Better Communication Essay

Effective communication is the key in the health care critical for health care professionals. The key foundation of any coworkers is being able to communicate clearly. With the help of effective communication people are able to define and understand goals and shear and receive the information better. When there is a lack of communication in the health care industry it can cause a poor medical care and mistakes in patent’s medical history. Therefor; clarity is a must in the health care industry. Active listening is also a part of better communication skills. The supportive and defensive communication is everywhere and lasting. In the health care environment supportive communication is appropriate then defensive communication. Supportive communication expresses encouragement and understanding when communicating with others while during defensive communication the individual feels defended, anxious or threatened. During communication as a individual becomes defensive they are les s able to recognize the values and senders emotions Interpersonal communication is the interaction between two or more people. Good interpersonal communication skills are essential in the creation and maintenance of relationships with others. Dwyer (2009, p.62) explains that ‘in any context, our relationships are built through our interpersonal communication.’ Self concept, emotional intelligence, assertive behaviour, empathy and the ability to actively listen and provide feedback are all desirable interpersonal communication tools considered necessary to maintain relationships and aid in conflict resolution. Dwyer (2009, p. 152) states that ‘Conflict arises when needs are not met. Those needs can be physical, financial, social, educational, intellectual, recreational or spiritual, tangible or intangible. However, even in a situation of conflict, it is possible, by finding areas of common ground, to remove some of the differences and to emphasise the similarities while tackling the conflict and working towards the solution’. Good interpersonal communication skills help to create an understanding between persons in conflict whereby they can make common ground and have a better understanding of whe re the other party is coming from. Dwyer (2009, p. 175) explains that ‘Conflict expressed and addressed in ways that respect relationships and consider as many needs as possible is positive and constructive’. In order to achieve common ground, emphasise similarities and work towards conflict solutions, the communication climate must be positive and both parties must be willing to resolve the issue. The role of Interpersonal Communication in Conflict Resolution In order to communicate effectively with others a sound understanding of your own self concept is required. Self concept can be described as your â€Å"self image†, it is the mental picture that you have of yourself. Yahaya, Azizi, Ramli and Jamaludin (2009) explain that ‘Self-concept refers to the totality of a complex, organized, and dynamic system of†¦ Interpersonal communication is defined by Brooks and Heath (1993) as â€Å"the process by which information, meanings and feelings are shared by persons through the exchange of v erbal and nonverbal messages (as cited in Dickson and Hargie, 2003, p.1). In order to demonstrate my understanding of effective and non-effective communication skills I have chosen to analyse a dialogue between a seasoned policeman and a hardened criminal taken from the movie Heat. It is deep and meaningful interaction between two adversaries. After much deliberation I have narrowed down my analysis to the use of rapport building, self-disclosure and empathy, verbally and non-verbally. I will also attempt to identify the barriers to communication in this dialogue and explore the reasons why these skills were used ineffectively, and suggest how they could have been improved upon. Rapport-building is defined by Robbins (1986, p. 207, as cited in Study Guide) as ‘the ability to enter someone else’s world, to make him feel that you understand him, that you have a strong common bond’ I think it is at the very core of effective interpersonal communication because it ‘is one of the most important features or characteristics of unconscious human interaction’ and without it the purpose of the interaction cannot be achieved. It is ‘commonality of perspective, being in â€Å"sync†, being on the same â€Å"wavelength† as the person with whom you are talking’ (http://www.inspirationalsolutions-lp.co.uk/theimportanceofrapport.pdf). Following that line of thinking it is essential to establish rapport as soon as possible in a didactic interpersonal conversation, whatever the purpose of the discussion is – to learn, to relate, to play or to help (De Vito, p.80). The very first sentence that Hanna says demonstrates an attempt to establish rapport â€Å"Howya doing?† (he does not wait for an answer and continues talking) â€Å"Whaddaya say I buy you a cup of coffee?†. He is wearing casual jeans and a white sweatshirt. First and foremost, congratulations of your engagement. I am very excited that you chose to reach out to me for advice in understanding interpersonal communication with each other before you get married. After taking classes for interpersonal communication Nicholas Epley explained the differences this way, â€Å"Our problem in communicating with friends and spouses is that we have an illusion of insight. Getting close to someone appears to create the illusion of understanding more than actual understanding† (2011 para. 8). There are a lot of books that one could read but in all actuality a successful relationship is based on the two people entering the communion and realizing that marriages take hard work and dedication, no matter how easy it looks. I will advise you on how to mold the following steps such as learning your role in the marriage, actively listening, opening up to your partner about your feelings, and choosing your words wisely into your everyday life which can produce a successful relationship; all this and effective communication is completely up to you. My first major topic for you to always remember is that you must listen to your partner. You probably find yourself asking over and over are you paying attention to me. Did you hear anything that I said? Do not fret over that because every person in a relationship has asked the same question. You may not like what he or she has to say but to have a positive relationship you must listen actively, critically, and empathically. Now please allow me to explain to you what I mean by those terms. Kathy Sole tells us that listening is important to the conversation because it creates meaning between both people (2011). When you want to have an in depth conversation with your spouse, you need to eliminate all noise, make eye contact, actively listen means to truly think about what you hear. Critically listening ties into actively listening because you understand what your spouse†¦ Assertiveness Assertiveness is a simple skill that requires a lot of practice to perfect. Basically, assertiveness requires us to speak our minds, to do so in such a way that the meaning of our communication is clear. Hopefully our expressed wish is acknowledged, but this is not necessary for us to be assertive. To achieve assertive communication, we have to state what is in our minds; that is, our thoughts and feelings. Advanced assertiveness is when we ask for what we want regardless of whether the â€Å"recipient† understands what we communicate, and regardless of whether or not we get what we want. Complete assertiveness requires both levels intellectual and emotional communication. The workplace presents both a challenge and potentially some relief when it comes to being assertive. On the one hand, we work with others, usually often, so there is some sense of familiarity. Yet, we do not live with them. There is a certain built-in interpersonal distance. With acquaintances at work, the challenge is to ask for what we want or at least state our opinion, more or less at intellectual, pragmatic levels. We tend to leave out the personal side, because our relationships are not that personal. From this standpoint, assertiveness is easier because there are less personal consequences. We can state our case and others likely will not take our message so personally. This is truer if the issue at hand is small. It is also more likely to be true of communications among co-workers of equal status. If there are other good elements; that is, more interpersonal warmth, bonding and empathy, talking to the boss can be assertively successful. But we need some slightly deeper personal connection to the boss to make this work, to grease the wheels of information exchange. The workpl ace presents a challenge to being more interpersonally intimate with co-workers who may not really be so friendly. The same is true with bosses that have different levels of power†¦. An Interpersonal relationship in the health care environment is based off the relationship between the people you work with, such as the staff, patients, and doctor. Your interpersonal relationship between you, the coworker, and patients is very important and crucial within the health care environment, you must be able to â€Å"treat your