Concept of Kinship in Africa Essay

The subject of â€Å"traditional family patterns in Africa† is so broad that it cannot be adequately addressed by many scholars. The cultural and physical diversity added with the dramatic social changes of the last three decades on the continent makes the family pattern situation so variegated as to defy any sweeping generalizations. This difficulty in generalization bone of diversity was already apparent to many early scholars of the African traditional family. This essay will briefly explore traditional African family patterns explaining the concept of kinship in Africa, the differences and similarities between patrilineal and matrilineal families systems. Kinship is the web of relationships woven by family and marriage. Traditional relations of kinship have affected the lives of African people and ethnic groups by determining what land they could farm, whom they could marry, and their status in their communities. Although different cultures have recognized various kinds of kinship, traditional kinship generally means much more than blood ties of a family or household. It includes a network of responsibilities, privileges, and support in which individuals and families are expected to fill certain roles. In modern Africa social and economic changes have begun to loosen the ties of traditional kinship, especially in the cities. But these ties still play a large part in the everyday lives of many Africans (coser: 1974). The basis of kinship, in Africa as elsewhere, is descent from an ancestor. The most widespread descent group is known as the clan, which can be either patrilineal or matrilineal. The members of the former type of clan comprise all those who are born from a single founding ancestor through the male line only; those of the latter comprise all those born from a single founding ancestor or ancestress through the female line only. Patriliny is far more common in Africa than matriliny, which is limited mainly to parts of Zambia and Malawi, in central Africa, and to Ghana and Ivory Coast, in western Africa. Regardless of the means of descent, authority in the family and elsewhere is always formally held by men; therefore, men have domestic authority in both patrilineal and matrilineal families (formal matriarchy is unknown in Africa). Clans, which are rarely corporate units in Africa, are clusters of kin who claim a single common ancestry but can rarely, if ever, trace the actual links of descent. Usually clans are exogamous units and may recognize various ritual prohibitions, such as taboos on certain foods, which give them a sense of unity and of distinctiveness from others (Bell & Vogel: 1960). According to stephens (1982) Clans are typically segmented into constituent groups, with each group recognizing a founding ancestor more recent than the clan founder; these are known in the literature as lineages, one of the criteria for a lineage being that its members—patrilineal or matrilineal—can trace actual kinship links between themselves. Lineages may themselves be segmented into smaller units, the smallest typically being the group around which a domestic family is established. Such a family (if patrilineal) includes the husband and his children, all members of the small lineage, and his wife, who by the rule of exogamy must come from another clan Almost every African society has some form of descent group, however transitory, as the basis of its social organization. The recognition of these variations of ancestral descent is an effective way of constructing local groups that can last for several—often for many—generations and in which the close-knit ties of kinship provide powerful links through the notion of common â€Å"blood. By claiming exclusive ancestry, such a group can claim exclusive rights to clan and lineage property. Marriages between their members, by the rule of exogamy, cement them into larger communities and societies, each possessing its own sense of common ethnic and cultural â€Å"belonging. † Although these traditional forms of family and kinship are lessening in importance, with the continuing need for urban and industrialized labor and the consequent increase in labor migration, the strength of kin groups remains great. They are well suited to traditional forms of production and exchange where these are found (which is still the case among the majority of African peoples), and they provide a sense of personal identity and security that is of high emotive value (Bell & Vogel: 1960). Kinship and marriage are closely linked in several ways. On one level, kinship rules may determine marriage partners. In this respect, North African and sub-Saharan societies differ widely. North African peoples encourage marriage within a group, often a kinship group. Traditionally, the ideal marriage is between cousins, including the children of two brothers. Among the Bedouin, for example, a boy has the right to marry his father’s brother’s daughter. Although she can refuse the cousin’s proposal, she needs his permission to marry someone else (Barnes: 1951). Most lineage groups in sub-Saharan Africa, in contrast, favor marriage outside the group. As a result, kinship is not limited strictly to lineage. An individual has important ties with two different kin groups, the mother’s and the father’s. Such ties often extend outside the village or community, offering certain advantages. If a community suffers from drought, war, disease, food shortages, or other disasters, for example, its members may go to live with kin in other areas. Marriage and kinship are also linked by customs governing the transfer of property between and within kin groups. The most common form of such transfer in Africa is called bridewealth. This is a gift from the groom or his family to the bride’s family, often in livestock but sometimes in money or other forms of wealth. Some hunter-gatherer societies follow the custom of bride service, which involves the groom moving to the home of his wife’s family and hunting or working for his parents-in-law (Stephens:1982). Traditional African kinship is a cooperative relationship between household members and members of the larger lineage group. It involves a set of social obligations and expectations that ensures that no one faces tragedy alone. In societies without welfare services provided by a central government, kinship provides a â€Å"safety net† for individuals—orphans, widows, the elderly, the disabled, and divorced women—who lack an immediate household to care for them. Although kinship relations have grown weaker—especially in the cities—they continue to serve this function. For example, African kinfolk may support women and children while their husbands are away, perhaps by helping paying school fees or other expenses. Extended ties of kinship remain a vital part of life in contemporary Africa. Descent rules define socially recognized kin groups by tracing connections through chains of parent-child ties. A society may focus exclusively on connections traced through the male parent (patrilineal) or through the female parent (matrilineal). When descent is patrilineal, the descent group is composed of people of either sex whose fathers belong to the group. Siblings belong to the descent group of their father, but their mother belongs to a different descent group, the group to which her father belongs. Therefore, a man’s children will belong to his descent group, but a woman’s children will not belong to her descent group. Analogously, if descent is matrilineal, siblings belong to the mother’s group but their father does not. A woman’s children will belong to her descent group, but a man’s children will not belong to his (Schapera: 1971). Matrilineal is a system in which descent is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors. Matrilineal is also a societal system in which one belongs to one’s matriline or mother’s lineage, which can involve the inheritance of property and/or titles. Matrilineal descent, which traces lineage through mothers, exists in many African societies based on farming, especially in central Africa. Among the Bemba people of Zambia, mothers own the fields and pass them on to their daughters. Among the Bemba people of Northern Zambia, marriage is matrilocal. â€Å"That is to say a man goes to live in his wife’s village, at any rate for the first years of his married life. This is also true of marriage among other Zambian tribes like the Bisa, Lala, Lamba, Chewa, Kaonde, and many others. Among the Chewa of Eastern Zambia, the custom of man living with his wife’s parents temporarily or permanently was known as Ukamwini (Barnes: 1951). Societies with matrilineal social organization are not necessarily ruled by women. Some peoples who trace descent through women give political authority to men. In certain cultures men traditionally go to live with their mothers’ brothers, while women move to their husbands’ villages. Thus the men remain together, while the women through whom they trace descent are spread among the population. Because the men generally remain in the community, they have greater authority. Power and authority in matrilineal societies ultimately lies in the woman and her brother. As such children at an early age learn that their father has little authority or responsibility for them. The father knows that his children are not his ultimate responsibility but his sister’s children. Meanwhile the man and her married sister do not live in one locality, as they must maintain their marriages. Some scholars have suggested that this arrangement might be fraught with potential social problems and conflict (Bell & Vogel: 1960). More so than a patrilineal household where all the people charged with authority over the children potentially live in one household. Overall, there are two forms of social groups that from the basis of Bemba marriage and traditional family. First, there is the local unit of matrilocal marriage consisting of a man, his wife, his married daughters and their husbands and children, second, the matrilineal descent group which consists of maternal relatives and ancestors traced back to several generations. These constitute the core of the Bemba traditional African family around which the social organization of the raditional society revolves. â€Å"Both form the basis of the political structure of the tribe since the matrilocal extended family is the nucleus of the Bemba village although many other elements may be added to it, and succession to all political offices is fixed by the rule of matrilineal descent (Yizenge: 1988). A larger proportion of Zambian families are matrilineal than are patrilineal in organization. Within the country’s nine provinces, most households in the four provinces of Central, Northwestern, Luapula, and Copperbelt are matrilineal. The Namwanga and the Ngoni in the Eastern province, the Lozi in the Western, and the ILA in the Southern province are patrilineal. These groups are also patrilocal. That is, after marriage, the couple lives in the husband’s family house or close to his father’s household. Daily activities such as eating and educating the young are seldom conducted in the privacy of one’s house. Zambian villages have a central place governing the village. This place is called Insaka or Nsaka. In the matrilineal villages, the Insakas are located at the village center (Yizenge: 1988). This matrilineal descent pattern is in contrast to the more common modern pattern of patrilineal descent from which a Family name is usually derived. Patrilineal descent emphasizes the male side of the family, tracing relationships through the generations from fathers to their children. Patrilineal descent is common among pastoral societies. Because Islam arose among pastoral people in Arabia in the A. D. 600s, Islamic law tends to reflect patrilineal practices. For example, male children are favored over females in inheriting a father’s property. This and other aspects of patrilineal social organization can be found among the ARABS, BERBERS, and other Islamic peoples of North Africa. Many other pastoral groups, including the Nuer of SUDAN and the ZULU and Swazi of southern Africa, are patrilineal (Schapera: 1971). One feature of social life in Africa’s patrilineal societies is the close relationship between a man andhissister’s son—his nephew. Anthropologists call this relationship the avunculate, and in African cultures it may require the uncle to give his best cattle to his nephew or to accept teasing from the nephew. A brother might also be expected to support his sister’s children or to participate in the rituals that mark the stages of their lives. In southern Africa, where the avunculate is common, a boy’s uncle on his mother’s side may be called his â€Å"male mother† in recognition of this special link. In some groups the opposite relationship occurs, with a boy’s father’s sister—his aunt—seen as an authority figure called the â€Å"female father. † The Tsonga (Thonga) of Mozambique and the Nama of Namibia are some of the best examples of groups that practice the avunculate, although neither group follows the custom as closely as it did in the past. In patrilineal cultures when a marriage occurs the wife becomes part of her husband’s family, and if you have family names in such a culture, it becomes natural for the wife to take her husband’s family name. There may be a sense in such cultures that both the husband and wife are really part of each other’s families now, but since descent is reckoned by the male line, there is a greater sense that the wife is part of the husband’s family rather than visa versa (Yizenge: 1988). These are the reasons that the custom exists sociologically, but the origins of the custom tended to be obscured in the minds of many. When radical feminism came along, it wanted to radically tinker with the sexual status quo, to smash traditional gender roles, and even to call into question the institution of the nuclear family. (I’m talking about radical feminism, mind you, not moderate feminism that merely wanted better treatment for women. ) Doing away with the historical naming conventions would serve those goals (as well as making it harder to keep track of who is related to whom, thus undermining the family), and so not taking the husband’s name became a symbol of defiance against traditional values. Though there are some differences in these two societies matrilineal and patrilineal, there are some similarities which both societies perform as families. A Zambian family, like families elsewhere, can be thought of as a group. The most important duties of this group are to reproduce, nurture, and educate the young to become productive members of the family and the society at large. This training process is also referred to as socialization. The head of the Zambian family can either be the father or a maternal uncle. If it is a maternal uncle, the mother, more than the father, plays a crucial role in decision making within the family. These matrilineal families are very common in Zambia. In matrilineal families, the authority and power to make decisions rests with the mother and her relatives. In some family types, the father is the decision maker. These patterns of authority and power are passed from one generation to the next in Zambia (Coser: 1974). The stable satisfaction of sex needs is the Primary and essential function of family in these societies. Sex instinct is the natural urge of human being. The satisfaction of this need requires that both male and female should live together as life partners. It is the family where the husband and wife can satisfy their sex instincts easily and comfortably. Without family the satisfaction of sex need is almost socially quite impossible. A family not only satisfies but also provides the appropriate mechanism through marriage to regulate sexual behaviour of husband and wife (Coser: 1974) Reproduction or procreation is another essential function of family in both matrilineal and patrilineal familities. The family along with regulating the sexual behaviour in relation to the satisfaction of sexual needs secures a legitimate basis for procreation. Since the inception of family, it has been performing this fundamental function. This function of family contributes to the continuity of family and ultimately perpetuates the human race as a whole. Protection and care of the children is another essential function of family. It is regarded as an institution par excellence for the production and rearing of children. It is true that no other institution can take required care of the child like family. The child at birth is complete helpless and cannot survive at all without the help of the family. It is the family which provides care, protection, security (Physical, mental) and fulfils all other needs to make him fit in the society. Family is one of the primary agents of socialization. Family members teach the child the norms, value morals, beliefs and ideals of society. In the family the children first learn what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. They develop specific habits, traits of character, attitudes and values. The senior members of the family pass the family culture to the new generation thought socialization process. Thus, family acts an instrument of culture transmission. In both societies childhood is the socialization of the child in readiness for adulthood. This is sexual differentiation in socialization in which girls will become acceptable mothers and wives and boys husbands and fathers. Children are expected to help in minor household tasks. Boys herd goats, cows, and livestock. They also perform light duties for relatives. Girls at an early age are taught a wide range of household and agricultural duties including cooking, cultivation and tending children. â€Å"Girls, in distinction to boys, seldom have time to play games (Stephens: 1982). Family makes a provision of a home or a common habitation for its embers. Here both husband and if live together for procreation, protection and care of the children. It is a place of multifarious activities. All the members of the family depend on home for comfort, protection and peace. It is that institution which provides the mental or the emotional satisfaction. Members of the family exchange their love , sympathy and affection among themselves. Fostering is common in both societies. When couples fail to have children, they often become foster parents. It is also very common among siblings to foster care; that is, children are fostered by aunts and uncles. A survey of households in Kitwe, the second largest city in Zambia, found that about 14 percent of all children aged fourteen and younger, and nearly 18 percent of children aged to ten to fourteen years were not living with their parents (Ahmed 1996). The estimates of the extent of fostering in other African countries, such as Ghana, are much higher. Often fostered children are considered and treated as though they are biological offspring. When families are forced to adopt children following some misfortune, foster children may become victims of abuse and neglect. This chapter only focused on the matrilineal and patrilineal African traditional family patterns because they seem representative of the broad patterns that exists on the continent. It must be emphasized, however, that these were traditional patterns as far back as late 1800s up to as late as 1960s. The dramatic social changes in Africa during the last three decades of political independence from European colonialism have obviously affected the traditional family. And from our explanation it can be seen that the society some one belongs to dictate his or her life this is because each society has its norms and believes.

