Positive views of the International Monetary Fund Essay

Is there any harder job than regulating all of the international markets money? Probably not, the topic being discussed throughout this essay will be the international monetary fund and its involvement in the international market. Much has been said about the I. M. F whether it is positive or negative, neo-Marxist Che Guevara said â€Å"The interests of the IMF represent the big international interests that seem to be established and concentrated in Wall Street. Here he criticizes how the IMF is considered to be run by the United States which occupies a veto power in the decision making at the IMF, this is important to see because it brings up the other side to the IMF, the side that is not so positive and the one that people feel very critical of. Even though people like Che and Stieglitz bring up the negative characteristics of the IMF it is not the only qualities that the fund has. The IMF has also has many positive qualities, this essay will go over these qualities by looking at the IMF’s debt restructuring cases, looking at how the decisions are made in the fund and finally the long term positive effect that the IMF has on promoting democracy. As mentioned before the IMF has gone through much criticism in past years, yet the work they have done on debt relief has done much to boost up their reputation. Cases like Argentina, the Dominican Republic and much more show that the IMF is very capable of improving conditions within a country by debt restructuring programs. In 2005 the IMF started debt reconstruction in Argentina, the process was held back more that they would have liked due to court proceedings in New York. After this delay the IMF was able to do some real work in debt exchange with Argentina. The country participated 76% in the debt exchange and since then they have seen much improvements in their debt structure and debt-profile. In early may the Argentinean authorities regained market access for the first time since the year 2001. Also as a result of rebalancing of the countries credit rating, spreads of Argentina’s external debt fell tremendously from 6000 basis points to 462 basis points. ( ) The Dominican Republic is another country which was aided by the IMF for debt reconstruction, which ended in success. The Dominican Republic started on an economic recovery route by utilizing stand-by arrangements, which are†¦. The plan of this program was to eliminate the financial needs during 2005-06 through a debt exchange process and more, all of which being supported by IDB and the World Bank. The debt exchange ended on May 15th 2005, and had a very high participation rate by the Dominican Republic and this allowed for a large relief of overall cash flow (576 million US) for the government, an increase in the maturity profile of the debt and a decline in over 130 basis points which clearly outperformed the rest of the market ( ). These are great examples to how the IMF can have a positive influence on the economic conditions of a certain country. Apart from these cases there are many people who still oppose the IMF and its ways of intervening, like Joseph Stieglitz wrote in his book that the IMF set the bar so high for debt relief that few qualified (Stieglitz, 227), yet cases like Argentina and the Dominican do prove their potential for aid. Decisions can be crucial to one’s life, drawing the line between failures or success, same goes for the International monetary fund except their decisions could be the difference between saving a country and having that country’s economic system fail. When a person invests into a company or corporation and holds the majority of shares in it, that person can pretty much make all the decisions he wants. It is very similar in the IMF; the country becoming member attains a certain number of votes and then receives more voting power when that country invests more money. This is stated in further detail in the Funds article XII, section 5 â€Å" Each member shall have two hundred fifty vote plus one additional vote for each part of its quota equivalent to one hundred thousand U.  S dollars† (Gold, 18). The two hundred fifty basic votes were meant to give a chance to the countries who have just became members or were not largely developed, it was also intended so that countries were not entirely able to buy their voting power, as do most people perceive the United States did to gain its so-called Veto power. Gold (1972) brings a quote from an unstated source that brings up the argument of why all countries do not have the same amount of voting power. It is said that it would be unwise to have small countries have the same voting power as the larger ones, since it is for sure that there will be more small country members than there are large. Contrary to that point, he says that it would be unfair to give voting power on the solemn basis of how much money they put in. Although the exact figures of recent years are unavailable, the effect of the basic votes were quite visible in the 70’s, where 37 countries of the 137 members of the fund had basic votes that accounted for half or more of their total voting power (Gold, 19). The counter argument this type of voting formula could be that it resembles to much a private corporation, yet evidence shows that it has help the small countries to at least attain a sufficient amount of votes. People are very likely to pre-judge the outcome of a certain event, even without waiting to see what will happen in the end. This can also be the case for views against the IMF, judging its intervention or programs on the basis of the results produced in the first year. A study was done by Nelson and Wallace to see what type of influence the IMF lending plans had on democracy inside the country obtaining the loan. What they found in their study was that the impact of the IMF loans did not have very much effect on democracy within the given country in the time frame of one year, but the impact of IMF lending only took place between three and five years ( Nelson & Wallace, 24-25). Again this hints to the fact that anti-IMF people may be quick to judge the impact that the Fund has on whatever country being helped. Other results from the Nelson and Wallace research was that the impact of the IMF’s lending could vary from one region to another such as in Eastern Europe where one could see a 3. increase in polity[1] score over a period of 5-years and then in East-Asia there was a negative change of 1. 5 in the polity score (Nelson & Wallace, 27-28). Again these results presented shows that the IMF’s implication can have many different levels of influence depending on the region that is being lent the money. One thing is for sure, it is that there are more cases of improved polity 3:1 and having two regions that were not significant results (Nelson & Wallace, 27-28). Yet, anti-IMF people may say that it is unfair that that one country has a negative outcome and the IMF is unfair and bias towards the other countries. In conclusion, the IMF shows many positive characteristics to their involvement in the world. Their positive ranges from helping developing countries to reconstruct and eliminate their debt by means of a debt exchange with the IMF to the IMF having a positive influence on democracy when loaning money to a country. Also, the way that the IMF voting power is distributed shows a fair way to doing it by awarding all members of the fund with a start up amount of basis points to be able to have some power.