clients with respect†, â€Å"do not be rude or ever shout at them†, never disclose any type of information about a patient to a client†, and â€Å"have feelings for the patients† (2004)(1.3.8). In order for the patients to feel comfortable you must treat them with a certain level of respect and make them feel as comfortable as possible, such as have close relationship with all the patients and staff. For example ask how their day is going, or give them positive feedback about any questions they might have or need help with so he or she is always satisfied with the service. Your â€Å"perspective† in the health care industry is very important and crucial to your coworkers and clients, and you always want to provide them with the best â€Å"quality of care†. Next, a supportive relationship rather than a defensive relationship in the health care environment is more appropriate, and I say this because to be defensive with the coworkers, patients or staff will make that person feel â€Å"uncomfortable†, :†guilty†, or even hostile. On the other hand, a supportive relationship is something you want to have with the clients, staff, and patients because you always want to be able to support them with positive feedback, such as are â€Å"supportive† when a patient asks for advice or a particular type of treatment show â€Å"recognition†, â€Å"acknowledgement†, and â€Å"endorsement†. Supportive is more of a positive feedback and defensive is negative feedback, and defensive or negative feedback is som ething you do not want to happen, you always want to remain supportive, positive, and assertive with people at all times. Assertive style and its appropriateness in health care†the preferred†¦ Course Hero has millions of student submitted documents similar to the one below including study guides, practice problems, reference materials, practice exams, textbook help and tutor support. communication1 Interpersonal Interpersonal Communication in your Relationship Christy Fobert COM 200 Instructor Youngs 6/22/11 Interpersonal communication2 Dear Jason and Amber, I am writing in response to your request asking for some advice on interpersonal communication in your relationship. As you know my husband and I have been attending classes that help with communication in relationships. We also believe we can give you some dire advice based on our own personal experience since we have six years behind us. Being a newly engaged couple and asking for advice before marriage lets us know you are both serious in committing to one another. This also makes it seem you are both committed to keeping your relationship alive and well. The best advice I can give you is to keep your communication alive and well. In this letter I will give you some advice on the concepts of good interpersonal communication. I will explain what we have been learning in our classes and also what I can explain to how we have experienced this in our relationship. The first basic but important skill to communication is listening. Listening to each other shows that you both respect one another and care about what the other is saying. There are three important types of listening and they are: active, critical, and empathetic. The first skill that we will discuss pertaining to the listening is actively listening. Active listening is assertive communication that develops a sense of trust. In my personal relationship letting your spouse know that you are listening lets them feel important and build trust within your relationship. Actively listening in your communication will allow you to build trust because of the openness that it builds. Openness within active listening makes your spouse feel a†¦ Effective communication in healthcare is essential to deliver good patient care. When delegating tasks to co-workers, one needs to be clear and precise. When people have a full understanding of what their job is, they will perform better and patients will get better outcomes. Without effective communication we are setting up our fellow co-workers for failure and our patients as well. Effective communication is necessary to convey the importance of instructions and task to co-workers so they can fully understand the importance of their task and the steps necessary to manage the task. Effective communication is also necessary to be able to understand what our patients are telling us, and how to better listen and relate to them. Rashad is attending the team meeting and is being assertive in trying to clarify his role as assistive personnel. He is showing that the nurses would be able to rely on him to help with their patients during the shift for hygienic care and toileting. He is using an assertive form of communication with speaking up during the meeting. This assertiveness is quickly shot down by the aggressive communication of RN, Robin. Her comments of calling Rashad only an aide is belittling and then stating that those cares are the role of a RN farther the belittling. Robin continues to say that Rashad is not expected to think but to do as told is not uplifting at all and developed into feelings of resentment. These feelings are expressed in Rashad’s new goal; of developing a plan to make Robin pay for her comments. Robin’s comments established a tone of superiority and dominance as she shows her expectations that only the nurses know how to think and that the aides should be more like robots to her commands. This aggressive style of communication hurts others and is used to set someone up to overpower†¦ Interpersonal communication is the type of communication that people use to communicate their ideas, thoughts, ideas and feelings to one another person. In Interpersonal Communication, you are dependent upon another person for the communication to be effective. With that being said I thought that I would have great interpersonal communication skills but sadly I do not. I thought I that I would have great interpersonal communication skills because most of the time I can tell how a person is feeling, try to understand how they feel, and what is driving them to feel that way. That is the reason why I wanted to become a social worker but I am glad that I am taking this class to understand my interpersonal communication skills better. I never really thought of interpersonal communication skills as being as important as they are. Whether we like it or not interpersonal communication a key skill for personal and professional relationships. What you say and what you don’t say both carry a lot of weight in communication. Having effective interpersonal communication means that you use both of these forms to your advantage and remain aware of your behavior throughout a conversation. With that being said there are three key points that I feel that I need to do a great deal of improvement on and they are overcoming my fear to speak, my eye contact, and being aware of my adaptors that I use and how I use them. The first thing I feel that would help my interpersonal communication skills is to overcome my fear to talk people that I do not know. I have to overcome this fear because if not I will never be able to become the great social worker that I can become. I feel that a great way for me to overcome this fear is by talking to strangers at work. By not saying anything or acknowledging my co-worker that I do not know is not sending a message good message to them. If I want to have effective interpersonal communication, I have to get†¦ Effective communication is important for psychological well-being for a number of reasons. Communication allows conveying our needs and feelings to others, as well as to respond to and respect the needs of others. Social supports are an important factor to decrease anxiety and depression. Communication helps to develop significant relationships with friends and family, as well as with romantic partners. Developing skills that allow communication between p eople that we trust allows for expression of emotions, as well as the ability to get feedback and support. Three very important skills are needed for communication. They are assertiveness, conversational or verbal communication skills and nonverbal communication skills. Two attitudes are important in developing communication skills that are effective. These skills are being proactive and thinking win/win. Proactive means taking responsibility for your life. A person can choose to be happy and successful. In the win/win situation, society has labeled life as either a clear winner or a loser. In business, the goal is to provide the best service or product to maximize profits and beat the competition. This plays a major role in why society thinks that in interpersonal interactions it too is a game in which there is a clear winner and loser. A mature and confident way to approach human reactions is thinking win/win. This approach allows for both parties to succeed and achieve goals. Being assertive is one of my greatest assets. I have learned that a closed mouth will never get fed. When being assertive it is not necessary to raise our voice or shout at other people. Being threatening is not assertive either. Many people confuse aggression with assertion. Being assertive allows speaking in normal tones, respecting personal distance and the ability to state opinions needs or wants.

Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America Case Study

Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A) Case Study Background and Scope In 1979, Nickelodeon, â€Å"a cable channel for kids 2-11 years old, was launched in the United States†. Nickelodeon provided a wide-range of programming which including â€Å"live-action, comedy, drama, animation, music and sports and game shows†. By 1995, Nickelodeon was the highest rated basic cable network and international expansion was very realistic and just getting started. To successfully transition internationally Nickelodeon allowed the channel to have its own â€Å"on-air identity and slogan† for each endeavor.Nickelodeon used an â€Å"International Swat Team† to launch the network into other countries and once established turned it over for local personnel to operate. By 1998, Nickelodeon had already expanded and operating on 30 countries. However, back in 1993, Ms. Taran Swan, then Director of Business Development for Nickelodeon, initially entertained the opportunity to expand in Latin America. Latin American TV did not cater to children. Due to the economic conditions programs were outdated and stagnant. This would be an opportunity for Nickelodeon to introduce programs that â€Å"gave kids a voice† while still embracing their culture.The steps required to meet this goal would not be easy. Swan recognized the task at hand and the need to â€Å"prove her business plan by securing minimum distribution† (at least 2 million households). Swan believed in a â€Å"big bets† strategy and keeping the â€Å"bottom line† at the forefront of her thought process. This paper will present obstacles that Swan and her team had to deal with, not just in selling the channel, attracting advertisers but also managing each other. Swan’s style and dedication allowed her to hand-pick her team to ensure deadlines were met and meeting expectations of the network.Swan was known for her â€Å"smart and strategic business directivesâ₠¬ . In addition issues addressing personal work/life balance, succession/transition plans will be explored. Finally, recommendations not only for Swan but for Nickelodeon as a company will be presented to attempt to mitigate issues that arose while expanding Nickelodeon internationally in Latin America. Swan being so involved in every step from conception to implementation would prove to be more challenging than she anticipated both in personal and professional management ways. Current SituationAt the end of the second year of operations at Nickelodeon Latin America (NLA), Swan prepared for a Town Hall with MTV. She prepared a speech in which she wanted to promote the advancements that NLA had realized for the previous year. Days before the Town Hall, however, Swan was informed by her doctor that she was unable to continue traveling for work as her four month pregnancy showed signs of high risk. Though Swan planned to leave after the Town Hall, she was hospitalized the day of the m eeting. As she left to go back home, she considered the many challenges that still lay ahead of her.After leading the NLA project from research to launch, there remained additional tasks that needed to be completed before the project could be turned over to local management. NLA was on the verge of two crucially important deals. The first deal was with Argentina’s largest provider, Cablevision/TCI, which would add 1. 5 million subscribers. A second deal would give them access to the Brazilian marketplace through a Portuguese feed. These issues were exacerbated by currency volatility, marketing problems and advertising issues. Swan had a significant hand in resolving each of these issues.Now Swan is faced with a decision on what to do about continuing operations during her leave. Her experience showed that her team needed consistent direction but that they were able to communicate with her remotely. Thus, she considered how she may continue to lead the project from her home. A nother option she faced was installing an interim manager who would be charged with leading the station forward. She further considered installing multiple leaders for different functions. She understood that regardless of what decision she made, she would have to adapt her management style and skills.Situation Analysis Due to Swan’s medical situation, there are three critical activities that must be managed effectively in her absence: increasing advertising sales, increasing affiliate sales, and the executing the Brazil-specific feed. Advertising sales was a key concern for NLA. They had missed their goal by 11% last year. Though the overall bottom-line goal was met, this lack of revenues did not make for a sustainable business model. In addition, the Latin American economy was very rocky, and Brazil was undergoing a currency devaluation.In order for the company to continue on its path to success, the sales team was going to need to land more advertising accounts, and take a dvantage of the upcoming World Cup to drive much-needed revenues. Increasing affiliate sales was also key. In particular, the deals with Cablevision/TCI in Argentina and Telemundo in the United States were very important. These deals would expand the viewership by 1. 5 million people in Latin America and millions more in the United States. In turn, this increased viewership would help increase advertising sales, and would also strengthen NLA’s foothold within the region.It was also help to show the corporation that the NLA project was succeeding. This could lead to a larger budget and more dedicated resources from the corporation. Finally, getting the Brazil-specific feed up and running was critical. Brazil has the largest population and the largest market in all of Latin America. Though NLA had secured carriage on major Brazilian networks, they still had to develop programming for the feed. This would require a significant amount of work as the company would need to customiz e the programming for the Brazilian culture, as it differed from other Latin American countries.Creating a successful feed in Brazil would open up new advertising opportunities and new affiliate sales opportunities and would solidify NLA as a major brand in Latin America. Swan knew that she would need to manage all three of these critical activities from New York to make sure that NLA continued to progress. However, she was unsure how to do so. Recommendations Taran Swan has become pregnant at an important time in her company’s progress, when there are still several challenges to complete. Among these include attracting profitable advertisers, closing a deal with Cablevision/TCI and broadcasting to Brazil.There is no simple way to achieve these goals, and they all fall under problems that need to be addressed over time with the proper management. There are options that Swan has as it relates to the management of Nickelodeon while she is away on pregnancy. 