The Benefits of Preschool for Your Toddler

How Beneficial is preschool for your toddler? Jane M. Rentas Barry University Author Note This paper was prepared for English 202 taught by Dr. Louise Rogers How beneficial is preschool for your toddler? Preschool is an early childhood program in which children combine learning with playing in a program run by professionally trained adults. Children are most commonly enrolled in preschool between the ages of two through five years old..Preschools are different from your traditional daycare in that their emphasis is learning and development rather than enabling parents to work or pursue other activities. In addition to being called preschool, these programs are known by other names, including child care, day care, and nursery school. They vary widely in their setting, format, and educational requirements. Preschools may meet all-day or half-day, either every day or just a few days per week. They could be sponsored by a church, operate as an independent non-profit, or run for profit.Th ey may be part of the public school system or part of the Federal Head Start program. Before 1960, the education of young children was the responsibility of families within the home. As of 2004, most young children in the United States spend some of their days apart from their parents. Most children attended some sort program like Headstart, Daycare or VPK prior to kindergarten. The enrollment rate for four-year-olds in 2001 was almost the same as the enrollment rate for five-year-olds in 1970. There are several factors that influence this dramatic change.One factor being a rise in the numbers of mothers working outside of the home, a decline in the size of families which leads more parents to turn to preschools as a social outlet for their children, and a desire to give children a head start academically. The higher the income and educational level of the parents, it is more likely that their child will attend preschool. As the years go by, we will see an increase of children atten ding preschool because of the substantial increase of governmental support for programs targeting children in low-income households.According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, the types of teaching activities and classroom emphases that contribute to a high-quality early education for children include the opportunities to learn persistence when working at tasks, direction following, and good listening skills, focus on language and literacy skills, as well as interactive book reading, emphasis on teaching children problem-solving skills and opportunities for preschoolers to engage in music and art. The greatest academic and social progress seen in preschools is in children from deprived backgrounds.Most children in preschool are not disadvantaged, and some researchers believe the same gains of attending preschool can be done at home by providing them educational toys, games, movies and books for the child. In some preschools, the ability of groups might mean tha t children will not receive the one on one attention they require. This is a major risk if the preschool does not follow the National Association for the Education of Young Children's recommended teacher-to-child ratio of no more than ten preschoolers per staff member.One-on-one instruction is an advantage parents will not likely find in any preschool. There are other opportunities for playing with other children that exist in churches, clubs, and other sports, where the child can learn social skills. Some believe that what children need most is lots of playing and free time and close interaction with their parents something that may be affected if the child is away from home for long periods of time. Another disadvantage is that some children experience acute separation anxiety, which indicates that they are not yet ready to make the transition to the environment of preschool.Many programs also expect the child to be toilet-trained , which is a milestone that not all children have at the preschool age. Parents considering sending their child to preschool should investigate several different ones and consider many factors before choosing one. Parents should also realize that in spite of the potential advantages that preschool may have, preschool may not be for every child. Parents can also find and research alternative ways of introducing their child to early academic skills and social activities.

Preview 8 Hayek, The Road to Serfdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Preview 8 Hayek, The Road to Serfdom - Essay Example But unfortunately its meaning is highly ambiguous† (76). The book attempts to bring out what is good to humankind while at the same time addressing how best humankind can manage to embrace good for communal happiness. Following these, the book focuses on the need of freedom for all with more concentration on the minority and economic affairs. This is evident in where he states that â€Å"the will of a small minority be imposed upon the people† (107). This is in support of the minority so as to have them enjoy the share of freedom, property and money through centralized goals. THE NATURE OF HAPPINESS IS socially determined. The book addresses issues of social injustices which are in most cases detrimental to the minority. This is particularly with regards to property and freedom. He focuses on satisfaction for all so as to ensure there is freedom and social equity for all when he states that â€Å"the world needs that which is satisfactory† (98). It is through a sa tisfied world that the minority will also have a place and voice. He therefore calls for centralized planning as well as organization which will ensure that all the society is happily considered. He talks of a social welfare which is concerned with the needs of the general society rather than neglecting freedom in the economic affairs of the minority. The nature of happiness according to the author is based on continuity of prosperity through a centralized planning that is capable of contributing to totalitarianism. He stresses the need to â€Å"replace the impersonal and anonymous mechanism of the market by collective and ‘conscious’ direction of all social forces to deliberately chosen goals† (28). This is in effort to advocate for social justice as far as societal goals are to be achieved collectively. Freedom and coercive representation of the entire society are therefore key according to the author. THE NATURE OF COSMOS is depicted as a threat to realization of economic freedom and social justice if individual freedom is not concentrated on. There are a number of issues pointed out in the book which are responsible for economic problems faced in the society. The author states that the destiny of our development will eventually rely upon how we take care of the investment issues we ought to face (48). He identifies both economic and social concerns as the most pertinent issues which render the minority to be discriminated. However, he presents socialism as a means by which equality is driven into the society by way of increasing reverence for governing states. Intervention through governmental efforts is identified as the appropriate ways through which to effectively manage economic affairs and guarantee individual freedom. This is capable of being achieved through policies to regulate different aspects such as health, education, economic platforms in the markets among others. Hayek states that the characteristic rationale of communalis m makes it difficult to keep it to a restricted circle (76). This is capable of playing a big role in ensuring that coercion is achieved as far as freedom and economic strength are to be attained. Nonetheless, the book attempts to bring out connection between socialism and fascism through involvement of democratic atmosphere and

