversity while condemning conformity by rejecting any form of manipulation that could be applied to a personÂ’s opinion or behavior. It was the revolutionary authorÂ’s belief that liberty forms the basis of much of the social progress that takes place. Through ‘On Liberty,Â’ it is asserted that freedom of speech is important primarily because to begin with, the opinion which most find disdainful maybe the correct one. Secondly, even if one voices a direly disproportionate view, refuting it will only help strengthen the general understanding of the topic amongst the masses. It was MillÂ’s belief that by continuously voicing thoughts, ideas and questions people kept society moving and defied stagnation. ‘The Social Contract,Â’ on the other hand goes onto state that the authority the ruler has over the state is like that of the father over his child. There is literally absolute control. Through RousseauÂ’s argument we are told that the mighty are the fittest to lead and decide what is best for the entire society. The wellbeing of the society depends on it functioning as one body, mind and soul. Each individual is part of the grand scheme which is built around the orders of the sovereign i.e. the rulers of the state. Mill charted three categories of freedom and asserted that the society was to abide by all three, if it were a free society. The first was freedom of thought and opinion, the second being the right to plan oneÂ’s life and future and the third to associate with other individuals on mutual grounds. The main idea behind this was that one should be able to pursue their own whims without hurting others in the process. Rousseau also has three implications of the contract. The first one being the fact that the conditions of the contract are same for everyone which is why everyone will collectively make it easier for everyone else to follow, secondly an individual cannot stand against the authority because he has given up that  right because he is a part of the state, and lastly, there is completely equality ergo the natural freedom that people enjoy stays intact, regardless of the social contract. It was in the ‘Discourse of InequalityÂ’ that Rousseau observed of inequality that the powerful has the choice between giving the masses an equal piece of the pie or letting the masses rot while they took everything for themselves. He was not an advocate of the powerful; he merely illustrated how the meek must always follow them because they have no other choice. The problem with RousseauÂ’s approach is that it completely rejects the claim that minorities or small groups may have on the society. If the masses chose to, they can quite literally annihilate any small sects that they wish without as much as a blink of an eye. In this regard, we are forced to side with MillÂ’s argument. However, ‘On LibertyÂ’ has its own faults because it focuses too much on the individualÂ’s needs without paying much heed to the society. Mill believed that the only instance where any one person or the society itself was justified in interfering with someoneÂ’s freedom was for their own self-preservation. In this way MillÂ’s only restriction on liberty was when it ended up harming other people, for which he advocated restraint. He was against the idea that meddling in someoneÂ’s affair. Diversity was not something to be toyed with, but the right to liberty was to be treated with respect. One has to also note that much of MillÂ’s work is at times vague on the limitations that can be placed on an individual. Another weak point is his extreme emphasis on the individual and not creating a balance between the individual and the society. While the individual was required to support the society he/she lived in, that by no means gave society any right to probe into their matters. As stated in the ‘Discourse of Inequality,Â’ “The difference between good and bad men is determined by public esteemÂ… The rank of citizens ought, therefore, to be regulated, not according to their personal merit Ââ€" for this would put it in the power of the magistrate to apply the law almost arbitrarily,” this shows that he believed that individuality would only hinder the laws that had been catered to the society as a whole. If each person was to be accounted for then the whole as Rousseau saw it, would come to a halt. Both authors present two extreme ways of life. while one advocates complete and total freedom, albeit not at the expense of others, the other goes on to suggest that freedom is restricted only is what the choices someone more powerful has selected for the majority. For freedom of speech both arguments do not fit. There needs to be a balance between the two. One cannot allow complete and total freedom of speech because inadvertently, whether it was intended or not, an individual may end up harming the society he/she lives in. If everyone began to voice a million different point of views at the same time there wouldnÂ’t be diversity, there would be chaos. Similarly, if the entire society was to follow the whims of a few men and women then society will not be able to move on. New ideas would never develop; people would never gain knowledge because knowledge would itself become restricted. Someone needs to stop talking to allow for the silence that precedes anotherÂ’s idea. History shows us that without speaking oneÂ’s mind, no real revolutions would have taken place, that being said, history also shows us how massive panic can sweep nations because of the freedom of speech that was given to the people. A balance between the two is needed. Social responsibility needs to be practiced with the freedom of speech; the two should be taken as a packaged deal and not separately. Works Cited Rousseaus Social ContractRousseaus Discourse on InequalityMills On Liberty

Hobby and Outdoor Pursuits Essay Example for Free

Hobby and Outdoor Pursuits Essay Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved! ) Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since June 2006. A hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression to ride ones hobby-horse, meaning to follow a favourite pastime, and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation. Hobbies are practised for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim. What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a game tester may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional chef might enjoy playing (and helping to debug) computer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional. An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby. Amateur astronomers often make meaningful contributions to the professionals. It is not entirely uncommon for a hobbyist to be the first to discover a celestial body or event. In the UK, the pejorative noun anorak (similar to the Japanese otaku, meaning a geek or enthusiast) is often applied to people who obsessively pursue a particular hobby that is considered boring, such as train spotting or stamp collecting. [edit] Development of hobbies into other ventures Whilst some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists have found something compelling and entertaining about them (see geek). Much early scientific research was, in effect, a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, Linux began as a students hobby. A hobby may not be as trivial as it appears at a time when it has relatively few followers. Thus a British conservationist recalls that when seen wearing field glasses at a London station in the 1930s he was asked if he was going to the (horse) races. [citation needed] The anecdote indicates that at the time an interest in nature was not widely perceived as a