Effects of Violent TV Programming on Adolescent Behavior Essay

Violent behavior is a central theme in many kinds of media. Television and movies depict violent behaviors as acceptable ways of communicating and resolving problematic social situations (Strasburger & Donnerstein, 1999). During the twentieth century, Americans were introduced to a wide variety of media technology, including televisions, digital computers, video cassette players and handheld electronic machines (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). Although television is but one of the many media venues, it represents the predominant medium to which very young children are exposed. The 1972 report to the Surgeon General found that 96% of American homes have one or more television sets and the average home set is on more than six hours a day and frequent viewing usually begins at about age 3 and remains relatively high until about age 12 (1972, pp. 1-2). Kaiser’s study (1999) found that children spend up to 40 hours per week in front of the television. For children under the age of 7, Wright et al. (1994) found that media exposure averaged just over four hours per day. Other studies have concurred that the television has become a predominant medium of experience for the child. In a 1990 position paper, the NAEYC stated that the trend toward increased depiction of violence in the media jeopardizes the healthy development of significant numbers of our nation’s children (1990, p. 18). The viewing experience is highly complex, subjective, and dependent upon the child’s level of cognitive and emotional understanding (Wright et al. , 1994). Social scientists and policy makers have expressed concern about the potential negative impact of exposure of violence on children (Bushman & Geen, 1990). They have explored the negative impact longitudinally, both experimentally and observationally, and found that children as young as 2 and into adolescence are adversely affected by televised violence. Studies demonstrated that after viewing violent programs, the child behaved aggressively and imitated the scenes of the violent behavior in his play (Anderson & Bushman 2001). This paper explores the current state of research in this area and seeks for the relationship between television watching and childhood violence. Television and Violence The most recent large-scale longitudinal study was initiated in 1994 by researchers at the Universities of California, Texas, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. The National Television Violence Study (NTVS) was deemed the largest scientific study of television violence ever undertaken (Federman, 1998). NTVS involved a three-year effort (1994-1997) to review violence in televised programming. It examined three areas of concern: televised programming context, factors that either positively or negatively alter the risk of viewing violence, and the interactions between programming and the viewers. In this study, nearly 10,000 hours of televised cross-channel programming were examined using five major groupings: broadcast networks, independent broadcast, public broadcast, basic cable, and premium cable. The authors found that 61% of programs contain violence. By the third year of the study, there was more violent interaction observed across the programs analyzed. Specific to the younger child, the study found that children’s programs, as a genre, contained the greatest share (50%) of all high-risk violent interactions, as well as the highest ratio of interactions per hour (. 75) (Federman, Vol. 3, 1998, p. 175). Child-oriented cable programs such as those on Cartoon Network, Disney, or Nickelodeon contained the most high risk violent interactions (27%), compared to general-entertainment basic cable (24%), independent broadcast (19%), and premium cable (17%) (Federman, 1998). Early morning viewing, which is primarily child-focused cartoon programming, has at least one high-risk violent presentation every hour. In one week, a child is exposed to at least 20 violent behavior depictions, and in one year over 1,000, if he watches three hours of early morning television a day (Federman, 1997-1998). The authors also found that over the course of three years there was little change in the overall number of violent programs. However, there was a significant increase (8%) in the portrayals of violent incidents per program and children’s programs continued to depict violence in animated stories (Federman, Vol. 2, 1998). In many of these violent interactions, the main character did not experience any appropriate consequences for aggressive behavior. One of the goals of the NTVS was to encourage more responsible television programming and viewing. The study emphasized the message that understanding the impact of viewed televised violence offers an opportunity to significantly reduce the risks to society that are posed by exposure to televised violence. Young Child’s Experience of Violence The American media is rife with portrayals of justified violence (Federman, 1997-1998). The good guy beats up the bad guy, and laughter or expressions of glee follow hurtful acts. This conveys the message that aggression is an acceptable way to solve problems and express frustration. Children of all ages watch television and videos on a daily basis and are exposed to acts of violence that potentially shape their way of thinking and behaving (Minow & Lamay, 1995, p. 36) Cartoons feature patterns that are more likely to encourage aggression in children, especially if they are under the age of seven (Boyatzis et al. , 1987). Aggressive behaviors, often portrayed in the genre of animation aimed at children, are confusing for the young child. The stories presented as humorous, with laughter accompanying actions that are hostile and aggressive. This may lead to a decrease in his potential fear of danger and may also foster desensitization to harmful situations (Federman, 1997-1998). Significant results revealed that televised violence is changing the behavior of children (Federman, 1997-1998). Individuals of all ages learn through observation. Three important factors affect the impact of learning through modeling. First, the more engaging and attractive the model is, the more the viewer will stay attentive; the less appealing the character is, the more likely the viewer will be distracted or ignore the experience. The second compelling factor is the repeated exposure of the modeling stimuli. As a result of repeated exposure, modeling stimuli eventually produces enduring, retrievable images (Bandura, 1977, p. 25). The third factor, the complexity of the observed experience, affects the rate of observational learning. It is based on the observer’s capacity to process information. However, the young child may imitate without knowing what his behavior means. Bandura suggests that immediate imitation does not require much in the way of cognitive functioning because the behavioral reproduction is externally guided by the model’s action (Bandura, 1977, p. 27). Bandura’s research throughout the 1960s and 1970s with the inflatable Bobo doll demonstrated a relationship between viewing aggressive acts of behavior and performing them. He found that children would more often choose the Bobo doll to punch after viewing a televised violent program than reading a book or choosing a quiet game. Although Bandura’s work on modeling has been challenged over the years, there has been strong support. Later researchers have expanded Bandura’s initial studies, finding that the younger the child is, the more likely he will use imitation rather than rational thinking to choose an appropriate, non-violent way of relating. Eron et al. (1972) reported a strong relationship between viewed violence at age 8 and aggressive behavior. Canton and Sparks (1984) found that preschool children have a greater fear response than older children and react accordingly to what they see. Singer et al. (1999) concluded that there was a significant association linking violent exposure with children’s self-reported violent behaviors. Boyatzis et al. ‘s 1995 study of 52 elementary school children with a mean age 7 years, 9 months, showed how children reacted to watching an episode of The Power Rangers. They found that the child’s aggressive tendency and lack of fear was immediate and markedly greater following an exposure to but a single episode of The Power Rangers. (Boyatzis et al. , 1995, p. 53). Animated programming such as The Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles characterizes the hero as attractive, strong, and powerful. These characters use violence to solve problematic situations and rescue the helpless victim. The NTVS found that a preschooler who watches an average of 2 hours a day of such content will 43 be exposed to at least 10 hazardous portrayals a week, and over 500 in a year (Federman, Vol. 3, 1998, p. 163). Other studies have documented the relationship between exposure to violence and aggressive thought and action. For example, Josephson (1987) presented two television excerpts, one violent and one non-violent, to 396 third-grade boys from 13 schools. She hypothesized that there was a relationship between viewed violence and aggressive play behavior. Significance was found in increased aggressive behavior in boys who played a game of hockey after watching a violent program. Boys who scored high on characteristic levels of aggressiveness used more aggressive behaviors in their hockey game if they were in the groups that viewed violence. Furthermore, she found that the boys who watched the violent tape and were not given verbal cues about appropriateness of the behavior played more aggressively after the tape than either the boys who watched a non-violent tape, or boys who watched a violent tape but were given verbal cues that commented on appropriateness of behavior(Josephson, 1987). Children are being presented with messages that invite aggressive ways of relating to resolve situations and handle life events (Groves 2002). Current televised shows use cartoons, as well as live actors, to display forms of aggression as a means of relating to others and solving problems. A significant shift in televised programming, though, has occurred with the portrayal of aggressive behavior through more real life characterization, as illustrated in shows like The Power Rangers. The visual experience of aggressive behavior has become more like real life to the child because instead of viewing animated characters using aggressive behavior, the child can now watch individuals similar to himself transmogrify into violent machines (Boyatzis et al. , 1995). In this mechanical state, the portrayed behavior is violent and aggressive with the child’s intention of solving a problem. Witnessing these aggressive acts of behavior gives the child a script to construct his social interactions. Since young children create and store behavior that they see, viewing violence becomes a potential way of relating to an experience. Whether the televised programming is in the form of cartoons or real life, social scripts are constructed by the child and are then employed in day-to-day experiences (Groves 2002). Mitigating the Influence of Violent Television Even though there have been numerous studies documenting the impact of televised violence on the behavior of children, the television industry has been reluctant to change violent programming (Singer et al. , 1999). As a result, recent research has focused on how to mitigate the experience of what the child sees rather than waiting for the industry to change what is presented to the public. The child uses internal processes, relying on cognitive and emotional capacities, to actively understand what has been experienced. In his efforts to understand these experiences, the child will find a way to concretize the experience into either emotional or behavioral responses. Younger children need the assistance of another to understand what they experience because they are unable to adjust their viewing and comprehension activities in response to learning instructions (Field & Anderson, 1985, p. 91). Collins, Sobol, and Westby (1981) studied 47 children with a mean age of 7. 8 years. Children who watched a program in the presence of an adult who provided ongoing commentary showed improved comprehension of the plot and the witnessed experiences. Without adult participation, the younger children remembered only the aggressive behaviors without remembering the link to either the motive or the consequence. Huesmann et al. (1983) sampled 169 first- and third-grade children over a two-year period. The focus of the study was to mitigate the relation between aggression and television violence viewing in children through an intervention that altered the children’s attitudes about aggression and violent shows (Huesmann et al. , 1983, p. 899). They found a significant change in how the child responded to violence when the experimenter commented on the violent behavior. More children responded with appropriate answers when they were directly asked, â€Å"what are the bad things that could happen when a child imitates the aggressive behavior of a character? † St. Peters et al. (1991) found that the role of co-viewing by the parent with the child is beneficial. This study was conducted over a two-year period and involved the participation of 271 children, ages 3 to 5 years, and their parents. Parental comments about the televised material helped the children understand what they saw. The parents’ comments differentiated acceptable and non-acceptable behavior for the child. Young children need this clarification and guidance because they have relatively few internal structures to guide them in their behavior (St. Peters et al. , 1991). Kubey (1996) noted that network and cable programming are unsuitable for some children, especially the young child. No amount of adult commenting will completely mitigate what a child experiences. Monitoring and limiting a child’s choice of television shows to reduce the exposure to violent behaviors is similar to monitoring a child’s choice of foods to ensure health and nutrition. Children are victims to the effects of exposure to violence. Parents are critically important as a resource for the child in his attempt to understand the world. Grover (2002) noted that the child who has been exposed to violence responds more favorably to a nurturing, sensitive and caring adult relationship. The more parents know about their child’s changing capacities to understand the world, the better able they are to respond empathically and appropriately to the child (Garbarino, 1992). However, it is essential, as a parent is a primary resource to buffer, explain and clarify life experiences for the child that are beyond the child’s capacity to understand ((Minow & Lamay, 1995). The study by Singer et al. (1980) found that parents influenced their children’s perceptions of the importance of television by the type and amount of television viewing they had. Collins et al. (1981) found that parental commentary helped children understand the implicit program content. The longitudinal study by St. Peters et al. (1991) of 3- and 5-year-olds and their families’ viewing patterns found that parents’ viewing choices play a role in determining a child’s exposure to television programs. Conclusion Young children often copy the violent actions that they have witnessed. Bandura’s work on modeling in the field of social learning has been significant in conceptualizing the relationship between viewing violence and subsequent behaviors. The solution for ameliorating the impact of televised violence focuses on change in parental attitudes as well as profound changes in the entertainment industry. Changing parental attitudes and behavior toward media violence is more feasible than changing the way the entertainment industry portrays violence. Educating parents about the child’s cognitive and emotional developmental capacities has been recommended widely as one solution to lessen the potential impact of media violence. References Anderson, C, & Bushman, B. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. American Psychological Society, 12, pp. 353-359. Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Boyatzis, C. J. , Matillo, G. M. , & Nesbitt, K. M. (1995). Effects of â€Å"The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers† on children’s aggression with peers. Child Study Journal, 25(1), pp. 45-55.

Discuss the Influence That Social Networking Plays in Society Today? Essay

How, and to what extent, has it re-defined social relationships and is this generationally specific? Social Networking plays an important role in society today; it will be argued that social networking has redefined social relationships and that this effect is generationally specific (Salman,2009) Social Networking sites such as Facebook have had a profound effect on personal relationships. The twenty first century is an imprisoned atmosphere where the Internet is the most prominent method of communication. Its users will most probably argue that using these social networking sites have had no direct impact on how they interact with others or have any direct affect on their social relationships, that in fact social networking sites had increased their participation in social activities and contact with their friends and family (APS 2010). However, with its increasing popularity and high usage, social networking has become the new way to â€Å"socialize†. In the past people developed social relationships through interaction face to face, by mail, by telephone, and in person, however there have been dramatic changes since the impact of the internet and sites like Facebook. These sites allow people to create online profiles, upload pictures and disburse personal information to their online allies which allows users to proclaim a perception of identity lived through a technological world. â€Å"These sites allow informal, 24 hour communication regardless of physical proximity†. The â€Å"social grid† boasting 175 million users, has been found to be â€Å"positive for social relations† (Kang,2010, p1) but according to the research I have undertaken, I will argue otherwise. To strengthen my argument I will use statistics from a survey that was conducted by The Australian Psychological Society (2010) with a total of 1,834 respondents. Fourteen percent of the survey respondents were male and seventy three percent were female. Thirteen percent of respondents chose not to disclose their gender (APS, 2010). Concerns about excessive use of online social networking were investigated. 0% of the participants felt a need to log on to these sites several times a day and believed that they wasted time on these sites, however 53% had declared that using social networking sites had increased their participation in social activities. (APS, 2010). Further studies into the effects social networking sites had on how people communicate with each other indicated that internet communication may supplement traditional social interaction like talking face to face and making time to see the other person in physical figure. Cyber bullying was also an expression of concern, particularly among children and adolescents with 28% of respondents reporting inappropriate and distressing behaviour whilst online (APS,2010). A few of the tasteless behaviours included abusive messages and harassment which is not only upsetting but can severely affect how someone feels about how they communicate with others and may feel a need to shut themselves out further from society in fear of abuse and confrontation. Some other disadvantages in using online social networking included: concerns about how catching up with friends had become increasingly non existent and a fear that using online social networking would become addictive. A study conducted by Chak and Lueng (2004) concluded that the more a person is addicted to the Internet, the shyer the person is, which will reflect the way that person communicates in the outside world where face to face interaction is significant. With Internet addiction fast becoming a popular enslavement, studies have indicated that some patterns of Internet use are associated with loneliness, shyness, anxiety, depression and self-consciousness. (Chak & Lueng 2004) which in turn will affect your social relationships. Valkenburg, Peter & Shoulten (2006) investigated the consequences of friend networking sites with negative feedback illustrating a decline in self esteem and well being. However, the positive feedback indicated that social networking sites had increased their social self esteem and well being. Although the association between Internet use and subsequent social support is negative, the effect is not statistically significant. People who use the internet more subsequently reported larger increases in loneliness while greater use of the internet was associated with increased depression at a subsequent period (Social Tech Science, 2010). â€Å"Social networking displaces face-to-face time: an hour longer spent on the Internet has been shown to equate to half an hour less face-to-face time in a day† (Social Tech Science, 2010, p1). The explosion in Social Networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook is broadly regarded as an exciting opportunity, especially for youth as they are more inclined to embrace the new technologies that are becoming increasingly available, although a study conducted by Kennedy (2009) found that the fastest growing demographic on Social Networking Sites were women aged 55 and older, and Facebook users older than 35 had doubled by the end of March 2009. This proves that Social Networking really has nothing to do with age but with society wanting to embrace new technologies to enhance their personal and professional lives. The results from the research I have gathered demonstrate that social networking sites do have a profound influence on society and it re-defines social relationships. However, it is not generationally specific. â€Å"In every era, cultures go through numerous changes, and in recent years ours has been more impacted than anything else by social media†. (Gordhamer,2009). Although there is a lot of research to support the argument that Social Networking Sites are the most beneficial form of communication and boosts self esteem and well being, we cannot ignore the body of evidence that suggests the impact social media has on our personal and professional lives.

