Review of The Drunkard’s Walk †How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Mlodinow Essay

Read the book â€Å"The Drunkard’s Walk – How Randomness Rules Our Lives† by Mlodinow and pay special attend to the following questions. Some of these questions may appear on quizzes and exams. Chapter 1 Peering through the Eyepiece of Randomness 1. Explain the phenomenon â€Å"regression toward the mean.† In any series of random events an extraordinary event is most likely to be followed, due purely to chance, by a more ordinary one. 2. What factors determine whether a person will be successful in career, investment, etc.? Success in our careers, in our investments, and in our life decisions, both major and minor—is as much the result of random factors as the result of skill, preparedness, and hard work. 3. Was Paramount’s firing of Lansing the correct decision? After she was fired, Paramount films market share rebounded. No, Lansing was fired because of industry’s misunderstanding of randomness and not because of her own flawed decision making. Lansing had good luck at the beginning and bad luck at the end. Chapter 2 The Laws of Truths and Half-Truths 1. What coined the term probability, or probabilis? (Latin: probabilis credible) Cicero’s principal legacy in the field of randomness is the term he used, probabilis, which is the origin of the term we employ today. But it is one part of the Roman code of law, the Digest, compiled by Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, that is the first document in which probability appears as an everyday term of art 2. What is the rule for compounding probabilities? How to compute probability that one event and another event both happening? According to the correct manner of compounding probabilities, not only do two half proofs yield less than a whole certainty, but no finite number of partial proofs will ever add up to a certainty because to compound probabilities, you don’t  add them; you multiply. That brings us to our next law, the rule for compounding probabilities: If two possible events, A and B, are independent, then the probability that both A and B will occur is equal to the product of their individual probabilities. 3. Is the Roman rule of half proofs: two half proofs constitute a whole proof, correct? What do two half proofs constitute by the rule of compounding probabilities? 4. Suppose an airline has 1 seat left on a flight and 2 passengers have yet to show up. If there is a 2 in 3 chance a passenger who books a seat will arrive to claim it, what is the probability that the airline will have to deal with an unhappy customer? What is the probability that neither customer will show up? What is the assumption? What is the probability that either both passengers or neither passenger will show up? 5. In DNA testing for legal trial, there is 1 in 1 billion accidental match and 1 in 100 laberror match. What is the probability that there is both an accidental match and a lab error? What is the probability that one error or the other occurred? Which probability is more relevant? Chapter 3 Finding Your Way through a Space of Possibilities 1. What is â€Å"sample space†? 2. What is Cardano’s law of the sample space? (P. 62) 3. In the Monty Hall problem, why should the player switch after the host’s intervention? Chapter 4 Tracking the Pathways to Success 1. The grand duke of Tuscany’s problem: what is the probability of obtaining 10 when you throw three dice? What about 9? 2. What is Cardano’s law of the sample space? 3. What is the application of Pascal’s triangle? 4. For the Yankees-Braves World Series example, for the remaining 5 games, what is the probability that the Yankees win 2 games? 1 game? 5. What is mathematical expectation? 6. Explain why a state lottery is equivalent to: Of all those who pay the dollar or two to enter, most will receive nothing, one person will receive a fortune, and one person will be put to death in a violent manner? Chapter 5 The Dueling Laws of Large and Small Numbers? 1. What is Benford’s law? Discuss some applications in business. 2. Explain the difference between the frequency interpretation and the subjective interpretation of randomness. 3. Do psychics exist? 4. What is tolerance of error, tolerance of uncertainty, statistical significance? 5. Describe some applications from the book of the law of large numbers and the law of small numbers. Chapter 6 Bayes’s Theory 1. Two-daughter problem In a family with two children, what are the chances that both children are girls? Ans: 25% In a family with two children, what are the chances, if one of the children is a girl, that both children are girls? Ans 33% In a family with two children, what are the chances, if one of the children is a girl named Florida, that both children are girls? Ans: 50% 2. How to apply Bayes’s Theory to determine car insurance rates? Ans : Models employed to determine car insurance rates include a mathematical function describing, per unit of driving time, your personal probability of having zero, one, or more accidents. Consider, for our purposes, a simplified model that places everyone in one of two categories: high risk, which includes drivers who average at least one accident each year, and low risk, which includes drivers who average less than one. If, when you apply for insurance, you have a driving record that stretches back twenty years without an accident or one that goes back twenty years with thirty-seven accidents, the insurance company can be pretty sure which category to place you in. But if you are a new driver, should you be classified as low risk (a kid who obeys the speed limit and volunteers to be the designated driver) or high risk (a kid who races down Main Street swigging from a half-empty $2 bottle of Boone’s Farm apple wine)? Since the company has no data on you—no idea of the â€Å"position of the first ball†Ã¢â‚¬â€it might assign you an equal prior  probability of being in either group, or it might use what it knows about the general population of new drivers and start you off by guessing that the chances you are a high risk are, say, 1 in 3. In that case the company would model you as a hybrid—one-third high risk and two-thirds low risk—and charge you one-third the price it charges high-risk drivers plus two-thirds the price it charges low risk drivers. Then, after a year of observation—that is, after one of Bayes’s second balls has been thrown—the company can employ the new datum to reevaluat e its model, adjust the one-third and two-third proportions it previously assigned, and recalculate what it ought to charge. If you have had no accidents, the proportion of low risk and low price it assigns you will increase; if you have had two accidents, it will decrease. The precise size of the adjustment is given by Bayes’s theory. In the same manner the insurance company can periodically adjust its assessments in later years to reflect the fact that you were accident-free or that you twice had an accident while driving the wrong way down a one way street, holding a cell phone with your left hand and a doughnut with your right. That is why insurance companies can give out â€Å"good driver† discounts: the absence of accidents elevates the posterior probability that a driver belongs in a low-risk group. 3. Probability of correct diagnosis Suppose in 1989, statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show about 1 in 10,000 heterosexual non-IV-drug-abusing white male Americans who got tested were infected with HIV. Also suppose about 1 person out of every 10,000 will test positive due to the presence of the infection. Suppose 1 in 1,000 will test positive even if not infected with HIV (false positive). What is the probability that a patient who tested positive is in fact healthy? Ans: So if you test 10 000 people you will have 11 positives – 1 who is really infected, 10 are false positives. Of the 11 positive testees, only 1 has HIV, that is, 1/11. Therefore the probability that a positive testee is healthy = 10 / 11 = 90.9% 4. O. J. Simpson trial According to FBI statistics, 4 million women are battered annually by husbands and boyfriends in U.S. and in 1992 1,432 or 1 in 2500 were killed by their husbands or boyfriends. The probability that a man who batters his wife will go on to kill her is 1 in 2500. The probability that a battered wife who was murdered was murdered by her abuser is 90%. Which probability is relevant to the O. J. trial? What is the fundamental difference between probability and statistics? Ans: 1) Relevant one is the probability that a battered wife who was murdered was murdered by her abuser = 90%. 2)the fundamental difference between probability and statistics: the former concerns predictions based on fixed probabilities; the latter concerns the inference of those probabilities based on observed data. Chapter 7 Measurement and the Law of Errors 1. Election Why did the author argue that â€Å"when elections come out extremely close, perhaps we ought to accept them as is, or flip a coin, rather than conducting recount after recount?† Ans: (pg= 127 and 128) Elections, like all measurements, are imprecise, and so are the recounts, so when elections come out extremely close, perhaps we ought to accept them as is, or flip a coin, rather than conducting recount after recount. 2. What is mathematical statistics? Ans: Mathematical statistics, provides a set of tools for the interpretation of the data that arise from observation and experimentation. Statisticians sometimes view the growth of modern science as revolving around that development, the creation of a theory of measurement. But statistics also provides tools to address real-world issues, such as the effectiveness of drugs or the popularity of politicians, so a proper understanding of statistical reasoning is as useful in everyday life as it is in science. 3. Wine tasting Should we believe in wine ratings from those â€Å"wine experts†? Why or why not? Two groups wine tasting experts produce the following results: (a) 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 (b) 80 81 82 87 89 89 90 90 90 91 91 94 97 99 100 Compare the two groups of data. (pg 134) From the theoretical viewpoint, there are many reasons to question the significance of wine ratings. For one thing, taste perception depends on a complex interaction between taste and olfactory stimulation. Strictly speaking, the sense of taste comes from five types of receptor cells on the tongue: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. The last responds to certain amino acid compounds (prevalent, for example, in soy sauce). But if that were all there was to taste perception, you could mimic everything—your favorite steak, baked potato, and apple pie feast or a nice spaghetti Bolognese—employing only table salt, sugar, vinegar, quinine, and monosodium glutamate. Fortunately there is more to gluttony than that, and that is where the sense of smell comes in. The sense of smell explains why, if you take two identical solutions of sugar water and add to one a (sugar-free) essence of strawberry, it will taste sweeter than the other.15 The perceived taste of wine arises from the effects of a stew of between 600 and 800 volatile organic compounds on both the tongue and the nose.16 That’s a problem, given that studies have shown that even flavor-trained professionals can rarely reliably identify more than three or four components in a mixture 4. Can professional mutual fund managers (stock pickers) beat students who pick stocks by tossing coins? 5. What is the margin of error in a poll? Should variation within the margin of error be ignored in a poll? Ans: < 5% (or 3.5%). Yes, any variation within the margin of error should be ignored in a poll 6. What is the central limit theorem? Ans: The probability that the sum of a large number of independent random factors will take on any given value is distributed according to the normal distribution. Chapter 8 The Order in Chaos 1. Who are the founders of statistics? Graunt and his friend William Petty have been called the founders of statistics, a field sometimes considered lowbrow by those in pure mathematics owing to its focus on mundane practical issues, and in that sense John Graunt in particular makes a fitting founder. 2. How did Graunt estimate the population of London in 1662? What is Graunt’s legacy? From the bills of mortality, Graunt knew the number of births. Since he had a rough idea of the fertility rate, he could infer how many women were of childbearing age. That datum allowed him to guess the total number of families and, using his own observations of the mean size of a London family, thereby estimate the city’s population. He came up with 384,000— previously it was believed to be 2 million. Graunt’s legacy was to demonstrate that inferences about a population as a whole could be made by carefully examining a limited sample of data. But though Graunt and others made valiant efforts to learn from the data through the application of simple logic, most of the data’s secrets awaited the development of the tools created by Gauss, Laplace, and others in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 3. How did Poincare show the baker was shortchanging customers? French mathematician Jules-Henri Poincarà © employed Quà ©telet’s method to nab a baker who was shortchanging his customers. At first, Poincarà ©, who made a habit of picking up a loaf of bread each day, noticed after weighing his loaves that they averaged about 950 grams instead of the 1,000 grams advertised. He complained to the authorities and afterward received bigger loaves. Still he had a hunch that something about his bread wasn’t kosher. And so with the patience only a famous—or at least tenured—scholar can afford, he carefully weighed his bread every day for the next year. Though his bread now averaged closer to 1,000 grams, if the baker had been honestly handing him random loaves, the number of loaves heavier and lighter than the mean should have  diminished following the bellshaped pattern of the error law. Instead, Poincarà © found that there were too few light loaves and a surplus of heavy ones. He concluded that the baker had not ceased baking underweight loaves but instead was seeking to placate him by always giving him the largest loaf he had on hand. 4. Are all data in society such as financial realm normal? (Yes) Are film revenue data normal? (No) For one thing, not all that happens in society, especially in the financial realm, is governed by the normal distribution. For example, if film revenue were normally distributed, most films would earn near some average amount, and two-thirds of all film revenue would fall within a standard deviation of that number. But in the film business, 20 percent of the movies bring in 80 percent of the revenue. Such hit-driven businesses, though thoroughly unpredictable, follow a far different distribution, one for which the concepts of mean and standard deviation have no meaning because there is no â€Å"typical† performance, and megahit outliers, which in an ordinary business might occur only once every few centuries, happen every few years. 