Elvis Presley vs. Michael Jackson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Elvis Presley vs. Michael Jackson - Essay Example From this research it is clear that a major similarity between Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson was eccentricity. Elvis and Michael belonged to working class families which shaped their lives in the future. Yet they exhibited talent at a very young age and eventually used their voices for attaining success in life. They had the uncanny ability to mesmerize crowds and entertain them in an exhilarating manner. Each celebrity had a unique way of enthralling the audience as evidence in Michael’s dancing and Elvis’s great voice. Elvis’s Jungle Room and Michael’s Neverland have become an integral part of pop culture folklore. Michael was inspired by Disneyland that was restructured as representing the ideal definition of a pop legend’s home. The fame accompanied by stardom was marred by feelings of loneliness for both the King of Rock and Roll and the King of Pop. Elvis sought to escape the scrutinizing judgment meted by the world by creating an impenetr able barrier composed of close friends and associates. Similarly, Michael Jackson retreated to an artificial environment that was characterized by childlike behavior. Both artists sought to fight loneliness because the external world was dubbed to have sinister motives that would pry into their lives. Possibly the greatest similarity in both artists’ lives was the presence of Lisa Marie Presley. She was the daughter of Elvis Presley and the wife of Michael Jackson at one time. She had a profound influence in the lives of both artists. Public celebrities have an intrinsic desire for perfection since they consider themselves to be role models for millions of fans. The quest to attain perfection in life was a recurrent theme in the lives of both Michael and Elvis. This was accomplished through several adventures with plastic surgery. Michael’s experiences with plastic surgery have now become legendary in the popular media. Similarly, Elvis got a facelift as a quick remedy to enhance his public image. Extreme fame often brings with itself stress and anxiety to celebrities whose public and private lives are always under the prying eyes of the world. Such situations eventually lead to celebrities taking prescription drugs as a means of fighting loneliness and increasing self-awareness. Presley and Jackson could not escape the inevitable drift towards prescription drugs as they fought to suppress the pain that emanated from loneliness. Elvis Presley’s death in 1977 would spawn a number of rumors that he did not actually die on that day. These rumors have eventually led to extensive debates among fans about Elvis’s death. Interestingly, the death of Michael Jackson has also spawned some of the same rumors that spread in Elvis’s case. Elvis Presley had a radically different cultural impact because he was responsible for creating a vibrant youth culture and challenging conservative attitudes in the post-world war society. He was a musi c rebel who inspired scores of groups and musicians throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Michael on the other hand

Risk Management and Clinical Governance 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk Management and Clinical Governance 2 - Essay Example Sometimes when doctors work in hospital institutions with inflexible rules and a poor organizational culture that does not place the customer as the royalty that deserves the best possible service these organizations run into trouble. This essay discusses various alternatives and improvement that could implemented at King Edward Memorial Hospital to improve its operations and increase patient safety. One of the primary problems that are occurring at this hospital and at other hospital in the nearby area is that these health care organizations are focusing too much on the bottom business line in order cut cost instead of emphasizing on improving patient care. The hospitals which are business organization with an objective to achieve an adequate yearly profit are forgetting about basic principles that apply to all industries. At King Edward Memorial Hospital the executive staff is forgetting that in order to lead a large organization has to have the workers on their side. The company is doing the exact opposite. The nurses and other employees have revealed to the company internally formal reports of poor patient care. The company did not performed an adequate investigation of such issues, which in turn forced the employee whistleblowers to go to the media to reveal the corporate incompetence that was occurring at King Edward Memorial Hospital. In order to achieve real organization change within this firm the company has to perform an overall of the corporate culture of the organization. The executive staff of the company is at fault for not respecting the opinions and insight of many employees who openly warned them about the incompetent patient care a lot of the clients of the firm were receiving. They should have trusted the judgment of the nurses, orderlies, and doctors who identified the problem and wanted to seek a solution internally. The lack of respect for their professional judgment forced these

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HEALTH LAW AND ETHICS - Essay Example In essence, the policies that healthcare organizations are supposed to follow are derived from healthcare legislation. Healthcare laws or regulations operationalize the healthcare industry in which healthcare organizations function. Additionally, the healthcare laws or regulations, aim at protecting patients from being exploited by healthcare organizations (Hammaker & Tomlinson 23). Firstly, through healthcare laws or regulations, healthcare organizations observe patient confidentiality, and avoid disclosing a patient’s treatment information without the patient’s consent. If laws and regulations governing patient confidentiality were non-existent, then healthcare organizations would disclose patient records without consent. Secondly, the laws or regulations force healthcare organization to prioritize a patient’s health instead of focusing on profit making. Thirdly, the laws or regulations affect healthcare organizations in that organizations are obliged to follow ethical procedures when conducting research on new drugs. The absences of the laws would result in healthcare organizations unethically trying out new drugs whose side effects are unclearly on human beings, which can turn out to be detrimental (Hammaker & Tomlinson 33). In conclusion, various healthcare laws and regulations affect how healthcare organizations function within the healthcare sector. Ultimately, the laws and regulations gear towards ensuring that healthcare organizations are honest, ethical and professional when bringing health to the

Personal Experience at Alcoholics Anonumous Term Paper

Personal Experience at Alcoholics Anonumous - Term Paper Example This was accomplished by having the attendees share their unique stories about how alcoholism had affected their lives, opening the door for other group participants to offer either condolences or shared sympathy. Throughout the meeting, elements of altruism were present, which is giving members a sense of self esteem by allowing others to offer their help and/or opinion for those who were obviously troubled by alcoholism and how it had caused dishonor at the personal or family level (hanbleceya.com, n.d.). Individuals shared stories about being put before the court system in front of their peers and felt indignity or how they had lashed out at their children while under the influence of alcohol. This shared forum seemed to give the more troubled participants a sense of honor and self-respect rather than embarrassment. Development of socializing techniques were also part of the group curriculum, which was apparent by drawing out discussion from those that were more reserved about sharing their stories. This technique involves â€Å"creating an environment that fosters adaptive and effective communication† (agpa.org, 2007, para.5). There were at least two people that the researcher could recognize, through body language and more reserved behaviors, that they did not want to be attending the group meeting. The leader forced social discussion from these individuals and remind them that the goal of the meeting was to promote inclusion rather than segregation. Imitative behavior was part of this philosophy by finding confidence to share openly by modeling support from their peers. With this also came cohesiveness as on several occasions the leader reminded the group that they were accepted and their value justified as worthwhile human beings. Several individuals showed signs of catharsis, relief of their own feelings of guilt regarding how alcoholism had

Ell Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ell - Research Paper Example lish Language Learners such as different linguistic backgrounds, varying levels of proficiency in English, varying levels of proficiency in native language, and cultural factors, it is important to design the most appropriate type of assessments for these learners. Various types of assessments for English Language Learners include formative and summative assessments, objective and subjective assessments, informal and formal assessments, and internal and external assessments. While formative assessments such as quizzes and practices tests strengthen memory recall, summative assessments including tests and exams are designed to evaluate knowledge, skills, and abilities of the learner. Apart from these, the two types of assessments that are commonly used with ELLs include large-scale assessments and alternate classroom assessments. â€Å"A comprehensive assessment system tied to instructional improvement is an essential aspect of a quality educational program that will directly impact children’s early academic achievement. Many studies have confirmed the powerful effect a well designed early education program with appropriate assessment can have on ELL’s emerging bilingualism, in addition to English language acquisition and overall cognitive development.† (Espinosa and Là ³pez, 2007, p. 20). In short, it is essential to design the most appropriate type of assessments for English Language Learners in order to improve their language abilities in every aspect. 2. Why is it important to include language objectives as well as content objectives in a lesson plan? How should you post them and share with students? Write a content and language objective from the content area English language learning. The lesson plan section of the effective instructional strategy incorporates language objectives as well as content objectives in order to help the educators be focused on the outcome of classroom instruction. This has been one of the important guidelines for the educators

Grading and Recommendation Assessment Assignment

Grading and Recommendation Assessment - Assignment Example This could be measured through the utilization of trial and error process wherein the practice is tried and tested as to how much it could attest to the needed specifications of a particular need to which the evidence based practice has been basically made for. After the trial and error procedure, the weaknesses and the strengths of the process shall be identified. Likely, the strengths would depend on how the stakeholders responded to the program or the process applied through the use of the evidence-based practice. If the participants responded well with lesser level of error occurrences, then the practice tried and tested could be noted to have a strong implicative effect on the things that it is supposed to have direct changes on. Meanwhile, even though it has been proven strong, it should still be measured and identified with the possible weaknesses it has. Through this, the specification of the needed advancement could still be recognized as part of its possible improvement in the future. If these procedures are specifically carried on, it could be expected that the upcoming GRADE system could be well assured to have a better effect in approving or disapproving evidenced based practices that are used for the specific