credible hobby. Practitioners of that hobby went on to become the germs of the conservation movement that flourished in Britain from 1965 onwards and became a global political movement within a generation. Conversely, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. [citation needed] In peacetime it clearly has no such practical or social purpose. Types of hobbies Collecting The hobby of collecting consists of acquiring specific items based on a particular interest of the collector. These collections of things are often highly organized, carefully cataloged, and attractively displayed. Since collecting depends on the interests of the individual collector, it may deal with almost any subject. The depth and breadth of the collection may also vary. Some collectors choose to focus on a specific subtopic within their area of general interest: for example, 19th Century postage stamps, milk bottle labels from Sussex, or Mongolian harnesses and tack. Others prefer to keep a more general collection, accumulating Star Trek merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world. Some collections are capable of being completed, at least to the extent of owning one sample of each possible item in the collection (e. g. copy of every book by Agatha Christie). Collectors who specifically try to assemble complete collections in this way are sometimes called completists. Upon completing a particular collection, they may stop collecting, expand the collection to include related items, or begin an entirely new collection. The most popular fields in collecting have specialized commercial dealers that trade in the items being collected, as well as related accessories. Many of these dealers started as collectors themselves, then turned their hobby into a profession. There are some limitations on collecting, however. Someone who has the financial means to collect stamps might not be able to collect sports-cars, for example. One alternative to collecting physical objects is collecting experiences of a particular kind. Examples include collecting through observation or photography (especially popular for transportation, e. g. train spotting, aircraft spotting, metrophiles, bus spotting; see also I-Spy), bird-watching, and systematically visiting continents, countries, states, national parks, counties etc. Games [pic] [pic] Card game, 1895. A game is a structured or semi-structured recreational activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment (although sometimes for physical or vocational training). A goal that the players try to reach and a set of rules concerning what the players can or cannot do create the challenge and structure in a game, and are thus central to its definition. Known to have been played as far back as prehistoric times, games are generally distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration. Because a wide variety of activities are enjoyable, numerous types of games have developed. What creates an enjoyable game varies from one individual to the next. Age, understanding (of the game), intelligence level, and (to some extent) personality are factors that determine what games a person enjoys. Depending on these factors, people vary the number and complexity of objectives, rules, challenges, and participants to increase their enjoyment. Games generally involve mental and/or physical stimulation. For this reason, they are beneficial after a large meal or a long and tedious task, but counterproductive if played immediately before sleeping. Many games help develop practical skills and serve as exercise or perform an educational, simulational or psychological role. Outdoor recreation Outdoor pursuits can be loosely considered to be the group of sports and activities which are dependent on the great outdoors, incorporating such things as hill walking, trekking, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, caving, and arguably broader groups such as watersports and snowsport. While obviously enjoyed by many as a bit of fun, an adrenaline rush, or an escape from reality, outdoor sport is also frequently used as an extremely effective medium in education and teambuilding. It is this ethos that has given rise to links with young people, such as the Duke of Edinburghs Award and PGL, and large numbers of outdoor education centres being established, as the stress on the importance of a balanced and widespread education continues to grow. Depending on the persons desired level of adrenaline, outdoors can be considered a type of hobby. As interest increases, so has the rise of commercial outdoor pursuits, with outdoor kit stores opening up in large numbers and thriving, as well as outdoor pursuits journalism and magazines, both on paper (for example Trail [1]), and online (such as Eclipse Outdoor [2]). The increased accessibility of outdoor pursuits resources has been the source of some negative publicity over the years also, with complaints of destroying the landscape. A widely-seen example is the destruction of hillsides as footpaths are eroded by excessive numbers of visitors. Creative Hobbies Some hobbies result in an end product of sorts. Examples of this would be woodworking, software projects, artistic projects, creating models out of card or paper called papercraft up to higher end projects like building or restoring a car, or building a computer from scratch. While some of these may just be for the enjoyment of the hobbyist, there have been instances where it has come into demand at the request of friends or passerbys observing said project. At this point it has the potential to become a small business. Cooking Cooking is an act of preparing food for eating. It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour or digestibility of food. It generally requires the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools and the skill of the individual cooking. The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it. Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically transforms it, thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties. Cooking proper, as opposed to roasting, requires the boiling of water in a receptacle, and was practiced at least since the 10th millennium BC with the introduction of pottery. There is archaeological evidence of roasted foodstuffs, both animal and vegetable, in human (Homo erectus) campsites dating from the earliest known use of fire some 800,000 years ago. [citation needed] [edit] Gardening Gardening is the art of growing plants with the goal of crafting a purposeful landscape. Residential gardening most often takes place in or about a residence, in a space referred to as the garden. Although a garden typically is located on the land near a residence, it may also be located in a roof, in an atrium, on a balcony, in a windowbox, or on a patio or vivarium. [pic] [pic] A gardener Gardening also takes place in non-residential green areas, such as parks, public or semi-public gardens (botanical gardens or zoological gardens), amusement and theme parks, along transportation corridors, and around tourist attractions and hotels. In these situations, a staff of gardeners or groundskeepers maintains the gardens. Indoor gardening is concerned with the growing of houseplants within a residence or building, in a conservatory, or in a greenhouse. Indoor gardens are sometimes incorporated as part of air conditioning or heating systems. Water gardening is concerned with growing plants adapted to pools and ponds. Bog gardens are also considered a type of water garden. These all require special conditions and considerations. A simple water garden may consist solely of a tub containing the water and plant(s).

