To What Extent Was Whig/Liberal Dominance 1846-68 a Result of Their Free Trade Agenda

To what extent was Whig/Liberal dominance in the period 1846-68 a result of their free trade agenda? Between the years 1846 and 1868, the Conservative party was only in power for a total of just under four years – 1852, 1858-97 and 1866-68. Throughout these short-lived periods, they were never able to achieve a majority and this illustrates and defines the extent of Whig/Liberal dominance in this period. Their dominance was without doubt partially as a result of their free-trade agenda, but other factors, such as other policies the grouping made in this period, the gravitation of the Peelites towards the Whigs, the growth of popular Liberalism, the work of specific individuals and the weakness of the Conservatives also caused their dominance in this period. Whig/Liberal dominance in the period 1846-68 was, without doubt, caused to some extent as a result of their free trade agenda. In 1849 the Navigation Acts, which restricted the nationality of ships carrying British trade, were abolished, thereby causing a huge increase in the number of ships carrying British trade and thus, an increase in British exports. The Companies Acts of 1858 and 1862 played vital roles in bringing more investment into Britain as they limited the liability of the ordinary shareholder and laid out precise rules for companies about their registration and accounts. In the period 1859-65, whilst Gladstone was Chancellor of the Exchequer, income tax was reduced from 9d in the pound to 6d in the pound, and only payable by those earning over ? 00 per annum. This meant that ordinary people had more money in their pocket to spend and put back into the British economy. Gladstone also managed to abolish paper duties in 1861, meaning that the cost of newspapers and magazines fell and ordinary people were able to buy them. He also worked consistently to remove almost all duties on imported goods in to Britain. Finally, the Cobden-Chevalier treaty, signed in 1860, was an integral part of the Whig/Liberals’ free trade agenda in this period. Anglo-French relations had been strained in the years leading up to 1860 with French expansion into Italy, and Gladstone agreed with free trader Richard Cobden that signing a free-trade treaty with France would ease the political tension. He was right, and the treaty helped to double British exports to France in the next 10 years as it reduced the duties British manufacturers and coal owners had to pay when importing to France. As Philip Magnus writes in his biography of Gladstone, ‘the repeal of so many duties helped to reduce the cost of living. People had more money in their pocket as a result of the Whig/Liberals’ policy, so naturally supported them. The free-trade agenda helped the emerging Whig/Liberal party to win the support of what had become the largest single grouping within the electorate, the middle classes. This was as a result of the period of prosperity Britain went through, illustrated by the fact that ‘exports rose by 350% between 1842 and 1873. à ¢â‚¬â„¢ The Whig/Liberal grouping was in power for a large amount of this period of prosperity, and so got the credit for it with the electorate. The free-trade agenda was also an important factor in causing Whig/Liberal dominance because it united the grouping. Within the grouping, there were Whigs, Liberals, Peelites and Radicals, representing all shades of the political spectrum from centre-right (Whigs) to left (Radicals) . They were seen as a ‘curious amalgam’ as a result of their different political standpoints, and the unity which the issue of free trade gave the group was vital in keeping it strong and together. The dominance of the Whig/Liberal grouping from 1846-68 was also caused by the other policies the grouping made in this period. They pursued a sensible social policy which affected many areas of life. They made vaccination compulsory to try and eradicate smallpox, and introduced a Factory Act in 1853 which limited working hours for women and children. The Smoke Abatement Act of 1853 played a major part in cutting down on coal and other fumes which were dirtying the air and affecting the environment. The 1857 Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act allowed divorce through regular courts. This made divorce accessible to all, because previously divorces could only be granted in the House of Lords, which was hugely expensive. The Offences against the Person Act of 1861 helped to clarify criminal law and made many parts of it more humane. Finally, the state grant to education increased radically to ? 1. 3 million by 1862, helping to improve the education that children received. The other main area of policy which helped the dominance of the Whig/Liberal grouping was their attitude towards the non-conformists. As I have mentioned above, the middle class had become the largest single grouping within the electorate and many of them were non-conformist. The Anglican Church had a monopoly over religion in Britain, despite the fact that the Religious Census of 1851 showed that almost half the church-goers in England were non-conformists. Therefore, the Whig/Liberals decided to tackle the issue. Their pressure during the 1850s forced universities to open their doors to everyone, not just Anglicans. As John Vincent writes in ‘The Formation of the British Liberal Party’: ‘The non-conformist community†¦had of course traditionally looked to the old Whig party†¦that allegiance was now potentially available to the Liberal Party. The Whig/Liberals, with their positive attitude towards non-conformist grievances, helped win their support, adding to their dominance in this period. However, as Duncan Watts argues, ‘(Palmerston’s) ministry had no obvious domestic policy at all. ’ The Government in this period actually made few significant policy changes, and this leads on to my next point. The Conse rvative Party, as shown often throughout history, thrive when they are able to persuade the electorate that the opposition party have radical tendencies. In this case, nothing of note occurs so the Conservatives were unable to portray the Whig/Liberals being at all radical. This contributed to their weakness in this period. The sustained weakness of the Conservatives in this period also helped to cause Whig/Liberal dominance. As well as the fact that they were unable to portray the Whig/Liberal grouping as radical, they were also weak for a number of other reasons. Firstly, they held limited electoral appeal. This was primarily because they followed a very unpopular policy in the form of protectionism – defending the interests of the landed classes. This was highlighted in Disraeli’s Budget of 1852 which, while pleasing the Conservative backbenchers with its tax breaks on malt, was not popular with anyone else. Also, as Robert Stewart writes, ‘The Conservative Party was, and suffered electorally for being, firmly tied to the agricultural community. ’ The middle classes, in the main, lived in urban areas and the Conservative focus on the countryside did not serve them well. They had poor party unity, and had a big problem in broadening their appeal without losing their traditional support. If they had been able to shed their protectionist reputation and improve their image, then they may have gained some non-conformist middle-class support, but they were not able to and so the Whig/Liberals dominated the period 1846-68. For a generation after the repeal of the Corn Laws, the Conservatives ceased to be a governing party. ’ In 1846, the majority of the ‘talent’ in the Conservative Party – the Peelites – defected to the Whigs in protest at the party’s refusal to commit to freer trade. This meant that the Conservatives were left with ‘n o obvious leader ’ – making them even less of an electoral threat to the Whig/Liberals, but more importantly giving numbers and talent to the Whigs as the Peelites gravitated towards them. The gravitation of the Peelites towards the Whigs is clearly another important cause of Whig/Liberal dominance in the years 1846-68. At any moment any or all of them (the Peelites) would have been welcomed back into the Conservative ranks or assimilated into the Liberal ranks. ’ (Philip Magnus). However, the Conservatives, with their protectionist leanings (as illustrated in the 1852 Budget with tax breaks for the rich) were unattractive to the Peelites, who saw free trade as a key issue. In contrast, the Whigs were far more receptive to free trade, and the Peelites found ‘cohabitation not entirely distasteful’ (Eric Evans) when they decided to from a coalition with the Whigs in 1846 after the collapse of the Conservative government. The two groups shared a progressive nature and a common focus (free trade) so the Peelites decided to join the Whigs. This gave them an edge over the Conservatives both in terms of numbers and talent. Finally, the Peelites wanted to be in power, and realised that the Conservatives were unpopular amongst the electorate, so gravitated towards the Whigs and aided their dominance in the period 1846-68. A fifth key aspect which helps to explain Whig/Liberal dominance in 1846-68 s the role of key individuals, particularly Palmerston, Gladstone and Bright. Firstly, Lord Palmerston was instrumental in setting up the Willis Rooms meeting at which the Liberal Party was officially formed out of the Whigs, Peelites, Liberals and Radicals. Secondly, his ‘immense appeal†¦and powerful presence’ (Stephen Lee) helped to keep the coalition together in its infancy between 1859 and 1865, as well as the fact that he managed to keep all the factions happy because they were all represente d in the Cabinet. The fact that ‘to the man in the street, he personified British patriotism ’ (i. e. Palmerston’s popularity with the electorate), gave the coalition time to fuse. Palmerston’s conservative approach to domestic policy made him difficult for the Conservatives to oppose because they could not portray him as dangerously radical. H However, also very important was Palmerston’s death, which allowed for a truly ‘Liberal’ party to grow under Gladstone, as Palmerston’s policies were not especially liberal. Gladstone himself is another key individual. He ‘breathes life into the dry bones of the Liberal Party’ (Paul Adelman) and this was as a result a number of reasons, mainly during his time as Chancellor (1852-55 and 1859-65). He gained support for the Whig/Liberal grouping with his successful and very popular Budgets. This support came both from the middle classes with his promise to end income tax and general position of aiding free trade, and from the working class with his removal of tariffs on things like paper, which made newspapers accessible to them. His rhetoric spoke well of the working classes, and his noises about parliamentary reform also helped him gain their support. His reputation for sound finance helped him to win the respect of many independent backbench MPs. His sophisticated knowledge, oratorical skill and hard work impressed Parliament and the electorate, whilst he ‘gave to popular Liberalism an identifiable public face with which the Liberal electorate could easily associate’ (Winstanley), thus helping their dominance in this period. The final key individual who aided the Whig/Liberal grouping’s dominance is John Bright, leader of the Radicals. He persuaded all the members of the diverse grouping which were the Radicals to come to the Willis Rooms Meeting in 1859 and eventually to become a part of the Liberal party. He also gave Gladstone his full support as Bright believed that Gladstone would the most progressive leader when Palmerston died, which would be advantageous to the Radicals. To this end, he persuaded Gladstone to cultivate non-conformist links, as well as links with the newly emerging Labour elite, in order to popularise himself outside of the House of Commons. Bright also persuaded various other groups, such as the non-conformists, trade unionists and other Radicals to support Gladstone. This was also because he wanted to ensure Gladstone became leader after Palmerston, and all this explains why Donald Read writes ‘Bright, as much as Gladstone, created the Gladstonian Liberal Party. ’ As shown from the evidence above, key individuals played a major part in the dominance by the Whig/Liberals between 1846 and 1868. A final key factor which caused Whig/Liberal dominance in the period 1846-68 was the growth of popular Liberalism and grass-roots support for it. John Vincent believed that ‘the tail was leading the head’ – that is to say the Whig/Liberal dominance in government was as a result of grassroots support, not the other way round. He thought that this growth was as a result of three main factors: ‘the creation of a cheap daily provincial press, the growth of militant non-conformism, and the rise of organised labour’ (John Vincent). The growth of a cheap press, mainly dominated by Liberal politicians (e. g. the Baines family with the ‘Leeds Mercury’) meant that the Liberals’ message could be spread across the country, and thus helped to build up an ‘articulate, self-conscious, provincial Liberalism’ which helped the dominance of the Whig/Liberals no end. ‘The non-conformists were prepared to place their wealth, their votes – a bloc of 87 non-conformists MPs were returned in 1865 – together with their influence, their zeal and their organising ability at the disposal of the Liberal Party’ (John Vincent). This meant that the Whig/Liberals gained all the helpful features mentioned above as a result of the growth of militant non-conformity, and this helped their position of dominance. The rise of organised labour also helped the Whig/Liberal because, as Vincent suggests, ‘to vote Liberal was closely tied to the growing ability of whole new classes to stand on their own feet’ – the people of organised labour saw the Whig/Liberals as the party to represent them, and thus the Whig/Liberals gained support and votes from this section of the electorate. Thus we can see that the growth of popular Liberalism was a key factor in the Whig/Liberals’ dominance in 1846-68. To conclude, it is obvious that all the factors mentioned above had an important role to play in causing the dominance of the Whig/Liberal grouping. The gravitation of the Peelites towards the Whigs is a key factor because it kept the Conservatives weak in this period. The role of key individuals was also vital because this meant the grouping followed an agenda of free trade, thus winning middle class support. Middle class support was also won with other policies the grouping followed, such as their addressing of non-conformist grievances. The role of key individuals also helped the growth of popular Liberalism because it meant that the electorate had familiar, popular faces to associate the party with. It can also be argued that what the Whig/Liberals didn’t do was crucial to their dominance because they followed a moderate policy, meaning that the Conservatives were unable to portray them as radical. Thus, dominance is both as a result of factors inside Parliament and outside Parliament, but it is clear that the moderate policies and free trade agenda is the most important factor in the Whig/Liberal dominance because the moderate policies and free-trade agenda won the support of the middle classes, made the party popular at grassroots level, meant that the Tories could not portray the grouping as dangerously radical and meant that the Peelites felt that the Whigs were more suitable for them to join than the Conservatives. Thus, free trade and moderate policies is the most important cause of Whig/Liberal dominance between the years 1846 and 1868.