Regulatory Laws and Policies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Regulatory Laws and Policies - Essay Example Through its regulatory role, HHS has had a significant impact and implications on the health care industry in general. Among the acts that are implemented by the HHS include The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA )of 2005 (Frimpong & Rivers, 2009). This essay gives a critical analysis and discussion on the impact of HHS on the health care industry with a special focus on the implication of the aforementioned Acts on health care and patient safety. Illustrations of my own working experience are used to demonstrate how the regulatory framework acts to protect the needs of patients for care and privacy and security of confidential data and information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal legislation or law which gives patients a right to control all forms of Protected Health Information (PHI). In accordance to this Act, PHI represents Individually Identifiable Heal th Information (IIHI) which is acquired from the patient and stored within the health facility (Furrow, 2011). This also includes all information which related the condition of the patient whether in the past, current or future. This means that before a health care provider accesses, retrieves and uses health information on patients, the provisions of the Act must be given due consideration (Frimpong & Rivers, 2009). In this sense, it is argued that the HIPAA through the implementation of the HHS affects the manner in which hospitals and health care providers and record managers handle patient information. For example in a veteran’s affairs hospital where I work, it is mandatory that a patient signs for the release of information before it can be received or sent for specific purposes. This example demonstrates that the regulatory framework of the HHS defines the policies and procedures that health systems design for the management of information. Health systems and professio nals are mandated to adhere to the provisions of the HIPPA. Therefore the right of patients to protect and define the retrieval, use and dissemination of data on them must be respected by care professional. The management of hospitals must also ensure that health care professional adheres to these regulations as provided by the legal system. Among the entities that are covered by the HIPAA include health care providers who are involved in the retrieval, use and transmission of electronic formats of health care information (Hoffman, 2007). Because of this, the HIPPA is said to have a significant effect on the health care industry especially in the transmission of electronic records on patients (Radin, 2010). This Act has become more important within the contemporary health care information management systems which are characterized with an increased implementation and use of information and communication technologies. Health care organizations such as hospitals are mandated to put me asures that ensure that electronic health information is safe from unauthorized access and use (Liang & Mackey, 2011). Within the veteran’s affairs hospital where I work, it is a must for all information with private details on the patient such as name to be encrypted before it is sent. This measure or policy was adopted by the hospital to ensure adherence to the HIPPA. Moreover, the insecurities which characterize the modern information systems such as hacking makes it necessary

A ghost story Essay Example for Free

A ghost story Essay The Turn of the Screw is a story written in 1898 and from a governess point of view. In the main story the governess thinks the two children she is caring for are under the evil influence of two ghosts, Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. What we would expect from an opening to a ghost story written in 1898 is to be launched straight into the plot. We would expect this because this grips the readers attention and makes you want to read on. We would also expect the setting to be introduced because this makes you become involved in the story. We would expect the language to be complex because this is the style that was used in the eighteen hundreds. We would expect the characters to be introduced and to become real to the reader. We would expect this because the reader will not believe in the characters if they do not seem realistic. We would also expect atmosphere to be created because this prepares the reader for a ghost story and makes the reader feel part of the story. We would also expect tension to be created because this makes us want to read on. The Turn of the Screw is in some ways typical of an opening to a ghost story written in the eighteen hundreds because the style is complex: for the first sentence, which is long, dense and contains four conjunctions. This however suits the Turn of the Screw because it mirrors the complexity of the story. Similarly the Turn of the Screw is typical of an opening to a ghost story because atmosphere is created. There is a sinister feel created; this is because it is set on Christmas Eve in an old house. This prepares us for a ghost story that is about to be told. The group of strangers is sat round the fire in an old fashioned house. This gives the impression of a traditional setting for telling ghost stories. The fact that it is a group of strangers also makes it seem spookier. The atmosphere is emphasised when the members of the group pick up their candlesticks before they go to bed. This adds to the feeling that everything is very old fashioned and spooky. This is in keeping with ghost stories as they are usually set in old fashioned and have spooky atmosphere to them especially the setting. It also lets you imagine the scene of flickering candles in an old fashioned house. When Douglas goes up to bed the rest of the group heard his step on the stair. This gives the reader the impression that Douglas footsteps are echoing through the great brown hall. This adds to the atmosphere because the footsteps are echoing and spooky. The great brown hall also adds to the idea of the old fashioned house.