1. Swan could give t he responsibility of managing the company to a single person. 2. Swan could have two or more people share her responsibilities. 3. Swan could manage her team remotely and possibly appoint another lower manager to handle the day-to-day tasks.If Swan decides to take option 1, she will need to carefully evaluate the candidates and select the best one, and get Viacom’s approval. The best candidates that come to mind include Donna Friedman, Valerie McCarty and Stephen Grieder. All of these candidates joined within the first few months after Nickelodeon’s project to expand into Latin America began. Stephen Grieder has had the most experience with Nickelodeon out of the three, was familiar with the Latin American culture, and was described as a creative genius. Valerie McCarty was energetic and had good communication skills.Like Grieder, she was familiar with the Latin American culture. She also had taken charge of tasks, even when they weren’t completely her responsib ility. However, she was relatively new to the company. Donna Friedman was particularly known for her creativity. For example, she developed the â€Å"Grow Down† campaign, and thought of making the Jornadas party which attracted thousands of people. Swan felt that Donna didn’t yet have â€Å"multidimensional strategic thinking† needed to take on a more managerial role at the moment, but that Donna could be taught these skills.Swan could decide to take option 2 and have the responsibilities shared by two or more people. This method seemed to work out when Swan divided the marketing roles between McCarty and Friedman. It might help reduce the amount of work each individual has to do. It could also help give the team more diverse views and skillsets. In the last option, Swan could operate the facility remotely. Most of the people working in her team already have experience communicating and working with people from different countries. Swan has already been shown to be an effective leader, and doing it this way would result in the least amount of change.The team would not need to take a risk on an unproven leader. Our recommendation is that Swan operates the facility remotely, while having another â€Å"second in command,† or day to day manager. In the event Swan was unable to run the project for any reason, the person second in command would take over. This would allow Swan to continue to run the project for as long as she was able to, and potentially throughout the entire time she was needed. She should train another person to be in charge of the project, without putting the full responsibility onto them.This would lower the chance of conflicting orders or conflicting goals that could result from shared leadership and mitigate any potential damage that might occur if Swan were suddenly unable to run the plant. Alternatives / Potential Problems Donna Friedman, Valerie McCarty and Stephen Grieder all seem like they could be great potent ial leaders on their own. However, they are not yet tested in such a position. Putting one of them in charge at such a crucial point in the company could jeopardize their progress, and puts a large risk on the company. If the responsibilities were shared, it could help mitigate that risk.However, it could result in misunderstandings, communication problems and overall confusion about the direction of the company if the managers did not always agree. The leaders would need to be careful that they maintained a consistent and clear message. Additionally, it could result social loafing. Social loafing is the phenomenon where people tend to work less in collaborative efforts than in on their own because they expect the other person to fill in the work, and also because they will not get full credit for their work (Latane, Williams & Harkins, 1979).Lastly, there is the option for Swan to operate the company remotely. She is the safest leader, since she has already proven herself. Though t he risk is that due to her pregnancy, or a medical complication, she would be unable to manage the business remotely. Additionally, there might be times when it is difficult to contact her or convey all the needed information to her without her being there in person. This would leave the project without a leader. ConclusionWe learn that Taran Swan might have some team trust issues because of her uncertainty of who to leave in charge during her absence. Every relationship among team members depends on trust. Swan feels her situation has a high level of risk and she is unsure of the best option for her team to succeed while she is gone. Working remotely will allow Swan to have some control over the situation, but that stress might further her complications and prevent her from working all together.Swan needs to trust her team and give them the tools they need to development their team roles through team building exercises. If Swan communicates effectively to the team members and passe s on all training information, she should be able to manage the company remotely without caring too much stress during her medical absence. References McShane, S. & Von Glinow, M. 2011. Organizational Behavior, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin Latane, B. , Williams, K. , & Harkins, S. (1979). Journal of personality and social psychology. Retrieved from http://psycnet. apa. org/journals/psp/37/6/822/