Negotiation Jujitsu

What if They Won’t Play (Use Negotiation Jujitsu) Getting to YesNegotiating Agreement Without Giving In By Roger Fisher and William Ury Vikas Singh Ed Hill What if They Won’t Play †¢ Theymaystatetheirpositioninunequivocal terms †¢ Concernedonlywithmaximizingtheirowngains †¢ Theymayattackyouinplaceofattackingthe problems Three Basic Strategies †¢ What you can do †¢ What they can do – Negotiation Jujitsu †¢ What a third party can do – One Text Mediation Procedure Negotiation Jujitsu Three Basic Maneuvers Asserting their position forcefully †¢ Attacking your ideas †¢ Attacking you Don’t attack their position, look behind it †¢ Neither reject nor accept the position †¢ Treat it as one possible option †¢ Look for interest and principles behind it †¢ Think of ways to improve it Don’t defend your ideas, invite criticism and advice †¢ Invite criticism, instead of resisting it †¢ As k them what is wrong with a particular idea or an option †¢ Use their criticism and advice to find out their underlying interests and principles †¢ Rework your ideas in light of what you learnRecast an attack on you as an attack on the problem †¢ Resist the temptation to defend yourself or attack them †¢ Listen to them †¢ Understand what they are saying †¢ Recast their attack on you as an attack on the problem Ask questions and pause †¢ Use questions instead of statements †¢ Silence One-text procedure Call in a third party to: †¢ Separate the people from the problem †¢ Direct the discussion to interests and options †¢ Suggest impartial basis for resolving differences †¢ Separate invention from decision making How does a third party do this Asksabouttheinterestsratherthanpositions †¢ Learnallabouttheirneedsandinterests †¢ Suggest a provisional solution/recommendation †¢ Askthemtocritiqueitorsuggestimprovements †¢ Improvisetherecommendationinlightofinputs †¢ Presentthefinalsolution Getting them to play: The case of Jones Realty and Frank Turnbull †¢$600 rent per month †¢Apartment under rent control†¢Max rent at $466 per month †¢Mrs. Jones reimburses after several long principled negotiation sessions Stock Phrases †¢ â€Å"Please correct me if I’m wrong. † †¢ â€Å"We appreciate what you’ve done for us. †¢ â€Å"Our concern is fairness† †¢ â€Å"We would like to settle this on the basis of Independent standards, not of who can do what to whom† †¢ â€Å"Trust is a separate issue† Stock Phrases (cont. ) †¢ â€Å"CouldIaskyouafewquestionstoseewhether my facts are right? † †¢ â€Å"What’stheprinciplebehindyouraction? † †¢ â€Å"LetmeseeifIunderstandwhatyou’resaying† †¢ â€Å"Letmegetbacktoyou† †¢ â€Å"Let me show you where I have trouble following some of your reasoning Stock Phrases (cont. ) †¢ â€Å"One fair solution might be. † †¢ â€Å"If we agree.. If we disagree. † â€Å"We’d be happy to see if we can leave when it’s most convenient for you† †¢ â€Å"It’s been a pleasure dealing with you† â€Å"Please correct me If I’m wrong† †¢ Establish dialogue based on reason †¢ Invitation to participate†¢ Good probability you won’t â€Å"lose face† †¢ Opening to correction and persuasion sets the tone â€Å"We appreciate what you’ve done for us† †¢ Through support, separate people from problem †¢ Defuses self-image threat †¢ Other side now has something to lose: – Praise and support â€Å"Our concern is fairness† †¢ Take basic stand on principle †¢ Remain open Both ends and means to accomplish ends are principled â€Å"We would like to settle this on the basis of independent standards, no of who can do what to whom† †¢ Don’t lose temper- and thus, control †¢ Bring negotiation back to merits †¢ Good example of negotiation jujitsu †¢ Reinforces principled negotiation â€Å"Trust is a separate Issue† †¢ Slip out of corner†¢ Remain firm on the principle â€Å"Could I ask you a few questions to see whether my facts are right? † †¢ Statements of fact can be threatening, questions are better †¢ Phrasing info as questions allows open participation Lays foundation for agreed upon facts â€Å"What’s the principle behind your action? † †¢ A principled negotiator neither accepts nor rejects other side’s opinion †¢ Leads other side to search for reasons †¢ Negotiation continues on principle â€Å"Let me see If I understand what you’re saying† †¢ Principled negotiation requires good communication †¢ Other side more l ikely to listen and be more receptive â€Å"Let me get back to you† †¢ Good negotiator rarely makes important decisions on the spot †¢ Timeanddistancehelptoseparatepeoplefrom problem Goodnegotiatorscomestotablewithcredible reason for leaving †¢ Allowsdiscussionwithconstituents(Paul)†¢ Freshcommitmenttoprinciplednegotiation â€Å"Let me show you where I have trouble following some of your reasoning† †¢ Present reasons before offering proposal †¢ Proposal first will often lead to other side not listening to reasons – Considering counterproposals â€Å"One fair solution might be. † †¢ Proposal not as yours, but as fair option †¢ Proposal not as only solution, but one fair solution â€Å"If we agree.. If we disagree. † †¢ Try to make it easy for other side †¢ Trickiest part is to communicate the alternative Use of third party – Creates distance, thus, separation of people from problems†¢ Don ’t always reveal BATNA â€Å"We’d be happy to see if we can leave when it’s most convenient for you† †¢ Incorporate other side’s interests †¢ Allows for other side to â€Å"save face† †¢ Other side feels good about agreement â€Å"It’s been a pleasure dealing with you† †¢ End on a good note †¢ Reestablishes principle of separation of people from problem †¢ Relationship maintained Summary †¢ You can get the other side to play principled negotiation, even if they don’t want to at first †¢ Principled negotiation, negotiation jujitsu, or a third party all work