Effects of social networks among youth Research Paper

Effects of social networks among youth - Research Paper Example However, along with its many obvious advantages, the huge impact of social media on the lives of the youth is sometimes not a positive one. I wanted to research and study the effects of the many social networks that are present today, and how these have changed the way the adolescents socially interact, and their lives as a whole .Today, social networks are not only limited to websites on the computer, there are other so many creative applications that can be downloaded on cellular devices to make the use of social networks easier. Social media not only has social implications but it has also redefined a lot of other concepts, marketing in particular. Where previously advertisement was done via television, newspapers, billboards etc, social media like Facebook is the new thing. The younger generation of today has a completely novice idea about the marketplace, for them it is virtual thanks to the social media. One might argue that virtual shopping place is the concept introduced by the internet and it is true to some extent. However, social media has boosted the virtual marketplace to a whole new dimension. In short, it can be said that social media has completely redefined the lives of the youth in several many dimensions. The purpose of this study is to establish if this changed livestyles is for better or worst. This question is extremely important to answer so that if social media is doing more harm than it is doing good, considerable efforts need to be made by the society at large to unhook the youth which is absolutely addicted to social media. The purpose of this review is to explain further on why is the younger generation labeled as those who use social networks the most, and what are the pros and cons and their effects and impacts on lives â€Å"Youth no longer just "hang out" at the mall, the bowling alley, or the fair. Compared to generations of the past, this group of millennial

Physical Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physical Assessment - Essay Example The nipple is surrounded by pigmented area of the skin, known as the areola, which possesses underlying areolar glands. Normal breasts are located between the second and the sixth ribs and from the lateral margin of sternum to mid-axillary line. They enlarge during pregnancy and lactation, due to the enlargement of ducts and lobules (Snell, 2008). The normal shape of the breast is due to the connective tissue and ligaments and it is supplied by nerves, blood and lymph vessels, and lymph nodes. Accurate diagnosis is important to assess the proper function of mammary glands (in females), as well as the increasing risk of breast cancer in both males and females (WebMD, n.d.) The patient complained of severe pain in the upper lateral quadrant on the left side of her breast since the past six days, and difficulty in breathing. Her left nipple appeared to be slightly inverted since her menopause eight years ago. She had two children whom she had lactated until the first year after their births. Both the right and left breasts appeared symmetrical and were located on the pectoral muscles in normal position and were of an average size. The skin was smooth throughout and there was no discoloration, heat or erythema on either of them. Her right nipple was everted but her left one had been inverted since menopause. Upon palpation, the right breast had no swollen lymph nodes or tenderness, but the upper left quadrant of left breast had focal nodularity, slight swelling of axilla and tenderness. There was no discharge from either of the nipples. Upon mammography and sentinel node biopsy, it was discovered that the patient had metastatic breast cancer and advised mastectomy and subsequent chemotherapy and breast irradiation. Her estrogen and progesterone receptor assays were positive, confirming the aforementioned prognosis. Educate the patient regarding breast cancer and its specifics. Bilateral

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 23

Management - Essay Example After that I would be working on my mathematical and financial skills. This would take another one hour. Gradually I would be increasing my practice session to four to five hours in a week. I wish to build a strong communication and an analytical capacity so I will put in around 2 to 3 hours working on my vocabulary and math skills. I will also have to spend time on reading about the daily finance news to keep myself abreast of the latest information on financial matters. I will put in a minimum of 1 hour reading about the information from the daily newspapers and business magazines. In short I plan to put in five hours per week while preparing for my interview in a relevant sector. 1. As I wish to rise in my career I will have to develop my speaking and communicating abilities. I wish to reach a senior level in three years so I will be emphasizing on speech, vocabulary and the right usage of words. As I am married my non career life would compose of my family, my parents, my spouse and my children. I am a family oriented man and as such family values a lot to me. But I also realized that there are certain places where I lack in terms of family values and its requirements. I have been married for two years and have a single son. I wish to have more children in future. I also have elderly parents who are sick and need help. My mother is on wheel chair and needs to be accompanied by someone. I value them a lot other than my career so I would like to increase my time I spend with them. My parents love vacations so would like to take them on short trips. This would help me to bind with them more and also improve my interactions with them. My mother likes to read so I would have to develop the skill to read to her the books she likes. For this would have to develop my reading skills so as to sound interesting to my mother. My wife is not to be neglected here. So I would need to make

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

Moving - Essay Example This is because of several physical, emotional, financial and mental needs the teenager is not prepared to be burdened with. A teenager at such a tender age has not matured to accommodate certain roles that accompany pregnancy and motherhood. A conservative home driven by religious fundamentalism can be a hot place for a girl who has become pregnant or who is a mother. For a person who is 17 years of age, or even lower, and is either expecting or has delivered, the experience can be overwhelming. This is a problem at home, and it is often ignored and frequently overlooked, yet affects a large number of homes. This paper explores the effects of problem of teenage pregnancy and teenage motherhood. Teenage pregnant girls have high chances of developing medical complications, more than pregnant adults. Pregnancy at such age is generally against societal norms and as such the victims often hide from parental view and they do not visit appropriate medical facilities to seek prenatal and postnatal care. The resulting consequence is a teenage pregnant girl or teenage mother who lacks vital nutrients and vitamins. Moreover, anemia, a condition associated with low levels of blood in the body may become a common feature. The teenage pregnant girl or the mother is still a child and is still in the process of growth other emotionally and physically, and hence can be affected by the physical and psychological trauma associated with any of the processes. The experience is tasking and constraining, particularly if one is in an environment where they are misunderstood (Booth, the American fiction writer, 177). There are certain bodily components that do not achieve full physical growth until one reaches certain age. For instance in girls, the pelvic bones do not achieve their maximum size till about 18. For a teenage girl who is pregnant, the delivery process must be complicated as the pelvic bones have not grown to allow

Globalization and Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Globalization and Environment - Essay Example The culture, trade, business, ethics and conduct of one group in one part of the world can influence others may or may not be of same nation. It is irrespective of the time and space and language bindings as these communications are in terms of trade, social internet forums. The process of globalization is therefore, an amalgamation of interaction and integration among different groups of people, various organizations and governments of different nations. This communication is supported by information technology (What is globalization). The interaction not only influences people and their welfare in terms of civilization, traditions, political structure, financial growth and affluences but also affects the environment as a whole (What is globalization). Gradually globalization has defined its terminologies in all aspects of human civilization by making the countries formulate to the policies for open economies both, domestically and internationally (What is globalization). With the implementation of free market economic systems, path is paved for mounting their own industrious potentials and creating multitude openings for international trade and investment. This served as an opportunity for the foreign markets, factories, production and marketing measures with people belonging to different parts of the world (What is globalization). These ... 2. Political Interaction 3. Information and Information Technology (IT) 4. Culture These are the various magnitudes of globalization affecting the natural, local, national and finally the global environment. It directly influences human development (Panayotou, 2000). An outline is drawn to study the globalization and the environment encompassing economic proportions of trade, investment and capital flows (Panayotou, 2000). It is evident that regardless of its mounting strength, the side-effects of globalization and economic trends are inadequately understood as these effects are not straight but are indirect. The growing concern for the environment and its protection has given least emphasis on the prevalence of inexorable globalization (Ehrenfeld, 2003). Globalization is multiplying with such a rapid pace that its consequences are being experienced by the smallest and secluded communities and natural areas may it be a developed or an undeveloped nation. It is evident that despite its insightful impact on the environment, globalization is going to have its say (Ehrenfeld, 2003). The present article therefore signifies the impact of globalization on the environment as a whole may it be natural, social, local, national and lastly global. Globalization has tremendously affected world in various different aspects 1. Industrial- it has provided the surface to the production market with an enhanced access to a wide variety of foreign products and therefore globalization has increased large number of customers for itself. This has helped in the movement of goods and materials between and within the national boundaries. 2. Financial- Globalization has opened the way to procure external financing opportunities to the

Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Humanities - Essay Example In contrast, a closer look at the painting depicts a description of suffering the subject is experiencing. In other words, the subject is undergoing a personal crisis that causes alienation. In the background of the picture, there are two people, probably the two friends Munch refers to in the quote, â€Å"walking away in the opposite direction.† The illustration creates feelings of alienation in depicting the fear that Munch talks of in the quote. Edward Munch as an expressionist painter uses color in expressing his emotional turmoil. In the quote he describes the â€Å"red† sky and the â€Å"bluish black† Fjord, the color description shows his alienated world. The dark world seemingly black hole hell like where â€Å"tongues of fire† lick at the overwhelmingly tired sexless subject. The use of the word â€Å"blood† in the painting quote in conjunction with the swirling and whirling warm tones existing in the far background depicts the physical violence the subject might have been undergoing. The scream represents a sound and auditory sensation. The setting of the paint is near a slaughterhouse and insane asylum. Probably the artist was referring to the wailing of the dying animals and the cries from the nearby insane asylum. The scream depicts the modern society where human beings are suffering in hidden places but undergoing both emotional and physical suffering in the modern age. The insane asylum is the creation of the community standard because how does one precisely measure the level of insanity a person is undergoing to warrant lock up in the asylum. Unfortunately, the society believes that way, so it is quite hard to change the perception. Vincent Gogh’s â€Å"Night Cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬  shows a correlation in illustrating the alienation theme. The artist’s plunging perspective shows an impression of his alienation in a cruel world that was seemingly closing up on

Pros and Cons of Capital Budgeting Measures Research Paper

Pros and Cons of Capital Budgeting Measures - Research Paper Example Examples here include the payback period and the accounting rate of return. The other techniques employed in the evaluation of projects are the discounted methods of appraising capital projects. In these methods, the future expected cash flows are discounted at the organizations cost of capital to determine the projects’ to be undertaken. In this approach, only projects with positive net present value will be undertaken in order of their profitability. The idea of capital budgeting before investments are undertaken is necessitated by the need to avoid incurring losses and to maximize the returns of a firm at the lowest cost possible. The budgeting process is also necessary because of the capital constraints that companies face. Due to capital inadequacy, companies and firms will not be in a position to undertake all the projects and therefore creating the need to only undertakes the most profitable investments (Baker, 2011). Failure to undertake capital budgeting process may c ause organizations to realize heavy losses and have going concern problems. In this paper, discussion has made on the pros and cons of the methods of NPV, IRR, MIRR and discounted payback method. I would prefer the use of NPV and IRR methods of capital budgeting in instances that we have independent projects with equal sizes. The two methods can thus be used interchangeably and would be preferred because they incorporate the risk and time values in their calculations. MIRR, which is an improvement of IRR, is also preferable in cases where we have projects having irregular cash flows and therefore provides a solution to some of the short falls of IRR. Investment appraisal should therefore be keenly undertaken by qualifies personnel and all necessary weights should be integrated when determining the best method to use. It must be noted that all the methods used in capital budgeting measures have some limitations (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2010). The best that should be done is to ensure tha t such deficiency does not impair materially the decision to be made. Net Present Value The NPV of a project is the present value of all the future expected cash inflows less the present value of the future expected cash outflows (Parrino & Kidwell, 2009). In this case, the future expected cash flows are determined currently and discounted using the cost of capital of the firm. NPV takes into account only cash flows and does not use the accounting profits or items like depreciation. It is commonly used by many organizations in their investment appraisal method. Most businesses and organizations that are interested in the viability and profitability of projects have normally applied the NPV method as a way of evaluating their actions. The wide acceptance of NPV is because it is easier to understand and to interpret the results even to those without financial knowledge. NPV has various advantages. To begin with, the method considers the time value of money and therefore shoulders the effect of inflation and interest rates that are likely to adverse affect the value of money. It must be noticed that the value of 1 dollar today may not be the same as the value of the same dollar in 3 years time because of time difference. The second reason for use of this method is that it gives the criteria to use in the selection of the projects to be undertaken. The firms may undertake investments with positive NPV’s because they have a net gain as opposed to those with negative NPV’s which results into losses. The investors or firms are