Is the Life-Span Approach Essential to Human Development

Human development has been a subject of interest among modern researchers. The most prominent theory in human development is the life-span approach which is made up of various concepts. This essay aims to show the importance of the life-span approach by analysing some of the concepts that make up this approach, such as multi-directionality historical location and contexualism among others. This essay will critically analyse some of the assumptions of the life-span approach.It will also examine arguments against the lifespan approach as well as other theories of human development such as Freud’s psychoanalytic theory with the aim of showing that this approach is essential for understanding human development. One of the major assumptions of the life-span approach as suggested by Baites, (1987) is that development is a ‘life-long process’ by this he meant that developmental changes occur throughout a person’s life, from the point of conception till death (Suga rman, 1986). Baltes, (1987) went on to state that development as a life-long process assumes that, no point in a person’s developmental life is more important than the other, every period of a person’s life is equally important weather it is childhood or aging, they are all important periods of development though this assumption is in direct contradiction to other theorists of human development such as Freud who believed that development ends at childhood and that adulthood is an extended version of childhood and that aging is more of â€Å"loss in adaptive capacity† hence does not qualify to be put in the paradigms of development .This has constituted the gain and loss argument (Baltes, 1987). Research on intelligence has shown that other forms of intelligence which involving reviewing of one’s life and wisdom emerge in old age and these forms of intelligence are not ‘genetically wired from birth† as suggested by Freud and (Baltes, 1987). Thi s goes to show that development is not restricted to certain periods of a person’s life but happens up until death; hence the life-span approach is essential in understanding human development.With the desire to proove the importance of the life-span approach in human development This essay will look at another assumption put forward by life-span theorists which state that development is malti-directional, (Baltes, 1987). This means that human development has different forms and differs in the routes that it takes thoughout the developmental process for example the presents of degenerative and growth abilities in a person (Stenberg, Bornstein, Yandell, & Rook, 011). It has also been noted by Li & Freund, (2005) that development as viewed by the life-span theory is not a one way procces of accumulation but that some developmental aspect increase while others decline (Li & Freund, 2005). Research by (cattel and horn, 1982 ) shows that a person consits of two types of intelligan ce mamely fluid and crystalized intelligance.According to this research fluid intelligance showed a declining function as compared to cristalized which showed accumulation tendancies (Baltes, 1987) This evidence shows that development is not a one way procces but takes different directions and that includes both childhood development and aiging, reafirming the point made above that aiging also qualifies to be considered as being part of development.Also in southafrica it has been noted that due to the inaccesibility of adiquate health care by children during the apartheid some children were born with birth defects while others suffered from malnutrition and became disabled showing the different varyng trajectories that human development can take (Youth hearings, 1997). Therefore the presence of malti-directionality as a life-span concept helps us to understand the various dimentions and directions taken by development throghout a person’s life hence it earns its importance in understanding human development.The life-span approach again plays a very important role in understanding human development when looking at the assumption that ‘development is historically embeded’ (Elder, 1998). This concept cannot be separated from the concept of contexualism hence Elder, (1998)’s work is to be viewed in light of the two concepts. According to Baites, (1987) the idea behind this assumption is that the historical location of a person together with the socio, economic and caltural experiences the individual encounter during that time has an impact on how he developes.He went on to say that this assumption brings in history as an important factor that facilitates one’s nature of deverlopment To support this assumption it was discovered that children who faced economic hardships during the time of the great depression looked far much older than their normal age but tended to recover when the conditions got better showing again that developm ent is a continous procces (Elder, 1998). To further support this line of thinking it must be clarified that Elder, (1998) is stressing the fact that there is continous interplay between factors such as history, timing of life transitions such as early pregnancy, shared elationships and a person’s unique ability to execise agency which has been defined by Baites, (1987) as plasticity These factors greatly influence the developmental trajectories of a person (Sugarman, 1986). To support this he turns his attention to the oakland and berkely studies done on children who experiences the second world war, the great depression and the korean war. As shown by this research children born during the economic meltdown of the great depression probably laked proper parenting and this affected maturation.He went on to mention that children who lived during the second world war and the korean war had different experienes as compared to the oakland study and their developmental gains and l osses were different. In southafrica research shows that black children who lived during the apatheid era ended up in sqatter camps without any aducation, with poor sanitation no recreation facilities and high health risks, this forced some to join ganges.Removal from their land also caused identity confusion which is a very important developmental task according to Erikson. showng that historcal context brings with it a unique experience that individuals are exposed to and this has a great impact on one’s developmet reafirming the claim tht the life-span approach is important in understanding human development. It has also been brought to attention that the research methods used by life-span researchers are to some extent unreliable and may produce inaccurate information.As critics of this approach have noted life-span researchers mainly use introspection, questioning and obsarvation for example Elder, (1998) on his study of children of the great depression admits that they would ask the subjects on how they thought the great depression influenced their lives, Havighurst also used the same technique in his study of developmental tasks and this is problematic since subjects are most likely unware of their developmental tasks and deficits (Sugarman, 1986).He went on to say researcher bias is also a broblem for example theorists like Erikson may have been influenced to research by their background and the results they produce may bear similarities to what they personaly feel, not the actual facts on the ground. Pllasticity is another life-span concept that t can help us understand human development. Though it has been mentioned above we now look at it in more detail. According to (Li & Freund, 2005) it is the campacity of the individual to influence his own developmen meaning a person may counciously or uconciously influence heir own developme. Biological research on cortical plasticity across the life-span by (Li & Freund, 2005) has shown that the brain of adults can change its stractural and functional organisation due to its developmental history. The research also showed the reorganisation of functions of the cortex in old age such as the use of both hemspheres to compansate for decline and this shows the importance of pasticity in human develoment.The last charecteristic of the life-span approach to be discussed is the fact that human development is multi-disciplinary meaning that it encompasses other fields such as bbiology, sociology and anthropology (Baltes, 1987). This assumption is further supported by Huvighurst (1972) who also suggest that developmental tasks arise from ‘physical maturation, caltural presure and individual aspirations (Sugarman, 1986).He gives the example that learning to read may be as a result caltural influence, one’s willingness to read and your mental or cognitive capability hence these three fields may simaltenously influence development. Though this essay aims to assert the importants of the life-span approach to development we cannot turn a blind eye on some of the weaknesses and critisisms brought forward agains this approach therefore we will start with the last concept which stated that human development is is malti-desciplinary.Schoolars like Sugarman, (1986) have argued that much of the work presented to support the assumption remains in doupt since research done in german society may not be applicable on a Southafrican context and therefore this particular concept does not fully expain human development of all people across the world since developmental tasks such as choosing a job are calture specific (Havighurst, 1972).Another critisism of the life-span approach is that it that some of its ideas are incontradiction with its principles for example Sugarman, (1986) notes that life-span developmental theorists offer a road map of development, Erikson’s eight stages and Havighurst’s assumption that failare to overcome a particular stage would result in unhappyness. This is in direct contradiction to the notion that development is malti-directional and does not follow a particular pattern of developmen which bergs the question as to weather this approach is really essential in understanding human development.After closely examining the assumptions of the life-span approach and the arguments presented against it, it is evident that the approach has a lot of inconsistancies and that the research methods used to some extend are inconclusive. After aknowledging these facts it is however iumportant to note that not all of the life-span approach’s research is obtained by quationable means and that it is the only theory of human development which better explains human development in Southafrica.The life-span approach is also to be credited for being the only thery of human development which is malti-disciplinary and it is also not deterministc in that there is always hope to overcome life;s challenges Also its methods are easily applicable therefore in conclusion it remains beyond reasonable doupt that development is a life-long procces and that the life-span approach is vital in understanding human development. ? References Baites, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline.Developmental Psychology, 611-623. Boyd, D. , & Bee, H. (2006). Life span development (4th ed. ). Boston: MA Pearson Education. Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course a developmental theory. Child development. BF431 . M374 1972. Havisghurst, R. (1972). Developmental tasks and education. (3rd ed. ). New York : D. McKay Co. BF701 . H37 1972. evelopmental theory. Child development, 69, 1-12. Leo, B. , Kloep, H. , & Kloep, M. (2002). Lifespan Development Resources, Challenges and Risks. Oxford: Thomson Learning. Li, S. C. & Freund, A. M. (2005). Advances in lifespan psychology;A Forcus on biocaltural and personal influences. Research in human development, 1- 23. Salkind, N. J. (2004). Intoduction to Theories of Human Development. Califonia: Sage Publications. Stenberg, L. , Bornstein, M. H. , Yandell, D. L. , & Rook, K. S. (2011). Life-Span development;Infancy through chidhood. Belmont: WAadsworth Cengage Learning. Sugarman, L. (1986). New essential psychology:Life-Span development, concepts theories and interventions. New York: Methen Inc.