Differential Association Theory

The paper discusses Edwin Sutherland’s Differential association theory. The nine principles of Differential association theory are discussed. The paper aims to connect fighting to Sutherland’s Differential association theory. Based on Sutherland’s theory, fighting is a form of deviant behavior, which young people learn via face-to-face communication with other people. Individuals choose to fight, when group beliefs that favor fighting overweigh group beliefs that do not favor violations of law.Whether individuals choose to fight or not to fight depends on the intensity and duration of messages that favor this form of deviance. Those who fight and those who do not fight usually express the same values and beliefs; the only difference is in the means they choose to pursue their goals. Differential Association Theory Crime and deviance have always been the objects of the peer sociological analysis. Dozens of theories were developed in an attempt to explain what crim e is, how it develops, and what can keep people from committing a crime.The list of possible explanations of deviance is endless – from genetics and social status, to television, oedipal complexes and severe mental deficiencies; yet, Edwin Sutherland’s Differential association theory remains one of the most important theoretical foundations of sociology. According to Differential association theory, individuals learn deviant behaviors through face-to-face communication with other people.As a result, fighting is a form of deviant behavior individuals learn from other people and use to achieve their goals. Differential Association Theory: The Basic Principles Differential association theory reflects Edwin Sutherland’s beliefs about the origins of crime: Sutherland was confident that crime and deviance were not biologically or economically driven, but learned through various socialization processes (Finley, 2007).Generally, the theory of differential association co mprises nine different principles: (a) delinquent behavior is learned; (b) delinquent behavior is learned from other people via face-to-face communication; (c) learning usually occurs in intimate groups and small face-to-face gatherings; (d) in these intimate groups, individuals learn techniques for committing crime, as well as appropriate attitudes and rationalizations for doing so; (e) individuals learn to direct their motives, based on whether they consider the legal code as favorable or unfavorable to crime; (f) individuals learn deviant behaviors and crime when definitions favorable to deviance overweigh the definitions unfavorable to violating law; (g) specific tendencies toward delinquency will depend on the frequency and duration of learning experiences; (h) learning delinquency is similar to any other form of learning; and (i) deviant and non-deviant behaviors usually express the same needs – the only difference is in the means individuals use to pursue their goals ( Regoli, Hewitt & DeListi, 2010).These are the principles that can readily explain any form of deviant behavior, including fighting. Fighting As a Form of Deviant Behavior: Making Connections Fighting is a popular form of deviant behavior among youth. Nine principles of Sutherland’s theory help to explain fighting in terms of communication, socialization, and peer influence; however, to make the explanation more plausible, some important connections should be made.The fact is that Sutherland’s nine propositions are grouped around three important concepts – normative conflict, differential association, and differential group organization (Matsueda, 2000). As a result, the roots and origins of fighting are easy to trace through the societal, group, and individual levels (Matsueda, 2000). At the societal level, crime is always rooted in normative conflict – a conflict of attitudes toward specific norms, beliefs, and ideas (Matsueda, 2000). Different segments of society hold different beliefs about law: some consider law as the set of rules to be followed under all circumstances, while others view law as the set of rules to be violated under certain circumstances (Matsueda, 2000).These are favorable and unfavorable attitudes to deviance, which Sutherland mentions in his theory. Fighting is a form of deviant behavior, which develops under the influence of excessive beliefs that favor fighting. Fighting will be uncommon in societies that do not consider it as an appropriate form of behavior. The question is in how these beliefs transform into individual fighting acts. According to Sutherland, fighting is always the act of learned behavior (Regoli, Hewitt & DeListi, 2010). Fighting is learned via face-to-face interactions with other people. For example, individuals will choose to fight if their parents welcome this form of deviance. However, peer influence alone cannot suffice to make individuals fight.Individuals must learn (a) specific fi ghting techniques; and (b) definitions favorable to fighting (Matsueda, 2000). The latter are, actually, the rationalizations which individuals use to justify their fighting acts. Some individuals justify fighting by telling that everyone fights. Others view fighting as the best expression of true masculinity. Certainly, fighting can be easily offset by definitions that do not favor violations of law, e. g. â€Å"Fighting is bad† or â€Å"Fighting causes pain and sufferings to other people†. Whether a person chooses to engage in or refrain from fighting depends on the duration, frequency, priority, and intensity of presenting these definitions.Here, group influence is of critical importance: Sutherland’s theory assumes that â€Å"when groups are strongly organized against crime, they will present an abundance of definitions favorable to crime and few definitions unfavorable to crime† (Matsueda, 2000, p. 131). Individuals growing up in groups that favor fi ghting will be more likely to fight, than those who live in groups strongly organized against fighting. Through the intimate interaction with groups that favor fighting, individuals will learn techniques and rationalizations for doing so. The process of learning to fight will be similar to any other form of learning. The goals of those who fight and those who do not fight will be similar, too. What will be different is the means fighting and non-fighting individuals choose to pursue their goals (Regoli, Hewitt & DeLisi, 2010). ConclusionFrom the viewpoint of Sutherland’s Differential association theory, fighting is a form of deviant behavior learned through face-to-face communication. Such learning usually occurs in intimate groups, where individuals learn specific fighting techniques and rationalizations for doing so. Fighting prevails in groups, where definitions that favor fighting overweigh the definitions that do not favor this form of deviance. Whether individuals choos e to fight depends on the frequency, duration, priority, and intensity of messages and beliefs that favor fighting. Learning to fight is similar to other forms of learning. Those who fight and those who do not fight express similar ideas and values. The only difference will be in the means these individuals choose to pursue their goals.

Divorce and the Issue of Reforms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Divorce and the Issue of Reforms - Essay Example ich represents the most novel policy departure for it explicitly rejects long accepted wisdom that the divorce process can only bury and not save marriages. However, the marriage preserving effectiveness of these twin divorce reforms is limited by the fact that the marriage support interventions occur only after significant deterioration in the quality of the marital relationship has already taken place. In other words, the policies are reactive rather than preventive. An example of the latter approach is to use the school curriculum to teach appropriate communication and parenting skills that strengthen (future) marriages and make them more robust to unexpected shocks. This principle has been implemented in Florida's Marriage Preparation and Preservation Act of 1998 which will be discussed after outlining and evaluating both Louisiana's covenant marriage legislation and the English Family Law Act in greater detail. The key point is not that the couple will know more about their future lives, though there may well be some information acquisition, but that the future consequences of marital dissolution become more salient and less remote in their minds and decision making. Given evidence that many couples subsequently regret divorce, the effect may be marriage preserving. (Becker, 1988, 2) Conclusions At first blush, recent divorce reforms in the United States and England and Wales appear to be adopting different trajectories. The greatest social costs of divorce are usually incurred by children, especially when the divorce process is bitter and acrimonious. In an attempt to minimize unnecessary hostility, the Family Law Act places stress on the role of mediation rather than litigation in resolving disputes over asset division and child custody. However, evidence... The researcher of this essay was aimed to discuss the issues and the history of divorce as well as the reforms, that are related to it. Historically, family law either imposed a prohibition on divorce or adopted a fault approach in which divorce is only permitted on specific and restricted grounds such as adultery and desertion. Under fault, the presumption is that one spouse is guilty of a matrimonial offence which is responsible for the failure of the marriage and the law makes provision for its dissolution by the innocent party in adversarial court proceedings. The greatest social costs of divorce are usually incurred by children, especially when the divorce process is bitter and acrimonious. In an attempt to minimize unnecessary hostility, the Family Law Act places stress on the role of mediation in resolving disputes over asset division and child custody. However, evidence from the US suggests that divorce education which functions to equip parents with communication skills and reduces the exposure of children to conflict may be more effective in ameliorating some of the negative effects of divorce on the life chances of children. In summary, there is a hesitant trend in recent initiatives in family law to recognize that a good marriage and a good divorce both require mastery of basic relationship skills. It is concluded that better in the long run is to adopt a preventive rather than a reactive approach which teaches personal communication skills as an integral component of the school curriculum.

Healing hospital paradigm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healing hospital paradigm - Essay Example Healing hospitals avail a healing culture that aids patients to feel safe and comfortable. For instance, Mercy Gilbert Medical Centre focuses on delivering a healing facility, reinforced by a healing environment and healing culture grounded in three essential elements, namely: a healing physical milieu, the incorporation of work plan and environment, and a tradition of radical loving care. A Healing Physical Environment This concept dwells on healthcare personnel care for patients, in addition to the manner, in which healthcare personnel connect with the patient’s families and other caregivers. This encompasses developing an empathetic, affectionate, and gratifying setting that is calm and stress free. As a result, the loving, calm, and satisfying environment enables the patients and their families to manage tension accompanying their infirmity (Chapman, 2003). Hospitals should promote a serene environment that is free from physical turbulence such as strange sound or dull arr angement of hospital settings. The Integration of Work Design and Technology This element details the combination of work design and technology allows the medical providers to carry out their tasks more proficiently, besides providing confidentiality and security to the patients. The implementation of sophisticated technology aids in facilitating and sustaining a healing environment (Hutchinson, 2011). A Culture of Radical Loving Care This philosophy facilitates and reinforces the healing of patients through an all encompassing orientation that satisfies the patient’s bodily, psychological, and spiritual needs. Healing Hospital Paradigm Relationship to Spirituality Spirituality  infers an individual’s experience of meaning and purpose in life, a sense of association with people and things in the world. Healing is mainly spiritual, intangible, and experiential, comprising of integration of body, mind, and spirit (Puchalski & McSkimming, 2006). The integration avails t he individual with a sense of peace. Spirituality encompasses a belief system centering on intangible elements that convey vitality and meaning to life’s events. Spirituality is one of the significant factors that positively influence a patient’s potential health since the body, mind, and spirit work as one. Individuals are cared for and afforded support for not only their medical well being, but also their emotional and spiritual health. Challenges of Creating a Healing Environment Healthcare personnel mainly  diagnose and treat diseases, and may possess few skills on how to respond to the spiritual side of the patients. Furthermore, ethical practice demands that the physicians refrain from impinging their beliefs on patients. Acting within the boundaries of medical ethics, while responding to the spirituality of patients, may be a significant challenge to healthcare personnel. Similarly, the American culture of religious pluralism provides a broad range of belief s ystems and the physicians may not be expected to comprehend all the beliefs systems and practices of the diverse faith communities. Other challenges reported involve developing strategies to aid healthcare providers to differentiate spiritual care from  excellent customer service. There is a thin line between customer service