The rise of the modern Civil Rights movement Essay

The rise of the modern Civil Rights movement - Essay Example Rise of the modern civil rights movements Major players in the modern civil rights movements Faced with racial discrimination, social prejudice and poor service provisions, the minority groups realized that they had to fight for their legitimate rights. Studies by McWhorter2 showed that religious leaders, influential businesspersons, and early African American scholars pioneered the modern civil rights movements. Some of the most notable individuals who spearheaded the movements included the following, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and James Meredith. Thurgood Marshall was the first black Supreme Court justice, who prior to his appointment was the attorney of the civil rights groups NAACP. Martin Luther Jr. being the most influential figure in the civil rights movement was among the founders of summer Christian leadership conference, which organized civil disobedience movements across the nation. Along with Luther in the struggle for civil rights was a lso Malcolm X popularly known as the Black Nationalist and the founder of organization of the Afro American Unity. The main events that shape the modern civil rights movement The efforts of the modern civil rights movements culminated to the legislature of new laws and amendment of racial discriminating laws that had been passed by the past administrations. In 1948, President Truman signed the executive order 9981, which provided for equality of treatment and opportunity for all in the armed forces. Six years later, the ruling by supreme in 1954 abolished segregation in public schools and termed it unconstitutional. Because of the 1954 ruling, James Meredith became the first black person to enrol at the University of Mississippi. In 1963 Martin Luther lead the famous march on Washington which congregated at the Lincoln memorial, where Martin delivered the â€Å"I have a Dream â€Å"speech. In his book, Dierenfiled3, wrote that in keeping his promise of the great society, President Johnson signed the civil Rights Act of 1964, which led to prohibition of any form of discrimination, based on race, color, or religion. According to Pitney,4 the President also signed the most documented act of 1965, the Voting Rights Act, which had been passed by the congress. The act abolished the requirements for literacy test and poll taxes making the voting much easier for the African Americans. In addition, Immigration and National Services Act was also passed in the same year, allowing for citizens from other nations apart from the European nation into the U.S. With the recognition of universal equality for all persons without regards to race or gender, the Supreme Court in 1967 passed a ruling that declared the prohibition of interracial marriage unconstitutional. Another notable event in the timeline of civil rights movement was the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which occurred after a court jury, acquitted four white police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King. Ot her groups that fought for equality in the 1950s Apart from the civil rights movements that championed for the rights of the African Americans, there were also other civil groups fighting for people with disabilities and workers welfare. In his book Caro5, observed that those living with disabilities also faced the similar challenges to some extent that the African Ameri

The Processes Of Social And Family Relations Essay Example for Free

The Processes Of Social And Family Relations Essay Culture refers to a set of attitudes, values, systems and traditions that are shared by some common people in the society. It is what defines a set of people and distinguishes them from another. There is a correlation between culture and behavior. The social upbringing of a child in a family set up would influence her future behavior. The child would recognize that way as the most appropriate one of doing things. On family relations, individualists would become emotional and aggressive. On the ether hand, Collectivists would be emphatic and tolerant people. Career development strategies would influence one’s self confidence or lack of it. Uncertainty of a career of one’ choice may lead to aggression, drug abuse due to frustration and other deviant behaviors in the society. Various stakeholders are involved in career development. These include parents, teachers and counselors. How they approach career development would affect one’s behavior. The difference between individualist and collectivist cultures is that whereas individualists believe in independence, collectivists believe in externality and group work. Political organization is a set / system of the body politic and the government. Within the political environment, there exist checks and balances whereby certain interested parties/groups like the human rights activists and trade unionists keep the government on its toes. This would lead to a reduction of deviance and other social injustices in the community. But depending on whether one is an individualist/ collectivist, political organization would determine how he/she would react to the changes in the political environment. In career development, people with individualist cultures tend to follow what they deem best. Collectivists would consult and their conclusions would encompass external opinions and ideas. Individualism makes one independent-minded who in addition is mesmerized  Ã‚   in eigocentricy. For a collectivist, he is a humble and accommodative person. Advantages of individualism are that one makes autonomous decisions. Decisions are made after they have been widely thought out. However, no single individual is perfect in all aspects. People need each other in society. Internality breeds selfishness and societal discrimination. A collective culture is advantageous in terms of problem solving especially those that determine one’s future trait/behavior. Conflicts are well solved through consultation. One also learns other people’s cultures and this brings about cultural fit in the society. However, collectivism has its own drawbacks. People are different and one may not make concrete judgments and/or resolutions when he/she engages others. This can lead to confusion and lack of independence when solving problems. REFERENCES Clyde Klukholm, Culture and behavior, Free Press of Glencoe, 2006

Peter Careys American Dreams Analysis

Peter Careys American Dreams Analysis Option 2 Short Stories Through a close critical reading of Peter Careys story American Dreams on pp. 147-62 in the Anthology, A World of Difference, consider how the storys focus on themes of cultural dependency has particular consequences for a sense of place. The overall aim of this essay is to explore some of the literary devices that Peter Carey has used in American Dreams to convey the themes of cultural dependency, and the costs it might have on ones cultural identity. It will also attempt to show what the consequences were, for the townspeople, when their quest for living the American dream became a sort of reality. The essay will first look at the authors choice of title, and its meaning in relation to cultural dependency, it will then go on to the use of narrative technique, structure, as well as how the author has used art and reality. It will also consider other literary elements used to write this short story. The title of a book has one primary objective and that is to create that much of an interest and incentive to convince the potential reader to read further. So, what could be the purpose for Carey to choose this particular title? Peter Careys title American Dreams, conveys a sense of the books subject matter. It signposts the direction towards the expression most of us have heard; The American dream, of which The Oxford Dictionary for example defining it as: The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity †¦ (Oxford Dictionaries I English, 2007). However, this short story by Carey is showing another side of the American dream, exploring the dangers and costs of cultural dependency might have on a small community. The consequences of cultural dependency can arise when a society is strongly influenced and idealised by another, and subsequently trying to adopt its culture, values and lifestyle, not on purpose maybe, but in their qu est to live a prosperous life. Like in this story for example, the American dream, that has been glorified and sentimentalised as a utopian goal, and as a consequence, the townspeople lost somehow their cultural identity and sense of place. The peoples illusion of the American dream is running like a red thread throughout the story. They all watch American films and dream of wealth, and big smooth cars. Meanwhile, the peoples negative view of their home town and their unsatisfying lives grow bigger. The town in itself, is so insignificant, that it is not worth mentioning the name. The father of the narrator says; nothing more than a stopping place. Somewhere on the way to somewhere else. (p. 151). American Dreams (Prescott, 2008, pp. 147-62) is narrated from the perspective of a man recalling events when growing up in his childhood town, thus told in the past tense. The boys voice is the story, and seems to be giving a truthful account of his opinion and inner thoughts which makes the reader feel included and therefore becomes a shared experience. The narrator also seems to recognise the thoughts and feelings of the townspeople, and especially his father; My father, †¦, still believes that Gleason meant to do us well, that he loved the town more than anyone of us. My father says we have treated the town badly in our minds. (p.151). However, the narrator fails when it comes to understand Mr. Gleason, and why he built the wall on Bald Hill, as written in the opening paragraph of the story; No one can, to this day, remember what we did to offend him. (p.151). For that reason, the narrator is not able to give the reader a full understanding of what is going on in Mr Gleasons mind, which is typical for a non-omniscient first-person narrator.   Although the narrator mostly presents the story from a first-person point of view, in relation to his own experiences, he is also using the collective voice of the townspeople and himself in; we all, all eight hundred of us †¦ For years we watched the films at Roxy and dreamed, if not of America, †¦ (p.151), which gives the reader the impression that they are all in unison, because their dreams, hopes and frustrations are the same, or similar at least. Careys writing style is characterised by the use of simple structured sentences and colloquial language. He is making use of the narrators childhood memories of events from the past to move the story forward in time, beginning with; when I was a small boy I often stole apples†¦ (p.151), †¦ between my twelfth and seventeenth birthdays †¦ (p. 155). Carey is also making use of imagery to show the reader how slow the time passes in the tiny remote town, describing frequently how the townspeople pedalling and pushing their bicycles up and down the lanes. They were as much a burden, as a means of transport. the narrator says. (p. 152) and another attempt to describe the slow progress of the building of the wall is, when the narrator says; I watched it for two years, while I was waiting for customers who rarely came†¦ the agonizing progress of Mr Gleasons wall. (p.153). To highlight it even more, how uninteresting and dull the town is, the author is making use of simile in; It was as painful as a clock. (p. 153).   It is not until the leading up to the climax, that the impression of time seems to move faster in the story, as the pace finally increases with the narrator saying; And then, during my seventeenth birthday, Mr Gleason died. (p.156). Mr Gleason, the main character, is the outsider of the town and is described as; so quiet and grey, that we ignored him. (p.151). Everything was normal in the town until Mr Gleason retired and all went wrong. (p.153). It was the day when he began to build the ten-foot high wall on Bald Hill. Nor the people or the reader knows what is behind the wall, until the day, when Mr Gleason dies, and the wall comes down. With this unusual concept of a wall being built and later demolished, and both, for no known reason, Carey has made use of magic realism to create a sense of immediate curiosity for the readers. As soon as the wall comes down, the pace and the mood changes in the story. The pace increases, and the mood of the townspeople changes too. When they realised Mr Gleason had built an exact replica of their home town, as well as of themselves, there was first a sudden sense of pride and joy between them all. Admiring the reflection of themselves, running their lives in the little miniature town. The narrator himself was laughing, when he found himself posing as an American against the petrol pump, and then, the look of his fathers face marked with grease and hope. (p. 158). Is it possible Mr Gleason was having fun of the people, seeing them as superficial and trying to wake them up? Because later, when the people started to look deeper into each others houses, they went in for a surprise and their mood changes to fear, as they realised they had underestimated Mr Gleason. If he knew all their little secrets, he must have known what they used to think about him as well. Nothing but a fool. (p.151). It is not mentioned where this provincial quiet town is set. It is not relevant for the story itself. Nevertheless, the reader gets the feeling for the sense of place Carey is trying to show. A non-significant place, where the townspeople would rather not be, if they had the choice. However, there are some clues in the story that indicates it is set in rural Australia. First, the story is written in British English, second, the narrator speaks of; the minister for tourism (p.159) which is an Australian title created in 1959, (which also gives a hint about the time frame). As well, is the specific mentioning of the American dollars (p. 159), suggesting that the towns currency is also dollars.   Another considerable fact is that Peter Carey himself, was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, and that Parwan Railway Station (p. 156), is an actual station located in Bacchus Marsh. Bald Hill (p.153), is interestingly and according to Wikipedia: The most well-known and popular lookouts in Aust ralia, and in New York One of the highest points on Long Island. (En.m.wikipedia.org, 2017). This can be seen as the authors creative way of using figurative language as well as magic realism, as it offers a sense of hidden meaning, as both places do exist alongside the fictional Bald Hill, and all three having the same purpose of being lookouts, using telescopes to spy on the towns people. In the story, the narrator describes Bald Hill such as; On Bald Hill are half a dozen telescopes through which the Americans can spy on the town and reassure themselves that it is the same down there as it is on Bald Hill. (p.161). This example of situational irony links it also back to the beginning of the story, when the narrator is describing the townspeople at the Roxy, watching American films; for years we have watched films and dreamed of†¦America†¦ (p.151), showing that the situation now has changed; now it is the townspeople that are being watched and observed by the Americans. This essay has focused on themes of cultural dependency and the consequences it might have on a culture. We have been looking at Peter Careys short story American Dreams as an example, which suggests that, although, the town was remote and isolated, the townspeople still became influenced by the concept of living the American dream, and as a result of trying to conform to the American ways, they lost their identity. As the story goes on, when the town finally gain prosperity, it is ironically thanks to the Americans tourists. However, the townspeople are still not content, as unconsciously they are still not free of the American dream, unknowingly of the fact it is just a dream. (words 1648) Bibliography En.m.wikipedia.org. (2017). Bald Hill. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Hill  Ã‚  Ã‚   [Accessed 30 Mar. 2017]. Prescott, L. (2008). A world of difference. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