Case Study - Strategic Leadership Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

- Strategic Leadership - Case Study Example The Japanese manufacturers of DRAMS had a strategy of investing in manufacturing which gave them a manufacturing cost advantage compared to Intel. Japanese competitors were much faster in developing process technologies and improving yields as compared to Intel and this significantly contributed to its dramatic decline in market share in the DRAM market during the period mentioned above. As an executive leading a DRAMS producer between 1974 and 1984, I would certainly take certain steps as going to be outlined below in response to the changing trends in the industry. First and foremost, I would embark on a drive to combine both memory capacity and single power feature as one entity of the DRAM. The emergency of the Japanese competitors heralded a new trend whereby their DRAMS had a larger memory capacity compared to Intel which gave them a competitive advantage over Intel. However, Intel had a unique single power feature which could not be found on products produced by the other comp etitors. Against this background, I would strive to combine these two features into one component so as to appeal to many customers. This would make the DRAMs manufactured by the company I would be heading more unique compared to the others produced by the Japanese competitors. ... First and foremost, I would embark on market research so as to be better positioned to stay abreast with all the changes taking place in the market. Indeed, the environment in which business operates is dynamic and is subject to change hence I will prioritise market research so as to stay ahead and better positioned to know the changing tastes of the customers. Through conducting market research, I will be better positioned to anticipate the needs of the customers hence manage product development with full knowledge of what will appeal to the customers from different market segments. I will also embark on a drive to improve on production while at the same time retaining uniqueness of the products offered. I would seek to gain a cost advantage through devising means of production that will lower the production costs. Lowering the production cost will greatly help in increasing the revenue generated for the organisation as this will entail that less money will go towards production cos ts. I will also emphasize on maintaining of uniqueness of the products offered so as to appeal to a wide number of customers. This will enable me to lead the organisation to be a low cost producer with high value option. 4. I would definitely pursue branding strategy in DRAMs for different marketing purposes. Basically, branding is mainly concerned with creation of an identity of the product that will distinguish it from the other products offered in the market. In DRAMs, this strategy will definitely give a competitive advantage given that there are many players in the industry and as noted above, the competition is stiff. A brand strategy that is

Teaching Grammar Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Teaching Grammar - Term Paper Example Education is a process of learning and acquiring skills and knowledge and it involves training that allows the learner to improve objectively. Textbooks, videos, modules and e-learning are just some of the ways how education is delivered (Dimarco 18). In the modern times, the said definition of education greatly applies as people prepare themselves for the corporate world after graduation, and organizations function through the application of knowledge and skills of the members and staffs. The education may not be limited only to formal education where classroom instruction is the prevalent method where skills and knowledge are passed on to the learners. Alternative education existed already before the onset of formal education but recently more educators are advocating alternative education since many people still cannot afford the formal education. They also focus on lifelong education and adult learning (Antikainen 11). In short, learning and education are intertwined in the pursu it of improvement of people. In teaching people about language, grammar is one of the main parts as rules must be present in constructing the words and sentences corresponding to certain sounds. Grammar revolves around a set of rules such as being taught widely, it is fixed and difficult. The grammar set and rules are just part of a narrow perspective of what grammar is (DeCapua 1). Grammar can also be defined as the systematic description of the skill level of a speaker as measured by the linguist (Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams 13). In teaching grammar, many approaches can be used like IC analysis, TG grammar, case grammar, communicative grammar, and pedagogical grammar (EDL201). IC Analysis or Immediate Constituent Analysis is used to separate and dissect the words that make up a sentence with layered constructions (EDL201 207). On the other hand, transformational grammar describes the grammatical structure of the sentences using a set of rules that matches the knowledge of native En glish speakers (EDL201 243). Case grammar differs from IC analysis and TG grammar because case grammar includes semantics between verb and noun together with grammatical structure (EDL201 272). The fourth approach in teaching grammar is communicative grammar which is one of the newest methods. Competence in grammar is not the only consideration in linguistics since structure, function and form must also be taught in real life situations (EDL201 297). The last approach is pedagogical grammar which prioritizes the effectiveness of teaching methods to the students. It makes use of different approaches to boost the grammar learning efficiency via consciousness-raising approach and word approach (EDL201 323). The following approaches will be applied in various situations in the succeeding paragraphs. Various situations are provided to explore the importance of the methods described in the preceding paragraph. Each method is designed for particular scenario or needs of the learners, so so me methods may become more effective than other approaches in a particular situation. Five situations will be used: first, Filipino caregivers employed in Japan, Korea, China who have to teach their young wards how to speak, write and read English as part of the wards’ day- to- day school work; second, 15 to 17 year old Filipino high school students who have been hired as tourist guides for international tourists whose common language is English; third, Filipino adult migrant workers who are