Effective methods of understanding and treating PTSD

Effective methods of understanding and treating PTSD The treatment related publications of the last twenty years places a large amount of attention on determining the most useful psychological therapy for clients with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD. The overall aim of this paper is to critically evaluate current cognitive models of PTSD and literature on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapies to treat this disorder based on these models. Definitions of PTSD The 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-IV (APA, 1994) defines trauma as: (a) The individual experienced, witnessed or was confronted with an event that involved actual or perceived threat to life or physical integrity; and (b) the individuals emotional response to this event included horror, helplessness or intense fear, Foa and Meadows (1997, p. 450). The psychological symptoms connected with PTSD are categorised into three groups of symptoms in DSM-IV: The main characteristics include re-experiencing (in the form of flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and distressing dreams), avoidance/numbing and heightened arousal, after the person is subjected to a traumatic incident. (Foa Rothbaurn, 1992). The next group includes avoidance of stimuli trauma-reminding stimuli and symptoms of emotional numbing (Foa, Hearst-Ikeda, Perry, 1995; Litz, 1993). The final symptom group includes heightened arousal e.g. hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, difficulty sleeping and irritability (APA, 1994). Current Government Guidelines on the treatment of PTSD Determining effective and efficient treatments for PTSD has come to be seen as important due to the conditions prevalence and the many techniques and interventions available. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence, NICE, reviewed the most robust outcome research and produced guidelines, to provide information and direction for the psychological management of PTSD in adult sufferers (NICE, 2005). The guidelines were developed from an independent, methodical, rigorous and multistage procedure of selecting, examining and assessing evidence for the successful treatment of PTSD. These guidelines conclude that individuals with PTSD should receive either trauma focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TFCBT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). However, a distinction is made between single incident trauma and more complex presentations, and the guidelines suggest increasing the total number of sessions accordingly. Although the guidelines appear helpful for the tre atment of single incident PTSD, they are arguably not as informative for treatment approaches for a large group of individuals with complex PTSD. This presents difficulties for the clinician and patient in deciding the most effective therapeutic options. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the most extensively studied therapy for individuals with PTSD (Foa Meadows, 1997) and many studies support its efficacy in reducing symptom severity (e.g. Resick Schnicke, 1992; Foa, Rothbaurn, 1992; Foa et al., 1995; Foa Jaycox, 1996; Riggs, Murdock, 1991; Richards, Lovell, Marks, 1994; Thompson, Charlton, Kerry, Lee, Turner, 1995). However, CBT for PTSD encompasses diverse techniques. These include exposure procedures, cognitive restructuring procedures, and combinations of both these techniques. Exposure Therapy Exposure therapy is derived from the idea that imaginal exposure (IE) to the trauma or feared situation, leads to a decrease in symptoms. The theory argues enduring activation of traumatic memories result in processing of the emotional information, lessening of anxiety and assimilation of accurate memories (Foa et al., 1995). Much research has shown that treatment involving exposure therapy is effective in decreasing PTSD symptoms (e.g. Foa et al., 1999; Frueh, Turner, Beidel, Mirabella, Jones, 1996; Keane, Fairbank, Cadell, Zimmering, 1989). Foa, Rothbaum, Riggs, and Murdoch (1991) investigated exposure therapy, stress inoculation (a type of Anxity Management Treatment, AMT), supportive counselling, and a non-treatment group in the management of rape-related PTSD. Clinical measures of symptoms and standardized psychometric tests were examined before and after treatment as well as at a three month follow-up. The stress inoculation intervention showed superior results to the counselling and non-treatment conditions at post-test. However, at the follow-up, the individuals participating in exposure therapy showed more improvements of PTSD symptoms than individuals in the other groups. Research has investigated the efficiency of exposure therapy compared to different methods of treatment. For instance, exposure therapy and cognitive therapy were investigated by Tarrier et al. (1999) for the management of individuals with PTSD arising from various traumatic incidents. Although both approaches demonstrated a noteworthy decrease in PTSD symptoms that was still present at 6-months follow up there was no non-treatment control against which these two treatments could be evaluated. Similarly, Foa et al. (1999) compared exposure therapy to AMT and then combined the two treatments. These three groups were compared to a non-treatment control group. All three of these treatments successfully decreased symptoms of rape-related PTSD and improved more than the non-treatment control group. However there was no significant variation among the treatment groups on outcome measures. In a study that once again compared exposure therapy to cognitive therapy, Marks, Lovell, Noshirvani, Livanou, and Thrasher (1998) examined these two treatments alone and in combination in outpatients with PTSD secondary to a wide range of traumatic events. A relaxation therapy condition was employed as the comparison group. The three active treatment groups demonstrated significant reduction in symptoms compared to the relaxation sample. These intervention groups were not markedly different from on another on the main treatment outcome measures. Several investigations have advanced the field of PTSD treatment, even though the methodology utilized in the outcome study limited the conclusions that could be drawn. Frank and Stewart (1983) reported the effects of systematic desensitization on women who had been raped and who