Movie reflection on the movie Click Research Paper

Movie reflection on the movie Click - Research Paper Example The setting of the film takes place in both the present day as well as some ten years or so into the future - though there is no major visual difference between the present and the future. At the end of the film it is discovered that the majority of the plot took place in the back room of Bed, Bath, and Beyond store. The major circumstances throughout the entire movie were the remote control and the bizarre character of Morty, who is similar to the fairy godmother in a fairytale. Without these elements, what took place in the movie would not have been possible. In this, the vital element of the film is fantasy, the ability to defy basic reality to share a story or make a point. One of the main themes of Click is responsibility of the home, immediately followed by grief and regret. Though Michael spends all of his time at work, it is done for the sake of his family. He wants to make sure that they have the best of everything, especially since he had to go without when he was growing up. Unfortunately, during these attempts at a better life, Michael begins to forget about his family. He still works to make them happy, but he forgets to spend time with them, which is what they prefer over the frivolous material possessions. There is an irony in how this situation plays out. In his quest to make his family happy, he ends up forgetting about them, making them more upset then they were to begin with. He eventually succumbs to a heart attack and his wife leaves him, making his attempts all for nothing. Michael loses sight that happiness in a family is not always about material possessions. Furthermore, there is a lot of grief and regret in the film, most of which surrounds Michael. Regret is seen throughout the entire film; Michael regrets being unable to give his family everything they want; Michael’s family regrets being able to

How to Control and Prevent Delinquency Research Paper

How to Control and Prevent Delinquency - Research Paper Example The increasing number of youth offenders does not stem from a single cause nor a single set of causes. Sociologists agree that social disorganization is one of the most important factors that influence the rate of juvenile delinquency. Thus, in slum areas, where families come from different regions of the country or speak different dialects, where people are constantly on the move, and where diverse cultural standards flourish side by side with little interaction and community solidarity, delinquency is most often found. Some researchers suggest that more often delinquents have parents characterized by drunkenness or criminality, ineffective household management, economic difficulties, and low self-respect. Delinquency often indicates that their families are not concerned about their welfare. Most delinquent children do not experience a real home life. They are left to themselves the whole day with any companion they choose to have. Marriage may be temporarily or permanently broken. Temporarily broken homes refer to the separation of husband and wife caused by war, migration, hospitalization, imprisonment, or employment conditions. Permanently broken homes refer to separation caused by desertion, divorce or legal separation, life imprisonment, or death. Behavioral as well as social scientists express the view that broken homes can create far-reaching problems such as juvenile delinquency, unwed mothers, poverty, etc. Many of the juvenile delinquents here and abroad were found to come from broken homes. But it does not follow that broken homes will surely cause young children and adolescents to go wayward and develop into delinquents. Many separated parents have produced offsprings that climbed into fame. Clear knowledge of the causes of the emergence of youth offenders can naturally lead to a better understanding of how to control and prevent delinquency.  Ã‚  

A Report on the Investigation on the Allegations against a Plant Essay

A Report on the Investigation on the Allegations against a Plant Employee of an Acquired Corporation, Lakes Inc - Essay Example The investigation landed on a big clue, which made it clear that the offence was done in the preparation of invoice for purchase of items. From this case it was found that actually, the invoice was supposed to be prepared for purchasing high definition flat screen television but the prepared invoice was in the name of a computer server. The investigation is carried out from August to November 2009. In the mean time, it was also found that the employee has submitted the invoice through the purchase department for a refund amount of $8,795.60. Due to this issue, the director of purchasing department, Mr Bob Smith, and the administrative assistant, Ms Mary Bad, had to be terminated from the company. The company maintains a database for all the items they purchase and a particular code is fixed for the items, which relates to the work done by the administrative assistant. As part of the investigation, a visit was made to all the stores from where the goods were purchased. The manager of one store said that in the past six months, Bob Smith had done two more purchases and these items were delivered either to him or his assistant. He showed the invoices of these items that had been purchased. When comparing these with the plant invoices, the file had only copies. Everything in the invoice except the name of the items was similar. The director of the purchasing department and the administrative assistant are the culprit in this case. They cheated the company and this had been continuing for several years. The invoices, the proof and the statement of the store manager have been apt evidences for this particular investigation. Bob Smith and Mary Bad were cheating the company by making false invoices and purchasing costly items with the company’s earnings. They might even resell these items at a higher price and make more profits out of it. The case is found to be misappropriation on purchasing the asset. There are various schemes for asset misappropriation such a s â€Å"skimming, cash larceny, fraudulent disbursements, and non-cash larceny and misuse† (Albrecht n.d pg 2). Misappropriation of the Asset Fraudulent Disbursement Scheme From these schemes, the one, which is similar to the case under study here, is the fraudulent disbursements scheme. Asset misappropriation schemes consist of â€Å"those frauds in which a perpetrator employs trickery or deceit to steal or misuse an organization’s resources† (Albrecht n.d pg 1). In this case, both the director and his assistant have taken assets of the organization to benefit themselves. Here, misappropriation of assets occurred during the purchase of goods and services. The organization pays extra for purchased goods and services, as all of them were not used in the plant. It includes a billing scheme, which involves employers making payments based on false invoices for personal purchases as done by Mr Bob Smith and Ms Mary. Such type of asset misappropriation frauds are seri ous enough, which result in material misstatement of the financial statements of the organization, without the knowledge of the management. Finally, the company incurs a huge loss and a lot of damages. Final Results of the Investigation Asset misappropri

Domestic Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Domestic Terrorism - Essay Example Specifically, the essay aims to present the effects of acts of domestic terrorists in relation to destruction of human lives, economic impact and public policy changes in the country. One of the primary institutions in the country which is actively involved in studying terrorist activities is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI classified terrorist related activities into three: (1) terrorist incident (â€Å"a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, in violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any state, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives†); (2) suspected terrorist incident (â€Å"a potential act of terrorism for which responsibility cannot be attributed to a known or suspected group†); and (3) terrorism prevention (â€Å"is a documented instance in which a violent act by a known or suspected terrorist group or individual with the means and a proven propensity for violence is successfully interdicted through investigative activity†). (Terrorism in the United States 1999 ii) Domestic terrorism is also being evaluated in terms of their motivation. Presley (1996) presented the delineation of terrorist activities according to the following motivations: â€Å"(1) religious convictions, (2) racial prejudice and supremacist goals, (3) anarchistic/anti-government/ politically motivated, or (4) in pursuit of unique special interests† (p. 15). Contemporary research reveals that these motivations have specifically identified group classifications of domestic terrorism. These groups were identified by the FBI study as of right-wing, left-wing, or special interest orientations. Their causes generally spring from issues relating to American political and social concerns. (ibid. p. 23). In related documents, groups

Enternal Nutrition support assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Enternal Nutrition support assignment - Essay Example The registered dietitian (RD) has completed a nutrition assessment for Ms. Brown and has determined she will need a total of 2500 kcal daily to meet her nutrient needs. The RD plans to leave recommendations for three tube feeding delivery options in the medical chart for the physician to select from as it hasn’t been determined yet which option Ms. Brown will tolerate the best. 3. If Ms. Brown were to receive intermittent feedings eight times a day, how many milliliters of formula would she need at each feeding? If the formula were packaged in 250-mL cans, how many cans of formula would be required per day? Per feeding? 4/8= 0.5 mililitres Instructions: Visit the website at http://ccn.aacnjournals.org/content/27/4/17.full and read the article titled â€Å"Development of Evidence-Based Guidelines and Critical Care Nurses’ Knowledge of Enteral Feeding.† Answer the questions below based on the

Multinational Command Relationship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Multinational Command Relationship - Assignment Example All the operational aspects will be handled by the US TACON Commander. The constraints that might be difficult to coordinate within the council itself include coordinating the various military branches to act in accordance with each other against the SAPA in Ahurastan. The most likely outcome, with constraints being placed on the ability to define the C2 solution—would have to be complete deference to the TACON commander, who would be in charge of the entire operation. This is so that the operation can be run smoothly—and, possibly remotely—from a secure location whereby U.S. Special Forces can control the entire situation or at least influence it to some degree. Undoubtedly, the U.S. Special Forces will basically control the entire solution, in effect.  The United States has one of the most well-equipped and capable militaries of any superpower country—and in fact, it is the world leader in these types of military operations.   Basically, every countr y must defer to the United States because it is in control of this entire mission.   There are two advantages to this:   a) the United States has a large military arsenal from which it can draw supplies as well as recruit troops; and b) the United States can have full control over whatever is happening, thereby making this an operation which will be acted upon in the U.S.’s best foreign policy interests.   The two disadvantages to such coordination might be:   a) the fact that these countries do not want to be told what to do by the United States, i.e., it may be a power play move on the behalf of the U.S.; and b) secondly, military intervention by the U.S. could very much well look like another occupation of a foreign Asian country—like Afghanistan.   To put the second point into layman’s terms, it could also look a lot like the Shock and Awe Iraqi invasion of 2003.   The multinational command structure is designed so that all parties can refer to t he United States before they take action.