Optimizing Cash Management Model With Computer Intelligence

Optimizing Cash Management Model With Computer Intelligence Alli  and M.M. Ramya Abstract In today’s technical era, the financial organizations have great challenges to optimize the cash management process. Maintaining minimum cash leads to customer frustration. At the same time, upholding excess cash is a loss to the organization. Hence, soft computing based cash management solutions are required to maintain optimal cash balance. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is one such technique which plays a vital role in the fields of cognitive science and engineering. In this paper, a novel ANN-based cash Forecasting Model (ANNCFM) has been proposed to identify the cash requirement on daily, weekly and monthly basis. The six cash requirement parameters: Reference Year (RY), Month of the Year (MOY), Working Day of the Month (WDOM), Working Day of the Week (WDOW), Salary Day Effect (SDE) and Holiday Effect (HDE) were fed as input to ANNCFM. Trials were carried out for the selection of ANNCFM network parameters. It was found that number of hidden neurons, learning rate and the momentum when set to 10, 0.3 and 0.95 respectively yielded better results. Mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and mean squared error (MSE) were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. MSE that was less than 0.01 proves the capability of the proposed ANNCFM in estimating the cash requirement. Keywords: ANN, ANNCFM , neuron, back-propagation, momentum, learning rate. Introduction: Forecasting cash demand needs to be more accurate for any financial organization including banks [1-3]. If the forecast is flawed, in addition to making financial losses to the banks, it results in customer dissatisfaction. In banking industry, an earlier cash requirement study was made using feed forward neural network with back propagation for short term data of two months [1]. Subsequently another comparative study was made for the cash anticipation using a classic time series models and artificial neural networks [2]. The daily cash requirement models for a bank were optimized with particle swarm and compared with least square method for short term data [3]. The main objective of the paper is to design, develop and test a unique supervised method to forecast the cash requirement for banks from their historic data. 1.1 ANN Background ANN is an efficient tool in understanding the complexities of real world problems in all fields of our daily life[4]. It is used as a function optimizer for linear as well as nonlinear problems in science,engineering,technology,management and finance[5-9]. Artificial neural network learning methods provides the best approach for approximating discrete,real and vector valued target functions [10-12], for complex problems, which are not possible to solve by conventional mathematical methods like analytical and numerical technique. ANN are applied in forex market prediction,portfolio optimization,decision making, metrological parameters forecasting[13-19] etc., The various ANN based approaches applied by researchers in finance field as an alternative to traditional time series model includes Financial and economic forecasting, credit authorization screening, simulation of market behavior, mortgage risk assessment, risk rating of investments and detection of regularities in security price movements [15-19]. 2.0 Design of Proposed ANNCFM Architecture: The process of designing a neural network in many fields resulted in a satisfactory performance but building a neural network forecast for a particular problem is nontrivial task. The modeling issues that affect the performance of the neural network must be selected carefully. 2.1. Selection of ANN Parameters In general, the design of multilayer ANN can have many layers where a layer represents a set of distributed parallel processing nodes. The three layered ANN network with one input, one output and one intermediate hidden layer is sufficient to approximate any complex non-linear function. In the case of forecasting studies many experimental results also confirms ANN with one hidden layer is enough to predict the required data [6-8]. The model architecture of ANNCFM is shown in the Fig1. Fig1: Architecture of ANNCFM Model The important critical decision is to determine the architecture is i) number of layers, ii) number of neurons in each layer, iii) number of arcs which interconnect with nodes , iv) activation function of hidden and output nodes, v) training algorithm, vi)data transformation or normalization, vii)training and test sets and viii)performance measures. 3.0 Design of Proposed ANN Models The proposed ANNCFM model consists of one input, one hidden and an output layer as discussed in section 2.1. In this study the data was collected from a semi–urban area bank located in India. The typical daily cash requirement for thebank for one year is shown in Fig2. Fig. 2: Typical Cash Requirement for a Year The collected data was for a period of three years (2010 to 2012) and was used for training and testing with the following input parameters: RY- Reference year: ranges between 1 to 3 as three years MOY-Month of the year: ranges from 1to 12, WDOM-Working day of the month: ranging from 1 to 27, WDOW –Working day of the week: ranging from 1 to 6, SDE- Salary day effect: ranging from 1 to 3, and HDE- Holiday and the week end effect: either 0 or 1. The fore mentioned parameters were used as six input neurons. In the hidden layer, the number of neurons were varied from 8 to 50.The output layer had one neuron that corresponds to the optimal cash requirement for a day. 3.1 Pseudocode- ANNCFM Main() { [W, V, Voj, Wok]=ANNCFMtrain( x,nip,nh,op,ÃŽ ±,ÃŽ ¼,t) yk = ANNCFMtest(ts, W,V, Voj,Wok,t) [Mserr,Mape]=ANNCFMevaluate() } FunctionANNCFMtrain(x,nip,nh,op,ÃŽ ±,ÃŽ ¼,t) returns network with modified weight { Repeat { For each training sample x(I,nip) //Feed forward computation //Determine the output neuron between input layer and hidden layer //Determine the output neuron between hidden layer and output layer //Compute the error signal between the output and hidden layer //Update the weights between the output(k) and Hidden(j) layer; If itr=1 then { else End if } //Update bias between the output and hidden If itr =1 then { Else End if } //Update the weights between the input(i) and Hidden(j) layer; If itr=1 then { Else End if } //Update bias between the hidden and input If itr =1 then { Else End if } } Until mse } Function ANNCFMtest(ts, W,V, Voj,Wok,t ) returns output(y) { For each testsample ts //Feed forward computation //Determine the output neuron between input layer and hidden layer //Determine the output neuron between hidden layer and output layer } ANNCFM evaluate(tk ,yk,ts) { } 4.0 Evaluation Metrics: In order to derive and evaluate the performance of the most appropriate model that fulfils our objective of optimizing the cash management, few metrics were used. The accuracy of the proposed ANNCFM is evaluated using MAPE and MSE which are defined as follows: MSE= Where Xt is the actual data at period t, Ft is the forecast at period, t, et is the forecast error at period t, while n is the number of observations. 5.0 Results and discussion: The data for a period of three years (2010-2012) was collected from City Union Bank (CUB)-ukt bank branch to simulate the network using MATLAB .For the proposed study the total number of data for the three years is 879, in which the first two and half years, 737 data were used for training(80%) and the remaining six months 142 data sets (20%) were used for testing. Studies found that input data normalization with certain criteria, prior to training process, is crucial to obtain good results, as well as to fasten significantly the calculations [J.Sola J. Sevilla]. Hence the input data was normalized before training. In ANNCFM, 15 runs were made by varying the number of hidden neurons from 10 to 50 using gradient descent with momentum back-propagation (traingdm) for the default training parameters learning rate =0.01, momentum=0.95, Goal=0, and number of iterations as 6000, are illustrated in table 1-column2. The convergence of ANNCFM is influenced by number of hidden neurons in which by varying the number of hidden neurons between 10 through 50. The error was minimal when the number of hidden neurons was set to 10, 20, 40, 45 and 50, by achieving a MSE of 0.0079 as observed from column 3 of table 1. As the number of hidden neurons increase, there is a significant increase in the computational time. Hence the number of hidden neurons in the proposed study was fixed as 10. The pictorial representation for the optimal hidden neuron against its MSE are shown in Fig. 3. Fig.3: Optimal Number of hidden neurons. The learning rate ‘lr’ arrives at a local optimum for the higher learning rate and global optimum for slow learning process. Different trials were made to identify the optimal learning rate to avoid the unstable condition and fluctuations in the results. Learning rate was varied between 0.1 through 0.5 in which 0.3 yielded an optimal learning rate for the given data set, as shown in Fig-4. Fig 4: Optimal learning rate The momentum plays a vital role in identifying the convergence point. Momentum, when set too low, it may get stuck into local minima, and if it is too high, network will become unstable. So there is a need to identify the optimal momentum value for ANNCFM, various momentum values were tested between 0.8 and 1.0, the trained results shows that the optimal momentum value was 0.95 are shown in the Fig-5 Fig 5: Optimal Momentum rate In the ANNCFM model to train and test the cash requirement for a day, week, month the following parameters values are selected based on their performance from the different number of runs made above: i) the number of input neurons=6, ii) maximum number of iteration=6000, iii) learning rate= 0.3, iv) momentum=0.95, v) transfer function=tansig/tansig (hidden and output layer). The optimal selection of the above parameters helped in improving the performance, by minimizing the error rate. This is evident from Table 1, that shows the MSE achieved before and after parameter selection. Table1: ANNCFM performance for different number of hidden neurons The ANNCFM was used to estimate daily, weekly and monthly cash requirement. The estimated values were compared with the actual values for the testing period are shown in Fig.6a,b,c.for the daily ,weekly and monthly prediction. The obtained results shows the ANNCFM was found to perform reasonably good for all the three models .The weights calculated by our ANNCFM was found to be sufficient for cash prediction in which RY,MOY,WDOM, WDOW are essential parameters, and SDE,HDE are additional parameters .The connection weight approach was used to quantify the importance of input variable [20]. The preference of the input parameters were found based on the weights obtained was evident from Table 2, column-4. Table 2: ANNCFM Weights-Preferences. The input parameters SDE and HDE plays a vital role in daily and weekly model as it was observed from the above table it effectively takes care the need of peak cash requirement at the beginning of every month and during holiday periods. The role of SDE in the weekly cash prediction could be easily understood for the weeks like 1,5,14, where the cash requirement is maximum since the beginning of the month lies within the week. However for the 9th and 10th as well as for the 18th and 19th week cash requirement shows the new month starts between the weeks. The monthly model was plotted for six months as shown in Fig.6c in which the experimental results shows that the estimated values were most influenced by WDOM .The cash required and predicted was minimum for the fourth month in which WDOM was minimum. The MAPE and MSE for ANNCFM are shown in Table 3 . Fig.6-a: ANNCFM –Daily Model Fig.6-b: ANNCFM –Weekly Model Fig .6-c : ANNCFM –Monthly Model Table 3 : MAPE and MSE errors for ANNCFM The comparison made between the actual and forecast data shown from the figures indicates that the six input variables selected in our model is sufficient to identify the cash need which is changing from time to time. 6.0 Conclusion: The observations from the experimental results of this study shows that ANNCFM is a useful tool to predict the cash requirement in emerging banking sector. ANNCFM using feed forward neural network training with back-propagation algorithm optimize the needs of cash on daily, weekly and monthly basis. In the implementation process the data set used for the years between 2010 and 2012 were trained and tested to measure the performance. The input parameters were initialized and different runs were made for the proposed model to find out the optimal number of hidden neurons as 10, momentum as 0.95 and learning rate as 0.3 to train and test the network using sigmoid transfer function. The estimated results were with minimal error for the better performance with an accuracy of 91.23%. References. Fraydoon Rahnama Roodposhti , FarshadHeybati and Seyed Reza Musavi, â€Å"A comparison of classic time series models and artificial neural networks in anticipation of cash requirements of banks: A case study in Iran â€Å", Academic and Business Research Institute International Conference, Orlando, USA, 2010. PremChand Kumar and EktaWalia , â€Å"Cash Forecasting: An Application of Artificial Neural Networks in Finance†, International Journal of Computer Science Applications , Vol. 3, No. 1, pages. 61-77, 2006. Alli A, Ramya M M, Srinivasa Kumar V, â€Å"Cash Management Using Particle Swarm Optimization†, International conference of Data Mining and Soft Computing, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India, 2013. Haykin, Simon, â€Å"Neural Networks†: A Comprehensive Foundation. Macmillan College Publishing Company, New York,1994. Nakamura, Emi, Inflation forecasting using a neural network. Economics Letters, Volume 86(3), pages 373-378, 2006. Refenes, A.P. and H. White , Neural Networks and Financial Economics, International Journal of Forecasting, Volume 6(17),1998. F. Aminian, E. Suarez, M. Aminian and D. Walz, Forecasting economic data with neural networks, Computational Economics 28, pages. 71–88,2006. A. Hanna, D. Ural and G. Saygili, Evaluation of liquefaction potential of soil deposits using artificial neural networks, Engineering Computations 24 , pages. 5–16,2007 W. Gorr, D. Nagin and J. 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Dech, Object-based feature extraction using high spatial resolution satellite data of urban areas, Journal of Spatial Science, Volume 55, Issue 1, pages 117-132,2010. P. Tenti, â€Å"Forecasting Foreign Exchange Rates Using Recurrent Neural Networks,† Applied Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 10, pages 567-581, 1996. W. Leigh, R. Hightower and N. Modani, Forecasting the New York stock exchange composite index with past price and interest rate on condition of volume spike, Expert Systems with Applications , pages. 1–8,2005. Manfred Steiner and Hans-Georg Wittkemper, Portfolio optimization with a neural network implementation of the coherent market hypothesis, 1997, Volume 100, Issue 1, Pages 27–40, July 1997. M. Carolin Mabel and E. Fernandez, Analysis of wind power generation and prediction using ANN: A case study, Volume 33, Issue 5, Pages 986–992,May 2008, Sharda, R. and Delen, D. Predicting Box-office Success of Motion Pictures With Neural Networks. 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A Midwifery Community Profile Health And Social Care Essay