developed significant psychological symptomatology. Compared to an untreated comparison group, those women treated with graduated exposure improved most on a range of anxiety and depression symptom measures. Imaginal and in-vivo exposure was compared in a randomized study of survivors of varying traumatic events (Richards, Lovell, and Marks,1994). At the 12-month follow-up, patients reported consistent reductions in PTSD symptoms and improved social adjustment. This data further substantiates the efficiency of exposure treatment for some individuals, and also suggest that improvements in symptoms are also reflected in critical domains of life functioning. In conclusion, the existing data advocates the use of exposure therapy in the treatment of PTSD. In a previous review of this literature, Solomon, Gerrity, and Muff, (1992), (Sited in Shapiro, 1995) derived the same conclusion from data available at that time. Similar conclusions were drawn by Otto, Penava, Pollack, and Smoller (1996) in a more recent review of the literature. In what may prove to be an important lesson for the treatment of individuals exposed to traumatic events, Foa, Hearst-Ikeda, and Perry (1995) investigated the effectiveness of a short-term intervention to prevent the development of chronic PTSD in females who had been recently raped. The program was based upon that which worked well in earlier trials with chronic PTSD. Exposure therapy figured prominently in the package of treatment and also included elements of education, breathing retraining, and cognitive restructuring. When individuals receiving the package were compared to a control group, this study found that at 2 months post-treatment only ten percent of the treatment sample met the diagnosis for PTSD, while seventy percent of the untreated comparison group did. As information continues to grow on exposure therapy, there is a clear requirement for research to investigate combinations of psychological treatment, to utilize screening measures that consider occupational and social performance, and to access the outcome of interventions on co-morbid psychological difficulties. Unmistakably, the existing empirical research reveals the importance of extending the application of exposure approaches to PTSD patients. However future studies assessing the generalization of exposure therapy from laboratory trials to clinical settings would be particularly useful. When exposure therapy has been compared to other forms of cognitive therapy, such as cognitive restructuring (see below), it has proved to be more successful in reducing PTSD. Tarrier et al., (1999) assigned 72 people with chronic PTSD to either a Cognitive Therapy (CT) group or an imaginal exposure (IE) therapy group, and concluded that there was no noteworthy differentiation between the two treatment conditions initially or at 12 months post treatment. Participants recruited were obtained from a sample of referrals to primary and secondary mental health services and voluntary services, indicating that they were representative of a genuine clinical sample. However, 50% of the sample remained above clinical significance for PTSD symptoms after treatment was completed, although this dropped to 25% at six-month follow-up. This lack of improvement may have been influenced by participants failure to attend sessions regularly. Furthermore, those who did not show improvement rated the trea tment as less convincing and were rated as not as motivated by the clinician. Therefore, it is argued that motivation for therapy and regular attendance plays an important role in outcome of therapy regardless of treatment model. A further limitation of this study was that no control group was used and non-specific treatment factors and spontaneous remission could also account for the improvements in reported symptoms. Cognitive Restructuring Cognitive restructuring is derived from the theory that discovering and altering catastrophic and inaccurate interpretation of the trauma leads to a decrease in symptoms. Some of the latest models have emphasised the significance of altering thinking distortions in the rehabilitation of individuals who have experienced trauma (Ehlers Clarke, 2000). Ehlers, Clark, Hackmann, McManus, and Fennell (2005) utilized cognitive therapy based on the cognitive model of PTSD (see figure 1. Ehlers Clarke, 2000). From this model, the aim of therapy is to alter overly negative interpretations, amend the disturbance in autobiographical recollection and to eliminate the unhelpful behavioural and cognitive strategies (see figure 2, Ehlers et al., 2005). In a randomised controlled trial of twenty-eight participants diagnosed with PTSD. Fourteen participants were assigned at random to cognitive therapy treatment or a 13-week waiting-list condition. Those receiving cognitive therapy had 12 weekly treatment sessions, based on the Ehlers and Clarke (2000) model of trauma focused CBT. Participants completed self-report screenings of anxiety, mood and PTSD symptoms, and the Sheehan Disability Scale (APA, 2000). Measures were administered before and after treatment and at 6-months follow up. Findings revealed that cognitive therapy for PTSD was signifi cantly better than a three month waiting-list group on symptoms of PTSD, disability and symptoms of anxiety and affect. This study had no dropouts, which is a significant improvement on other studies, which yielded high dropout rates, (e.g. Tarrier et al., 1999). Participants displayed a positive change in cognitive appraisals. The Ehlers and Clarke (2000) model suggest that two additional paths of change; alteration in the autobiographical recollection of the trauma, and the discontinuation of maintenance behaviours and cognitive strategies are integral in reducing symptoms of PTSD. While the treatment incorporated these other aspects, these have not been measured systematically, so it is difficult to conclude whether clients experienced a change in these two areas. Further analysis indicated that demographic, trauma and diagnostic variable did not predict intervention results, signifying that the approach is pertinent to a broad scope of individual who have experienced trauma. Conversely, the extent of discrepancy of trauma and small sample numbers suggests that this finding would not be present in a larger sample. Co-morbid depression and previous trauma history, which was present in over half the sample, did