Rich man Essay Example for Free

Rich man Essay Slavery is alive and well in the 21st Century. Ever wondered, as you slipped on your trainers or pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms what life would be like for the person who made them? Nike promotes sport and healthy living but the lives of workers who make Nike shoes and clothes in Asia are anything but healthy. Independent research indicates that they live in extreme poverty and suffer stress and exhaustion from over work. Around the world there are millions of people whose lives depend on global trade. Many are small children between an age of nine and seventeen, working in factories trying to earn just a little money for their families. But working in these factories isnt living. Its sweating. Its exhaustion. Its two meals of rice and vegetables a day. Its two twenty-four hour shifts a week. Its food or medicine, not both. Its a mat to sleep on in a nine by nine cell. In short ninety pence, the daily rate at Nike factories and the mandated Indonesian minimum is more a dying wage than a living wage. We are the reason that the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. Demand here effects lives there. Poor people are being kept poor, thanks to companies like Nike. People have to work overtime, and if they dont, they either get the sack or they get abused both physically and mentally. Workers are so poor that they cannot take the risk and say no, because they need the money so much. Even children have had to work in order to earn money because of their poverty. Child labour is one of the most serious human rights abuses in the work place. They are being denied something all children should have an entitlement to, a childhood. A right to play, a right to grow up without the worries and responsibilities of survival. A right to an education without which they can never aspire to a better quality of life. Should such huge responsibilities be placed on such little shoulders? In the U. S. A. and Europe a Nike shirt costs thirty pounds, yet the workers may only get about a quarter of that price per week in wages. The third world kids are victims of poverty. We the consumers are victims of high prices and ignorance. Every time we wear an item of clothing produced by named brand manufacturers we advertise their products. We have been given false hopes, the way that Nike gives false hopes to the workers in their factories. The clothes we buy from Nike are made in factories from China to El Salvador. These factories can only be called sweatshops. The conditions people are expected to work in are nothing short of appalling. Wages are abysmal; hours are long and welfare non-existent. Workers who remained anonymous for fear of loosing their jobs were interviewed by Sarah Strickland in Phonom Penh and are quoted as saying, Some only earn i 20 a month. They have to get their card stamped when they go to the toilet and sometimes they faint from exhaustion and the heat. One particular worker who said he had worked for two years without a holiday told her, When I asked for two days off, they cut my salary. The manufacturers were also approached for their comments on the state of the garment industry in Cambodia. Van Sou Ieng, chairman of the Garment Manufacturers Association told Ms Strickland Some of the workers have unrealistic demands, like asking for forty hour, five day weeks. I wonder how many hours per week he works and for how much pay? I would be very surprised if he wasnt entitled to holiday pay, sick pay and a substantial pension. I think the workers in these factories should be paid more because they are being kept poor and its unfair. The children working in these factories should not have been there, they should have been in school, playing and having fun not receiving pain in a factory. However this is a complex issue, consider this, if you buy Nike products, those factory workers will be kept poor. If you dont buy them they will still be poor, maybe more so. So what can we do about it? Well, we could try protesting to companies like Nike. A letter of disapproval might be a start, but will these multi-million pound companies listen to us? I think we should protest to the world trading organisations and persuade them to set standards for all companies around the world. Standards that are fair to everyone; the factory workers, the companies and you the consumer. A world trade mark could then be a sign of quality without cruelty, a guideline for the unsuspecting buyers around the world that the product didnt cost someone more than a fair days work for a fair days pay, and doesnt cost us our peace of mind. Rich man The executives of the large companies who make their money from us all   Poor man The consumer who is being conned by these companies and kept in the dark about the way in which their products are produced.   Beggar man The people in third world countries who have little or no rights in the workplace, slaves to their rich masters.   Thief The Multi-million pound companies, the fat cats of society, making their money from exploiting others.

Shamus Khans Concepts of Gender and Sexuality

Shamus Khans Concepts of Gender and Sexuality In chapter four of Privileged, Shamus Khan writes about the young women at St. Pauls being taught to perform gender (Kahn, 2013). The idea behind performing gender for the young women at St. Paul was the necessity to appear feminine. This concept is not very uncommon outside of St. Pauls learning institution; many individuals dress, speak, and present themselves in a way to show their gender identity as well as their sexual preference. At this specific institution, many of the girls developed a way to use their sexuality as a gift and in some cases, they thought of it as power. Since these girls attended St. Paul they might have felt as though it was necessary to appeal to the young men so that they can more feel comfortable at the school. In a sense, many of the young women at the school attempted to exploit their own sexuality for gain. The main concept behind the young women using their sexuality was the ability to maintain a sense of ease so this was a way of them embracing their femininity. However, the teachings and idea of embracing femininity can be modified in a way so that the young women are not just limited to embrace being feminine to be at ease at St. Paul. It should be taught that the young women should be able to be comfortable expressing their sexuality by being feminine, masculine or both at St. Paul and continue to go to the school with an ease and not feel mistreated in any way based of their display of sexuality. There is no doubt that many of the young women at St. Paul were very intellectual individuals. It was very clear from the chapter that the young women at the school needed to work harder for them to be successful at the school. That did not dismiss the fact that they still needed to act as though the success that they received at the school came with ease. Khan gave an example in the chapter of Mary who was a very hard worker and was successful because of it; however, she was still viewed differently from her peers at the school. This was because she succeeded, but did so without ease (Khan, 2013). This concept of ease was to be upheld from all students at the school, but as we can see from this chapter it was more difficult from the young women at the school to maintain the appearance of ease. So, although they were intellectual they still had the need to endorse their sexuality and show their femininity as well as appeal to the men for them to feel as though they secured a certain amount of ease at St. Paul. In this chapter embracing their sexuality is very important to the young women at St. Paul, it is shown when Kahn described these girls going to seated meals dressed in their formal clothing. Although St. Paul has the no bare shoulders seated meal rule the girls found ways around these rules by making up excuses about the necessity to wear the dressed because they could not have changed fast enough to make it to eat their meals on time among many other excuses (Kahn, 2013). In a way, that one way that they embraced their sexuality, we can often see this is social institutions outside of St. Paul. As a woman if you are going on a date with a man you are expected to look a certain way to appeal to the mans sexually. For a woman, this also occurs when you are going to an interview, if you ever take a workshop on how to have a successful interview they usually recommend women wear a skirt and a blouse with low heels. Woman dressing up to show their sexuality is not very uncommon today an d throughout history, it is one of the ways that women perform gender. At St. Paul, many of the girls had to teach and figure out their sexuality from other girls that had attended the school longer or by themselves. This was apparent when the younger girls where taught by older and more experienced girls how to use their sexuality to appeal to the young men at the school. The young girls were given pointers about how to go about their sexual exploits. Before they spend too much time with any boy, new girls are told, they should talk to the seniors in the dorm to learn his reputation (Kahn, 2013). Essentially, they are setting up the younger girls so that they can also know how to technically exploit their own sexuality. At St. Paul, the young women are essentially expected to give out signals to appeal to the young man to show that you are interested. This can be shown through performing you gender, dressing up in certain clothes, the way you speak and act to displays these sexual preferences. The idea of performing gender for young women at St. Paul was to appear feminine. That is what St. Paul taught if you were a young woman at the school then you needed to make sure that you acted and presented yourself in a feminine manner. Either you were feminine or masculine at St. Paul and if you were a young woman that did not perform your gender in accordance with a feminine way you were teased and talked about in negative ways. Khan mentions this when talking about Lynn, a young woman who was in a relationship with another girl at the school. Lynn dressed in baggy clothes and a St. Pauls sweatshirt. That was considered wrong not because of her sexual preference but because of the way that she performed her gender it was interpreted as not in a feminine way. This concept can be modified to appeal to the sense that if the young women that are attempting to establish their sexuality want to perform their gender to the fullest they should be able to do so without the limitations th at St. Paul attempts to build upon.ÂÂ   If Lynn feels more comfortable wearing baggy clothes and not dressing up or conforming to dress in a feminine manner than she should not be teased or treated differently because of that. St. Paul needs to modify the idea that if you are female you need to present yourself in a feminine way and if you are a man then you need to present yourself in a masculine way. The reality is that the students are attempting to find their own sexuality, and this cannot be fully achieved if they are limited through dress, speech, and actions. St. Paul has attempted to uphold old and outdated ideas on sexuality and performing gender. In the past women were expected to dress and act feminine no matter what their sexuality because society has closed ideals on family and upheld the patriarchal family. Although it took a while women are free to express their sexuality and dress and act in a way that feel. Even in workplace settings, an individual who identifies as female can dress in a masculine way and be working a high paying job. Over time too many women have fought to be themselves in society without being denied or mistreated from others. Many young women outside of St. Paul are str uggling with feeling comfortable in their own sexuality and expressing that the way they would like. If those girls are struggling outside of St. Paul imagine the girls that would love to express themselves in a non-feminine manner but are pressed to present themselves in a feminine way for them to be comfortable in school. In chapter four it is very clear that St. Paul is upholding the barrier that the young women need to appear feminine regardless of their way of expressing their sexuality. That barrier needs to be broken down, because when female students graduate St. Paul, they are left in a state confusion towards their sexuality; because they feel as though they cannot dress, speak, and act in a way that does not reflect feminism. If the young women are encouraged to embrace their sexuality, but are limited to expressing that only through a feminine aspect it is a contradictory concept. Although I completely agree with the idea that the young women need to find a way to embrace their sexuality, because it helps shape your identity. Many of the girls at St. Paul probably felt that they would love to dress like Lynn because it would feel comfortable for them but they were afraid of being in the same uncomfortable position and the lack of ease that came with not presenting yourself in a feminine mann er. I still feel as though if the young women are encouraged to discover and embrace their sexuality, then they should not be limited to that embracement of sexuality expressed in a strictly feminine manner. If St. Paul can adjust to the concept that young women need to be able to discover and embrace their sexuality in a way that allows them to be feminine, masculine or both than many of the women would feel more comfortable and at ease. Bibliography Khan, Shamus R. 2013. Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Pauls School. Princeton University Press.