A Midwifery Community Profile Health And Social Care Essay This community profile is based on an area in the outskirts of Glasgow and the objective is to identify the current provisions of maternity care and other health care services, which cater for the needs of the local population in the physical, emotional, intellectual and social needs for groups in the community, additionally, commenting on any deficits in care. Health promotions have been identified as resources that will enhance the health of this specific communitys health and are included in the profile. Also, the role and contribution of the midwifery services is explored, along with other primary healthcare providers and how they use teamwork to deliver healthcare to the community. Professional and ethical issues have been discussed throughout the profile and as all aspects of health are unrelated and interdependent, (Ewles Simnett, 1992: Ch1 p7), a holistic and professional view has been taken to evaluate the needs, and health services of this community. The RCM believes that truly woman-centered care must encompass midwifery-led care of normal pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period and services that are planned and delivered close to women and the communities in which they live or work, (NHS Evidence, 2008). This statement shows the importance of a community midwife, as their role is to not only provide the clinical skills, but also be accessible for support and advice at the time of much adjustment for a woman. If the midwife can become a part of the womans community, getting to know the woman and her family more personally, learning to understand their lives and the nature of the life around them, she will be able to be more responsive and understanding to them as individuals, and move away from the depersonalization of the institution. Individual societies each have their own specific needs and characteristics, and it is vital for a midwife to know her area well in order to respond appropriately, along with poverty levels and racial mixes (Fraser and Cooper 2009, p. 43). Community-based care can be in the home or in community hospitals and centers, but is a process that emphasizes consultation, collaboration, and referral to the professionals who are most appropriately prepared to meet the women ¹s needs (Walsh, 2001). It is also vital that women are educated and women should be given appropriate, accurate and unbiased information based on research that would allow and encourage them to make informed choices in relation to their care (Baston Green, 2002). Women from different backgrounds, and areas can often have very contrasting education levels and as a midwife, it is essential to know your neighborhood well in order to take these into consideration when communicating with a woman. The area chosen for this community profile is in the south west of Glasgow, which will now be referred to as area X, with a population of 10,024 (RDC Registrar Generals Census, 2001). Table 1: Age Distribution Area X Indicator Number Percentage Population aged 0-15 2,400 23.9% Population ages 16-64 6,463 64.5% Population aged 65+ 1161 11.6% The majority of the population is in the age range 16-64 years and the relevant health care services in the community for this group are the antenatal clinics, family planning and screening clinics. Graph 1: Hospital admissions for heart disease Area X With respect to the social and economical characteristics of the area, this graph shows the volume of people admitted to hospital for heart disease in Area X. Heart disease is more accurately described now as a disease of social and economical disadvantage and poverty (Blackburn, 1991:Ch2 p36) and the major risk factors contributing to heart disease are smoking and diet. These lifestyle factors also may echo a life associated with lower social class (Bond Bond, 1994: Ch 4 p 70). Nearly half of the houses in Area X are owner occupied, and that amount can be split into two; ex-council houses and private housing estates. The other half are tenanted homes, renting either from the council or private renting. Almost a quarter of all homes in the area suffer from overcrowding. These statistics indicate there are many occupants of tenement flats and these tend to be low-income families who have little or no choice about the type or standard of accommodation they live in (Blackburn, 1991). Higher income groups tend to live in the private housing sector, and have choices in the location and type of heating which are important influences affecting the health of families (Lowry, 1991). Table 2: Housing Area X Indicator Number Percentage Owner Occupiers 1,851 41.1% Overcrowding 1,000 22.2% (RDC Registrar Generals Census, 2001). Glasgow is home to the most workless households in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, (ONS). Figures measured in 2007 indicate 29% of households in the Glasgow City council area had members of working age who were unemployed (BBC, 2009). Area X also has a high percentage of people unemployed according to Scotlands Census from 2001, with both those who are unemployed and claiming and those who are economically inactive. Long-term unemployment can be a self-perpetuating cycle that leads to low morale and poor health (NHS: Greater Glasgow, 2005). Other effects of unemployment are the increased rates of depression, particularly in the young-who form most of the group who have never worked (BMJ, 2009). It is obvious from this that unemployment can alter both our mental and physical state, and in Area X almost 40% of the population of children live in a workless household, which would also have an influence on these childrens quality of life. Table 3: Unemployment Area X Indicator Number Percentage Unemployed Claimants 360 5.8% Economically inactive 3,128 43.6% Children in workless households 1.010 38.9% (RDC Registrar Generals Census, 2001). The role and contribution of midwifery services in Area X are vital in supporting childbearing women and their families, through a holistic approach. It is very important that midwives had a good understanding of social, cultural and context differences so that they can respond to the womens needs in a variety of care settings This is attained by an integrated midwifery service being part of an expert multidisciplinary team, allowing midwives to draw on other organizations to meet the holistic needs of individual women and providing a complete range of services. (Fraser Cooper 2009, p. 7). Midwives in Area X use the local hospital, and local health centers for antenatal and postnatal clinics, as well as parentcraft classes, working along side hospital doctors and GPs. The GP usually confirms the pregnancy and thereafter, an appointment is given to the woman to be introduced to the community midwife for a Booking visit, as these midwives often better understand social situations through working in the area. The women are generally referred, by the GP, to either the local hospital or a nearby health clinic to meet one of the midwives who work in Area X. These midwives work in teams of around 5, covering 2 or 3 certain postcodes in Glasgow each, and each team named after a colour to make it simple for women and their families to understand which group of community midwives they will be receiving care from, e.g. The Blue Team. This system also works well as it allows a certain degree of continuity as each woman will only be seen by the community midwives in her allocated t eam. Continuity of carer and care has been a key policy principle since the early 1990s. Research evidence demonstrates that women value continuity of carer in the antenatal and postnatal period (Waldenstrom Turnbull 1998, Homer et al 2000, Page 2009). Working in Area X requires a high level of continuity in care as it has a lower social class and experiences problems related to pregnancy such as 49.9% of the population of Area X are smokers. Other statistics for Area X include 38.6% of women smoking during pregnancy, a total of 160 women over a 3 year total. It is well known by midwives and obstetricians that smoking in pregnancy is associated with well recognized health problems and as midwives usually have the most professional contact with pregnant women, they have an important role in providing this advice and support (Buckley, 2000). Glasgow has a very well-organised network of smoke-free pharmacy services who provide NRT for smoking cessation services. They monitor carbon monoxide levels on a weekly basis and only dispense NRT if the breath test is negative (Mcgowan et al, 2008). Smoking cessation services are provided for Area X by specialist midwives, allowing continuity during pregnancy. These midwives speak to the woman and let them know what is available, without pushing them into quitting, and find out what their thoughts and feelings are, focusing on how good it is when women want to stop smoking. The chief executive of ASH Scotland, Sheila Duffy, stated in 2010 life expectancy, health problems, smoking rates, and deaths fro m smoking are all markedly different between Scotlands richest and poorest communities. Research in Scotland has found that smoking is a greater source of health inequality than social class. This shows clearly that deprived areas such as Area X are at the greatest risk of being affected by smoking issues. 43% of adults who live in deprived areas smoke, compared with 9% in the least deprived areas and this is shown in the prevalence of tobacco related diseases and deaths. 32% of deaths in Scotlands most deprived areas are due to smoking compared to 15% in the most affluent (Duffy, 2010). This is also reflected in the rates of newborn deaths as the death rate for newborn babies is more than twice as high in deprived towns compared with affluent areas and the high rate of deaths in poor areas was linked to premature delivery or birth defects (BBC, 2010). This leads on to why so many pregnant women smoke in deprived areas, such as Area X. Smokers typically report that cigarettes calm t hem down when they are stressed and help them to concentrate and work more effectively (Jarvis, 2004), and this prospect could be highly desirable to those suffering from stress and anxiety due to financial problems and other socio-economic factors such as low employment, high crime rates, poor housing and poor health care. Graph 2: Nicotine intake and social deprivation. Data from health survey for England (1993, 1994, 1996) As reported in the recent Midwifery Practice Audit 1996-1997 (END, 1997), midwives are the lead professionals in providing care for childbearing women. However, midwives need to acknowledge that other health-care professionals also contribute to each womans experience. Midwives work together with other professionals within the primary health-care team, providing integrated approaches to care delivery. Midwives have to use their own skills and expertise with the knowledge of how to access the expertise of other practitioners when required, allowing the women to receive holistic care (Houston S M, 1998). In the recent programme of work Midwifery 2020, a statement was made that women should be cared for in a multi-agency and multi-professional environment and NHS providers should have a collaborative working relationship with all other agencies based on mutual trust and respect to ensure that women and families receive optimum support. They should also ensure clear understanding of role s and facilitate effective communication between professionals and other agencies (Midwifery 2020, 2010). The first booking visit for antenatal care is important and a successful visit lays the foundation for building that special relationship between mother and the midwifery services on which so much depends (Cronk Flint, 1989:ch2 p9). The visit enables the midwife to establish any physical, psychological or social needs that will form the basis of the womans plan of care. In area X, the booking visit also allows midwives to inform the woman about the Healthy Start programme. Healthy Start is the Department of Health Welfare Food Scheme that helps pregnant women and eligible families, with children under 5, buy milk, fresh fruit and vegetables, infant feeding formula milk, and receive free vitamin supplements (NHSGCC, 2010). This is a clear example of how health services have integrated to allow women all the benefits they are entitled to, helping them achieve the best possible ex perience throughout their pregnancy. As the pregnancy progresses, parentcraft education classes are offered to prepare women for the birth experience (Jamieson, 1993) and raise awareness to the advantages of breastfeeding, giving support to mothers who choose to breastfeed. Area X presents midwives with many teenage pregnancies and antenatal services should be flexible enough to meet the needs of all women, bearing in mind the needs of those from the most disadvantaged, vulnerable and less articulate groups in society are of equal if not more importance (Lewis, 2001). As Area X is a deprived area, this contributes greatly to the teenage pregnancy statistics and throughout the developed world, teenage pregnancy is more common among young people who have been disadvantaged in childhood and have poor expectations of education or the job market. Teenagers seem to be more likely to have sexual intercourse if they come from the lower social classes or unhappy home backgrounds. Another explanation may be that many young people lack accurate knowledge about contraception, STIs, what to expect in relationships and what it will mean to be a parent (Allen, 2002). There are also serious psychological concerns related to teenage pregnancy, which the midwives in Area X must address while working with these girls. The teenage years are a time of much change and difficulty without the added stress and anxiety of a pregnancy, birth and finally motherhood. It is a midwifes duty to give the necessary advice and proper holistic care, hopefully improving the service provision and having a good obstetric outcome. Comprehensive holistic antenatal care programmes specifically for pregnant teenagers have been found to be effective in reducing poor maternal outcomes (Fullerton, 1997). For teenage pregnancies in Area X, there is a specific midwife who will be contacted at the booking visit and will be a support network for girls 18 and under, available at all times for advice, encouraging continuity and individualized, spec ific care for young mums. To conclude, through writing this community profile on Area X, I have discovered how difficult it is to work as a midwife in the community, especially in a deprived area such as Area X. From reading a large variety of articles on the psychological and social effects of poverty on pregnancy, there is much evidence that poverty has a significant effect on midwifery practice, and these women need the best care plan possible to ensure a positive experience. By having an awareness of the restrictions poverty can inflict on pregnancy and childbirth, the midwife can adapt her skills and provide care accordingly, keeping in mind aspects such as smoking during pregnancy and teenage pregnancies (Salmon et al, 1998). There is a reoccurring trend throughout this community profile confirming the link between lower socio-economic status and adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as prematurity, and the midwife is ideally placed to help identify and manage stresses, as it has been a very important conseq uence for the health and wellbeing of both mother and infant (Alderdice Lynn, 2009). Working in Area X on clinical placement has given me an insight into the importance of individualized care, as every woman is in a different situation and therefore has different needs, socially and psychologically. Some women may need more specialized care and support than others, however they are all of equal importance. Investigating the role of the midwifery service in Glasgow has opened my eyes to how both the midwives and the primary health care team deals with problems, and how without integrating health services, it would not be possible to give women the best possible care. Only by working as an integrated team with users will health inequalities be reduced, social exclusion be limited and public health become relevant and cost-effective (Henderson, 2002). The importance of involving women in decisions about their care has long been part of the everyday practice of midwives (Proctor, 1998) , and the importance of communication has been highlighted to me clearly throughout this community study, and through my placement, forcing me to realize how important it is for a midwife to fulfill her role. References: NHS Health Scotland (2004) Greater Shawlands; a community health and well-being profile [Online] Available at: http://www.scotpho.org.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=604sID=1268 [Accessed 16 December 2010] NHS Greater Glasgow, South East Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership (2006) Health Improvement Plan 2006-07 Draft [Online] Available at: http://library.nhsggc.org.uk/mediaAssets/library/health_improvement_plan_2006-07_south_east_glasgow.pdf [Accessed 20 December 2010] NHS Evidence National Library of Guidelines (2008) Women centered care (position statement) [Online] Available at: http://www.library.nhs.uk/GUIDELINESFINDER/ViewResource.aspx?resID=30150 [Accessed 2 January 2011] Griffin K, Maternity, Gateshead Health NHS (2009) Pregnancy: Weight Matters [Online] Available at: http://www.gatesheadhealth.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/patient-leaflets/documents/Obstetrics/IL206%20Pregnancy%20Weight%20Matters.pdf [Accessed 2 January 2011] Fraser D M Cooper M A eds (2009) Myles Textbook for Midwives 15th ed. Churchill Livingstone, London Nursing Midwifery Council (2008) The code in full [Online] Available at: http://www.nmc-uk.org/aArticle.aspx?ArticleID=3056 [Accessed 2 January 2011] Walsh L V (2001) Midwifery: Community-Based Care During the Childbearing Year Saunders, USA Baston H A Green J M (2002) Community Midwives role perceptions British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 10, No1 Community Councils Glasgow, Arden, Carnwadric, Kennishead Old Darnley (2008) Local history and Geography [Online] Available at: http://www.communitycouncilsglasgow.org.uk/dack/PlainText/PlainText.aspx?SectionId=4bf12ad1-a06e-4f7f-9a24-1f7fc2522504 [Accessed 3 January 2011] Bond J Bond S (1994) Sociology and Health Care (2nd ed), Ch 4, p 70, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh Cronk M Flint C (1989) Community Midwifery: A Practical Guide, Ch2, p 9, Heinemann Nursing, Oxford Ewles L Simnett I (1992) Promoting Health: A Practical Guide, (2nd ed), Scutari Press, Middlesex Fuller G, Award Finalist: NHS Greater Glasgow (2005) Complementary Medicine [Online] Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/FAD0C2B3-5901-4AE5-A1B9-4524C770521B/0/pmawrd05nhs.pdf [Accessed 2 January 2011] BBC News Scotland (2009) Glasgow has the worst UK unemployment [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8000029.stm [Accessed 3 January 2011] Lowry S (1991) Housing and Health, British Medical Journal, London Blackburn C (1991) Poverty and Health, Ch 2, pp32-36, Open University Press, Buckingham Dorling D, BMJ (2009) Unemployment and Health [Online] Available at: http://www.bmj.com/content/338/bmj.b829.full [Accessed 3 January 2011] Houston S M (1999) Multi-professional education programmes in midwifery British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 7 No 1, p 32 NHS Scotland, Midwifery 2020 (2010) Core role of the Midwife Workstream [Online] Available at: http://www.midwifery2020.org/documents/2020/Core_Role.pdf [Accessed 4 January 2011] Homer, C et al. (2000) What do women feel about community based antenatal care? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 24, pp. 590-595. Buckley E R (2000) Helping pregnant women stop smoking British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 8 No 10, pp. 101-103 Mcgowan A, Hamilton S, Barnett D, Nsofor M, Proudfoot J Tappin J M (2008) Breathe: The stop smoking service for pregnant women in Glasgow Midwifery 26, e1-e31, Elsevier, Glasgow ASH Scotland, Duffy S (2010) Deaths from smoking in deprived areas double that of affluent [Online] Available at: http://www.ashscotland.org.uk/media/recent-press-releases/deaths-from-smoking-double-in-deprived-areas [Accessed 4 January 2011] BBC News Health (2010) Newborn deaths higher in deprived areas [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11899900 [Accessed 4 January 2011] Jarvis M J (2004) Why people smoke British Medical Journal, Vol 328 No 7434 Lewis, G (ed) (2001) Why Mothers Die 1997- 1999: the fifth report of the confidential enquiries into maternal deaths in the United Kingdom. London: RCOD Press Fullerton D (1997) Preventing and reducing the adverse effects of teenage pregnancy. Health Visit 70(5): 197-9 Allen E J (2002) Aims and associations of reducing teenage pregnancy British Journal of Midwfery, Vol 11 No 6, pp.366-367 Salmon D Powell J (1998) Caring for women in poverty: a critical review British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 6 No 2, pp. 108-111 Alderdice F Lynn F (2009) Stress in pregnancy: identifying and supporting women British Joural of Midwifery, Vol 17 No9, p 553 Proctor S (1998) Womens reactions to their experience of maternity care British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 7 No 8, p 492 Henderson C (2002) The public health role of a midwife British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 10 No 5, p 268