EGovernment: History, Causes and Trends

EGovernment: History, Causes and Trends BENCHMARKING EGOVERNMENT SERVICES Abstract: Governments around the world have embraced the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This represents a relatively new branch of study within the IT field. EGovernment Services are provided through many different means of access and to a variance of audiences, citizens, businesses or even other governmental entities. After clarifying the definitions and differences among similar terms (i.e. eGovernance and Digital Government, eDemocracy) this paper examines how eGovernment is measured by analyzing the dominating methodologies that are used. Furthermore, following specifically the eGovernment benchmarking methodology that is used by the European Commission, a greater focus in the evolution of eGovernment in Greece has been made. The finding through this assessment was far from satisfactory. Particularly, comparing the 20 Basic eGovernment Services offered in Greece, from 2007 to 2009, no development in terms of improvement, has taken place. Finally, the measures tha t governments need to undertake are discussed. Introduction In the past years, assisted by the invasion of Information Technology in everyday lives, governments all over the world have begun widely using information technologies for increasing the effectiveness and quality of the services they provide. These initiatives have become known as â€Å"electronic government† or eGovernment services. In most cases, when words gain that attractive â€Å"e-â€Å" in front of them, the popular belief is that they have become â€Å"electronic†, whatever that means, even though in some cases it does not make much sense. This confusion is much more obvious when the original word itself has conceptual and abstract meanings. Words like Government and Governance. Section I presents the most popular definitions, choosing the one that describe each term the best, and clarifies boundaries between the most common terms. Furthermore, the different ways that eGovernment can be classified, depending on the delivery model or the audience, is outlined. Although the definitions of eGovernment may vary widely, there an obvious shared theme emerges; eGovernment involves using information technology, and especially the Internet, to improve the delivery of government services to citizens, businesses, and other government agencies. It acts as enabler for citizens to interact and receive services from governments twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Monitoring eGovernment development and evaluating its effectiveness is a complex and challenging task, as the phenomenon is new and dynamic. In Section II, the basics of Benchmarking are presented and its structural elements are analyzed. Focusing on specific examples of methodology used, a set of four dominant practices that represent the longest running efforts for measuring eGovernment is chosen to be explored further. Using the reports publish by each one of them, on a periodical basis, their inner workings are analyzed and the various developments, changes and evolutions in the methods employed by each one are mentioned. Section III focuses at benchmarking of eGovernment Services in Europe. In order to recognize how eGovernment has evolved and matured within the European Union, the relevant European directives, initiatives and frameworks for the development of eGovernment Services in the region since 1999 are examined. Following that, the methodology used for benchmarking eGovernment the European Union is examined in detail. All measuring elements, including some that were used for the first time in the most recently published report are evaluated. Having established what eGovernment is, what Benchmarking is and how its methodologies function, Section IV uses the data from the latest European eGovernment Benchmarking Report, which was published in November 2009, to assess how the Greek eGovernment landscape evolved since the previous report in 2007. The results are disappointing. When comparing the 20 Basic eGovernment Services offered in Greece, there was no improvement, what so ever, from 2007 to 2009. Following that, Greek performance in the two new indices introduced in the latest report (EProcurement and User Experience) is reported and compared to the respective EU27+ average. Finally, in Section V, a general overview is provided along with the conclusions about the (lack of) progress in eGovernment in Greece. Scope and aims The scope of this project is to analyze how the meaning of eGovernment has evolved in the past few years and then review the current trends in benchmarking the penetration sophistication of eGovernment services in Europe and the rest of the world. Furthermore, this project reports and analyses the level of eGovernment services offered in Greece. The basic aims of this project are: Define the eGovernment ecosystem, typology and taxonomy. Analyse the dominant methodologies of benchmarking eGovernment services Gather and process existing results about eGovernment in Greece, regarding service penetration and sophistication, along with other relevant metrics. Resources This project relies heavily on research. In particular, a lot of research on what the different and sometimes contradicting terms that define eGovernment as well as the rest of the relevant terms in academic papers throughout the previous decade was made. Following that, further research about the current and past trends in benchmarking in general and eGovernment benchmarking in particular are is conducted. From there on, having established what eGovernment is and what the provided services should be, along with how they are measured, more research was conducted in order to reveal what the actual current level of provided eGovernment services is. To accomplish this, reports from many different parties are used. These include reports published both by well knows analyst firms or government bodies in various levels as well as reports issued at a global level such as the United Nations to local reports issued by the authorities of each country such as the IT Observatory in Greece. Typology Convention Throughout the bibliography, or any other sort of resource for that matter, â€Å"electronic† terms do not have a consistent representation. So, just like electronic mail can be found abbreviated in quite a few forms, â€Å"electronic† Government is abbreviated to eGovernment, e-Government, E-Government etc. To avoid this inconsistency, through this project the term eGovernment will be used (changed to EGovernment only in the beginning of sentences). This convention will apply to â€Å"electronic† terms that will be used such as eGovernance. I. EGovernment, eGovernance and Digital Governance EGovernment is one more of the recent years â€Å"buzzwords†. It is usually either paired with the word â€Å"services† at the end or other words like eGovernance and Digital Government. Like every other (relatively) new and cool â€Å"buzzword† they are used widely by a broad spectrum of individuals who represent mostly two different backgrounds. Information technology and politics. The first because it is a technological issue, the later because they have come to realize, even though a little late, that they represent an excellent vehicle for them to provide a better experience to anyone who interacts with the Government. But, what do these terms mean? Do they collide or conflict each other? How about covering or including one another? A. EGovernment Definitions There is not one, unique and commonly accepted definition for eGovernment. It is quite difficult to decide over a specific one but after the research made, the following definition from the World Bank (ÃŽ  ÃŽâ€˜ÃŽ ¡ÃŽâ€˜ÃŽ  ÃŽÅ¸ÃŽÅ"ÃŽ  ÃŽâ€") describes it best: â€Å"Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions ((AOEMA), 2004). Although other definitions have been provided, this definition is preferred. The reason is that it is the most concise and the easiest to be understood since apart describing in simple words how eGovernment is utilized, it goes on to offer a very brief, yet to the point, reference to its main advantages. EGovernment definitions various other sources as follows:  · United Nations definition ((AOEMA), 2004): â€Å"E-government is defined as utilizing the Internet and the world-wide-web for delivering government information and services to citizens.† * Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce GBDe definition ((AOEMA), 2004): â€Å"Electronic government (hereafter e-Government) refers to a situation in which administrative, legislative and judicial agencies (including both central and local governments) digitize their internal and external operations and utilize networked systems efficiently to realize better quality in the provision of public services.† * Gartner Groups definition: â€Å"the continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media.† * Definition of the Working Group on eGovernment in the Developing World: E-government is the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to promote more efficient and effective government, facilitate more accessible government services, allow greater public access to information, and make government more accountable to citizens. E-government might involve delivering services via the Internet, telephone, community centers (self-service or facilitated by others), wireless devices or other communications systems.† EGovernment is in the first stages of development. Most governments have already taken or are taking initiatives offering government services online. However, for the true potential of eGovernment to be realized, government needs to restructure and transform its long entrenched business processes. EGovernment is not simply the process of moving existing government functions to an electronic platform. Rather, it calls for rethinking the way government functions are carried out today to improve some processes, to introduce new ones and to replace those that require it. The range of services that may be provided by e-government spans from simple information sites to fully interactive experiences where users and government engage in a dialog mediated by information technology. Internal information systems of Government agencies, information kiosks, automated telephone information services, SMS services and other systems all comprise e-Government services. All these are applications of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to improve the services of the Government towards its primary clients: the citizens. In the last few years, there has been much talk of mobile government or m-government. MGovernment refers to the use of wireless technologies like cellular/mobile phones, laptops and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) for offering and delivering government services. MGovernment is not a substitute for e-government, rather it complements it. 1. Benefits of eGovernment E-Government initiatives contribute to citizen empowerment by making information about government processes and decisions easily available, and allowing information-sharing among people and organizations, and between citizens and the civil service (Accenture and the Markle Foundation, 2001). Well-informed citizens are better able to hold their governments accountable. Governments are then compelled to improve the quality of services, expand accessibility of these services, and increase responsiveness to their constituents. Many Government services rely on information passed among different offices within a department or across departments. The large amount of information and paperwork required results in an environment where for red tape rips, the workforce is inefficient and bureaucratic, and the delivery of services is ineffective. With the usage of ICT, the government bureaucracy and citizens are both winners in the battle against the paper trail. eGovernment allows government kno wledge and data exchange to be accessed more easily (whether public or secure) by the appropriate offices or individuals. By this, it reduces redundancies of information flows, and resulting in overall increased productivity. Another result of the integration of operations of government agencies is the improvement of transparency in government. EGovernment minimizes redundant information flows, helps to eliminate duplications of functions, and improves the adherence of public servants to proper government procedures, thereby reducing opportunities for corruption. This, provided it is accompanied by well-informed and active citizens, will assist in limiting the relationship between bureaucracy and corruption and will help lead to a higher sense of accountability among officials. B. EGovernment Taxonomy EGovernment can be classified according to different criteria. It can be classified according to its level, its audience and last but certainly not least, according to the delivery mechanism used. 1. Reach EGovernment can be categorized in the following five distinct levels depending on how broad it is. The levels are: * International * National * Regional * State/Provisional * Local These levels are illustrated below (see 1 adapted from Heeks, 2006) 2. Audience The question of where eGovernment originates is pretty much self-explanatory. Nevertheless, the same does not apply when wondering about who is in the receiving end. The answer that first comes to mind is, the citizens. But isnt so. Apart from citizens, there are other entities that are benefited by eGovernment services. According to Backus, â€Å"the three main target groups that can be distinguished in eGovernment concepts are government, citizens and businesses/interest groups. The external strategic objectives focus on citizens and businesses and interest groups, the internal objectives focus on government itself† (Backus, 2001). a) Government to Citizens (G2C) Government to Citizen activities are those in which the government provides, on-line, one-stop access to information and services to citizens. G2C applications allow citizens to ask questions of government agencies and receive answers, such us: * File income taxes * Pay taxes * Arrange driving tests or renew drivers licenses * Pay traffic tickets * Make appointments for vehicle emission inspections and * Change their address In addition, a government could: * Distribute information on the web * Provide downloadable forms online * Conduct training (e.g., in some US States, the classes for the drivers tests are offered online) * Assist citizens in finding employment * Provide touristic and recreational information * Provide health advice about safety issues (e.g. warnings for epidemics like the recent H1N1 virus) * Allow transfer of benefits like food coupons * File natural disaster relief compensation electronically through the use of smart cards; and the list goes on. b) Government to Business (G2B) Government to Business activities refers to those where the government deals with businesses such as suppliers using the Internet and other ICTs. It is a bidirectional interaction and transaction: Government to Business (G2B) and Business to Government (B2G). B2G is about businesses selling products and services to government. The most important G2B areas are eProcurement (which essentially is actually a reverse auction) and the auction of government surpluses. c) Government to Government (G2G) Lastly, Government to Government refers to those activities that take place between different government organizations/agencies/entities. Many of these activities aim to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of overall government operations. One such example is the Intelink, an intranet that carries classified information shared by different U.S. intelligence agencies. 