Compare and contrast applied and theoretical forms of research Essay

Compare and contrast applied and theoretical forms of research. Provide support for each of your answers - Essay Example Applied research is recognized as successful when a particular research helps in figuring out a solution to any particular issue for which the research was being conducted (McArdle 28). A research that is applied in nature is considered as successful in accordance to the degree of its scientific competence. Research that is theoretical in nature is deemed as successful when a research ends up in figuring out a novice concept or phenomenon or it helps in figuring out new ideas (McArdle 28). The main aim of the researcher of applied research is to provide the world with theoretical frame work in order to help enhance the world’s interpretation of a concept. A research is regarded as applied in nature when the research results in successfully solving a particular issue that is practical in nature and these problems are experienced by various stakeholders including businesses, governments and politicians. In the case of applied research, the issue experienced by the individual or organization funding the research is refined and then a solution is figured out to help the patron. Theoretical research is not conducted with the aim of solving a issue of a particular organization or individual, it rather is conducted for the betterment of the whole society and to help the society understand a particular phenomenon. Applied research and theoretical research are both conducted to benefit human beings and society (Bernan 219). But applied research is conducted to solve the problem or an agenda experienced by a particular organization or individual and that particular organization or individual funds the research. The organization or the individual even has the liberty to decide whether to make the research public or use it for his own advantage only. On the other hand, findings of theoretical research benefit both the overall society and individuals and are published to help ever individual of the society in learning about an issue or a

Interview Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Interview Project - Essay Example For that reason, the servant leader shares his power with the people and puts the needs of the people first and helps his subordinates to fully develop their potentials. The servant leader therefore views himself/herself as a servant of the people mandated by the people to lead them and to help them to exploit their potentials and be able to achieve their goals in life. This paper is an Interview project synthesis. The paper is composed of two parts. The first part is the summary of the interview on servant leadership that was carried out on Moses Charlton, chairman of a Catholic parish council based in Dallas Texas, while the second part is an evaluation of what has been learnt in the interview, and a synthesis of this information into a personal philosophy of leadership. Professional Background of the interviewee The interviewee said that he is a trained human resource manager. He said that he has a master’s degree in human resource management. He also said that he has atten ded various courses on leadership in the Catholic church and he is therefore well versed with leadership in the church. On his experience in leadership, the interviewee said that he has served as a human resource manager in various companies for a period of thirty years, before his retirement. Mr Charlton therefore said that he has extensive knowledge of leadership both in the cooperate world and also in the church. Charlton’s responsibilities as the chairman of Catholic Parish council in Dallas Texas As the chairman of parish council, Mr. Charlton is first and foremost, the head of the parish council and he is the one who chairs all the meetings of the parish council in the parish. Charlton also is in charge of all development projects in the parish; he oversees all the development projects in the parish. Mr Charlton also is the coordinator of all the activities in the parish, and he is therefore mandated to ensure that all the activities in the parish run smoothly in accord ance with the program of the parish. Charlton’s Philosophy of Leadership On his philosophy of leadership, Charlton said that he is a servant leader. And when I asked him what he understands the servant leadership to be, he said that, servant leadership is a style of leadership whereby the leader views himself not as the master or as the boss of the people, but rather as the servant, the steward, or the shepherd of the people. Charlton went on to say that the guiding principle of servant leadership is to treat people not merely as means to achieve some objective, but rather to see the people as the very objective or the goal of leadership. He went on to explain that, although in leadership making profits for the organisation is of course one of the goals of leadership, monetary profits however should not be made at the expense of the lives of the people/ workers. He said that for him, the primary objective of leadership is to empower his subordinates and to ensure that they ar e contented and to ensure that he has given them conducive environment and means to fully exploit their potentials. He went on to argue that, although at fast glance servant leadership may seen as a leadership style that will lead to massive losses in the organisation, servant leadership actually leads to making an organisation successful