Internet and Car Shopping Essay -- Expository Essays

Internet and Car Shopping Marketing studies show that more than half of Americans who are in the market to buy a new car use the Internet at least once. The Internet has now become part of the process to buying a new car. Most buyers use it to research cars so they save time going lot-to-lot test-driving cars to find that they just don't fit their tastes. Car buyers can research what car publications say about certain cars or just go to the manufacture's web site and compare specification to other models. Once you make your decision you can just go down to the dealership or order it online and have it delivered to your house. The best part of buying a car online is not having to deal with the pesky sales men that run out as soon as they see you pull up. I really hate that, I just want to walk around by myself and if I need your help I will come in and ask you. I bought a new car about a year ago and every time I went to a dealership a little sales guy came out and told me that I should sit inside the car. I can tell if I don't want to sit inside just by looking at it. I usually got the new guy who was desperately trying a little too hard to try and sell me a car that I wasn't even interested in just because he needed is first commission check. When I started to ask questions they kind of just blew me off because of my age. I believe that their mindset was 'here's a young kid who is obviously going to finance this so I'm just going to try and convince him that he needs to pay $16,000 for a car that has no air conditioning and an am/fm radio'. When you shop online there is no age barrier until you start the buying process, definite plus. When you order your new car online you have a wider variety of choices then you would... ...ce but I would tend to lean to J.D.A's statement just because they are better known. Online car buying seems legitimate and safe. I myself am still wary of putting by beloved credit card number online for thousands to see. I seem to not be the only one who feels this way because many dealers are stating that just because they are on the internet doesn't mean that they are making more money, they are saving money just not making any extra. So why do they stay on the net? They believe that in the future people will trust the Internet more and so they will be seeing the benefits. Of the 17 million cars that will be built next year only 62,000 will be sold online. May the future of car buying be done in your pajamas at your home office?, we'll have to wait and see. Works Cited Preston Lerner "Net Profits" Automobile Magazine 2001 Buying and Leasing pgs 22-27

Electronic Medical Records and Charting Essay -- Medical Technology

Electronic Medical Records and Charting Today’s healthcare is changing, and more hospitals are commencing to go paperless using computers for both medical records and charting. Computers are widely accepted, in personal and professional settings. It is an essential requirement for computer literacy. Numerous advances in technology during the past decade require that nurses not only be knowledgeable in nursing skills but also to become educated in computer technology. While electronic medical records (EMR’s) and charting can be an effective time management tool, some questions have been asked on how exactly this will impact the role and process of nursing, and the ultimate effects on patient safety and confidentiality. In order to investigate these topics, I will be addressing the individual aspects of EMR’s that nurse’s use every day, how they affect collaborative care, and the impact they have on the nursing role. In the Emergency Department at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital (GLWACH) manual paper charting is still used for charting most of the patient care that is per-formed; the exception would be any laboratory studies needed and any kind of radiology proce-dures that must be done. These orders are then put into the computer system, most often by the nurses. I had an opportunity to observe both positive and negative indications during my 72 hour preceptorship at the General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital. Some of the positive of having EMR’s and electronic charting are that: they are pass code protected, allow access to in-formation quickly, legibility and organization aspects, efficiency of time, and allow for easy transfer of data which minimizes errors. If a patient comes in by ambulance, and is un... ... Informatics & the EMR on ADVANCE for Nurses. ADVANCE for Nurses. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Regional-Content/Articles/Nursing-Informatics-EMR.aspx Dykes, P., Cashen, M., Foster, M., Gallagher, J., Kennedy, M., MacCallum, R., et al. (2006). Serveying Acute Care Providers in the U.S. to Explore the Impact of HIT on the Role of Nurses and Interdisciplinary Communication in Acute Care Settings. Journal of Healthcare Information Management , 36-44. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=678742 Yee, T., Needleman, J., Pearson, M., Parkerton, P., & Wolstein, J. (2012). The Influence of Inte-grated Electronic Me... [Comput Inform Nurs. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22411414 Electronic Medical Records and Charting Essay -- Medical Technology Electronic Medical Records and Charting Today’s healthcare is changing, and more hospitals are commencing to go paperless using computers for both medical records and charting. Computers are widely accepted, in personal and professional settings. It is an essential requirement for computer literacy. Numerous advances in technology during the past decade require that nurses not only be knowledgeable in nursing skills but also to become educated in computer technology. While electronic medical records (EMR’s) and charting can be an effective time management tool, some questions have been asked on how exactly this will impact the role and process of nursing, and the ultimate effects on patient safety and confidentiality. In order to investigate these topics, I will be addressing the individual aspects of EMR’s that nurse’s use every day, how they affect collaborative care, and the impact they have on the nursing role. In the Emergency Department at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital (GLWACH) manual paper charting is still used for charting most of the patient care that is per-formed; the exception would be any laboratory studies needed and any kind of radiology proce-dures that must be done. These orders are then put into the computer system, most often by the nurses. I had an opportunity to observe both positive and negative indications during my 72 hour preceptorship at the General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital. Some of the positive of having EMR’s and electronic charting are that: they are pass code protected, allow access to in-formation quickly, legibility and organization aspects, efficiency of time, and allow for easy transfer of data which minimizes errors. If a patient comes in by ambulance, and is un... ... Informatics & the EMR on ADVANCE for Nurses. ADVANCE for Nurses. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Regional-Content/Articles/Nursing-Informatics-EMR.aspx Dykes, P., Cashen, M., Foster, M., Gallagher, J., Kennedy, M., MacCallum, R., et al. (2006). Serveying Acute Care Providers in the U.S. to Explore the Impact of HIT on the Role of Nurses and Interdisciplinary Communication in Acute Care Settings. Journal of Healthcare Information Management , 36-44. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=678742 Yee, T., Needleman, J., Pearson, M., Parkerton, P., & Wolstein, J. (2012). The Influence of Inte-grated Electronic Me... [Comput Inform Nurs. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22411414