3. Delivery Mechanism EGovernment services are provided not only via the Internet. Instead, many other means are often used. In fact, studies and reports indicate that these â€Å"other† means of eGovernment services provision show in some cases extremely high utilization. For example: * Telephony dominates channel usage in some situations: Accenture (2005) reports 63% of industrialized country respondents contacting government by telephone; compared to 31% using the Internet over a 12-month period. * In-person visits dominate in other situations: an Australian survey reports half of government contacts to be face-to-face compared to one-fifth undertaken via the Internet (AGIMO 2005). * Survey data also reflects an ongoing preference for telephone or in-person channels especially for transactional, problem-solving, urgent and complex interactions (AGIMO 2005, Horrigan 2005). a) Multichannel Examples Some Governments have embraced this reality and adopted a multichannel approach to the services they offer. In its Progress Reports, the European Comission includes some specific examples: * In Malta, citizens can access their personal social security records and payments via the internet, and may also opt to be notified about their social security payments via SMS rather than receiving printed payment advice by post. However, the most innovative initiative is the introduction of eGovernment Agents that act as intermediaries to those without access. (ePractice eGovernment Factsheets Malta, 2009) * In Austria, all websites that belong to the .gv.at domain are available free of charge or connection fees via wireless hotspots (WLAN), and via public kiosks, thanks to an excellent cooperation between the Austrian Government and two major telecommunication providers. Similar to Malta, Austria also has legislation in place allowing officials to act as intermediaries for citizens who do not have online access or a citizen (ePractice eGovernment Factsheets Austria, 2009) * In Spain, 060 is the magic code providing a single access point. Many services provided by different administrations can be accessed via the 060 network, whether they are office-, internet-, or phone-based. Citizens can access the networks 2800 points of presence in the street or their office on the web, by the phone (060) or SMS. The 060 phone number is intended to replace over 1000 phone numbers available for citizens to access information of the General Administration of the State. The network is available 24/7 and currently offers 1225 national, regional and local public services. It is worth noting that In August 2007, only 15 months after its creation, the citizen information phoneline 060 had already dealt with 700000 enquiries. (ePractice eGovernment Factsheets Spain, 2009) C. EGovernance Definitions Just like eGovernment, there is not a single common definition to describe eGovernance. However, the UNESCO defines it best: â€Å"E-governance is the public sectors use of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective. E-governance involves new styles of leadership, new ways of debating and deciding policy and investment, new ways of accessing education, new ways of listening to citizens and new ways of organizing and delivering information and services. E-governance is generally considered as a wider concept than e-government, since it can bring about a change in the way citizens relate to governments and to each other. E-governance can bring forth new concepts of citizenship, both in terms of citizen needs and responsibilities. Its objective is to engage, enable and empower the citizen.† Other definitions include * â€Å"EGovernance, meaning ‘electronic governance is using information and communication technologies (ICTs) at various levels of the government and the public sector and beyond, for the purpose of enhancing governance.† (Bedi et all, 2001, Holmes , 2001 and Okot-Uma, 2000). * Whereas according to Backus (2001), eGovernance is defined as the, â€Å"application of electronic means in (1) the interaction between government and citizens and government and businesses, as well as (2) in internal government operations to simplify and improve democratic, government and business aspects of Governance.† D. Digital Government The term Digital Governance was introduced more than 7 years ago (McIver Elmargarmid, 2002). Notions such as eGovernment, eGovernance and any future technology of ICT (e.g. Web 2.0 applications), should fall under the Digital Governance umbrella (Schellong, 2009). This term has been preferred by other researchers as well, due to the excessive usage of adding letters like â€Å"e† (electronic), â€Å"m† (mobile), â€Å"u† (ubiquitous) or â€Å"2.0† to government-related terms. Schellong goes further to suggest a specific typology (2008) as illustrated below in 2: EGovernment contains the terms: * EAdministration Internal use of ICT * EServices. External use of ICT * EDemocracy. Use of ICT for direct public participation in government (decision making or voting) EGovernance is a completely different branch and deals with government, society and economy. E. Open Government In the last decade, there have been many efforts to promote eGovernment. A new initiative has emerged though, Open Government, or OpenGov as it is usually abbreviated. OpenGovernment efforts have begun not only in the US but also in other countries, like Greece. Although OpenGovernment and eGovernment have similar characteristics and share common goals, the greatest one being the promotion of transparency, they are not the same. Open Government can be argued to be an evolution of eGovernment (GUSTETIC, 2009), since the only reason that it exists as an initiative today is because of advances made by eGovernment along with various technological improvements and innovations. II. Benchmarking A. Definition Benchmarking is defined as the process of measuring the performance of an organization along with the practices it applies in key areas and subsequently comparing them to other organizations. It is widely accepted in the private sector and is being used as a practical tool in order to achieve positive results with unlimited potential. EGovernment benchmarking means undertaking a review of comparative performance of eGovernment between nations or agencies. These studies have two purposes: * Internal: Benefit the individual and/or organization undertaking the benchmarking study * External: Benefit achieved for users of the study. This project falls into the first category, as described in the Scope and Aims paragraph earlier in the document. B. Goals With new expectations about their performance, government entities are being encouraged to look at ways of implementing changes in their practices. Benchmarking provides them with one of their most useful options. In every industry, there are ways of doing things that are broadly recognized as standard practices for that industry. However, every industry has its leaders. These leaders are organizations that over perform when measured against those standards. They have achieved â€Å"best practices† as demonstrated by their results in quality, cost, customer satisfaction and responsiveness. Benchmarking aims to discover what the â€Å"best practices† are that lead to superior performance. In greater detail, the process of benchmarking e-Government : * Fosters accountability for eGovernment projects. * Helps meeting rising public expectations * Enables government officials to take more informed decisions and corrective actions * Validates the generated public value * Fosters projects interchange Moreover, benchmarking can be distinguished from other traditional forms of evaluation by its attempt to visualize â€Å"best practices† through normalizing comparison and by urging public entities to ask themselves what they can do to promote them. Benchmarking enables and motivates them to determine how well current practices compare to others practices, locate performance gaps, experience best practices in action, and prioritize areas for improvement or other opportunities. It is quite important to note that â€Å"Benchmarking is not the same as benchmarks. Benchmarks are performance measures and benchmarking is the action of conducting the evaluation.† (Yasin, 2002). C. Data Sources After establishing what benchmarking is, the most common data sources are evaluated.. 1. Calculated Indicators Quite a few benchmarking reports use composite indicators, for example, for the purposes of national rankings. Because it is not always clear how they are calculated or researched, composites have been criticized (UIS 2003) for their lack of transparency along for their subjectivity. Fortunately, a guide for good practice in use of composites has been developed (eGEP 2006a:45) and includes: * Developing a theoretical framework for the composite. * Identifying and developing relevant variables. * Standardizing variables to allow comparisons. * Weighting variables and groups of variables. * Conducting sensitivity tests on the robustness of aggregated variables. Other than the composite calculation of national rankings, there seems to be little use of calculated indicators in the benchmarking of e-government. The most commonly used indicators include: * Benefit/Cost Ratio. * Demand/Supply Match. * Comparative Service Development. * National Ranking Some examples along with the methods used for each indicator are illustrated in Table 1below (adapted from Heeks, 2006). Calculated Indicator Example Method Benefit/Cost Ratio Expected financial benefit (impact) / Financial cost (input) (NOIE 2003) Interview (internal self-assessment / internal administrative records) Demand/Supply Match Preference for online channel in particular services versus Online sophistication of that service (Graafland Essers Ettendgui 2003) Mass citizen survey Comparative Service Development Stage model level of citizen services versus business services (Capgemini 2005) Stage model level of different service cluster areas (Capgemini 2005) Third party Web assessment National Ranking Composite of features and stage model level for national websites (West 2005) Composite of ICT and human infrastructure with stage model level for national/other websites (UN 2005) Composite of stage model level, integration and personalization of national websites (Accenture 2005) Third party Web assessment Table 1 Calculated Indicators Used in eGovernment Benchmarking (Heeks, 2006). 2. Standard Public Sector Indicators Apart from calculated indicators, others (Flynn 2002) suggest using a standard indicator set for public sector performance. This set is displayed in Table 2 below (adapted from Flynn 2002). Indicator Explanation eGovernment Example Benchmark Economy The amount of inputs used Expenditure per capita on IT None Internal efficiency The ration of input intermediates Cost per website produced per year Minimization External efficiency The ratio of inputs: outputs (use) Cost per citizen user of government websites per year Minimization Internal effectiveness The fit between actual outputs (use) and organizational objectives or other set targets The extent to which underserved communities are users of e-government services Maximization External effectiveness The fit between actual impacts and organizational objectives or other set targets The extent to which citizens are gaining employment due to use of an eGovernment job search service Maximization Quality The quality of intermediates or, more typically outputs (use) The quality of eGovernent services as perceived by citizen users Maximization Equity The equitability of distribution of outputs and impacts The quality of time/money saved by eGovernment service use between rich and poor Maximization Table 2 Standard Indicators for eGovernment Performance (Flynn 2002) D. Methodologies Having described the methodologies used more commonly when benchmarking eGovernment services, the next step is to illustrate how the necessary data is gathered. There are a number of official methods (eGEP 2006b): * Focus groups * Internal administrative records * Internal self-assessment * Mass user surveys * Official statistics * Pop-up surveys * Third part web assessment * Web metrics and crawlers Each of these methods can be compared in four different and distinct factors (Heeks, 2006). Those are: * Cost: The time and financial cost of the method. * Value: The value of the method in producing data capable of assessing the downstream value of e-government. * Comparability: The ease with which data produced can be compared across nations or agencies. * Data Quality: The level of quality of the methods data. In particular, Heeks suggests using the CARTA (Complete, Accurate, Relevant, Timely, Appropriate) check list when assessing data quality (2006). There is also a set of methodologies that are not used as frequently as the ones mentioned earlier. These are: * Intermediary Surveys. * Intranet Assessment. * Public Domain Statistics. * Public Servant and Politician Surveys. 