5. Who dubbed the phenomenon â€Å"regression toward the mean†? Explain its meaning. Galton dubbed the phenomenon—that in linked measurements, if one measured quantity is far from its mean, the other will be closer to its mean—regression toward the mean. 6. Who coined the term â€Å"the coefficient of correlation†? Explain its meaning. Galton coined the term â€Å"the coefficient of correlation â€Å".The coefficient of correlation is a number between −1 and 1; if it is near  ±1, it indicates that two variables are linearly related; a coefficient of 0 means there is no relation. 7. Discuss the applications of the chi-square test?(Pg 165 166 167) Pearson invented a method, called the chi-square test, by which you can determine whether a set of data actually conforms to the distribution you believe it conforms to. 8. What is statistical physics? James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann, two of the founders of statistical physics. Statistical physics was aimed at explaining a phenomenon called Brownian motion. Statistical physics is the branch of physics that uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems. 9. What is a drunkard’s walk or random walk? The random motion of molecules in a fluid can be viewed, as a metaphor for our own paths through life, and so it is worthwhile to take a little time to give Einstein’s work a closer look. According to the atomic picture, the fundamental motion of water molecules is chaotic. The molecules fly first this way, then that, moving in a straight line only until deflected by an encounter with one of their sisters. As mentioned in the Prologue, this type of path—in which at various points the direction changes randomly—is often called a drunkard’s walk, for reasons obvious to anyone who has ever enjoyed a few too many martinis (more sober mathematicians and scientists sometimes call it a random walk). Chapter 9 Illusions of Patterns and Patterns of Illusion 1. What caused the table to move, spirit? not a direct consequence of reality but rather an act of imagination. 2. What is significance testing? Significance testing, was developed in the 1920s by R. A. Fisher, one of the greatest statistician for scientific research. It is a formal procedure for calculating the probability of our having observed what we observed if the hypothesis we are testing is true. If the probability is low, we reject the hypothesis. If it is high, we accept it. 3. Why did Apple founder Steve Jobs made the ipod’s shuffling feature â€Å"less random to make it feel more random†? Spencer-Brown’s point was that there is a difference between a process being random and the product of that process appearing to be random. Apple ran into that issue with the random shuffling method it initially employed in its iPod music players: true randomness sometimes produces repetition, but when users heard the same song or songs by the same artist played back-to-back, they believed the shuffling wasn’t random. And so the company made the feature â€Å"less random to make it feel more random,† said Apple founder Steve Jobs. 4. Suppose there are 1000 mutual fund managers picking stock for 15 consecutive years by each tossing a coin once a year. If a head is obtained, he/she beats the market (a fund manager either beats the market average or not). What is the probability that someone among the 1000 who would toss a head in each of the 15 years? From Nobel Prize-winning economist Merton Miller: â€Å"If there are 10,000 people looking at the stocks and trying to pick winners, one in 10,000 is going score, by chance alone, and that’s all that’s going on. It’s a game, it’s a chance operation, and people think they are doing something purposeful but they’re really not.† Ans: The chances that, after fifteen years, a particular coin tosser would have tossed all heads are then 1 in 32,768. But the chances that someone among the 1,000 who had started tossing coins in 1991 would have tossed all heads are much higher, about 3 percent. 5. What is confirmation bias? When we are in the grasp of an illusion—or, for that matter, whenever we have a new idea—instead of searching for ways to prove our ideas wrong, we usually attempt to prove them correct. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias, and it presents a major impediment to our ability to break free from the misinterpretation of randomness. Chapter 10 The Drunkard’s Walk 1. What is the butterfly effect? The butterfly effect, based on the implication that atmospheric changes so small they could have been caused by a butterfly flapping its wings can have a large effect on subsequent global weather patterns. 2. Can past performance of mutual fund managers predict future performance? No.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Title: Actions speak louder than words: comparing automatic imitation and verbal command Authors: Helge Gillmeister, Arnaud Badets and Cecilia Heyes University College London, London, UK Corresponding author: Helge Gillmeister Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, United Kingdom Tel. : +44 207 679 5379 E-mail: h. [email  protected] ac. uk Running head: Actions speak louder than words Word count: 3904 Actions speak louder than words AbstractAutomatic imitation – copying observed actions without intention – is known to occur, not only in neurological patients and those with developmental disorders, but also in healthy, typically-developing adults and children. Previous research has shown that a variety of actions are automatically imitated, and that automatic imitation promotes social affiliation and rapport. We assessed the power of automatic imitation by comparing it with the strength of the tendency to obey verbal comma nds. In a Stroop interference paradigm, the stimuli were compatible, incompatible and neutral compounds of hand postures and verbal commands.When imitative responses were required, the impact of irrelevant action images on responding to words was greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. Control group performance showed that this asymmetry was not due to modality effects or differential salience of action and word stimuli. These results indicate that automatic imitation was more powerful than verbal command. 1 Actions speak louder than words Introduction Even when we do not intend to imitate others, we are inclined to copy their body movements.This tendency, known as ‘mimicry’ or ‘automatic imitation’, was once thought to be confined to patients with frontal brain damage (Lhermitte, Pillon, & Serdaru, 1986), atypically-developing individuals (e. g. Charman & Baron-Cohen, 1994), ‘savages’ (Darwin, 1989) and nonhuman a nimals (Thorndike, 1898). More recent research has shown that automatic imitation is also common in healthy, typically-developing adults (e. g. Wallbott, 1991; Lakin & Chartrand, 2003; Brass, Bekkering, Wohlschlager, & Prinz, 2000) and children (Simpson & Riggs, 2007).The purpose of the present study was to estimate the strength of our tendency automatically to imitate the behavior of others by comparing it with the strength of our tendency to do what we are told; to perform actions on verbal command. Most previous research on automatic imitation has been concerned, not with the strength of this tendency, but with its pervasiveness and effects on social attitudes. Carefully controlled laboratory studies have found automatic imitation of facial expressions (e. g. Wallbott, 1991), as well as finger (e. . Brass et al. , 2000), hand (Heyes, Bird, Johnson, & Haggard, 2005) and arm movements (e. g. Kilner, Paulignan, & Blakemore, 2003). Studies investigating the ‘chameleon 2 Actions speak louder than words effect’ in semi-naturalistic social situations have shown that gestures such as eartouching and foot-wagging are automatically imitated, that this kind of mimicry can occur without the imitator’s conscious awareness, and that it promotes affiliation and rapport between social partners (e. g. Lakin & Chartrand, 2003).Indirect evidence of the pervasiveness of automatic imitation has been provided by functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). For example, imaging has shown that the observation of hand, foot and mouth movements activates the same areas of premotor cortex active during their execution (Buccino et al. , 2001). Revealing yet further specificity, the observation of hand and arm movements selectively increases TMS-induced motor evoked potentials from the particular muscles involved in executing these movement (e. g. Strafella & Paus, 2000).In behavioral studies, stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) procedures are o ften used to detect automatic imitation. These procedures provide some indication of the strength of the automatic imitation tendency by showing that it can interfere with performance based on task instructions. For example, Kilner et al. (2003) instructed participants to make sinusoidal arm movements in a vertical plane while observing a model perform the same vertical movements (compatible condition) or sinusoidal arm movements in a horizontal plane (incompatible 3 Actions speak louder than words condition).Although participants were, presumably, equally motivated to obey instructions in the two conditions, their movements showed more, counterinstructional deviation from the vertical plane in the incompatible than in the compatible condition. Other SRC studies have shown that automatic imitation interferes, not only with the spatial properties of movement, but also with its timing. Participants instructed in a simple reaction time (RT) task to open their hand as soon as an observe d hand began to move, initiated the opening movement faster when the stimulus hand opened than when it closed (Heyes et al. 2005). Similar studies have shown that automatic imitation can influence the timing of hand and finger movements even when the observed movements are taskirrelevant, i. e. when participants are instructed to respond, not to the observed movements, but to arbitrary stimuli such as digits (Brass et al. , 2000), crosses (Bertenthal et al. , 2006) or colors (Sturmer, Aschersleben, & Prinz, 2000). As far as we are aware, only one study has explicitly compared the strength of automatic imitation with that of other response tendencies (Brass et al. , 2000).This study found that the impulse to imitate finger movements was stronger than the tendency to respond with finger movements to arbitrary symbols and to static spatial markers. The results were important in providing evidence that automatic imitation is genuinely automatic (i. e. that it occurs contrary to task ins tructions), and that it is not reducible to spatial compatibility (see also Heyes et al. , 2005; 4 Actions speak louder than words Bertenthal et al. , 2006), but Brass et al. (2000) provided only a very conservative estimate of the strength of automatic imitation.Theories of imitation assume that it is based on stimulus-response connections that are either innate (e. g. Meltzoff & Moore, 1997) or the product of long-term learning (e. g. Heyes & Ray, 2000). If this is the case, it is not surprising that the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency, based solely on task instructions, to respond differentially to symbolic cues. Like imitation, spatial compatibility effects depend on innate or learned response tendencies (Tagliabue, Zorzi, Umilta, & Bassignani, 2000). However, Brass et al. s study did not show that automatic imitation is generally stronger than the tendency to respond to the site of stimulation; only that automatic imitation is stronger than spatial compatibili ty when the spatial cue is smaller and less dynamic than the body movement cue. The present study provided a more stringent test of the strength of automatic imitation by comparing it with that of the tendency to obey verbal commands. Like imitation, verbal command is a common method of instruction in everyday life, and the power of words to evoke actions is a product of deeply engrained mechanisms.Indeed, one theory of imitation, the associative sequence learning (ASL) model (e. g. Heyes & Ray, 2000), suggests that the two response tendencies become engrained in the same way; that we learn to imitate through correlated 5 Actions speak louder than words experience of observing and executing action units, just as we learn the meanings of words through correlated experience of the words and their referents. We used a Stroop procedure to compare the strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command. There were four groups of participants.In the focal group (Manual-Auditory), particip ants were required in each trial to open or to close their hand in response to a compound stimulus. The compound consisted of an image of a hand in an open, closed or neutral posture, and the sound of a word: ‘open’, ‘close’ or a neutral nonword. In one condition, participants were instructed to imitate the action and to ignore the word (action-relevant task), and in the other condition they were told to obey the verbal command and to ignore the action (word-relevant task).In any given trial, the stimulus on the taskirrelevant dimension (the word in the action task, and the action in the word task) was compatible, incompatible or neutral with respect to the stimulus on the taskrelevant dimension. For example, in the action task, an image of an open hand was accompanied equally often by the word ‘open’ (compatible), the word ‘close’ (incompatible) and by a nonword (neutral). If the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency t o obey verbal commands, then, in this focal group, one would expect the impact on performance of action stimuli in the word task to be greater than the impact of word stimuli in Actions speak louder than words the action task. More specifically, one would expect the compatible taskirrelevant stimulus to speed responding, and /or the incompatible task-irrelevant stimulus to slow responding, more in the word task than in the action task. However, an effect of this kind would not be sufficient to show that automatic imitation is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, for two reasons. First, it could be that the action images used in this experiment were more salient or easier to discriminate than the word stimuli.In this case, one would expect action images to be more potent stimuli, not only for automatic imitation, but also for nonimitative responding. To address this issue, we included a second group of participants (Vocal-Auditory) who were presented with exactly the s ame stimuli as the focal group, action images in compound with word