Impact of Ebusiness on an Organisation

Impact of Ebusiness on an Organisation 1.1 Introduction: The purpose of this project is to provide research findings of the impact of e-business on a particular organisation. The research carried out in this project was based on the performance of Ocado an online grocery company and being online business how this company differentiate itself from other companies in the same industry and get advantages of e-business in this modern era of technology. 1.2 Why e-business: Businesses that are run on the internet or uses information and communication technology to improve efficiency and profitability are known as e-businesses. The impact of e-business on an organisation is seems to me different and logical topic. It is different because it changes the living styles of people and effects the social lives of people. Going through research on this topic I can learn a lot of new things on the infrastructure of e-business and way of doing e-business. Due to technological boom e-business is the future of businesses. It would let me figure out the competitive advantage of e-business on traditional one and potential of change in social behaviour of people. The choice of this topic helps me to apply my academic knowledge and improve my communication and analytical skills and helps me to improve professional career. This topic not only provide me impact on one organisation but will also tell me how global businesses change due to technological revolutions. 1.3 Company Profile: Ocado is a British online retailer specialising groceries. Ocado is partly owned by John Lewis partnership pension fund. Ocado is a limited company was founded in 2002 by Jonathan Faiman, Jason Gissing and Tim Steiner, former Goldman Sachs merchant bankers. Ocado has a number of own brand products from Waitrose supermarket chain and also name brand groceries and items like toys, flowers and magazines. Since 2002 Ocado has been making losses even though it has won customer service awards in the UK. Ocado was listed on London Stock Exchange on July 2010 and is member of FTSE 250 Index. The company is operating on a warehouse model deprived of physical stores and operating as an online business. Ocado operates in Englands South East, South Coast, Midlands, North West and most of the Yorkshire. (http://www.ocadogroup.com/about-us/history.aspx) To revolutionise the way people shop forever, by giving them a uniquely innovative and greener alternative to traditional grocery shopping. (http://www.ocadogroup.com/en/about-us/mission-statement.aspx) Ocado is an online business; it has also launched iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android device applications which are most convenient way to shop for groceries. People do not require desktop PCs or laptops to shop online; they can use their phones to shop for groceries. Ocado allows its customers to price match with other main grocery stores in the UK. Ocado has launched online price match with its competitor store Tesco. Ocado is one of the rapidly growing online businesses in the UK with delivery area expanded to cover over 10m households. 1.4 Industry Profile: Online grocery retailing remains in its infancy with both demand and the proposition often limited in many countries. In the UK, online represents just 2.6% of the total UK grocery market. Nevertheless, with increasing broadband penetration and shopper lifestyles continuing to change, the internet looks set to become more important as a grocery retail channel in 2010. (http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1fid=1sid=8tid=30cid=1499) The value of the UK online grocery market to have grown by 85% from  £2bn in 2006 to  £3.7bn in 2009. Online is set to play a greater role in future grocery shopping patterns. We predict that the value of the online grocery market will nearly double in size to  £7.2bn by 2014, with a forecast annual growth rate more than three times faster than that of the wider grocery sector. Many online shoppers pick from a shortlist of favourites although more than nine in ten can be swayed to try something new. More than six in ten (62%) online shoppers mentioned that they would try something new if they could select a free sample. Other preferred tactics include better or more offers listed at the top of the page, offers on linked products and more prominent displays and descriptions of new products. However, although shopping online for groceries has become increasingly popular over the last few years, this section of shoppers represents less than one in four of those who buy goods and services online. This means there is a significant opportunity for grocery retailers to expand their online sales. (http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1fid=6sid=25tid=90cid=1409) 1.5 Aims and Objectives of the Report: To analyse the impact of e-business on Ocado and how the online business approach change the behaviour and motivation of people. One of the main aims of this report is to evaluate and compare the growth and financial performance of Ocado with other traditional grocery shopping organisations. Following are objectives of this report: To understand how Ocados online business approach progresses in order to achieve the revenue and market share. To analyse the financial performance of the Ocado and compare it with other supermarket retail industry. What are the potentials and limitations to the future growth of the online shopping businesses? Part 2: Information gathering and accounting/business techniques Sources Used: Primary data is original data that has been collected by a researcher by whatever means appropriate in the answer of a specific research question. i.e. it has been collected specifically for the Research Report.  Examples of primary data include questionnaires, interviews, e-mail contacts and surveys. (http://www.accaglobal.com/students/bsc/rap/gathering) Due to immediate surge in information technology industry, there is sufficient amount of secondary data available which has been used in this report. This data suffices all aspects of this report. Therefore most of my research is based on secondary data. Secondary data is data which has been collected by other people or organisations for their own purposes and researcher has used this data for different purposes. My secondary data consists of two main sources of collection: Library research: I went to local and college library and searched for several types of books and extract my project related material and used it in my report. BPPs Success in your research and analysis project provided the platform to sketch out broad counters of this research. The study text materials of ACCA (published by both BPP and Kaplan) has helped me to apply analytical techniques and also taught me how to evaluate my research findings. I also used articles published in ACCA student accountant relating my project which also helped me in meeting the goals of the project. Online research: Major parts of my research are based on material available online. This also shows impact of online on our research and daily use of communication. I find it quite credible to find online research material for a web based company. Following are the websites and search engines used to collect the information; Ocado limited website; this site provide the useful and more reliable information necessary for my project. This site provide me the audited annual reports of the company, company profile, history, investor information and other important information required. Competitors websites used for same purposes as mentioned above. ACCA website provide the help to find out the relative articles which I used to analyse the information. The food and grocery experts igd.com provides the statistical data about industry, surveys about trends in industry and its future. London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ websites provide the news about the industry, historic share performance competitors and surveys. Google, Yahoo and Bing are search engines used to find information about Ocado, retail industry and e-business techniques. Other websites used to find the news about Ocado , online grocery businesses, surveys and competitors are: Financial Times The Guardian BBC news 2.2 Methods of Analysis: To emphasize the impact of e-business on Ocado and to make comparison of its results in all business and financial aspects, results of Waitrose plc will be used. The objectives of the project are based on Ocados business approach and what make in it differentiate from other businesses, thus the report is based on the following aspects: Porters Generic Strategies. Consisting of three types of strategies to maintained and achieved competitive advantage by the businesses. Two strategies lie in the strategic strength, is a supply side dimension and focus on product differentiation and product cost. Third strategy lies in the strategic scope in the demand side dimension concentrate on the particular size and composition of the market. SWOT Analysis. It is strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats involved in an organisation. It analyse the external and internal factors of the organization that are favourable or unfavourable to achieve that organizations objectives. PEST Analysis. It is tool of environmental analysis, especially concentrates on macro environment which includes Political, Economic, Social culture and Technological factors. Trend Analysis. Using the past data to predict the future outcomes in the industry. B2C and B2B. Business 2 Customer includes customer service and interface design while Business 2 Business includes channel partner and system integration. Sales Growth. This will analysis the trend of sale over the past years and comparison with competitors. Profitability. The comparison of the profitability to past years and competitors and ability to generate profits. ROCE (Return on Capital Employed). Use to analysis the organization return on long term investment. Gross/Net Profit Margin. These ratios analyse the organizations operational efficiency, its costing policy and ability to control cost. Capital Gearing Ratios. Analyse the capital structure of the organization and reveal how much an organization relies on debt financing. Investor outlook. The return to shareholders compare with other organizations. Earnings per Share. This ratio shows the profit attributable to each individual share. 2.3 Limitations of Analysis: In order to analyse impact of e-business on an organisation, it is critical to make sure the sustainability of information technology remains constant in the industry. In todays environment as every organisation and governments are dependent on information technology, it is inevitable to some human error. From internet perspective selling online is quite new business as it only has 2.6% share in the whole retail industry. This information could change as new competitors introduce new business techniques which could impact this particular organisation. Some of the information taken from surveys has limitations as buying online grocery is quite newly introduced phenomena for British people and the information is not quite mature. Financial information use in this analysis has inherent limitations which include estimates and figures that are highly influenced by personal decisions. Financial statements are prejudiced by the choice of accounting policy e.g. a company seeking to improve its ROCE may choose not to revalue its assets. Financial statements have past data; it is not feasible to predict future on the basis of this data. In SWOT analysis there is problem for companies to identify the elements of their own organization e.g. strengths appears to one person can have different meaning for other. Ratios we used in our analysis also have inherent limitations. Firstly ratios are derived from financial statements that also have several limitations. Ratios are only useful when compared with the past results of the business and judge the performance of the business but the future forecast may not correct because several other factors also involved like market condition, etc. also the ratios have to be interpreted and different people may interpret differently. 2.4 Methodology used: Data collection is an important part of the project that should be planned and carried out and is completed in a well way for consideration. We have access to a lot of reliable and relevant information both online with easy access to internet and offline. Planning is completed and appropriate extraction of data provides help to develop good content of the reports. The method of search used is the Google search engine. By writing some key words in the search bar and clicking the entre it provides me the so many links of the websites that match with the key words. Most of the links are relevant to my search and contains a lot of information but some links are irrelevant to my research. However I am able to extract the relevant information suitable in the preparation of my project. Offline search include reading the books and journals and see if some information suitable for my report, make a note of it and use it later in my report. I done research thoroughly in advanced and bookmarks the relevant articles and websites using the web browsers because it could be needed to me for the citation of information if chosen to be quoted in my report. Using the study text materials (both Kaplan and BPP) to calculate the financial ratios and in their interpretation. Financial Statements of Ocado and Waitrose are downloaded from their respective websites. MS Excel was used for the graphical explanation of the ratio and trend analysis. Part 3: Analysis and Presentation 3.1 SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Broad range of products Contract with Waitrose Customer proposition Weaknesses: Dependence on UK market Loss making Opportunities: UK online retail industry Non food Threats: Future acquisitions Competitors Fraud STRENGHTS Broad range of products: In addition to its current area of strategic focus, the company intends to investigate growth opportunities by improving the customer offering continually through maintaining and improving the customer experience; increasing its core product range; and continuing to offer value to customers (Annual Report 2009, Ocado limited). Ocado sells more than 20,000 different products, the vast majority of which are sourced through Waitrose, a leading high quality UK supermarket. Approximately 4,300 of the products sold by Ocado are Waitrose-branded products. Ocados product range includes a small but expanding range of Ocado branded products (Ocadogroup.com, Strategic Overview). Choices of the different range of products enable the customers to buy the products that match their lifestyles and are within their budget. Also the availability of every type of product on one channel increases the chances of sale because customer did not want to go elsewhere if he find everything on one place. It helped consumers to spend less without compromising on choice or quality. Contract with Waitrose: The Companys reputation is based at least in part on its relationship with Waitrose and its ability to supply Waitrose branded products. If Waitrose ceased to supply the Company with products or if Waitrose were to suffer reputational damage which impacted on the Waitrose brand there could be an adverse effect on the Companys financial position and future prospects. The Company has a successful symbiotic relationship evolved over 10 years and has recently agreed a new branding and sourcing agreement until 2020. The Company is not dependant on the Waitrose supply chain as 85% of items sold are now sourced directly from suppliers. In May 2010, a new 10 years deal was signed with Waitrose (Annual Report 2009, Ocado Ltd). There were some rumours about Ocado and its 10 years contract with Waitrose. Previous contract signed for 10 years were with Waitrose was about to end and if this contract will not renewed it can cause big problems for Ocado because in 2010 Ocado is going to listed on London Stock Exchange. But in May 2010 deal with Waitrose was signed for 10 years in which there is a non-competition agreement with Waitrose and with Waitrose likely to extend its delivery services to highly lucrative M25 region. Customer proposition: Ocado offers delivery of grocery products to customers centrally picked from a single, state-of-the-art, highly automated warehouse (the customer fulfilment centre or CFC) (Ocadogroup.com, Strategic Overview). Customer satisfaction is part of every business, Ocado uses its unique strategy the customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in which Ocado make sure the availability of products, freshness of products and wide range of products. Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference Europe 2010 Presentation, Ocado Ltd, shows; 99.4% fulfilment accuracy and product availability given structural advantages. 97.6% of orders delivered on time or early. Structural advantages allow Ocado to guarantee freshness and use-by dates. WEAKNESSES Dependence on UK market: Although Ocado is still expanding its business to the other parts of the country and it is probable that Ocado will make profit in near future. But the company is fully reliant on the UK retail industry, any changes in the UK retail industry or changes in UK economic conditions like recessions can affect the Ocados growth. Increased competition also affects the sale growth of the company. Loss making: Ocado is making losses since it was corporate. However, the last three year results shows that it is improving towards profits like in 2007 Ocado incurred the loss of  £40m, in 2008  £33m and in 2009 Ocado incurred the loss of  £23m, the reason for this losses is the expansion of Ocados operations around the UK. Due to large investment in expansion of operations, Ocado loses the confidence of investors and its share price decreases dramatically. The company and its advisers have been promoting the impression that the company will be valued at around  £1 billion after raising some  £200 million in the planned float, but many analysts, of course not those closely involved with the offer, are highly critical of this valuation (http://www.moneyobserver.com/news/10-07-01/ocado-and-fairfield-energy-ipos-under-spotlight). OPPORTUNITIES UK Online retail industry: UK grocery retail industry is largest industry with the sales revenue of  £146bn, while the online grocery business has only 2% of the total sales revenue. UK Online grocery sales (2007-14),  £bn (Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference Europe 2010 Presentation, Ocado Ltd) These figures show the opportunities for Ocado in online retail industry to grab the sales because online retail industry looks highly opportunistic. Non-food: Extended the business in non-grocery products are part of the Ocados future developments. The potential of growth in non-grocery products is much more than grocery items, so there is an opportunity for Ocado to increase its sales revenue by extending the business in non-grocery items. As Ocado is online grocery business, only 2% of total retail shopping comprises of grocery, while 98% consist of other non-grocery items. THREATS Future acquisition: Ocado plans to expand its business all over the UK. It has many opportunities for the business but along this it also has the threats to business. Ocado is making losses since it is incorporate this is because of its acquisition strategy but if it still applied same strategy, Ocado will be in great trouble. It loses investors confidence due to high level of borrowings. If Ocado uses same strategy, it will be run out of cash for their operations. Competitors: The retail grocery industry is highly competitive and the online market place is no different. Ocado has an established business model and superior customer proposition. The proprietary IP and experience gives Ocado a competitive advantage. A clear strategy is in place to widen the customer base by improving online experience, customer service, product range and pricing, and reducing environmental impact (Annual Report 2009, Ocado Ltd). Ocado operates in a highly competitive retail market. With other supermarkets struggling for position in the UK retail market, Ocado invested in price cuts and discount promotions in order to stay competitive. This will affect the Ocados sales revenue and profits. Especially in recession, when customers are looking for low price products, price cuts could result in the decline of industry profitability. Price cuts also have an adverse effect on the perception of customers for the quality of products; this can damage the brand image of Ocado. Fraud: The risk of fraud from staff is less due to the nature of the business; IT procedures are in place to reduce this risk to further. Whatever the precautions are put in place to avoid the fraud but the we cannot reduce it to zero. There are potential threats of security breakdowns on their websites for online businesses. For Ocado major threat is the loss of sales due to credit card frauds. 3.2 PEST Analysis: Political: Ocado operate in United Kingdom, it provide it the stable political environment. Ocado can make long term decisions and this also guarantees Ocado a large range of economic actions. Political stability and strong economy provides the Ocado to get customer confidence and improve its operations. Economic: Economy plays a vital part in the operations of the Ocado. Economic conditions of the country influence the supply, demand, costs, prices and profits of the company. Due to recession in the world, UK along with other countries face the unemployment, this affects the demand and profit levels of the company. Sales growth decreases due to global recession, especially the sales of non food items are highly affected by this recession as people avoid the purchase of non essential items. Social: The social influence on the business of Ocado has been more important over the past few years. This is because the behaviour of people is changing towards grocery shopping. Due to lack of time and busy life, customers prefer to purchases in bulks and on one shop. Trend of online shopping has also been increased and this is beneficial for the Ocado. Ocado has different timing slots for deliveries suitable for customers according to their routine. Technological: Due to the nature of the business, technological factors have significantly influenced the Ocado. Recent technological advancements has revolutionised the organisations and changes the way of doing businesses. Online shopping saves the time of the busy people. Through introduction of technology it eliminates the need for paperwork and reduces the cost of administration work. 3.3 Porters Generic Strategies: Ocado aims to have a market leading customer proposition. Ocado introduced branded product to lower the prices of own label products sold (customer proposition, Ocado Ltd). Porter identified three generic strategies to take the advantage of competitive forces like cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies. According to porters generic strategies Ocado comes under the cost leadership, where it is trying to compete with the market by lowering the cost. It launches Tesco price match for customers to compare prices with Tesco before purchase. However Ocado is not wholly dependent on one strategy because customer often seeks more than price satisfaction. They look for product quality, style and timely deliveries. Ocado competed his competitors by providing the customers high quality of products, availability of products and delivering the products to customers on time. We use smart thinking and cutting-edge technology to keep honing our uniquely efficient delivery model. This helps us to drive down prices and guarantee exceptional value for money. We have a passion for delivering quality groceries in perfect condition and on time, while treating our customers with care and honesty. This helps us to share our vision of a different way of shopping: a better, greener and more convenient one (Mission Statement, Ocado Ltd). PIMS (Profit impact of marketing strategy) data and other surveys show, that the intermediary positions are indeed profitable and therefore successfully exploited by many firms. (Michael Cronshaw, Evan Davis and John Kay (1994), pp. 19-33) 3.4 B2B and B2C: Both terms are used with reference to the internet technology and commonly applied in e-businesses. Business 2 Business largely concern itself with supply chain management and allows the business to directly contact with the suppliers and distributors. While business 2 consumer concern the relationship between the customer and the supplier. It primarily concern to sell goods to end consumers. All such businesses are online businesses and Ocado is the best example for such type of relationships. In business 2 business Ocado use the internet for searching products catalogues, ordering from suppliers, making invoices and making online payments. In business 2 consumer Ocado uses its website to offer customers a wide range of products, providing information about prices of the products, delivery timing and everything they want to know about the products, offers and Ocado. 3.5 Trend Analysis: [The entire figures used below are taken from the annual reports of Ocado Ltd, Tesco and Waitrose (johnlewis partnership) 2007-2009 unless otherwise stated.] Purchase frequency: The online market is dominated by those buying on a relatively infrequent basis. On average online grocery shoppers use the channel twice per month Three in ten (30%) only shopped online on a very occasional basis e.g. in an emergency or for special occasions such as Christmas Only one in six (15%) online grocery shoppers had a heavy reliance on online and shopped once a week or more frequently Most online shoppers fall into the regular/top-up group A third (34%) buy food and groceries online every 3-4 weeks One in five (21%) purchased slightly more frequently, once every 1-2 weeks (Online grocery shopping, igd.com) Key Financial Performance Indicators: Average order size ( £): The average size of the order was increased in 2008 from  £112.17 to  £116.3 which indicated the attraction of consumers toward the online shopping. In 2009 the average order size is slightly low than the previous years but this did not mean the reduction of people trends towards online shopping because if order size decreases in this year on one hand on the other side the sales growth increases by 25% in this year. Average number of orders/week: The increase in number of orders in 2008 is 12% higher than the previous one while in 2009 the increase is 25% per week. This shows the sales of the Ocado increases and Ocado has the potential the to expand his business in the growing market of online shopping business. Average % product wastage: The average percentage of product wastage of Ocado decreases continuously from 2007 to 2009. This is because of the increased efficiency of the operations of the Ocado and handling its products more effectively. Another reason for low wastage is the usage of the new technologies and less involvement of manual handlings. CO2 Emission: Ocado has taken actions to lower its carbon footprint and reduce its environmental impact include: closed-loop grocery bag recycling, whereby when making a delivery, drivers offer to collect used bags from customers which are recycled within the UK to make new Ocado grocery bags; wasting significantly less food as a percentage of gross sales than any of its competitors; and signing up to the Climate Change Agreement (with the Carbon Trust), which places certain obligations on management to monitor and lower carbon usage. Ocado has co-developed two prototype electric powered vans, which are currently completing testing before being introduced into Ocados delivery fleet. (Environmental awareness, Ocado Ltd) CFC Efficiency: The customers fulfilment centre (CFC) efficiency increases over the period of time. This efficiency has been achieved by the introduction of highly automated warehouses and less involvement of manual work. The company is willing to expand the CFC capacity by building the second CFC and the spoke network in the near future. Green business: Being green is part of Ocados business model. This has been recognised in various awards.Ocado was voted Green Retailer of the Year 2009 in The Grocer Gold Awards, Large Retailer of the Year 2008 in the Online Green Awards and won Ethical/Green Practice 2009 at the IMRG E-Commerce Awards for Excellence. A traditional supermarket requires deliveries first to be made to a regional distribution centre and then to the supermarket itself. Customers then often drive to the supermarket in order to shop, and the supermarkets themselves require energy to be lit and heated and tend to have open fridges and freezers in an otherwise ambient environment.   Ocado delivers straight from the CFC to a customers kitchen, which eliminates much of the carbon emissions generated by traditional supermarkets and their stores, and also reduces the number of cars on the road. Each Ocado delivery van replaces a significant number of car journeys every day. (Environmental awareness, Ocado Ltd) 3.6 Ratio Analysis: Sales Growth: The sales revenue of the Ocado has been increasing since 2007. The sales revenue in 2007 was  £273m while in 2008 it was  £321m an increase of 15% was being recorded. Not only this also in 2009 the sales revenue of Ocado was  £402m with an increase of 25% than the previous one. When we compare the sales growth of Ocado with its competitor Waitrose, the sales growth is 7% and 5% in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Waitrose sales growth percentage is not even half of the Ocados percentage and we can analyse that people purchase the same products online rather than going to stores for it. The increase in the sales revenue of Ocado has been seen since it was incorporate this is because the behaviour of people towards the online shopping is being changed with the passage of time and as the grocery industry hides in itself a lot of potential to make profit. Ocado achieved this by using its long term strategies and by introducing customer fulfilment centre in which Ocado emphases on the ne eds of the customers. (Annual reports 2007-2009,Ocado Ltd) Gross profit margin: The gross profits of Ocado seem to be remaining same over the past few years although the sales revenue of the company increases over the period. This is because the company keep its prices same to keep its customers to pay less in the period of recession. In 2009 the gross profit margin of the Ocado decreases from 32% to the 30.6%, the reason for this is further decrease in the selling price without any decrease in costs of the products. It happened because Ocado launches its price match campaign with Tesco and Sainsbury. It is also due to the reason