not negatively affect outcome. Combinations of therapy Resick and Schnicke (1992) have proffered a multidimensional behavioural treatment for females who have PTSD associated with sexual assault. This treatment, known as cognitive processing therapy (CPT), includes components of exposure therapy, AMT, and cognitive restructuring. The cognitive therapy element of CPT involves tackling central thinking distortions found among females who have been assaulted. These authors have developed interventions which particularly deal with concerns of trust, self-confidence, safety and intimacy in the lives of trauma victims. In a preliminary evaluation of CPT, the authors compared outcomes at pre-treatment, post-treatment, 3 months follow-up, and 6 months follow-up for an intervention group and a non-treatment group (no random assignment was used). On clinician ratings and psychometric inventories of PTSD, the individuals receiving CPT improved significantly. Impressively at the post-treatment assessment, none of the treated patients met criteria fo r PTSD. In another study, Resick, Nishith, and Astin (2000) evaluated CPT and exposure therapy in the management of sexual assault-related PTSD. Both approaches proved successful in general and were more successful than a non-treatment control group. CPT did also seem to reduce comorbid symptoms of depression, as well as those of PTSD. Combination therapy that incorporates a number of cognitive-behavioural techniques have the advantage of addressing various difficulties that individuals with PTSD may experience, in addition to integrating methods that have a considerable scientific evidence base in the clinical literature. An intervention incorporating exposure therapy, AMT, and cognitive restructuring as the main elements for treating PTSD was proposed by Keane, Fisher, Krinsley, and Niles (1994). This treatment utilizes six stages as a means of treating severe and chronic PTSD, it incorporates the following: (1) behavioural stabilization; (2) trauma psycho-education; (3) AMT; (4) trauma focus work; (5) relapse prevention skills; and (6) aftercare procedures. Although this approach has clinical appeal, it wasnt until psychologists Fecteau and Nicki (1999) examined such a package in a randomized clinical trial for PTSD resulting from automobile accidents that the impact of a combination package such as that proposed by Keane et al. (1994) was assessed. Their intervention consisted of psycho-education, relaxation, exposure, cognitive restructuring, and guided behavioural exercises. Patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group or non-treatment comparison group and received some 8-10 sessions of individualized treatment. The outcome of the treatment was effective as assessed by clinical ratings, self-report questionnaires, and lab-based psycho-physiological evaluation methods. Described by the authors as clinically and statistically significant, these treatment outcomes were sustained at the 6-month post treatment evaluation. Bryant, Moulds, Guthrie, Dang, and Nixon (2003) studied the effects of IE alone or IE with CR in the treatment of PTSD. They hypothesised a CR and IE treatment combination would lead to significantly better decrease in PTSD symptoms than exposure on its own, which would be more beneficial than a supportive counselling condition. Fifty-eight civilian trauma victims, diagnosed with PTSD as measured by the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, version II, CAPS-2, (Blake et al., 1995) were randomly allocated to one of the 3 conditions. Each participant received eight weekly 90-minute sessions of either IE, CR and IE or supportive counselling. Participants completed assessments at pre and post intervention and six months following. These measured PTSD symptoms and psychopathology. Forty-five participants completed treatment and analysis indicated that dropouts had higher scores for depression, avoidance and higher catastrophic cognitions than those who completed. Results indicated that parti cipants receiving both IE and IE/CR had a siginifcantly better decrease in PTSD symptoms and anxiety than supportive counselling (SC). The main revelation of this investigation was that treatment comprising of IE and CR leads to significantly better reductions in CAPS-II scores compared to treatment involving IE alone. Furthermore, those receiving IE/CR, but not IE on its own, gave accounts of less avoidance, depression and catastrophic thoughts than individuals in receipt SC. The findings from this research indicated that the combination of IE and CR are successful in decreasing symptoms of PTSD. It can be argued that the reasons why IE/CR may have been more effective than augmented treatments in the past (e.g. Foa et al., 1999) was that the research prudently controlled for the duration of time spent on every section of treatment. Furthermore, participants were instructed on CR before commencing IE so they understood the rationale behind the techniques prior to addressing the strong emotional components of IE. This may have increased their understanding and belief that it was a credible treatment approach. The outcome that CR improved the benefits of IE treatment could have been a result of a number of likely mechanisms. IE and CR may consist of similar aspects, such as processing of emotional memories, amalgamation of corrective information and acomplishment of self-mastery (Marks, 2000). Combining the two approaches may give the patient more chances to achieve treatment gains. CR may have lead to greater decrease in symptoms as it explicitly attended to identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts that may add to the maintenance of PTSD and related difficulties (Ehlers Clarke, 2000). Paunovic and Ost (2001), compared treatment outcome data for CBT and exposure therapy for sixteen refugees with PTSD. The authors excluded those who became too distressed in the initial interview, expressed a lack of confidence in the therapist or were misusing alcohol or drugs. Results indicated there was no significant difference between participants completing CBT or exposure therapy, being similar to Tarrier et als (1999) findings. Criticisms of Paunovic and Ost (2001)s study are that participants did not use a self-report trauma measure, so although results are positive, there is no clear analysis of whether participants felt their trauma symptoms decreased as a