sounds, but they were required to make vocal rather than imitative responses. For example, in the action task, this group said ‘open’ when they saw an opened hand, and ‘close’ when they saw a closed hand.Langton, O’Malley, & Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) found that irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. Therefore, we expected that, in contrast with the focal group, the performance of the Vocal-Auditory group would be affected equally by irrelevant actions in the word task, and by irrelevant words in the action task. 7 Actions speak louder than words The second issue concerns modality of stimulus presentation.In the focal group, actions were presented visually and words were presented in the auditory modality because those conditions are typical of everyday life. In the course of development, it i s likely that simple verbal instructions, consisting of a single word, are more often heard than seen. However, because spoken words unfold over time, whereas images are instantaneously available for processing, auditory presentation of verbal commands could put them at a disadvantage.In other words, if irrelevant actions have a greater impact than irrelevant words in the focal group, this could reflect, not the relative strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command, but faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. To address this issue we included two further groups in which the word stimuli were written rather than spoken. One of these groups (Manual-Visual) made hand movement responses, and the other (Vocal-Visual) made vocal responses. Thus, there were four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, ManualVisual and Vocal-Visual.We predicted that in the focal Manual-Auditory group the effect of irrelevant actions on speed of responding to words would be greater than th e effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. If this asymmetric effect indicates that the automatic tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, rather than an effect of nonspecific features of the stimuli or stimulus-response mapping, then it should also be present in the Manual-Visual group, but not in the Vocal-Auditory or Vocal-Visual groups. 8 Actions speak louder than words Method Participants Forty-eight right-handed volunteers (15 men, mean age: 22.  ±7. 5 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, Manual-Visual and Vocal-Visual. All had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and normal hearing. The experiment was carried out with local ethical approval and written consent. Stimuli and Apparatus Warning and imperative stimuli were compounds of hand actions and words with coincidental onsets. Hand actions were life-sized images of postures made by a male right hand, taken from the angle at whic h one normally views one’s own hand, and presented on a laptop computer screen (60Hz, 400mm, 96DPI) in color on a black background.For the warning stimulus, the hand was in a neutral posture, with the fingers closed and pointing upwards in parallel with the thumb (visual angle: 6. 96 ° x 13. 33 °), and was shown for a variable duration between 800ms and 1520ms. For the imperative stimuli, the hand was in an opened (15. 5 ° x 13. 5 °), closed (7. 0 ° x 11. 2 °) or inverted neutral posture (see Figure 1D for examples), and was shown for 640ms. Word stimuli were either sound files presented via the laptop’s internal speaker (auditory) or superimposed in white 9 Actions speak louder than words nk on the hand stimuli in the centre of the screen (visual; 6. 5 ° to 7. 1 ° x 2. 6 ° to 3. 1 °). For the warning stimulus, the nonword clepo was presented for 650ms (auditory) or between 800 and 1520ms (visual). For the imperative stimuli, the word ‘openâ⠂¬â„¢, ‘close’ or the nonword pocle (see Figure 1C for examples) were presented for 640ms (visual) or between 600ms and 640ms (auditory). The nonwords clepo (warning stimulus) and pocle (neutral stimulus) were phonotactic amalgams of phonemes contained in the two words ‘open’ and ‘close’.Pocle contained the same syllables as clepo, presented in reverse order. For the manual response groups, response onset of opening and closing hand movements was measured by recording the electromyogram (EMG) from the first dorsal interosseus muscle of the right hand (see Heyes et al. , 2005). For the vocal response groups, onset of voice responses was measured via a free-standing electret microphone (Vivanco EM 32, Vivanco-direct. com). The RT interval began with the onset of the imperative stimulus, and ended with EMG onset (manual responses) or the activation of the microphone (vocal responses).Design and Procedure Participants sat at a viewing distance of a pproximately 700mm from the stimulus presentation screen. For the manual response groups, the participant’s right forearm lay in a horizontal position across his/her body, supported from elbow to wrist by an armrest. The wrist was rotated so that the fingers moved 10 Actions speak louder than words upwards during opening responses, and downwards when closing. Thus, the plane of response movement (up-down) was orthogonal to the plane of action stimulus movement (left-right), controlling for any effects of left-right spatial compatibility.After making each response, participants returned their hand to the neutral starting position; their fingers closed and parallel to the thumb. Each trial began with the presentation of the warning stimulus. After a variable duration it was replaced by the imperative stimulus. Participants were instructed to respond to the imperative stimulus as quickly as possible, without making errors, by opening or closing their hand (manual response groups ) or by saying ‘open’ or ‘close’ (vocal response groups) as soon as they saw an open or closed hand posture (action-relevant task), or heard or saw the word ‘open’ or ‘close’ (word-relevant task).They were instructed to ignore the irrelevant dimension. After the presentation of the imperative stimulus, the screen went black for 3000ms before the next trial. Four action-relevant and four word-relevant task blocks of 60 trials were presented in alternating order, counterbalanced between participants. Relevant and irrelevant stimulus compounds were compatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘open’), incompatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘close’) or neutral (e. . an open hand accompanied by the nonword pocle). The six trial types, defined by compatibility (compatible, neutral or 11 Actions speak louder than words incompatible) and relevant stimulus (open or close), were equiproba ble and randomly intermixed within each block. Results Mean RTs are plotted as a function of task and compatibility in Figures 1AD. Incorrect responses and RTs less than 100ms or greater than 1500ms were removed (3. 1%). Figure 1 about hereAs predicted, in the focal Manual-Auditory group (A) the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on responding to actions; there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This asymmetry was not observed in the Vocal-Auditory group (B), who responded to exactly the same stimuli using vocal responses rather than hand actions, suggesting that the asymmetry was not due to greater salience of the action than of the word stimuli.The asymmetry favoring actions over words was present in 12 Actions speak louder than words the Manual-Visual group (C), who saw rather than heard the word stimuli, indicating that it did not depend on faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. Providing fur ther confirmation that this asymmetry was not due to nonspecific factors, the Vocal–Visual group (D) showed the reverse asymmetry; irrelevant actions had a lesser effect on responding to words than did irrelevant words on responding to actions.These impressions were confirmed by an initial ANOVA, in which task (action-relevant, word-relevant) and compatibility (compatible, neutral, incompatible) were within-subject factors, and response mode (manual, vocal) and word modality (auditory, visual) were between-subject factors, and by subsequent analyses in which a 2Ãâ€"3 ANOVA (task x compatibility) was applied to the RT data from each group separately. The initial analysis indicated a significant three-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode: F(2, 94) = 35. , p < . 001), and a nonsignificant four-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode x word modality: F(2, 94) = 1. 1, p = . 341). The separate analysis of the data from the focal Manual-Auditory group yielded a significant interaction between task and compatibility (F(2, 22) = 20. 8, p < . 001), confirming that there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This interaction was also significant in the Manual-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 25. 5, p < . 001), but it was 13 Actions speak louder than words bsent in the Vocal-Auditory group (F(2, 22) = 1. 5, p = . 252), and reversed in the Vocal-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 5. 5, p = . 017). In the two groups where there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words, mean RT in the action-relevant task was shorter than in the word-relevant task (Manual-Auditory: F(1, 11) = 48. 7, p < . 001; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 172. 3, p < . 001). To check whether the action-dominant asymmetry was dependent on this main effect of task on RT, the data from these groups were subjected to bin analyses.For each group, RTs of each participant in each task were divided into five bins of equal size (Ratcliff, 1979). Three quintiles were selected in which, wi thin group, mean RT on neutral trials was approximately equal in action-relevant and word-relevant tasks. The data from these quintiles were subjected to 2x3x3 ANOVAs (task x compatibility x bin). These analyses showed that, in each group, although there was no main effect of task on RT (Manual-Auditory: F < 1; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 1. 1, p = . 16), there was a significant task x compatibility interaction (Manual-Auditory: F(2, 22) = 11. 8, p < . 001; Manual-Visual: F(2, 22) = 11. 9, p = . 001). Thus, the action-dominant asymmetry observed in the Manual-Auditory and Manual-Visual groups did not depend on faster responding in the action task than in the word task. 14 Actions speak louder than words Discussion Previous research has shown that healthy adult humans have a pervasive and automatic tendency to imitate the actions of others, but this is the first study to provide a stringent test of the strength of this tendency.Using hand actions in a Stroop procedure, the power of act ions to elicit imitative responses was compared with the strength of our tendency to obey verbal commands. The results from the focal group, who made manual responses to simultaneously presented actions and spoken words, showed that the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on imitative responding to actions. The same asymmetry was observed when written, rather than spoken, words were presented, indicating that it was not due to faster processing in the visual modality.The same asymmetry was not observed when participants made vocal, rather than imitative, responses, indicating that the action-dominant asymmetry was not due to greater salience or discriminability of the action images than of the verbal stimuli. Therefore, these findings suggest that the human tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands. Previous studies have indicated that irrelevant actions influence the control of movements made in response to color, spatial and symbolic cues (Sturmer et al. , 2000; Bertenthal et al. 2006; Brass et al. , 2000). The present findings show for 15 Actions speak louder than words the first time that automatic imitation effects occur, not only when the imperative stimuli bear an arbitrary or purely spatial relationship with responses, but also when they are verbal commands; that is, when the relationship between the imperative stimulus and the response is both specific and overlearned. Langton, O’Malley, & Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) used a Stroop procedure to compare the power of actions and words, but they did not examine imitative responding.Instead, they required participants to make vocal responses to directional gestures (a person pointing up, down, left and right) and to their verbal equivalents, and found symmetrical compatibility effects; irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to g estures. We found the same symmetrical pattern in our Vocal-Auditory group, when participants were making nonimitative responses, but a contrasting pattern, indicating action dominance, when participants were making imitative responses.Thus, comparison of the two studies i) confirms that action dominance is specific to imitation, and ii) indicates that, in the case of nonimitative vocal responding, actions and words have comparable impact both when the action stimuli are pointing gestures and when they are opening and closing hand movements. 16 Actions speak louder than words In a variant of the game ‘Simon says’, played at teatime in Victorian England, children were required to grip the tablecloth when an adult, gripping or releasing the cloth, said ‘Hold tight! ’, and to release the cloth, regardless of the adult’s action, when he said ‘Let go! . Presumably, amusement derived from the fact that, like the participants in the present experiment , children could not resist the influence of automatic imitation, and were therefore compelled flagrantly to disobey the authority of verbal command. However, the results of the present study do not merely vindicate the disobedient behavior of Victorian children. They show that automatic imitation is much more than a parlour game, or a device that experimental psychologists can use to investigate the processes involved in stimulus-response translation.These findings show that automatic imitation is not only pervasive but also powerful. Even among healthy, typicallydeveloping adults, it is more powerful than the tendency to obey verbal commands. In this context, actions do indeed speak louder than words. 17 Actions speak louder than words References Bertenthal, B. I. , Longo, M. R. , & Kosobud, A. (2006). Imitative response tendencies following observation of intransitive actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32, 210–225. Brass, M. , Be kkering, H. , Wohlschlager, A. , & Prinz, W. 2000). Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues. Brain and Cognition, 44, 124-43. Buccino, G. , Binkofski, F. , Fink, G. R. , Fadiga, L. , Fogassi, L. , Gallese, V. , Seitz, R. J. , Zilles, K. , Rizzolatti, G. , & Freund, H. J. (2001). Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: an fMRI study. European Journal of Neuroscience, 13, 400-404. Charman, T. , & Baron-Cohen, S. (1994). Another look at imitation in autism. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 403-413.Darwin, C. (1989). Voyage of the Beagle. London: Penguin Books. 18 Actions speak louder than words Heyes, C. M. , & Ray, E. D. (2000). What is the significance of imitation in animals? Advances in the Study of Behavior, 29, 215–245. Heyes, C. M. , Bird, G. , Johnson, H. , & Haggard, P. (2005). Experience modulates automatic imitation. Cognitive Brain Research, 22, 233-240. Kilner, J. M. , Paulignan, Y. , & Blakemore, S. J. (2003). An interference effect of observed biological movement on action. Current Biology, 13, 522–525. Lakin, J. L. , & Chartrand, T. L. (2003).Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport. Psychological Science, 14, 334-339. Langton, S. R. H. , O'Malley, C. , & Bruce, V. (1996). Actions speak louder than words: Symmetrical cross-modal interference effects in the processing of verbal and gestural information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 1357–1375. Lhermitte, F. , Pillon, B. , & Serdaru, N. (1986). Human autonomy and the frontal lobes. Part I: Imitation and utilization behavior: a neuropsychological study of 75 patients. Annals of Neurology, 19, 326-334. 19Actions speak louder than words Meltzoff, A. N. & Moore, M. K. (1997). Explaining facial imitation: A theoretical model. Early Development and Parenting, 6, 179-192. Ratcliff, R. (1979). Group reaction time distributions and an analysis of distribution statistics. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 446–461. Simpson, A. & Riggs, K. J. (2007). Under what conditions do young children have difficulty inhibiting manual actions? Developmental Psychology, 43, 417-428. Strafella, A. P. & Paus, T. (2000). Modulation of cortical excitability during action observation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.Neuroreport, 11, 22892292. Sturmer, B. , Aschersleben, G. , & Prinz, W. (2000). Correspondence effects with manual gestures and postures: a study of imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 26, 1746-1759. Tagliabue, M. , Zorzi, M. , Umilta, C. , & Bassignani, F. (2000). The role of longterm-memory and short-term-memory links in the Simon effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 26, 648-670. 20 Actions speak louder than words Thorndike, E. L. (1898).Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associa tive Processes in Animals (Psychological Review, Monograph Supplements, No. 8). New York: Macmillan. Wallbott, H. G. (1991). Recognition of emotion from facial expression via imitation? Some indirect evidence for an old theory. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 207-219. 21 Actions speak louder than words Author note AB is now at Faculte de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Education, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 22 Actions speak louder than words Figure caption Figure 1.RTs in compatible, neutral and incompatible trials for word-relevant (solid line) and action-relevant (broken line) task conditions. Results are presented separately for the four different participant groups: (A) ManualAuditory, (B) Vocal-Auditory, (C) Manual-Visual and (D) Vocal-Visual. Vertical bars indicate standard error of the mean. Images show compatible, neutral and incompatible stimulus compounds in action-relevant (Panel C) and word-relevant (Panel D) task conditions fo r the visual word modality groups (C and D). For the auditory word modality groups (A and B), words were spoken. 23

Critical Essay on Cadbury

Cadbury’s Coporate Social Responsibility Businesses these days are much different from how it was in previous generations. Nowadays, society impacts that corporation has is not only about economic power, instead it has also gone into corporate social responsibilities. Cadbury is an international company that is the second largest confectionary company in the world. (Factbox: British confectioner Cadbury 2010).Therefore, they have a bigger impact to affect both positively and negatively on the society as they have a bigger influence and power on the society due to their dominance in market share. In this essay, it will go in depth about the performance of Cadbury in relation to its corporate social responsibility. This essay will explain and argue a balanced argument about the negative and positive impact Cadbury has today on its society by analyzing their â€Å"Cadbury Community† programme and their association with child labour.Negative Social Responsibility of Cadbury According to a documentary called â€Å"Slavery† on the BBC, it documented cocoa beans production and how it is related to child labour, in the documentary, it focused on Cadbury, aiming at them about that negative social responsibility that they have. The reason for child labour in the cocoa production is because of the prices that are set on the cocoa beans is very low when it is sold. For example, farmers are only selling their cocoa beans for only a mere sum of money, therefore they would want to gain more profit.The only way to do that is to get cheaper labour so that their expenses are not so high which would result in higher revenue earned at the end of the day. Since child labour is one of the cheapest labour in the world, it is the top choice for labour to keep cost down would be child labour. In a brighter light, not everyone was affected by the low priced cocoa beans. For example, Cadbury was still able to employ many people around the world and still kept their p roduct prices down to continue attracting their customers.However, Cadbury was later seen as a supporter of child labour. Reason being, Cadbury were purchasing the cocoa beans from the farmers that were using child labour for their cocoa beans production. This in turn makes Cadbury a supporter of child labour as well as they are purchasing the beans from the farmers which encourages them to continue that they are doing. The consumers later came into conclusion that the low prices of Cadbury’s chocolate were not worth the children’s hard cheap labour in the developing countries. Read Critical Essay about Skurzynski’s NethergraveThe world’s largest cocoa producer, Cote d'Ivoire has given the possibility of Cadbury to demand the cocoa beans at a very low price. (World Cocoa Production. n. d. ) As they are the largest producers, they have more control of the cocoa prices around the world. To further exxagerate how much farmers of the cocoa production are getting paid, an example would be, for every kilogram of cocoa beans that a farmer harvest, they are getting paid almost the same amount of how much a bar of chocolate consumers pay for consumption. Which in most cases, would be a range of a dollar to two dollars. (Olivier. 2012. . This is not following their policies that Cadbury should be following under their code of conduct (Our Business Principles. 2008. ). In the document, it states that it is their responsibility, both corporate and social to make sure that there are proper and ethical practices to manage the business. Ethical issues such a s human rights, ethical trading and employment practices are considered when business is done in Cadbury. However, that is not much of the case when Cadbury is purchasing low and unfairly priced cocoa beans from the farmers. This is against their ethical values of ethical trading.Reason being, as mentioned above in this essay, by purchasing the beans at such a low cost, it is encouraging the farmers to hire more child labourers in order to keep their cost of production down and to gain more revenue earned. The stakeholders that are mostly affected would be the children that are forced to work at the farms to harvest the cocoa beans. Working at the farms does not only mean long working hours with very little pay, it also means that they might get beaten often due to carelessness at work or not meeting the expected weight of cocoa beans.It also means that they might not even get paid after working long hours with no food (Cocoa Campaign. n. d. ). By the year 2003, Cote d’Ivoire , which is the world’s largest cocoa producing nation, had about 109,000 child labourers (Country Reports on Human Rights and Practices. 2003). Out of the 109,000 children, more than half of them were said to be working on their own farms owned by their parents. The rest of the children, which consists of about 10,000 of them, are working as slaves or are being trafficked.By working on the farms, it means that the children are not given a chance to go to school to increase their knowledge or to further their education. This would therefore result in a vicious cycle of people depending solely on cocoa farming in order to earn enough money to meet their basic needs. For example, when a child is forced to work on the farms, he will not be able to attend school to gain knowledge to have a chance to get out of the country to work. Since he is stuck on the farm, he will grow up only with the knowledge on how to harvest cocoa beans.His main concern would be to maintain the farm and to earn more money for his family. In order to earn more money, it means that he has to harvest more cocoa beans. Therefore, he will need more help at the farm. Therefore, he will want to get as much help from his children to increase the cocoa beans production. This would continue in a cycle. Cadbury did try to solve the problem that they have made by sourcing their cocoa beans from Ghana, the second largest cocoa producer instead of from Cote d’lvoire. However, many people still are uncertain about their true motives to really solve the problem created.Reason being, back in 2001, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) which consisted of large chocolate confectionary companies such as M, Cadbury and Mars Inc. decided to make a promise that their cocoa beans production would be free of child labourers by 2005, July. The commitment was made to the Cocoa Industry Protocol (CIP) (Protocol for Growing and Processing of Cocoa Beans and Their Derivative Products. 2001. ). Al though some large chocolate confectionary companies signed the CIP, none of them were able to meet the criteria of the commitment.Therefore, the dateline was extended and the percentage of their cocoa beans to come from childfree labourers was also reduced. Cadbury has recently self publicized that their products are now labeled as ‘Fair Trade Certified' (About Fairtrade n. d. ) which means that in general perception, a minimum price is to be directly paid to the cocoa producers which would hopefully reduce child labour. However, this is not the case reason being, when farmers are paid the minimum sum of money for their cocoa beans through the Fair Trade premiums, they will still have to minus off the a huge sum of their profit.So what exactly are reducing the farmer’s profit? They are the administrative expenses, operating costs, business reinvestments and other social costs (Fairtrade Certified: Frequently Asked Questions – Advanced n. d. ). Therefore, at the e nd of the day, cocoa farmers are still earning very little. This was just a spin doctoring made by Cadbury to change the public’s perception of Cadbury’s wrong doings. Positive Social Responsibility of Cadbury Cadbury does not only have negative corporate social responsibilities, instead, they are doing well in their work for the local communities around the world.Cadbury has donated some of their profits back to the community. Although this is just a mere 1% of their profit before tax, it is still something as some other companies are not even contributing back to the society at all (Working Together to Make a Difference in the Community n. d. ). Cadbury also has a community that helps in the society’s health, welfare, enterprise, education and environmental sustainability. For example, Cadbury’s â€Å"Miles for Smiles† event involves employees to walk between their two factories and raise funds for to raise funds for the less fortunate.Adding on, Cadbury has also donated to charities, sponsored to countries to help with their developments, developed programmes to help the less fortunate around the world. All these work was done voluntarily by Cadbury. Therefore, it displays the positive side of their company’s social responsibility to give back to the society. Conclusion Although Cadbury has done many negative impacts on the society, they had their fair share of making the world a better place by contributing back to the society as much as they can.Some of the public might still find that Cadbury has a lack of empathy towards ethical issues such as child labour. This might affect Cadbury’s reputation as this would be a hard point to erase form the consumer’s mind. Which means that no matter how much positive things that Cadbury does, at the back of the consumer’s mind, they will always remember the negative impact that Cadbury had caused that is now hard to resolve. And although Cadbury is trying hard to contribute back positively to the society, the public might see is as a way for Cadbury to advertise themselves more.Therefore, in order to keep up the good reputation and try to convert more of the public to view them positively, Cadbury has to keep up with their moral integrity and ethical guidelines, which is seen as a positive action by the public. Work Cited About Fairtrade. n. d. http://www. fairtrade. com. au/about (accessed August 31, 2010) Cocoa Campaign. n. d. http://www. laborrights. org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign (accessed August 30, 2010) Country Reports on Human Rights and Practices. 2003. http://www. state. gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27723. htm (accessed August 30, 2010)Factbox: British confectioner Cadbury. 2010. http://uk. reuters. com/article/idINTRE60D1XX20100114? pageNumber=2=0=true (accessed August 30, 2010) Fairtrade Certified: Frequently Asked Questions – Advanced. n. d. http://www. transfairusa. org/content/resources/faq-advanced. php#indiv iduals (accessed August 31, 2010) Our Business Principles. 2008. http://collaboration. cadbury. com/SiteCollectionDocuments/English%20Booklet. pdf (accessed August 30, 2010) Olivier, M. 2012. Ivory Coast Cocoa Farmers to Put Pay Raise in Crop Output. http://www. bloomberg. om/news/2012-10-05/ivory-coast-cocoa-farmers-to-put-pay-raise-in-crop-production. html (accessed April 2, 2013). Protocol for Growing and Processing of Cocoa Beans and Their Derivative Products. 2001. http://www. cocoainitiative. org/images/stories/pdf/harkin%20engel%20protocol. pdf (accessed August 31, 2010) Working Together to Make a Difference in the Community. n. d. http://www. cadbury. com. au/Cadbury-Community. aspx (accessed August 31, 2010) World Cocoa Production. n. d. http://www. zchocolat. com/chocolate/chocolate/cocoa-production. asp (accessed April 2, 2013).