Miss America Essay -- Sociology, Pageant

â€Å"She represents the type of womanhood America needs, strong, red-blooded, able to shoulder the responsibilities of homemaking and motherhood. It is in her type that the hope of the country rests† (Martin & Watson, 2004, p.3). This was Samuel Gompers sharing his thoughts about the very first â€Å"Miss America†, Margaret Gorman. The Miss America Pageant was established in the most fitting of all decades: the 1920s. During a time when women were just starting to experience newfound independence and rights, the Miss America Pageant strengthened the idea that women had more freedom to express themselves. The competition began as a simple tourist attraction, but the fact that the Miss America Pageant survived throughout the decades exemplifies that the competition was so much more. In the year 1921, Conrad Eckhold, the owner of Atlantic City’s Monticello Hotel was looking for a way to keep tourists in town past Labor Day. After discussing the tourist problem with other Atlantic City business owners, the idea of a â€Å"Fall Frolic† was created. The Fall Frolic included a two-day competition to be called â€Å"Atlantic City’s Inter-City Beauty Pageant†, in years after it would be known as the â€Å"Miss America Pageant† (Miss America, 2/20/2011). To become a contestant, women across the country entered themselves into popularity contests that featured their pictures in the newspapers. Editors of the paper then chose winners based on physical appearance. The winners were then given a free trip to Atlantic City where they were placed in the Inter-City Beauty Pageant (Bivans, 1991). The â€Å"Fall Frolic† began with â€Å"King Neptune†, a man named Hudson Maxim, who wore a crown, seaweed robe, and long white beard. King Neptune announced the competitors and partici... ...ever, bad press was bound to come about. Younger girls were often spared criticism, being seen as young and fun-loving. The elder competitors, though, were greatly disapproved of because of the indecency of the pageant (Carter, 1977; Deford, 1971) The Miss America Pageant was a wake-up call for people everywhere. The roles of women were changing, and there was little anyone could do to stop it. New attitudes were showcased in the pageant by young women who were well-educated and ready to take on the world. They inspired people and showed America a different kind of woman, one who was proud of her looks, personality, and intelligence. Not everyone supported the pageant though, and those who did not made their opinions known. The competition had its fair share of scandals as well, but good or bad the Miss America Pageant has enthralled audiences long past the 1920s.

Sex in the Media Essay -- Television Commercial Advertising Essays

Sex in the Media One of the most important resources of a business is its advertisement team. Due to the fact that people can and will buy your product only if they know about it. This is the reason that marketing and advertisement have the biggest budgets in a business. This is the reason that places such as Amazon.com spend up to four million dollars on advertisement a year, according to 'Dream-Biz.com' written by Burke Hedges. There is a saying that goes 'Sex-sells' is this true? Most people would argue that it does. Since choosing this topic it has forced me to see everything different. When I sit and watch television I can?t help but notice all of the strong sexual messages that are being thrown at me every second. This project will touch on many venues of advertisement, from television to radio and even printed advertisement. It seems to me that sex is being used to sell everything. It has become custom to see promotions for a movie that would have a hot and seductive scene, or even in a music video; which have become short movies themselves. I feel that the use of sex in advertisement has gone a little too far, when sex is used to sell juice that?s were I draw the line. Snapple had a campaign to reach ages 18-24 year old consumers. Their previous commercials targeted consumers in their 30?s and 40?s. Their new campaign was supposed to reach a broad spectrum of demographics while continuing to appeal to older Snapple fans. So what did they use ?Sex?. Fruit sex, that is. These commercials have the familiar fruit faces of Snapple?s prior commercials; just a little racier depiction of these ads with references to sex and jail. One of their commercials goes a little someth... ...rial away from our youth and others who may be offended or easily impressionable. Works Cited Congressional Record (2001). Proceedings and Debates on the 107th Congress. Available online: http://www.house.gov/bernie/town_meeting/2001/Rutland.html (accessed November 1, 2002) Gunter, Barrie (2002). Media Sex: What Are the Issues? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, INC. Playboy (November 2002). Bourbon Whiskey, an Aged Whisky Maxim. Star Tribune (2002). One Minnesota Family Loves Watching the Vikings on TV. But, whew! Those Ads! Available Online: http://www.startribune.com/stories/565/892703.html (accessed November 14, 2001) Visual Art Trends (2000). Weight Loss or Candy? Available Online: http://www.visualartstrends.com/Ea/Ea4/candy(eS7.html (accessed November 12, 2002) USA Today Magazine (May 2001). Sexy Ads Target Young Adults

The film Stigmata & the Challenge of Conceptualizing Women as Spiritual Agents :: Free Essays Online

The film Stigmata & the Challenge of Conceptualizing Women as Spiritual Agents The history of Western religion has, for the most part been a history of men's religious stories, practices, and writings. It is quite rare and exceptional to find accounts of religion or practicing groups that place women's experiences at the center. Books, films, and various other cultural products bear this out by demonstrating a stubborn lack of attention to women's religious experiences. At first glance, the movie Stigmata seems like a film that defies this generalization. The movie, starring Patricia Arquette, places a female protagonist and her mystical experiences with Christ at the center of the plot. The woman is modeled after a great figure in the Catholic tradition, St. Francis, and hers is seemingly the story around which the entire movie is structured. Though this apparently unusual use of a woman's direct experience with God seems on an immediate level to be very transgressive, however, the film ends up being even more hegemonic, in a sense because of the way in which it subtly reinforces normative notions of the male-centeredness of supernatural experiences of God in the Catholic tradition. In this paper I will look at how Stigmata represents sex and gender roles in the Catholic church and in secular America and of how it uses women's sexuality and assumptions about women's lack of spiritual agency to ultimately undermine the legitimacy of authentic feminine experience with the Christian God. I will argue that the movie's emphasis on very structuralist notions of good and evil, man and woman, pure and impure, inevitably sets up a system in which a female's religious authority will be lost. A patriarchal tradition, as the Catholic church most certainly represents, must always scramble to accommodate the abnormality of a woman experiencing a direct link with God. The unwillingness to imagine a situation in which a character like that of Patricia Arquette's character, Frankie, would have a legitimate direct experience with God is a common one throughout the Western (and Western-occupied) world. The emphasis on only granting legitimacy to the written word in the Western rel igious tradition has always created an environment of hostility to women's non-discursive religious experiences. This paper will also look at how the religious conflicts between the Western patriarchal tradition and female members of a non-Western religious tradition (specifically a group of Ngarrindjeri women) have unfolded and at how such conflicts are similar to the conflict that is represented between Frankie and the priests who would control her in Stigmata.