result of the treatment. Further, it is not possible to generalise these findings to traumatised refugees in general, as this work is unique. Working with the use of an interpreter raises several ethical and sensitive issues, as the participant must be able to develop a therapeutic alliance with the therapist and trust the interpreter (Tribe, 2007). It could be argued that participants may have been experiencing a greater degree of trauma, not least because they had not yet learned the native language. Discussion The most successful CBT treatments seem to be those that involve repeated exposure to the traumatic memory (Foa et al., 1991; Foa et al., 1999; Foa Rothbaum, 1992) on cognitive restructuring of the interpretation of the traumatic event, (Ehlers Clarke, 2000) or a combination of these approaches, (Resick Schnicke, 1992). Importantly, studies have concluded that trauma focused CBT is more successful than supportive counselling (Blanchard et al., 2003; Bryant et al., 2003). Whilst the studies reviewed have helpfully added to our understanding of PTSD there are numerous limitations of the applications of the findings. One in particular is an over-reliance on non-clinical samples of participants such that many claims of clinically effective therapy have been made from research with participants who were not within mental health systems, and despite having PTSD symptoms had not actively sought treatment. In addition, dropout rates in studies are high, particularly for those studies that did not use a clinical sample. This might have skewed the evidence particularly with approaches that used exposure-based therapy. Furthermore, most of the studies reviewed screened out those individuals experiencing the greatest amount of distress, avoidance and co-morbidity. Therefore results are biased towards those clients who were able to tolerate treatment and whose symptoms were not as chronic. Indeed, inclusion and exclusion criteria appear to have a great impact on outcome of treatment. For example, studies with a strict inclusion criteria (e.g. no co-morbidity, substance misuse, self harm) appear to have significant improvements, whilst other studies i.e. Kubany et al., (2003), allowed participants to continue with other therapy while embarking on their therapy. This makes it methodologically difficult to ascertain exactly what has been effective in reducing PTSD symptoms. As inclusion and exclusion criteria are idiosyncratic across studies, it makes it difficult to draw general conclusions regarding treatment effectiveness with a clinical population across studies. Studies often chose to focus therapy on identified groups, e.g. police officers. However, clients who experience PTSD do not form a homogeneous group and further, the symptoms experienced may be diverse even within a sample of individuals who have experienced the same trauma. Treatment studies often do not control for other factors that may be important contributing factors in outcome such as the role of education, quality of the therapeutic relationship, therapeutic alliance and other nonspecific factors. The literature was generally from American, British or European sources although clearly trauma is intercultural. This raises issues about how different cultures interpret PTSD, an essentially Western concept, and also whether the treatments advocated would be effective cross-culturally. Previous research has strongly indicated that PTSD is not an appropriate term to use in non-western situations (Summerfield, 1997), hence therapeutic approaches need to account for this. It is not clear in the majority of studies when the participant experienced the trauma, and at what point therapy started. Frequently these characteristics are omitted from studies, therefore making it difficult to compare effectiveness of studies. It is essential to think about the types of individuals that have been represented in the research and to look at whether it is representative of those who seek treatment. Finally, very little has been reported on the impact of other difficulties an individual is experiencing as PTSD can have a broad ranging effect on an individuals quality of life and functioning and most often clients have more complex presentations. Only very few studies reviewed controlled for this variable (see Ehlers et al., 2005). This is an inherent difficulty when completing resea rch with a trauma population as within research it is important to obtain a sample that have a similar degree of difficulties in order to assess treatment efficacy. Several papers have evaluated different types of therapy according to particular groups. However, it appears that one size does not fit all in relation to PTSID. In particular the issues of culture and gender are of importance (see Liebling Ojiambo-Ochieng, 2000; Sheppard, 2000). Individual formulations of presenting problems and contexts, which informs therapy that is adapted to suit individual clients needs, may in fact be more helpful. It remains important to consider individual differences and client choice when offering trauma therapy. Trauma therapy outcome studies are limited by the fact that sufferers usually have other mental health problems alongside PTSD such as depression or social anxiety. Evaluation of effective treatment of trauma survivors therefore might need to go beyond medical diagnostic categories as most of the research excludes clients with co-morbid problems. A multifaceted intervention, based on clients own views, which addressed these other difficulties, could assist in decreasing relapse and greaten the long-lasting effectiveness of any PTSD intervention. As outlined in the methodological limitations section, much of the research reviewed has not used a genuine clinical sample, there are high dropout rates, widely variable inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the heterogeneity of PTSD has perhaps not yet been accounted for. It is therefore difficult to ascertain what is specifically helpful or effective within the treatment components. This seems to be the next area for consideration in resea rch. Further research into the optimal length of treatment and timing of therapy, the effect of co-morbidity and the differing effects of individual and group therapy approaches for traumatised clients are required. Further controlled research is needed to ascertain if the types of therapies reviewed can provide long