Argument eassy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Argument eassy - Essay Example Some people believe that euthanasia is not wrong since it helps to ease the pain and suffering of the patient in case of terminal illnesses. In situations where patients are in critical conditions or life support machines with no signs of recovery, others prefer administering euthanasia (Peterson 23). Others believe that euthanasia saves money and resources. The amount of cash required for health care in many communities is high. In addition, the hospital beds and doctors in many hospitals are deficient. The supporters deem this as a massive misuse or waste of money and resources if they use funds to prolong the lives of already dying and suffering patients (Peterson 14). In my opinion, the only time that euthanasia should be administered is when there is consent of â€Å"voluntary euthanasia†. This is when the patient comes to a decision by themselves that they would wish to die rather than suffer in anguish and pain. This decision may come at the time, or possibly they may have written down a ‘living will’ giving permission to doctors to kill them if they ever are in a condition where they will never recover or regain consciousness. Marijuana has long been known as a remedy for many illnesses while physicians used it to arouse an appetite, reduce chronic agonizing pain, and treat migraines and even asthma. However, it has for so long been regarded as illegal (Burnham 1). In my opinion, I think legalizing medical marijuana is the right as long as it is strictly being used for medicinal purposes in order to save lives. Ever since childhood, everyone was being told not to do drug since they are dangerous to ones life. Doing drugs is obviously wrong. However, in severe medical condition where medical marijuana is needed for a cure or pain killer, it should be legalized since life is important. The main argument concerning marijuana comes from the legalization of the drug for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. This debate has two approaches.

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Critically discuss the view that gender is relevant to the study of INTELLIGENCE. Ground your answer in theory and illustrate w - Essay Example However, since other variables (age, socio-cultural, and environmental factors, etc.) may also affect brain activity and behavior, the amount of certainty for the differences in cognitive ability between genders base on the innate neuroanatomical brain structure pose complexity for the researchers in measuring individual’s intelligence. To begin with, clinical/educational psychologist Richard Pratt (2009) defined human intelligence as a very special mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience, and it is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smartness, but rather but rather reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings. Academic achievement is one of the most widely accepted aspects of life that reflects intelligence and because achievement is expected to accompany intelligence, a test that correlates with achievements has some evidence that it is measuring intelligence (Hersen, 2004, p. 26). IQ (Intelligent Quotient) test generally measures cognitive ability in the form of intelligence assessment tools. It attempts to measure the individual’s intellectual functioning or the basic ability to understand and assimilate the world and how this knowledge is being applied in life. Various qualities such as factual knowledge, short-term memory, abstract reasoning, visual-spatial abilities, and common sense are measured by IQ test (Rich, n.d.). Commonly-used IQ test tools that provide verbal and nonverbal assessments of intelligence are Stanford-Binet test, Wechsler Scales, and SAT (scholastic assessment test). However, SAT has been criticized for the possible effects of gender bias (Santrock, 2005). In connection to measuring intelligence among individuals, whether gender plays a significant factor that may predict one’s cognitive ability edge has been an interesting issue subjected under many investigations. Various studies were made in different countries all over the world to find any significant difference between the performances of both genders. In Turkey, one study to determine significant gender differences in academic performance among undergraduate students in a large university was conducted in Turkey by Dayioglu and Turut-Asik (2004). This study was based on three indicators; university entrance scores, performance in the English preparatory school, and performance (based on cumulative grade point average or CGPA) in the program where the student is majoring in. Results showed a gender gap in favor of male students in terms of university entrance score, as well as in the performance in English preparatory school. However, female students outperformed their male counterparts in the program where they major in based on CGPA. The authors concluded that despite their lower university entrance scores and under-representation i n most departments, female undergraduate students outperform the males during their college years. Derived results have implications on the gender segregation by fields of study to open and encourage female students to get into lucrative study fields as the study have shown their competence in terms of

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Planning for further diversification and the sharing of good practice Assignment

Planning for further diversification and the sharing of good practice - Assignment Example y of Justice, Lord Chamber, The Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), The Lord Chief Justice, Legal Service Commission and the Lawyers. Similarly, the report will also analyze the structure of the judiciary in the English Legal System. Inherently, the work of the Ministry of Justice with regard to the English Legal System includes supporting the judiciary as well as providing legal aid and guidance on the constitutional reforms (Slapper, 2009). In addition, the Ministry of Justice is also responsible for ensuring that there are policies with regard to the civil, family, criminal, and administrative justice system. More importantly, this also includes the Law commission. Moreover, the ministry of justice is supposed to ensure there is adherence to the sentencing policy, as well as provide support to both the courts and the tribunals and make sure that they are fully operational. The Lord Chancellor plays a pivotal role in the English Legal System. This encompasses being a member of the government, as a cabinet minister (Elliott, 2012). Secondly, the Lord Chancellor has a law making role since he is a member of the second legislative chamber the House of Lords. The Lord Chamber also serves as the head of judiciary, together with being a sitting judge and as such the Lord Chamber has the mandate to appoint judges, or recommend judges for appointment. Under the Lord Chancellor, there are superior judges together with inferior judges. The superior judges include the Law Lords, Lords Justice of Appeal, High court Judges who sit in the House of Lords, court of Appeal and High Court respectively. Similarly, the inferior Judges include the Circuit Judges, Recorders, who are full time judges and part-time judges respectively in county court and crown court respectively (Slapper, 2009). More importantly, the District Judges are also part of inferior judges who sit in Magistrates’ Court and county court. Notably, the

Comparison in the Issue Between USA and South Africa Essay Example for Free

Comparison in the Issue Between USA and South Africa Essay This paper seeks to make a comparison on freedom of expression between the United States and South Africa. The question to be answered in contained the definition of the problem. II. Definition of the Problem (or Issue/Topic) Is the freedom of expression now in the Republic of South Africa now comparable with that of the United States? III. Nature and Extent of the Problem in the Two Countries The Republic of South has evolved into a republic not many years ago which signifies its adoption of democratic framework which basically includes the freedom of expression as part of the rights of the citizens. The US Constitution which includes the freedom of expression on the other hand has been in existence much longer in number of years as compared with RSA’s. Given the extent of the proliferation of the technology and the universal nature of human rights at this point, it is interesting to evaluate whether the rights or freedom of expression are comparable or have close similarities between the two countries. IV. Dynamics of the Problem This part would refer to the factors that could create or perpetuate the problem or those that would tend toward elimination/resolution of the problem. What could create the problem may include lack of vigilance of the citizens in protecting their rights. Democracy requires vigilance of its citizens (Shaw, S. , 2001; Africa Research Bureau, 1981) and the failure of these citizens to assert their right could result to the demise or non-enjoyment of the right. Another factor is the support of the courts to uphold the right of the citizens by the nature of the decisions made. It is also required that courts need to have independence from the political branch of the government (Lieberman, 2006; Bowman Iii, 2005). What could work towards elimination or resolution could come from the factors that c could create or perpetuate the problem. If the citizens therefore are vigilant, there is a great chance that the right would triumph in the court battles. Similarly if the courts are independent from the political branches of government and that the resulting decision are based on the spirit and letter of the rights or freedom of expression (Pasqualucci, 2006; Pannill, 2002), they by all mean, the conflict if any on these rights may be resolved in favor of their assertion and eventual enjoyment by its citizens V. Analysis on the Degree of Comparability It could be cited that RSA’s ratification of its 1996 Constitution, signaled the adoption of some of the best practices from the different part of the world including that of the US. Since US is believed to the leader in the area of human rights, it could be thought the RSA may actually have improved on what is has adopted. The IFLA/FAIFE World Report: Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (1998) indicates that South Africa still requires more time to have its freedom to be considered comparable to the US. There is thus the RSA court decision involving the freedom of expression thing and what came out was that the Supreme Court has just even overruling previous decisions in favor of the upholding better right of freedom of expression. This means that RSA’s judicial system needs more time to really attain what the US as leader in human rights has attained as to freedom of expression. The IFLA/FAIFE World Report: Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (1998) has cited a decision on defamation in favor of â€Å"City Press† where the court has recently removed the unfair burden of legal liability on media. Without this ruling, the media would continue to be inhibited in its ability in championing the right to freedom of expression. This recent ruling was therefore considered as a victory of the principles of freedom of expression as contained in RSA’ Constitution. Since it was just made recently because of the RSA’s history of more repressive regimes, it could be asserted that it may require more time before RSA could match the kind of right now enjoyed in the US. VI. Conclusion Based on recent rulings of South Africa’s Supreme Court, it could be deduced that citizens of RSA could now be having more freedom of expression. But as stated in the dynamic of the problem, there are factors that could determine the resolution of conflicts pertaining to the right and the same factors could also be influenced the decrease or demise of the rights to expression. One of this is vigilance that must be asserted by the citizens of South Africa. The present level of technology could be a great help for them to use to protect their right by their acts of vigilance. The courts too need to be independent from political branches of government and be not cowed by the experiences of past regimes in South Africa. It has taken South Africa to adopt those of the US principles on human rights including the freedom of expression. It should be enough to conclude, it could not be that fast to reach what the US has attained in many decades for RSA’s freedom expression of expression to attain high degree of comparability with the US. VII. References Africa Research Bureau (1981) Africa Research Bulletin, Africa Research, Ltd. , 1981 Bowman Iii (2005) Mr. Madison Meets a Time Machine: The Political Science of Federal Sentencing Reform; Stanford Law Review, Vol. 58 ICL (2008) The Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, {www document} http://www. servat. unibe. ch/icl/sf__indx. html, Accessed November 11, 2008 IFLA/FAIFE World Report: Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (1998), {www document} http://www. ifla. org/faife/report/south_africa. htm, Accessed November 11, 2008 Lieberman (2006) Sorting the Revolutionary from the Terrorist: The Delicate Application of the Political Offense Exception in U. S. Extradition Cases; Stanford Law Review, Vol. 59 Pannill (2002) Free Speech, The Peoples Darling Privilege: Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History; Journal of Southern History, Vol. 68, 2002 Pasqualucci (2006) Criminal Defamation and the Evolution of the Doctrine of Freedom of Expression in International Law: Comparative Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 39 Shaw, S. (2001) South Africas Transition to Democracy: An African Success Story : a Resource Book on the Positive Changes of the Nineties, The Author

Gender Roles in Sports Essay Example for Free