1. Automation With new eGovernment services being introduced by Governments every day, benchmarking is gradually becoming a more and more important mechanism for identifying best practices and keeping track of developments, but as the number of the offered services increase, data collection becomes more and more difficult. Apart from that, since eGovernment is being expanded to other eGovernment levels, as illustrated earlier in 1, it is only natural that the number of benchmarking studies is increasing fast. Thus, the traditional approach of fata collection has not only become a very challenging but also a very resource intensive task. In order to address this matter, there are projects (eGovMon) which attempt to automate the data collection (Research Council of Norway, 2009). In particular, the eGovMon project is co-funded by the Research Council of Norway and â€Å"is developing methodology and software for quality evaluation of web services, in particular eGovernment services, concerning four areas:†  · Accessibility  · Transparency  · Efficiency  · Impact Additionally eGovMon will provide a policy design tool Case study: SIGMUND FREUD Case study: SIGMUND FREUD Sigmund Freud  (1856-1939),  Austrian physician, neurologist, and founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of human personality. Through his skill as a scientist, physician, and writer, Freud combined ideas prevalent at the time with his own observation and study to produce a major theory of psychology. Most importantly, he applied these ideas to medical practice in the treatment of mental illness. His newly created psychotherapy treatments and procedures, many of which in modified form are applied today, were based on his understanding of unconscious thought processes and their relationship to neurotic symptoms (see Neurosis). Regarded with skepticism at the time, Freuds ideas have waxed and waned in acceptance ever since. Nevertheless, he is regarded as one of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century. I. Freuds life Freud  was  born  into  a middle-class Jewish family in Freiberg, Moravia (now PÃ…â„ ¢Ãƒ ­bor, Czech Republic), on May 6, 1856. When he was three years old his family, fleeing from the anti-Semitic riots then raging in Freiberg, moved to the German city of Leipzig. Shortly thereafter, the family settled in Vienna, where Freud remained for most of his life. Although  Freuds  ambition from childhood had been a career in law, he became intrigued by the rapidly developing sciences of the day after reading the work of British scientist Charles Darwin. Freud decided to become a medical student shortly before he entered Vienna University in 1873. Inspired by the scientific investigations of the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Freud was driven by an intense desire to study natural science and to solve some of the challenging problems confronting contemporary scientists. In  his  third  year  at  the university Freud began research work on the central nervous system in the physiological laboratory under the direction of German physician Ernst Wilhelm von Brà ¼cke. Neurological research was so engrossing that Freud neglected the prescribed courses and as a result remained in medical school three years longer than was normally required to qualify as a physician. In 1881, after completing a year of compulsory military service, he received his medical degree. Unwilling to give up his experimental work, however, he remained at the university, working in the physiological laboratory. At Brà ¼ckes urging, he reluctantly abandoned theoretical research to gain practical experience. Freud  then  spent  three years at the General Hospital of Vienna, devoting himself successively to psychiatry, dermatology, and nervous diseases. In 1885, following his appointment as a lecturer in neuropathology at Vienna University, he left his post at the hospital. Later that year he worked in Paris with French neurologist Jean Charcot. On  his  return  to  Vienna in 1886 Freud began private practice in neurology. Also that year Freud married Martha Bernays, to whom he had become engaged four years earlier. The first of their children was born the following year. Their family would become complete with the birth of Anna in 1895, who herself would become an important psychoanalyst (see Anna Freud). In  1902  Freud  was  appointed professor of neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. In 1923 he developed cancer of the jaw. Although repeated operations and prosthetic appliances in his mouth made his life most uncomfortable, he continued working incessantly until his death. When the Germans occupied Austria in 1938, Freud was persuaded by friends to escape with his family to England. He died in London on September 23, 1939. II. Freuds work Freud  was  by  training a research scientist and a physician. His decision to devote himself to the neglected and poorly understood area of emotional disorders has to do with currents of the time as well as his own interests. Chief among these was the prevailing attitude toward scientific endeavor at the time. Scientists were looking for causes and for connections between previously unrelated phenomena. Although Jewish by birth and cultural tradition, Freud saw all religion as illusory and was non-practicing. Instead, he can be seen as a determinist, viewing the world and human experience as understandable in terms of cause and effect. A. Hypnosis and the influence of Charcot In  1885  Freud  was  awarded a government grant enabling him to spend 19 weeks in Paris as a student of French neurologist Jean Charcot. Charcot, who was the director of the clinic at the mental hospital, the Salpà ªtrià ¨re, was then treating nervous disorders by the use of hypnotic suggestion. Fascinated by the apparent success of these treatments, Freud met and studied with several of the leading figures in the field. Charcots  group  had  been tackling the problem of hysteria, a term derived from the Greek word for womb. Hysteria traditionally was seen as a condition of women and was characterized by unexplained fainting, paralysis, loss of sensation, tics, and tremors. In time, Charcot came to see that men could also be so troubled. Although the mechanism of hysteria was not understood, Charcot and his contemporaries showed that its symptoms could be cured by hypnosis. Freuds studies under Charcot influenced him greatly in channeling his interests to psychopathology (the study and treatment of disorders of the mind). In  his  practice  in  Vienna, Freud met many patients with nervous disorders for which there was no apparent physical cause. Their symptoms included paralyzed limbs, tics, tremors, loss of consciousness, memory impairment, and numbness that could not be explained. These unexplained cases were labeled as neurotic, meaning that they were similar to neurological conditions. In time they became known collectively as neuroses. Freuds  observation  of Charcots use of hypnosis in the treatment of similar disorders led him to conclude that there could be powerful mental processes operating that remain hidden from conscious understanding. He began to employ hypnosis in his own practice, publishing articles on the subject in 1892. Freud came to understand hysterical neurotic symptoms as the product of a conflict between opposing mental forces. Conscious forces representing will were balanced by unconscious opposing forces representing counterwill. He understood hypnosis to act on the side of will to subjugate the counterwill, thus obliterating the symptom. The idea of conflict proposed in the 1892 paper A Case of Successful Treatment by Hypnotism: With Some Remarks on the Origin of Hysterical Symptoms Through Counterwill' was to become a fundamental principle of psychoanalysis. B. The beginnings of psychoanalysts The  next  important  development in Freuds theory of psychology came out of work he conducted with his friend and colleague Josef Breuer, a Viennese physician who was involved in the treatment of a young woman who was distressed while caring for her dying father. The patient had developed a number of hysterical symptoms, which Breuer initially treated by hypnotic suggestion. Initial success gave way to disappointment when on her fathers death her symptoms returned with increased severity. Somewhat at a loss as to how to proceed, Breuer had continued to talk to his patient on a daily basis and in time she began to talk about various reminiscences from the past and about her daydreams. Remarkably, as her narrative revisited memories from the past, which were associated with the onset of a particular symptom, each symptom disappeared when accompanied by an emotional outburst. Breuer made use of this discovery to eliminate her symptoms one at a time. He called the treatment the ca thartic technique (from the Greek katharsis meaning purgation). The treatment was time consuming and required considerable effort to reach dimly recalled and otherwise inaccessible memories. Freud  and  Breuer  published the case and several others in 1895 under the title Studies on Hysteria. Their view was summed up in the statement Hysterics suffer mainly from reminiscences. They proposed that when faced with emotionally traumatic memories, hysterics subjugate them from conscious appreciation to prevent the unbearable emotional pain and suffering that they cause. Rather than being driven out of the mind, however, these memories are driven into an area of the mind that is unconscious and inaccessible. Here the memories may be redirected from the emotional system into the somatic (bodily) system and appear as apparently unexplained physical symptoms. The cases that constitute Studies on Hysteria outline the transition from treatment by hypnotic suggestion to the earliest descriptions of what is now known as psychoanalysis. Working  on  his  own  Freud hypothesized that hysterical symptoms were most likely to arise when repressed traumatic memories related to adverse childhood sexual experiences. This view generated tremendous controversy at the time because the existence of childhood sexuality was not widely accepted. In time Freud was forced to reconsider this aspect of his theory, instead relating the repressed memories to childhood fantasies of sexuality and their relationship to parental figures. 1. Dreams The  next  development  in Freuds theory stemmed from his observations on dreaming. He came to see that many of the characteristics of dreams were shared with the symptomatic memories recalled by his patients in the narrative of free association. In his therapeutic relationship with his patients, Freud had abandoned hypnotic suggestion in favor of encouraging the person to speak freely about whatever came into his or her mind. Unintentionally, the patient would bring order to these free associations, whose structure and content Freud used to try to understand underlying unconscious processes. In  dreams  Freud  noted  the same apparently unstructured experiences of thoughts and images coming into the mind that seemed to be representative of some underlying unconscious process. To explain these phenomena, he suggested the existence of an inner censor that effected a compromise between conflicting mental forces and in the process disguised their meaning from conscious appreciation. He defined resistance as the unconscious defense against awareness of repressed experiences in order to avoid the resulting anxiety. He traced the operation of unconscious processes, using the free associations of the patient to guide him in the interpretation of dreams and slips of speech. Slips of speech or parapraxes, now known as Freudian slips, Freud claimed, were revelations of unconscious wishes. His 1904 publication, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, discusses these ideas. Freud  came  to  understand the mind as a series of layers, with the most superficial layers in conscious appreciation and the deeper layers containing repressed memories and remaining unavailable to conscious thought. He termed this the topographical model and likened it to an iceberg, a small part of which is visible above the surface while the greater submerged part remains obscured from view. These ideas were published in 1900 in The Interpretation of Dreams. During  the  first  two  decades of the 1900s Freud concentrated on modifying and improving his theory of psychoanalysis. He defined a number of principles and described a model of personality development. 2. The unconscious Perhaps  Freuds  greatest contribution was to describe the unconscious and to postulate that it obeys the principle of psychic determinism, which holds that human thoughts, feelings, and impulses, rather than being random, are linked in a system of causally related phenomena, behind which lies some reason or meaning. Freud concluded that on this basis unconscious processes could be investigated and understood. Some experiences that are not immediately accessible to conscious appreciation can be brought into the conscious mind by the process of remembering. Freud referred to these experiences as the preconscious. Still-deeper thoughts cannot be remembered and are actively repressed in the unconscious. Unconscious  experiences, according to Freud, are not subject to the same logic characteristic of conscious experience. Unconscious ideas, images, thoughts, and feelings can be condensed or dramatized in the form of abstract concepts and imagery. Often the relationship between the original experience and the unconscious symbolic representation can seem obscure. 