term lasting effects in reducing PTSD symptomatology. At present the scientific evidence is mainly restricted to the evaluation of short term, focused treatment approaches, and it would be helpful to have controlled studies on longer-term interventions for more complex cases of trauma. Further research would benefit from considering the clients views and experiences of therapy, this perspective was lacking in the literature reviewed. Service user and carer perspectives are beyond the scope of this review, however they have been highlighted as an important consideration within the NICE guidelines and therefore require further consideration in future research. Conclusion There appear to be at least three approaches with exceptional empirical evidence for treating PTSD; exposure therapy, cognitive therapy or a combination of these methods. These three interventions have empirical validation in well-controlled clinical trials, demonstrate strong treatment effect sizes, and seem to work well across varied populations of trauma sufferers. However future research to examine the efficacy of these methods in clinical environments is necessary. There is much to be learned about the treatment of PTSD. It is certain there will be no simple answers for treating people who have experienced the most horrific events life offers. Undoubtedly, combinations of treatments as proposed by Keane et al. (1994) and Resick and Schnicke (1992) may prove to be the most powerful interventions. PTSD research in this area is only in the earliest stages of its development. Finally, an assumption about the uniformity of traumatic events has been made in the literature in general. Although it is reasonable to speculate that fundamental similarities exist among patients who have experienced diverse traumatic events and then develop PTSD, whether these patients will respond to clinical interventions in the same way is an empirical question that has yet to be addressed. Studies posing a question such as this would be a welcome addition to the clinical literature: Will people with PTSD resulting from combat, torture, genocide, and natural disasters all improve as well as those treated successfully following rape, motor vehicle accidents, and assaults? This is a crucial issue that requires additional scientific study in order to provide clinicians with the requisite evidence supporting the use of available techniques. Research on the prevalence of exposure to traumatic events and the prevalence of PTSD has mainly been carried out in the United States. Yet there are fundamental errors in assuming that these prevalence rates apply even to other Western, developed countries. Studies that examine the prevalence of PTSD and other disorders internationally are clearly warranted. Implicit in this recommendation is the need to examine the extent to which current assessment instrumentation is culturally sensitive to the ways in which traumatic reactions are expressed internationally. Much work on this topic will be required before definitive conclusions regarding prevalence rates of PTSD internationally can be drawn. Studies of the effectiveness of the psychological treatments across cultures and ethnic groups are also needed. What may be effective for Western populations may be inadequate or possibly even unacceptable treatment for people who reside in other areas of the world and who have different world views, beliefs, and perspectives. This issue will need to be more closely examined before we can draw definitive conclusions. It is suggested that despite the type of treatment provided to individuals with trauma there is ultimately a necessity for a flexible, integrative approach to treatment in order to address the multifaceted and changing requirements of individual trauma survivors. A range of outcomes has been revealed with the types of treatments outlined in this review, it is uncertain which individuals will respond greatest to various treatment approaches. Nevertheless, what is important in determining the effectiveness of any psychological treatment of PTSD is that it is reliant upon forming and upholding a therapeutic alliance that is strong enough for the client to experience as safe and trusting for positive emotional modifications to take place.

Friday :: essays research papers

The movie Friday was one of the best comedies I have ever seen. It had a great director, a talented cast, a good plot, a spectacular soundtrack, and is filled with funny gags and jokes. It was by far the most hilarious movie of the decade. I have never laughed so hard in all of my life. I loved this movie. The cast of the movie was sensational. Playing the main character was famous musician and actor, Ice Cube. He is such a serious person that at first I was skeptical of his performance in a comedy. He has played in such movies as Dangerous Ground, Higher Learning, and Boyz 'N Tha Hood. Playing opposite of him was Chris Tucker who is one of the most gifted performers that I've have seen. He has stared in hits such as Rush Hour, The Fifth Element, and Money Talks. These two along with other big comics like Bernie Mac, John Whitherspoon, and Fazion Love bring big laughs to the big screen. Tiny "Zeus" Lester, Nia Long and Regina King do there part as well, to serve up laughs. It is so important to have a good cast that can play their parts well, and get along. If I watch a movie and it is evident that the actors are acting, then I lose interest very quickly. These actors and actresses did a very good job of making every character believable. Cast is important, but a good plot is crucial in the success of a film. So many movies have had great marketing and bombed because the plot was not good. I hate when I go to see a movie and the plot is not interesting. If I pay money for a movie, I want it to be worth it. In a comedy, I look for, a lot of, laughs. That is exactly what this movie gave me, it had it all. They had midgets, catching wives in bed with preachers and anything else you could look for to make you laugh. To fulfill this requirement on my movie list is very important. This movie did just that and exceeded the expectations I had for it. As with any successful movie you must have a good Quentin Terintino, Mel Brooks, or Stephen Spilburg working behind the scenes. This film had a gifted director by the name of F. Gary Gray. I personally think that he is one of the best directors ever.