Gender Roles in Sports Essay Gender Roles in Sports Ever since the beginning of the Olympics Games in Greece in 776 B. C. , women have always been put on the back burner when it comes to sports. To this day there are very noticeable differences in women’s sports compared the nature of men’s sports. Women and men alike experience their inequalities in sports. For example, of you were to ask a group of people what they would rather watch: women’s basketball or men’s basketball; generally speaking the majority of the group would favor watching men’s basketball. On the contrary, most individuals would rather watch women’s synchronized swimming as opposed to men’s synchronized swimming. Sports and all things involved are a business. Men playing professional sports get paid drastically more than women playing professional sports. It would be highly unlikely for a woman to get paid a 60 million dollar contract over six years like a man in professional sports would. According to www. therichest. org, soccer player David Beckham is currently worth 219 million dollars. He made 40 million dollars last year. If you compare that to the highest paid women’s athlete, Maria Sharapova, who made over 25 million dollars, this fact proclaims that fans pay drastically more to see males to play professional sports. According to www. therichest. org, the ten highest paid professional women’s athlete made 113 million dollars over the past twelve months, up only one percent from the year 2010. The ten highest paid, professional male sports athletes collectively made 449 million dollars. The reason they set up the Olympics Games like they did in 776 B. C. , by not allowing to participate or even watch, is because the spectators wanted to only have the strongest, fastest, and most durable to play and even witness the games. The games were a tribute to the Greek God Zeus. The people of Greece wanted to show Zeus the best of the best in their society. People don’t want to watch women play sports just like they don’t want to watch dumb people play chess or jeopardy. It’s logic, not sexism. When you watch the WNBA the most exciting thing you see is a backwards layup or a no look pass. When you watch the NBA, you see a man doing three hundred sixty degree slam dunks and all kinds of other cool tricks that naturally appease the like of their fans. The dynamic presence of men doing what women can’t inevitably draw’s a bigger crowd. Contact sports especially have a really addictive and enticing nature about them that women’s sports simply don’t have. All these aspects of contact driven sports are masculine, testosterone driven traits that are unlike the nature of women. This is the main reason their participation is absent and men dominate the sports fan’s wants. Gender inequality in sports has always been a growing problem up until June 23, 1973 when President Nixon signed Title IX. This law was a huge victory for women in the fight for equality in sports. â€Å"The law prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity within any institution any type of Federal financial assistance,† according to Duffy. This was women’s first chance to gain legal equality in sports. Women didn’t just get equality from this law, but they also got opportunity for equality. This law addressed the historical discrimination women have faced ever since the beginning of the Olympics first came about in 776 B. C. There is no women’s professional football team or any kind of football league for women. Men are not interested in watching women play the types of sports that men are always going to be better at. The only exception is women’s football where they play wearing lingerie; it’s sick how society works like that. The NBA is in a lock out as this paper is being typed. You can see the progress on the news every day. If the WNBA were to be in a lockout, the chances of it being on the news every day is highly unlikely. There are in fact sports that women are becoming more popular in like golf, gymnastics, figure skating, volleyball, and tennis. These sports complement the shape of a woman’s body. Also, figure skating, volleyball, and gymnastics are sports the women are especially better at due to their elegant figures and different bone structure. The stars of these sports are portrayed as sexy, curvy, graceful, and radiant. Men who are famous with sports like basketball, football, baseball, and soccer are known to be strong, dominant, and masculine. â€Å"The thought was that if women participated in strenuous activity that they would damage their reproductive organs, which would ultimately not fulfill an absurd belief that the primary role of women in society was to have children and care for the men,† heard from the thoughts of Murphy. Women in society in general are the face of modeling and sexy images. Commercials, advertisements, and every day television programs have sexy women posing with whatever it is they are trying to sell. This works the same way with them in sports. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition has a whole lot of sexy women posing in skimpy swimwear. That goes the same for the sports they’re involved in that are popular. For these reasons, women dominate those sports which lead to their popularity when it came to people watching them. There’s always the stereotype that women are lesbians or dikes for playing sports that require adequate physical strength and endurance. For instance, bodybuilding has always been a man’s sport. Women are always thought to be feminine and when you see a woman who is at least twice your size; judgments go through the roof not only with the judges, but with the audience as well. In Jennifer Banas topic of Women Athletes in Male Dominated Sports, she speaks her mind when saying, â€Å"Now, the contestants should be judged on muscle tone of the body right. Wrong. In order to define which women has the best and most well defined body, the judges feel compelled to define â€Å"body† in relation to â€Å"women. Recalling a time there was a girl at my old high school that graduated and went on to join a volleyball team at a college. After her first visit home, she was utterly disappointed to find her peers had started a rumor about her that she was a lesbian and that’s why she joined the team in the first place. It broke her heart to get that type of support, or lack thereof, from the people she grew up with who fully knew she was never a lesbian. Football is another example of this. If a woman decides she wants to become a football player, she should not have to worry about what her peers are going to say or think about her. She shouldn’t have to worry about being called those names like lesbian and dike if she wants to be a football player. When it comes to being in these competitions with lady football players, the judgments are a bit skewed and distorted due to the fact that men are typically associated with strong and large muscles. So when spectators have to look at a female figure, that has the typical aspects of a male’s figure, it can be a little confusing. The assumptions and discrimination still goes on to this day even if there is a law prohibiting it. It has been an issue since sports were first celebrated on a large scale in Greece 776 B. C. Although society is slowly but surely progressing towards a more open-minded view when it comes to sports, there is always going to be a gap when it comes to overall crowd appeal. Men’s sports are more interesting to watch simply due to the fact that they are better, faster, stronger, and intense. It all boils down to the money, and men’s sports generate more money. For these reasons gender inequality will always be a persisting problem in sports. Work Citied Page Duffy, Felice M. (2000). Twenty-seven years post title ix. http://heinonline. org/ http://serendip. brynmawr. edu/local/scisoc/sports02/papers/emurphy. html http://www. therichest. org/sports/forbes-highest-paid-female-athletes/   http://serendip. brynmawr. edu/local/scisoc/sports02/papers/jbanas. html

What is the Impact of HIV/AIDS on Women?

What is the Impact of HIV/AIDS on Women? ABSTRACT This dissertation will outline the major issues surrounding HIV/AIDS infection as it relates to women, with specific reference to women in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom (UK). It will explore the reasons why women are increasingly at greater risk of infection than males. Underpinned by a feminist analysis of womens oppression, it will include a discussion of how biological, social, sexual, economic and cultural inequalities contribute to womens vulnerability. It will also look at the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and how these factors can influence them to seek services. The differences in what is deemed â€Å"social work† in terms of both definition and practice as well as the differences in the health systems and the healthcare workers involved in delivering services in both countries will also be explored. INTRODUCTION AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, a disease that makes it difficult for the body to fight off infectious diseases. The human immunodeficiency virus known as HIV causes AIDS by infecting and damaging part of the bodys defences its lymphocytes against infection. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell in the bodys immune system and are supposed to fight off invading germs. People may be infected (HIV positive) for many years before full AIDS develops, and they may be unaware of their status. HIV can only be passed on if infected blood, semen, vaginal fluids or breast milk gets inside another persons body. HIV and AIDS can be treated, but there are no vaccines or cures for them (WHO, 2003). HIV/AIDS PREVALENCE IN WOMEN IN ZIMBABWE AND THE UK Increasingly, â€Å"the face of HIV/AIDS is a womans face† (UNAIDS, 2004). AIDS is now the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa and the fourth-highest cause of death globally (UNAIDS, 2002). AIDS is a profound human tragedy and has been referred to as the â€Å"worlds most deadly undeclared war† (Richardson, 1987). Women and girls are especially vulnerable to HIV infection due to a host of biological, social, cultural and economic factors, including womens entrenched social and economic inequality within sexual relationships and marriage. HIV/AIDS continue their devastating spread, affecting the lives of 16,000 people each day, with women, babies and young people being increasingly affected. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS has now reached almost 40 million globally (UNAIDS and WHO, 2006), and of these an estimated two-thirds live in Sub-Saharan Africa, Zimbabwe included. Zimbabwe is experiencing one of the harshest AIDS epidemics in the world. The HIV prevalence rate in Zimbabwe is among the highest in the world, although recent evidence suggests that prevalence may be starting to decline. In Zimbabwe 1.8 million adults and children are living with HIV/AIDS, with 24.6% of adults infected: women represent 58% of those infected among the 20- to 49-year-old age range. (Consortium on AIDS and International Development, 2006) In a country with such a tense political and social climate, it has been difficult to respond to the crisis. President Robert Mugabe and his government have been widely criticised by the international community, and Zimbabwe has become increasingly isolated, both politically and economically. The country has had to confront a number of severe crises in the past few years, including an unprecedented rise in inflation (in January 2008 it reached 100,000%), a severe cholera epidemic, high rates of unemployment, political violence, and a near-total collapse of the health system (AIDS and HIV Information, 2009). In Britain, HIV prevalence is relatively low and currently stands at 0.2% of the population. Statistics show that at the end of 2008 there were an estimated 88,300 people living with HIV, of whom over a quarter (22,400, or 27%) were unaware of their infection. This compares to the 77,000 people estimated to be living with HIV in 2007, of whom 28% were estimated to be unaware of their HIV infection. Of all diagnoses to the end of 2008, 45% resulted from sex between men and 42% from heterosexual sex, with black Africans representing 35% of newly diagnosed infections (HPA, 2009). According to the Health Protection Agency (2009), there has also been a dramatic increase in the number of women diagnosed with HIV. In the years up to and including 1992, females accounted for 12% of HIV diagnoses, but in 2008 that was 37%. Therefore, as HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic, the eradication of this health issue represents one of humanitys greatest challenges one that requires co-operation and comprehensive collaboration between scientific disciplines, governments, social institutions, the media, social work and healthcare professionals, and the general public (IFSW, 2009). Social workers, by virtue of their training, their commitment to human rights, and the fact that they are uniquely placed within a wide variety of health and welfare settings, can play a very effective role in the global effort to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic (IFSW, 2009). 1. CHAPTER 1 1.1 OVERVIEW OF GENDER AND VULNERABILITY TO HIV/AIDS While women are battling for equal rights throughout the international community, the existing power imbalance between men and women renders women particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV. Womens subordinate position places them at a considerable disadvantage with respect to their fundamental human right to control their own sexuality, and to access prevention, care, treatment, and support services and information. This subordination of women is mainly caused by the socially-constructed relations between men and women or, in other words, the patriarchal structure which is oppressive to women. (Walby, 1990, cited in Richardson, 2000) defines patriarchy as the â€Å"system of social structures and practices that men use to dominate, oppress and exploit women†, thus giving them greater opportunities to access services compared to females. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) and many governments are implementing educational programmes to teach women about protecting th eir health, traditional and cultural practices continue to perpetuate discrimination against women, in turn forcing women into high-risk situations. Unless proactive human-rights policies are enacted to empower, educate, and protect women with regard to their sexual autonomy, HIV/AIDS will continue to spread at an alarming rate and will have a devastating impact on all aspects of society. Even though the root of womens vulnerability lies in the imbalance in power between men and women, biological and sexual practices have an important role to play and mean that HIV transmission is unfortunately more efficient in women than in men. 1.2 WOMENS BIOLOGICAL VULNERABILITY TO HIV/AIDS Women are more biologically vulnerable to HIV than men; research has shown that women are at greater risk than men of contracting HIV both from an individual act of intercourse and from each sexual partnership. This â€Å"biological sexism† applies not only to HIV but to most other sexually transmitted diseases (Hatcher, et al, 1989). A woman has a 50 per cent chance of acquiring gonorrhoea from an infected male partner while a man has a 25 per cent chance if he has sex with an infected woman (Doyal et al., 1994). This is because the vaginal tissue absorbs fluids more easily, including the sperm, which has a higher concentration of the HIV virus than female vaginal secretions and may remain in the vagina for hours following intercourse, thus increasing womens vulnerability to infection. Not only are women more vulnerable to STIs than men, but â€Å"untreated genital infections, especially genital ulcer disease, syphilis and genital herpes, all predispose to HIV infection† (Doyal, 1994). While STDs are not necessarily gender specific, it is likely that women with STDs will remain undiagnosed and untreated for longer, increasing their risk of infection (Finnegan, et al, 1993). This is largely because women tend to remain symptomless for longer than men (Doyal, 1994). Even though much is known about the transmission of HIV to women through unprotected sex with men, less is known about the manifestations, progression, treatment and care of HIV/AIDS in women. Due to the lack of research we can at best speculate on the reasons for this. One reason may be the failure of medical professionals to pick up on possible symptoms which are often present in women: â€Å"existing diagnostic guidelines pay little attention to symptoms such as thrush, herpes, menstrual problems and cervical cell abnormalities that seem to characterise the early stages of the disease process in many women. Indeed a significant number are diagnosed only during pregnancy or when their child is found to be HIV positive†. (Doyal, 1994, p13) Therefore, if researchers persist in ignoring the biological differences, then the realities of the risks of infection and the disease progression in women will remain unacknowledged. As a consequence of this, women will continue to be diagnosed later than men, which ultimately leads to an earlier death. (Gorst, 2001,) Further research into biological differences and the effects of HIV on womens bodies is urgently needed. 