3. Role of conflict The  central  theme  of  conflict had arisen early in Freuds work. Conflict arises in a persons conscious mind when one set of beliefs impacts adversely on another area of belief, causing emotional suffering felt as disappointment, anger, or frustration. Freud was interested in the unconscious aspect of mental conflict. He described the pleasure principle as another fundamental of psychoanalytic theory. This holds that human beings have a tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain. The principle is said to dominate in early life, bringing the developing individual into conflict with the external world. These conflicts are retained in the unconscious. Freuds  original  concept held that the conflicts of early life arose as a result of innate human drives or instincts. He conceptualized how development might occur in terms of the drives and their satisfaction according to the pleasure principle. Among the chief drives was the libidinal, or sexual, drive, which serves the human species by directing individuals to reproduce. Awareness of a need to keep rein on the free expression of drives gradually develops, and failure to rein in these drives (and fantasies about their expression) is felt as guilt. Life becomes an equilibrium between drives, conflicts, and reality.  Freud  believed  that  by understanding the crucial events and fantasy wishes of childhood, psychoanalysis could shed understanding on later adult character development with its attendant conflicts and neurotic symptoms. Later, he extended his model to include psychoses (serious mental disorders in which people have a distorted view of reality). Conflicts  repressed  into the unconscious are retained, according to Freud. From time to time they may overcome repression and reemerge into conscious appreciation, precipitating anxiety or panic. To counteract this, the individual unconsciously produces various defense mechanisms, which become part of that persons character. Examples of defense mechanisms include projection, where the individual ascribes to others his or her own unconscious desires (I hate you, for example, becomes You hate me), and reaction formation, where the individual adopts a pattern of behavior directly opposed to a strong unconscious drive.  In 1923 Freud reformulated his ideas in a structural model of the mind that postulated the existence of the id, the ego, and the superego. Freud  gave  the  name  id to unconscious drives. The id knows nothing of morality or reality. It seeks only to gratify the instinctual drives, and it operates solely according to the pleasure principle. Freud held that the biological drives of a young person are often frustrated by delays and restricted by the demands of parents and other older members of the family. As time passes, the demands of the community or society also become important obstacles to id gratification. In adapting to the environment, the child begins to acquire an ego, or set of conscious perceptions, memories, and thoughts that enable the person to deal effectively with reality. Thus, according to Freud, the ego obeys the reality principle. As the individual absorbs the teachings of family and society, he develops a superego, or conscience, that frequently conflicts with the drives of the id. In many cases the ego reduces the conflict by at least partially fulfilling the id impulses through socially ac ceptable behavior. Often, however, the conflict disappears on the conscious level as unfulfilled impulses are repressed into the unconscious mind. Freuds  therapy  consisted of listening to the patient relate a narrative of free associations over many sessions. By listening to the patients associations, Freudian slips, contents of dreams, and thoughts, he linked and interpreted these experiences to the patients conscious world. He came to understand the nature of transference, in which the patient develops feelings for the therapist that are in fact representative of previous feelings toward other important figures in the patients life. These thoughts and feelings Freud interpreted and linked to the patients current emotional state.   C. Major influences Freuds  early  psychological work shows the influence of the sciences of the day on his thinking. Ideas from physics, chemistry, and evolutionary theory occur regularly in his writing. At the time,  Charles Darwins writings, especially the theory of evolution, were challenging contemporary Judeo-Christian belief. Indeed it was Darwin who emphasized instincts for survival and reproduction, formulated in Freuds theory as basic drives.   Freuds  ideas  can  be  seen in the same context as Darwins. Freud, too, challenged philosophical and religious thinking by suggesting that human beings were rather less in control of their own thoughts and actions than previously believed. His contention that unconscious thoughts and actions had to arise from within the self rather than from God conflicted with the contemporary notion of soul. From Freuds time on, the disciplines of philosophy and psychology developed separately. Freud  was  particularly interested in the association school of psychology, which included Johann Friedrich Herbart and Wilhelm Max Wundt, the former of whom may have contributed to free association as a therapeutic technique. Psychodynamic theory-the model of conflicting forces influencing the subconscious-also has its origins in the physical concepts of opposing forces and vector analysis. Freuds theory that unresolved conflicts can be converted into physical symptoms reflects the principle of conservation of energy held by the first law of thermodynamics. Yet  Freuds  ideas  were new and radical, and it is easy to see why Freud came into conflict so readily with the society and establishment of his time. He relied on the support of friends such as Breuer. By 1906, however, a small number of pupils and followers had gathered around Freud, including Austrians William Stekel, Alfred Adler, and Otto Rank; American Abraham Brill; and Eugen Bleuler and Carl Jung from Switzerland. Other notable associates, who joined the circle in 1908, were Hungarian Sà ¡ndor Ferenczi and Briton Ernest Jones. Pakistan: Deep inside the World’s Most Frightening State Pakistan: Deep inside the World’s Most Frightening State BOOK REVIEW â€Å"PAKISTAN DEEP INSIDE THE WORLD’S MOST FRIGHTENING STATE† Author: Mary Anne Weaver Mary Anne Weaver, the writer of â€Å"Pakistan Deep inside the World’s Most Frightening State† has been a long time foreign correspondent for the New Yorker magazine. She is an expert in South Asian and Middle Eastern affairs and political and militant Islam. She has also written on the rise of militant Islam. She has reported from over thirty countries of the world, and currently resides in New York. She has won many writing awards including Citation, the Cornelious Ryan Award for the best non-fiction book on international affairs. Moreover, she has worked for The Sunday Times of London, London Times, Washington Post, and some other groups. She is Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Journalism from Pennsylvania State University and Master of Arts in Arab Affairs from the American University in Cairo. The other important book that she has written is A Portrait of Egypt: A Journey Through the world of Militant Islam. She has written article on the consequences of S audi and American funding and Egyptian support of Islamic militants fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. She has also written â€Å"India’s Bandit Queen†. The author’s political and philosophical viewpoint is based on years of experience as a journalist and personal vignettes overseas. She is quite critical on the rise of Militant Islam and the dire need of Pakistan to the United States. General Summary: The book is basically about a country which is surrounded by such challenging and complex circumstances that we can find no parallel of. The country is one and only Pakistan. The author has given a classical account of the situation the country has passed through. A nuclear armed state sandwiched between Afghanistan and India, having militant influence inside has been elaborated by her as the most dangerous place on Earth. The country’s integration is an utmost requirement for the world peace. The book gives an account of the most important factors, i.e. Militancy, Nuclear Arsenal, Neighbors, Role in the War on Terror and the shifting policies in different Dictatorial tenures. Moreover, the role of United States and Saudi Arabia has been discussed and the Baloch Tribal Culture and Kashmir, that has been the main bone of contention between Pakistan and India has been utmost importance in the book. Author’s Thesis or Conclusion: The author during the journey of writing this book met many important figures of the time, such as General Pervez Musharraf, the then President and Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army, Benazir Bhutto, G.M.Syed, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, and some more. The author has given an account of the circumstances in which General Musharraf took over. There was an overall policy shift after he came into the chair, as his takeover was followed by the 9/11. According to her, there was a huge difference in Zia and Musharraf policies. She elaborates the role of Saudi Arabia and Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan in Afghanistan and explains how both contradict their interference. The event of 9/11 led Pakistan into circumstances that it had to become an ally of the United States in the War on Terror. The point of concern for her was that if they counter the Taliban, how they will manage the Jihadis then. Initially, Pakistan benefitted from the United States, as sanctions were removed and aid pac kages were received. She also highlights the role of nationalists like G.M.Syed. She tells that Osama bin Laden had popular support in Pakistan. People were ready to come out on streets for him. He received help from many tribal elders of Balochistan. The tribal elders of Balochistan were against the education and development in their province, as they see reduction in their influence. Further, she talks about the role of Mullahs in the society and most importantly the politics of Pakistan. Arabs are very close to Pakistan. They mostly come there for hunting purposes with the approval of the authorities. Then she talks about Benazir. She tells that at that time Benazir Bhutto seemed a serious threat to Musharraf, as intelligence agencies at that time had the view that she was the most popular leader of the country. She gives an account of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s death and Benazir and family’s condition at that time. She gives a comparison of Musharraf’s liberal an d Zia-ul-Haq’s conservative tenures. She also talks about the role of military in politics. The tussle between India and Pakistan has also been discussed. India blames Pakistan for any incident happening inside its territory and so does Pakistan. India claims that organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, etc. are being operated from Pakistan. The objective of United States was to carry out attacks and limit the members of Al-Qaeda, whereas she gives some indication of Pakistani reluctance also. Regarding Kashmir, the major bone of contention between Pakistan and India, she tells the views of both sides. Pakistan forces for a plebiscite as decided by the United Nations, whereas India has a stance that it is a bilateral issue after the Simla Agreement. There is a major deadlock between both the nations, and none of them can afford to lose Kashmir. For this reason, both sides remain on maximum military alert. She highlights a very important aspect that the organizations which were once formed and trained by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan, like Jaish-e-Muhammad, twice tried to assassinate General Musharraf. This is a point of high concern. Pakistan is hence elaborated as one of the most difficult and tough countries of the world. My Reaction to Author’s Views: I agree with the author’s views in most of the aspects she has given. She is absolutely correct about the difference in the approaches, i.e. liberal and fundamentalist of Musharraf and Zia ul Haq. She correctly tells about the support and sympathies Osama bin Laden had in the country. The Baloch tribal elders themselves do not want economic and educational empowerment in their province, in order to keep in order their influence. The aspect of Arabs which she has discussed is in my point of view correct and having a line in order with Arabs is a basic compulsion on Pakistan, for financial, economic and political reasons. The role of military in politics is a truth, and still politics is not free of their influence. Moreover, the most important aspect in my point of view is that of the organizations that were formed under the influence of our security agencies and now they are our own enemies. This has been clearly witnessed by the whole world. So, her view of Pakistan, one of t he most difficult states in the world is correct, as the complexity of problems that can be witnessed here, are not that common in the world. Summary and General Recommendations: The book is well written, and covers many of the problems and, complexities of the problems, that Pakistan is facing today. The author has herself met many bigwigs and then mentioned the experiences on the basis of those meetings and travels that she had in the country. The book includes index, map, but lacks pictures. As far as referring the book is concerned, yes, I will refer the book to others, for the reason that it contains a whole analysis along with the background of the problems that the country is surrounded by today. This book is a good read for the general reader.