Reaction to The Reader :: Reader

Reaction to The Reader In part II, chapter eight of Bernhard Schlink's The Reader, the first-person narrator Michael describes reading the account written by a concentration camp who had survived along with her mother, the soul survivors in a large group of women who were being marched away from the camp. He says, "the book...creates distance. It does not invite one to identify with it and makes no one sympathetic..." The same could be said of The Reader. The book is written in such a way as to distance one from the characters. It prevents people from sympathizing with Hanna or Michael or anyone else, taking a sort of detached viewpoint from their problems. This can be paralleled to the efforts of the German people towards Vergangenheitsbewältigung, or "coping with the past." In coping with Germany's Nazi history, the Germans attempted to distance themselves from it and the moral implications it presented. They tried to understand it without involving themselves in it, since involving them selves could implicate them. The one person in the book who cannot distance herself, Hanna, is still unsympathetic because everyone else distances themselves from her, making it impossible to sympathize with any aspect of her plight. Hanna is symbolic of German history in this respect. As the narrator, Michael is particularly hard to sympathize with. The way he guides the story eschews emotional attachment. He himself feels detached from almost everything: "....I felt nothing: my feelings were numbed." His detachment transfers to the readers. None of his traits, or any of the situations he comes up against, makes one feel particularly sorry for him. Nothing makes one want to understand what he's going through or where he's coming from. He is simply there, dictating the story, telling us about his feelings without us getting involved. Further alienating is his tendency to fall into tangents which don't relate to the main narrative. These tangents are even harder to muster interest in than the true point of the book and don't serve any discernible purpose, in the end causing us to separate even further from the story. Michael's feelings of numbness and alienation--and, subsequently, the feelings of numbess and alienation that are produced in the book's audience--reflect the attempts made by the German people to distance themselves from the spectres of the Nazi past.

The Minister’s Black Veil Essays -- Minister?s Black Veil Essays Paper

The Minister’s Black Veil The story â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† is symbolic of the hidden sins that we hide and separate ourselves from the ones we love most. In wearing the veil Hooper presents the isolation that everybody experiences when they are chained down by their own sins. He has realized that everybody symbolically can be found in the shadow of their own veil. By Hooper wearing this shroud across his face is only showing the dark side of people and the truth of human existence and nature. Hooper left the dark shroud on because he has realized that secret sin is a veil that can never be lifted from anybody until the day of their death. In a quote from the story Mr. Hooper says, â€Å"There is an hour to come, when all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crepe till then.† By saying this Mr. Hooper expresses the feeling that while human beings are alive on the earth a veil shows their face. Hooper promised himself and made a life task of playing a mirror to the people around him. The veil cannot be lifted until the freedom of truth can be observed. The minister’s friends and neighbors are so upset by the veil because the veil becomes a wall between himself and his congregation. The first response is one of curiosity which then turns in suspicion. They cannot understand the meaning for the wearing of the black veil and in turn the people become very uncomfortable around him. The veil and it color ...

Impact of the Collision of the Old and New World on Europeans, Africans, and the Indians Essay

The collision of the New and Old World impacted the Europeans, Africans, and Indigenous people immensely. When the two worlds were introduced to each other they set up trade routes, such as the Columbian Exchange. Although it was new for all three of them, they adjusted well to the changes over time. The introduction of the new foods, animals, diseases, religious matters, etc. made all three groups forced to accommodate. In 1492, Africans along with the Europeans and the Indians, created the Columbian Exchange after Christopher Columbus discovered them. The Africans didn’t have a choice on whether they wanted to come to the New World or not, they were shipped here on tiny boats and due to the death of the Indians the Europeans forced them to do the hard labor without any pay. They worked in farms and/or plantations for their â€Å"masters† who provided them with limited or no rights and they lived in horrible conditions. In return, the Africans received different varieties of crops, for example, potatoes, corn, beans, tomatoes, and many other crops. Europeans also tried to convert both Africans and Indians to Christianity and succeeded. In 1519, Hernan Cortez, plus one hundred men, landed on the island of Cozumel. The men who landed had been enslaved for many years by the Mayans, but finally away. As the Indians settled, they were introduced to a new way of life, soon becoming a â€Å"wide-range hunting society† in which they roamed the open land for buffalo. The Indians had to adjust to slave work as the Europeans had them work in the sugar mills and cane fields. The Europeans brought along a variety of diseases, which soon killed a large group of the Indians, the population started at 1 million and ended at 200. This caused the Indians into taking revenge against the Europeans. They did so by injecting the first sexually transmitted diseases such as syphillis into Europe. Revenge was the only feasible option for the natives because how cruel the Europeans were to them. After the invasion of Hernan Cortes in 1519 and Pizarro in 1533, the Europeans forced the Indians to give them their land and crops. The Europeans used the lands for agriculture and as sources of precious metals, and were able to successfully plant sugar and tobacco plantations. With such great demand for these crops back in Europe there was a necessity for large amounts of labor. Being that most of the indigenous population was either familiar with the land and could easily run away or was wiped out by disease, they couldn’t enslave them. To fill the void left by the indigenous people, the Europeans decided to enslave millions of Africans instead. The Africans weren’t likely to run away because of the unfamiliarity of the land and they wouldn’t know how to feed themselves. In 1545, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, and Alvar Nunes Cabeza de Vaca foun d silver in Potosoi. The Spanish wealth and power was based on the New World’s gold and silver mines, all the gold and silver made the Spanish in power for about 100 years. The creation of the New World and the Columbian Exchange impacted three ethnicities: the Europeans, the indigenous, and the Africans. Despite the few minor setbacks the Europeans had to go through, such as the â€Å"starving time† and the spread of syphillis, the Europeans were impacted in a very positive way. They were able to find gold and silver and plant many crops, and as a result were able to create the 13 colonies. But the indigenous people did not benefit, most died from disease brought by the Europeans or were tortured and killed. Out of all three groups the Africans had the most negative impact, thousands were forced to work and they were left with no rights. The troubles from the New World still impact America to this day: Africans weren’t granted their rights back until many years later and unfortunately there is still racism, the few indigenous people left live in reservations, and because of the Europeans we have America.