1.3 TRADITIONAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS Traditional and customary practices play a part in the vulnerability of women to HIV infection. Practices such as early marriage and the payment of lobola in marriages make women and girls more vulnerable to HIV infection. Marriages among black women in Zimbabwe include bride wealth â€Å"lobola† if the couple is to be socially approved. Bride wealth is increasingly becoming big business in Zimbabwe, with some parents charging as much as US$2,500 plus five or more cattle for an educated girl. (IRIN NEWS, 2009) The insistence on bride wealth as the basis of validating a marriage makes female sexuality a commodity and reduces women to sexual objects, with limited rights and privileges compared to their husbands, who pay in order to marry them, thus leaving them without a say in their relationship. Patriarchal attitudes are also found in Christianity and these have strengthened the traditional customs that men use to control womens sexuality. (Human Rights Monitor, 2001) For example, Eves alleged creation from Adams rib has made women occupy a subordinate position in the Church as well as in the family. Women are therefore viewed merely as second-class citizens who were created as an afterthought. This is to say that if God had seen it fit for Adam to stay alone, then Eve would never have been created and hence women would not exist in this world. Such patriarchal attitudes have seen women being forced to be submissive to males. To make matters worse, once Eve was created she wreaked havoc by giving in to the Devils temptation and pulling Adam into sin. This portrayal of women as the weaker sex has made men treat women as people who have to be kept under constant supervision. St Pauls letter to the Colossians is one example of the letters which Zimbabwean men quote as a justifi cation of their control over women. The woman is expected â€Å"to submit to her husband† (Colossians 3:18) whilst the husband has to love his wife (Colossians 3:19). Therefore, because of these beliefs, women will remain passive and powerless in relation to sexual health, making them more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. 1.4 CONFLICT AND CIVIL UNREST Migration or displacement as a result of civil strife, natural disasters, drought, famine and political oppression has a greater impact on womens vulnerability to HIV infection compared to men. About 75 per cent of all refugees and displaced people are women and children. The political and economic crisis in many African and Asian countries has caused many women to come to the UK in search of safer lives and employment (Freedman, 2003). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2003) states that female immigrant workers are more vulnerable to sexual barter as they try to negotiate for necessary documentation, employment and housing, which further increases their risk of HIV/AIDS infection. In addition, because of the lack of legal documentation these women will experience limited options, receive low status, receive low pay and are often isolated in their work, including marriage, domestic, factory and sex work. These situations place women in vulnerable and powerless positions, with little ability to refuse or negotiate safe sex, thereby increasing their risk to HIV/AIDS. Despite the risks associated with the migration process it is important to recognise the right to ‘freedom of movement and travel irrespective of HIV status (ICW 12 Statement and the Barcelona Bill of Rights, 2002). This was a focal point during the Barcelona HIV/AIDS conference in 2002, because the Spanish authorities denied visas to numerous people from the South many of whom were open about their HIV status. Some countries do have discriminatory policies regarding travel of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and others are instituting stricter controls. For example, Canada has recently introduced the need for an HIV test for people emigrating to Canada and Australia. Whilst they say it will not affect the final decision it is not clear why they need the information (Tallis, 2002). 1.5 POVERTY AND INEQUALITY Women and men experience poverty differently because of gender inequality: The causes and outcomes of poverty are heavily engendered and yet traditional conceptualisations consistently fail to delineate povertys gender dimensions resulting in policies and programmes which fail to improve the lives of poor women and their families (Beneria and Bisnath, 1998). Despite worldwide attention to existing inequalities and the way these violate a socially-just society, there is no society in the world in which women are treated as equals with men (Doyal, 2001). Major inequalities between men and women still exist in many places from opportunities in education and employment to choices in relationships. Gender and social inequalities make women more vulnerable to HIV infection, especially in societies which afford women a lower status than men. Worldwide, women and girls are disproportionately impacted by poverty, representing 70 per cent of the 1.2 billion people who live in poverty worldwide (Amnesty International, 2005), a phenomenon commonly referred to as the â€Å"feminisation of poverty†. Worldwide, women receive an average of 30-40 per cent less pay than men for the same work (Card et al, 2007). This economic inequality may influence womens ability to control the timing and safety of sexual intercourse. Specifically, economic dependence on men, especially those who are not educated and do not have good jobs, forces women to remain silent about HIV risk issues and to stay with partners who refuse to engage in safe-sex practices. Poverty also leads to greater HIV risk among women by leading them to barter sex for economic gain or survival (Weiss et al, 1996). Commercial sex work is the most well-known way for women to exchange sex for money, food, shelter or other necessities. Most of this sex will be unsafe as women will be at risk of losing economic support from men by insisting on safer sex. Where substance abuse is a factor, the means for obtaining clean needles may be traded for other essentials. Trading or sharing needles is a way to reduce drug-addiction costs. Risk behaviours and disease potential are predictable under such compromised circumstances (Albertyn, 2000, cited in Card, 2007). Educational inequality also contributes to a womans HIV risk directly, by making information on HIV/AIDS less accessible to her, and indirectly, by increasing her economic dependence on a male partner. In particular, studies show that more-educated women are more likely to know how to prevent HIV transmission, delay sexual activity, use healthcare services, and take other steps to prevent the spread of HIV (UNIFEM, 2004). Because many cultures value ignorance about sex as a feature of femininity, many young women are prevented by husbands, fathers, or other family members from obtaining information about HIV/AIDS. Others decline to seek such information out of fear for their reputations. Lack of education about the causes, prevention, and treatment of HIV/AIDS will increase these womens vulnerability to infection. Legal systems and cultural norms in many countries reinforce gender inequality by giving men control over productive resources such as land, through marriage laws that subordinate wives to their husbands and inheritance customs that make males the principal beneficiaries of family property (Baylies, 2000). For example, Zimbabwe has a dual legal system, recognising both common and customary law in marriage. This creates inequalities for many women upon divorce or their husbands death. Women in customary marriages, especially those who are not educated and who live in rural areas, make up approximately 80% of marriages in Zimbabwe, and are not entitled to the same rights as those married under common law; this means that they are often barred from inheriting property and land, or getting custody of their children, thus making them more vulnerable to male dominance and increasing their risk of getting infected with STIs (Womankind, 2002). 1.6 CONCLUSION Power inequalities at social, economic, biological, political and cultural levels mean that women continue to be increasingly more at risk from HIV infection. It is therefore critical that social workers and other healthcare professionals make sure that HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes address the most immediate perceived barriers to accessing HIV/AIDS prevention and care services. Measures could include vocational training, employment, micro-finance programmes, legal support, safe housing and childcare services. Such measures would empower these women to have options and to take voluntary and informed decisions regarding the adoption of safer practices to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS (UNODC, 2006). There is also the need for a female-controlled form of protection which women can use to protect themselves, for example microbicides, which women can use without the consent or even the knowledge of their partner, thus enabling them to protect themselves if they are forced to engage in unprotected sex. 2. CHAPTER 2 2.1 HIGH-RISK GROUPS OF WOMEN Although there is a vast literature on HIV/AIDS, relatively little has been written about how HIV/AIDS affects women, and what constitutes a high-risk group. In part, this reflects the way AIDS was initially perceived in the West as a â€Å"mens disease†, so much so that until a few years ago a common response to the topic of women and AIDS was â€Å"Do women get AIDS?†, the assumption being that women were at little or no risk (Doyal, et al, 1994). This has never been true of Africa, where the appallingly pervasive epidemic has always been a heterosexual disease and where 55 per cent of those who have been infected were women. In recent years it has become increasingly clear that women can both become infected with HIV and transmit the virus. A study conducted by AWARE (Association for Womens AIDS Research and Education) in America found that women who inject and share needles, have sexual contact with or are artificially inseminated by a man, lesbians, sex workers and those from an ethnic minority, especially black women, were at increased risk of HIV infection (Richardson, 1987). The study also found that most people in these groups are underrepresented in prevention or treatment interventions, and often suffer social stigma, isolation, poverty and marginalisation, which place them at higher risk. Therefore, in this chapter I am going to discuss how some of these groups are vulnerable to infection, and what can be done to prevent and treat infection in these vulnerable groups without inadvertently increasing their stigmatisation. 2.2 PROSTITUTES There is a substantial body of research on the correlation between HIV/AIDS infection and female prostitution. Studies worldwide have revealed cause-and-effect relationships between AIDS and prostitution in a number of areas, including the use of alcohol and/or psychoactive drugs, and have revealed variance in the rate and circumstance of infection from one country to another (OLeary et al, 1996). For example, researchers have found the high rate of AIDS in Africa to be largely a reflection of exposure through sexual activity only, while in the US and Europe, transmission of the AIDS virus is more likely to come from prostitutes or customers who are also IV drug users. Many writers have pointed out that real social concern about HIV infection did not materialise until its potential â€Å"spread to heterosexuals† was recognised. What is less often pointed out is that concern for the â€Å"spread to heterosexuals† has mostly been manifest in concern for the spread to heterosexual men, not heterosexual women (Flowers, 1998). The expressed fear is that HIV will spread from women to men, allegedly through prostitution. In the press and the international scientific literature on AIDS, often the light cast upon Women in Prostitution (WIP) has been a harsh one. WIP have been identified as a â€Å"risk group†, a â€Å"reservoir of infection†, and a â€Å"bridge† for the HIV epidemic. Such technical, epidemiological language has depicted WIP as vectors of HIV infection (Scharf and Toole, 1992). Rather than presenting WIP as links in broader networks of heterosexual HIV transmission, women categorised as prostitutes have bee n described as â€Å"infecting† their unborn infants, their clients and indirectly their clients other female sexual partners, as though HIV originated among WIP (Scharf and Toole, 1992). Like posters from WWI and WWII which aimed to warn armed servicemen in Europe of the danger of contracting gonorrhoea and syphilis (Brandt, 1985, cited in Flowers et al, 1998), some AIDS-prevention posters have caricatured WIP as evil sirens ready to entice men to their deaths (New African, 1987, cited in Larson, 1988). Interestingly, there is evidence that some HIV-positive men may be inclined to claim that their infection came from a female prostitute, in order to cover up its real origins: sex with a man, or IV drug use. 2.3 PROSTITUTION IN ZIMBABWE There are many reasons why women engage in prostitution in Zimbabwe. Studies show that poverty and deviance are the main causes. Other studies have shown that many women engage themselves in prostitution by their own choice and see it as a career path whilst others might be forced into it (Chudakov, 1995). In Zimbabwe prostitution is illegal, and many women and young girls, especially orphans who engage in prostitution, are driven to it by poverty and economic dislocation, which is being caused by the current economic and political crisis the country is experiencing. According to the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the hunger and disease-ridden conditions in much of Zimbabwe have forced many children into prostitution in order to feed themselves (UNICEF, 2008). Save the Children, a non-governmental organisation working to create positive changes for disadvantaged children in the country, estimate that girls as young as 12 are now selling their bodies for even the most meagr e of meals, such as biscuits and chips. They also state that the issue is further complicated by the growing presence of child traffickers in the region, looking for young girls to abduct and take to South Africa for the use of potential clients at the 2010 World Cup (Mediaglobal, 2009). Combating child prostitution and trafficking is complicated, but prioritising the alleviation of poverty with particular emphasis on fighting poverty from a childs perspective; prioritising education for all, with emphasis on improving access for girls; and provision of information to victims and survivors of child prostitution and/or trafficking, including information about available counselling and legislative services would be helpful (WHO, 2003). 