Comparing Machiavellis The Prince and Platos The Republic Essay

Comparing Machiavelli's The Prince and Plato's The Republic  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Many people in history have written about ideal rulers and states and how to maintain them.   Perhaps the most talked about and compared are Machiavelli's, The Prince and Plato's, The Republic.   Machiavelli lived at a time when Italy was suffering from its political destruction.   The Prince, was written to describe the ways by which a leader may gain and maintain power. In Plato?s The Republic, he unravels the definition of justice.   Plato believed that a ruler could not be wholly just unless one was in a society that was also just. His state and ruler was made up to better understand the meaning of justice.   It was not intended to be practiced like that of Machiavelli's. Machiavelli, acknowledging this, explains that it is his intention to write something that is true and real and useful to whoever might read it and not something imaginary,"?for many have pictured republics and principalities which in fact have never been known or seen?(Machiavelli 375)."à ‚   Therefore, because one ruler is realistic and the other imaginary, the characteristics of Machiavelli's ruler versus Plato's ruler are distinctly different.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Machiavelli?s model for his ideal prince was Cesare Borgia, also known as Duke Valentino and son of Pope Alexander VI.   He believed Cesare Borgia possessed all the qualities of a prince destined to rule and maintain power in his state. He believed that politics has a morality of its own.   There is no regard of justness or unjustness, of cruelty or   mercy, of   approval   or   humiliation, which  Ã‚   should  Ã‚   interfere  Ã‚   with   the   decision   of defending the state and preserving its freedom.   Therefore, the ruler/prince's single responsibilit... ...ddle with each other (Plato 99).? In The Prince, Machiavelli was addressing a monarchical ruler and offering advice designed to keep that ruler in power.   He felt that Cesare Borgia was model for the perfect prince. He was able to give actual examples of how princes during his time ruled and how they failed or succeeded in doing so.   Plato, in contrast was perhaps unrealistic. His ruler and state could only be used to   better understand the meaning of justice. It could never be practiced in real life because he neglects the fact that everyone sins and fails to mention this in his ideal ruler and state.  Ã‚      Works Cited 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Marra, James L., Zelnick, Stephen C., and Mattson, Mark T.  Ã‚   IH 51 Source Book: Plato,   The Republic, pp. 77-106 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nicole Machiavelli,   The Prince, pp. 359-386.   Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1998.   

My Desires for and Commitment to a College Education Essay

Thirteen years ago my father came to America with no money or education believing that he would surely make something of himself. With his very low education he received a job washing dishes at a restaurant to put food on his plate and to pay for the one room apartment that he rented. After four years he was able to bring me along with my brother, two sisters and my mother to come stay with him. With all of us together he had to work two jobs to support all of us and that truly was difficult for him. He soon was able to send my mother to a school for adults so she have a diploma and help out with the bills and purchase some new attire for us to wear. Once I saw first hand how hard it was for my parents to survive with their low education my one desire and commitment was focused on my college education and coming from a family with does not receive much income I recognize how important it would be to me to receive my education which is why I will strive to receive it. My sister was also a big influence when I saw her graduate from FAMU with a bachelor’s degree and now is the credit manager of sears. Watching how successful she has become I knew I could do the same by going through any impediments which may stand in my way. After receiving a bachelor’s I will also head for a master’s to further open my education. As of right now I am currently employed as a student library for the Broward County Main Library in Florida. I was hired because of my integrity, intellectual personality, and my commitment to the job. This job has given me the opportunity to save up some money for college to pay for some of the books and tuition costs. Having this job has made my commitment toward my education the more important to me, as well as giving me a better understanding of hard work and dedication. I now feel confident that I have gained valuable experience with my work however, I now that earning a bachelor’s degree will further enhance the skills I need to work in my field of business. Once in college I will take the courses of Business Administration since IÂ  have always desired a career that requires innovation, educated risk, and foresight. I learned to respect these qualities from my father through his example I have learned firsthand the advantages and challenges of a person with a low education and a person with a high education -the reward to be gained and the total commitment required. Having a degree in Business Administration would be a significant asset in my account just in case if I were to plan on working for a business which involved management, finance, or marketing. Upon my second year in college I plan to enroll in the track courses of Entrepreneurial Studies. These classes will teach me advanced business techniques and their successful implementation. In addition, academic entrepreneurial organization would be both are both educational and enjoyable since I view these as an opportunity to meet students or teachers who share similar goals.

Challenges Facing the Nontraditional Female Student

There are many challenges that come with a college education for a nontraditional female student. These hurdles can have a negative effect on a college student or be the catalyst that drives them to succeed. A college degree can be an attainable goal for the nontraditional college student by accepting the challenges that come and staying true to the goal ahead. The three articles that I will refer to are; â€Å"Inspiration from Home: Understanding Family as Key to Adult Women’s Self-Investment†, by Annemarie Vaccaro and Cheryl Lovell, â€Å"Good Times to Hard Times: An Examination of Adult Learners’ Enrollment from 2004-2010. by Sara B. Kimmel, Kristena P. Gaylor, M. Ray Grubbs & J. Bryan Hayes, finally, â€Å"Nontraditional College Students: Assumptions, Perceptions and Directions for a Meaningful Academic Experience,† by Lakia Scott and Chance Lewis. These studies describe both the positive and negative challenges faced by the nontraditional student. Fi rst, the positive points are: â€Å"[i]n studies comparing traditional-age and adult learners, older students outperform young women,† and â€Å"adult women learners may experience a†¦ different and more positive transformation than their†¦younger†¦ counterparts† (162). Then other positive impacts are the gratification of going to college which increased skills, self- respect and personal freedom. Also, they write, â€Å"[i]n a sense, family was key to women’s inspiration to remain engaged in school. Earning a degree and†¦. family pride were strong motivators to invest in education. One way women were motivated by kin was the prospect of being the first person in their family to graduate from college†(168). These points are from the article, â€Å"Inspiration from Home† by Vacarro and Lovell. In the Scott and Lewis article, Nontraditional College†¦Ã¢â‚¬  found that â€Å"older learners are highly goal-oriented and expect feedback on assignments from their instructors, are likely to be active participants in their college courses† and â€Å"that older students will be more engaged†¦ persist longer, and even ask relevant questions when they are interested and motivated to learn about the subject† (2). Then there are negative challenges for the student as well. According to Hayes et al in their article â€Å"Good Times†¦,† some barriers to adult learners returning to college include personal and family commitments, financial limitations and a fear of returning to school (20). There have been numerous studies conducted with nontraditional age female students that state personal and work responsibilities are stressors that distract students. They purport that family and education are greedy institutions that are demanding of a woman’s time, attention and emotional strength. Also, it was found that many women do not have emotional support from family and receive not just negative reactions but downright hostility. There is a great chance that women will drop out of college because of the burdens that come with work, school and family (Vaccaro & Lovell 162). In the article â€Å"Nontraditional College.. † Scott & Lewis reference a study of college students over the age of 50 and they found â€Å"students age fifty and older†¦lack responsibility and motivation to study†¦compared to traditional students. † There has been an argument that the aging brain will not be able to absorb and learn college level courses (2). Then the finan cial issue, â€Å"[f]irst generation students are more likely to come from poor, working-class, and lower-middle–class backgrounds†¦although juggling family and work was extremely difficult, working-class women†¦realized there were no other options†¦ women in this study worked full-time jobs† (Vaccaro &Lovell 168). I concur that there are numerous positive and negative challenges confronting the female nontraditional student. The negative aspects are family demands interfering with the student’s time to study, the work obligation that conflicts with their schedule, or adult women students don’t have the motivation to do the necessary work assigned. Then there are financial ramifications of working a job while trying to attend college. On the other hand, the positive findings are that these learners are highly motivated, goal oriented people that want to achieve their college degree and become the first in their family to graduate from college. All these are very real issues that the adult student faces but if the student accepts these challenges and stays true to the goal ahead, a college degree is attainable.