2.4 PROSTITUTION IN THE UK Prostitution in the UK is different from that in Zimbabwe. The laws around prostitution in England and Wales are far from straight-forward. The act of prostitution is not in itself illegal but a string of laws criminalises activities around it. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, it is an offence to cause or incite prostitution or control it for personal gain. The 1956 Sexual Offences Act bans running a brothel and its against the law to loiter or solicit sex on the street. Kerb-crawling is also banned, providing it can be shown that the individual was causing a persistent annoyance (BBC NEWS, 2008). Though actual s are scarce, it has been estimated that at least 2 million women are selling sexual favours in Britain. The bulk of these are brothel prostitutes working in parlours, saunas or private health clubs. According to The First Post published on 18/08/08, prostitution was viewed as â€Å"the new profession†. The article stated that prostitution in Britain is booming, and that thousands of young women have chosen prostitution for independence and financial security. The key factor which has led to a huge rise in this kind of prostitution is the influx of girls from Poland and other Eastern European countries which acceded to the EU in 2000. A strong relationship also exists between UK prostitutes and substance abuse, which drives many into the sex business. Intravenous-drug-using prostitutes are particularly prominent in Scottish cities such as Glasgow (OLeary et al, 1996). According to researchers, 70 per cent of the citys streetwalkers are IV drug addicts, injecting heroin, temazepam and tengesic. In Edinburgh, which has the highest rate of HIV-seropositive IV drug addicts of all cities in Britain, a significant number of those addicts testing HIV positive have been identified as prostitutes. Even though sex workers can transmit HIV/AIDS, blaming them encourages stigma and discrimination against all women. It allows the men who infect sex workers and their own wives to deny that they are infecting others. Wives too can infect their husbands, who can in turn infect sex workers. It is therefore important to note that sex workers and their clients are not serving as a â€Å"bridge† for HIV transmission into the rest of the population. 2.4 LESBIANS Can women transmit the disease to other women through sexual activity? The answer to this question is crucial for a community that knows that HIV is within it even though the question might be difficult to answer as there is â€Å"very little† information on this subject (Richardson, 1987). Lesbians were seen as least likely to be infected, as there was an understanding of HIV as a disease which existed in specific groups of people, for example gay males and intravenous-drug users. Because of these biased attitudes toward people, rather than risk behaviours, no data was systematically gathered. This understanding prevented the healthcare system from defining sexual risk behaviours: it stressed people, not sexual behaviours. It has therefore been noted that most lesbians have been in â€Å"risk situations† or engaged in what would be considered as â€Å"risky behaviour† at some stage. Some lesbians inject drugs and may share needles. Also, a significant number of lesbians have had sex with men before coming out, and many will have had unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse Some may still have sex with men for reproductive purposes (Gorna, 1996). Some may be prostitutes who, for economic reasons or through pressure from a pimp, may have had unprotected sex with clients (Richardson, 1989). According to records from a London sexual health clinic for lesbians, 35 per cent of the lesbians who attended had had sex with a man in the previous six months (Gorna, 1996). As Gorna puts it, this emphasises the fact that â€Å"activity is not always consistent with identity†. In other words, â€Å"we are put at risk by what we do, not by how we define ourselves or who we are† (Bury, 1994, p32). Although the risk of HIV infection from sex between women is very small, it is important for lesbians to look at what they do, how they do it and with whom they do it, just like everyone else, as, â€Å"Low risk isnt no risk† (Richardson, D, 2004). However, they may find it difficult to access services and, if they become ill, they may experience special problems, given that the healthcare system is designed for and administered by a predominantly heterosexual population. There may be a lack of recognition of their relationships, which could lead to isolation and depression. For example in Zimbabwe homosexuality is illegal and punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years. The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, views lesbians and gays as â€Å"sexual perverts† who are â€Å"lower than dogs and pigs† (BBC NEWS, 1998). In 1995 he ordered the Zimbabwe International Book Fair to ban an exhibit by the civil-rights group Gays and Lesbians in Zimbabwe (GALZ). He follo wed this ban with warnings that homosexuals should leave the country â€Å"voluntarily† or face â€Å"dire consequences†. Soon afterwards Mugabe urged the public to track down and arrest lesbians and gays. Since these incitements, homosexuals have been fire-bombed, arrested, interrogated and threatened with death (Tatchell, 2001). This makes it difficult for lesbians in Zimbabwe to access information and other services, thus increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection. 2.5 ELDERLY WOMEN The number of older people (older than 50 years) with HIV/AIDS is growing fast. Older adults are infected through the same high-risk behaviours as young adults, though they may be unaware that they are at risk of HIV/AIDS. However, when assessing the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic upon the worlds population, older people are often overlooked. HIV-prevention measures rarely target the older generation, despite the fact that many older people are sexually active and therefore still at risk of being exposed to HIV. The older population is steadily growing larger with the maturing of the â€Å"baby-boomer† generation as well as the availability of antiretroviral drugs which extend peoples life expectancy. Social norms about divorce, sex, and dating are changing, and drugs such as Viagra are facilitating a more active sex life for older adults (NAHOF, 2007, cited in Lundy et al, 2009). Heterosexual women aged 50 and older are most in need of the HIV-prevention message. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2006) estimates that around 2.8 million adults aged 50 years and over are living with HIV, representing 7 per cent of all cases. In the UK, the Health Protection Agency reported that almost 4,000 HIV-infected people who were accessing care in 2006 were aged 55 years or over. Data on this subject from low-income countries like Zimbabwe is fairly patchy. This is because HIV/AIDS surveillance is commonly conducted in antenatal clinics, as many people have little other direct contact with medical services. Data from antenatal clinics does not provide information about people who are above child-bearing age, thus making it difficult for healthcare and service providers to make policies that will impact on the elderly who are infected. Firstly, it has been noted that elderly women can be exposed to HIV via non-consensual sexual contact or rape. Research has shown that some criminals appear to target older women for sexual crimes because they appear to be, and often are, vulnerable to attack (Muram et al, 1992). Elderly women in institutional settings such as nursing homes may also be at greater risk. Some estimates suggest that up to 15 per cent of elderly nursing-home residents have been victims of either sexual or physical abuse, thus increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection (Collins, 2002). Exposure to blood tainted with HIV may also occur when an older woman provides care to adult children who may be suffering from AIDS (Levine-Perkell, 1996). Allers (1990) revealed that more than one-third of all adults who contract A Organisational Flexibility: Definition and Benefits Organisational Flexibility: Definition and Benefits How can we define organizational flexibility? There are many definitions for flexibility. In the sense of managing human resources, flexibility can be defined as the organisation adapting to size, composition, responsiveness and the people . their inputs and costs required to achieved organisational objectives and goals. Organisational flexibility can also be defined when work gets done, where it gets done and how work gets done. Organisational Flexibility includes: Having flex time, so the employee chooses the start of their day and the end of their day, Being able to take off time through the day to take care of family issues, for example an employee being able to go everyday to fetch their children from school and take them home then returning to work, Taking a few days off in order to take care of family matters and not losing any leave days or pay. So an example would be taking days off in order to go look after a sick family member or to go to a funeral or something, An employee working some of their daily work hours at home, so an employee either coming into work late due working at home in the morning, or leaving work early and working at home a few hours, Working shifts, this means employees working different times. Maybe working day shift one week and night shift the other week. Some people might prefer this as it would be more predictable. Therefore they can plan lives, When people choose when they want to work, the hours they want to work, knowing when they can take time off each day. Employees will generally have control over their work day or schedule, Employees can sometimes work longer hours during some days of the week in order to get some days off; they have compressed their work week. Which allows them to have more time for themselves, In some cases employees can advance, go up in their jobs even of they choose their work hours or compress their weeks The need for flexibility in the workplace The need for organisational flexibility is very important. When looking at why there is a need a for flexibility there are factors that are creating the need for flexibility in the workplace. Things are changing all the time, which means an organisation, must be able to take on these changes. Aspects such as social, technological, economical, legal, political and other global factors in which a business operate within are changing all the time, so organisations should be able to adapt when these changes happen. So in other words they need to be flexible. As it says there is a need for flexibility in the workplace, but there is also a need for flexibility in the workforce, meaning the staff. As change happens, how work gets done too changes therefore the workforce should also be flexible. Those aspects I mentioned above, I find is not the factor of change that requires the workplace to be flexible. Another factor I find to be important is the employees. People are changing. Their needs and wants are changing, their ways are changing, how they live is changing and how they work is changing too. Therefore some people are not wanting to work normally, having a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job. People are wanting to be more flexible with their time, therefore wanting to work less hours, certain days of the week, have time off or whatever it may be. Therefore some of the workplaces might benefit if they make themselves flexible in the sense of offering these things to employees. So the workplace should be flexible with that factor too. There are some aspects that have allowed flexibility to be put in place in the workplace: * The biggest asset to an organisation is the people who work there, therefore this can create competitive advantage through people. Its best if the organisation is flexible in the number of people and the skills in the workplace * Organisation are becoming more flexible in specialization production, so making specialized goods. And shifting from mass productions. Making goods of the same in bulk * There are changes in life-style, private and work life balance and social changes * There are constant technological changes. Therefore HR services are becoming wider; organisations are doing things differently in the sense of technology. E working and so on I suppose in the past organisations were very structured, rigid. And today there still has to be structure in the workplace, as an organisation wont work if there wasnt some form of structure. In todays workplace, heavily structured organisations, with rigid job specifications, with strict management styles wont work. The workplace is changing due the ever changing and not predictable environments. Therefore that is why there is a need for organisational flexibility. Types of Organisational Flexibility There are a number of different types of organisational flexibility. They are: Functional Flexibility- Functional flexibility basically states that employees will do jobs that go beyond what they are actually there to do. So they will perform jobs that they werent originally specified to do. So employees should be able to do different jobs but still do their own. So the organisation will require multi-skilled employees. So for example would be in an organisation, a debtors clerk doing their own job, which is debtors, but also being able to do creditors when required. Numerical Flexibility- This basically involves an organisation bring labour in or taking labour out in accordance service or product demand. The state of the economy can also be a factor for the organisation to bring in or go without labour. They can control this by the number of employees they need at the time. Therefore they will hire as they need. They can do this by hiring casuals or part time workers. Financial Flexibility- Procedural Flexibility- Skills Flexibility- Attitudinal Flexibility- Structural Flexibility-