Gentlemen prefer blondes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Gentlemen prefer blondes - Essay Example The novel takes a narrative of Lorelei’s personal account as she wanders, shops in fancy stores, and dines with men of recognizable popularity and fat pockets. Featuring a satirical approach in presenting a popular culture’s stereotypes towards blonde women during the 1920s, Blondes is said to be amusing, mirthful, and gay, but â€Å"full of shrewd observation and devastating irony† (Frost 292). Anita Loos: Experience and Life in Understanding the Novel Anita Loos was early exposed in the world of theater when his father worked as a theater manager after becoming unemployed as a newspaper publisher. Also, she earns knowledge about acting when she starts the craft from her early childhood up until her teens (Szpytko 1). Most of the time, she happens to be the center of attention every time she joins a particular play, and her father is extremely proud of her (Loos and Beauchamp 9). Aside from acting once in a while, Anita is also considered as a â€Å"child prodi gy† as she started writing scripts when she was 12 although reports told that she was already 24 years old when she sold her first book (Loos and Beauchamp 11). Also, when she reached 20 years old, she is already considered as a â€Å"professional screenwriter,† who prolifically worked in over 60 silent films and talkies (Szpytko 1). Moreover, her influences are invariably philosophy readings and the society pages of the New York newspapers (Loos and Beauchamp 11). The early 1900s is characterized as the age of Jazz and the â€Å"Roaring Age of Twenties,† the phenomenal â€Å"flamboyant flapper,† and the age where baring skin becomes a trend (Szpytko 1). During that period also, Anita Loos wrote scripts and stories, which she submitted to various film companies including Biograph production, Mutual production, and D. W. Griffith’s affiliated film outfit (Loos and Beauchamp 13). As a curious child, teen, and young adult, Anita has a penchant for exam ining the lives of the upper class Americans (13). She also has a series of rich boyfriends, which she admittedly dumped and sent to tears when she got bored of the relationship (14). Hence, Anita considers herself â€Å"a failure as a gold digger† (14). However, the significant experience she had when she was young was when H.L. Mencken, a formidable journalist of the early 1990s, to whom she devoted admiration was in fact had a penchant for blonde women. She characterizes one particular blonde woman as empty-headed, leaving her puzzled as to why men compete over a blonde’s attention. As a result, Loos makes careful conversations with herself regarding the status of blonde women in the society. Right then, Loos thinks that blonde women must belong to a certain kind of class that can be considered a privilege. Her novel speaks of this contention. Some aspects of Loos’s story reflect in her masterpiece as the theme of the book reveals women’s fascination o ver a diamond â€Å"that lives forever,† which is both an analogy of women’s inclination towards beauty and material possessions, and a satirical approach in stereotyping women particularly those who are blonde (Snodgrass 335). Anita’s encounters with rich men and the timing of the Great Depression all contribute to her amusing yet meaningful depiction of women in her age. Knowing the author’s background somehow gives readers a deeper understanding of the issues that surround the plot of the novel. It gives readers an added perspective in digesting the

Lack of Universal Healthcare amongst people of Low Socioeconomic Essay

Lack of Universal Healthcare amongst people of Low Socioeconomic Status - Essay Example The situation has not changed since then. Pappas et al. has found that between 1960 and 1986, the gap between the mortality of people coming from low financial status and high financial status had increased a lot (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.8). It was also found that as the income increases, the mortality rate decreases (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.8). This makes it very clear that vulnerability to diseases and mortality of a person strongly depends on his financial status (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.8). People in adult age group coming from lower income families suffer from poor health five times more than the people coming from high income families (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.5). The sad thing is that, this situation applies even in case of children. Cohen et al. found that children belonging to lower SES families are more likely to develop health problems like â€Å"injury, asthma, ear diseases, physical inactivity etc.†, than the children from higher SES families (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.9). One of the main factors for this difference is the environment. Environmental Hazards It has been found that the toxic waste of the different nature is dumped in areas where people from lower SES live (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.12). These people are exposed to environmental hazards and they lack the resources to fight these hazards (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.12). Moreover, people living in the lower SES communities follow unhealthy lifestyle as they are addicted to junk food, smoking, drugs and physical lethargy (Adler & Stewart, 2010, p.12). Also, the number of people who smoke is very large in the lower SES communities. This affects not only the health of people who smoke but also the health of their children and their neighbors...This paper presents the study of the background and the researches regarding the health disparity due to lower socioeconomic status. Every nation should try to provide equal treatment and opportunities to its people, regardless of their backgro und and socioeconomic status. As it is a birthright of every human being to enjoy health care facilities provided by the government and the health sectors. Living a healthy life is not only beneficial for personal life but is also important for healthy growth of the nation. The health disparity is also the result of the increase in the inequality level of the income in last thirty years. This disparity in the income level has severely distorted the equal distribution of health and social resources. In today’s world, where every little problem of human beings is solved with the help of innovative ideas and technology, the helpless situation experienced by people with lower SES is a blot on human. Health disparity occurs when certain groups of people do not get access to the available health resources due to their disadvantageous social or personal status. For example, people belonging to lower SES do not get proper and easy access to health screening, treatment options, culturally knowledgeable staff personnel, information on health benefits etc. The only way to eradicate the disparity in health care for people coming from lower SES is to provide them with adequate environmental facilities along with health care programs. However, what is most important is to make them feel cared for.

Exploring the Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Exploring the Bible - Essay Example Exodus 3 depicts that God drew the attention of Moses out of the middle of the bush and calls him with name Moses. It can be stated from the above statement that God is aware of the name of every individual. Moreover, God said, â€Å"I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob†. It can be postulated from the Exodus 3 that Moses was afraid to explore the God and obscured his face (BibleGateway.com, â€Å"Exodus 3 (American Standard Version)†). From Exodus 3 God’s ability to observe the affliction and misery of His people can be reflected upon. Furthermore, the Exodus reveals the God’s inclination to save people from the Egyptians and bring them to a virtuous and broad land. Accordingly, it can be reflected that God is aware of the hardship and pain suffered by the people and He is firmly determined to eliminate those sufferings and to provide relief to them from the burden of affliction. God intends to take His people to virtuous land which has been described as â€Å"land flowing with milk and honey† (BibleGateway.com, â€Å"Exodus 3 (American Standard Version)†. God said to Moses, He would take them to the dwelling of â€Å"the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites† (BibleGateway.com, â€Å"Exodus 3 (American Standard Version)†. The God reveals His concern against the oppression experienced by Israelites. From the above passage, th e God’s nature can be identified to be extremely patient, merciful and sovereign over all the facets (BibleGateway.com, â€Å"Exodus 3 (American Standard Version)†; People’s Church Partington, â€Å"EXODUS 3 – 4:17†). In this regard, God can be identified to be patient as He being aware of the sufferings of His people and His invincible power to relief His people at a single instance, does not haste in His action to bring His people out of the oppression by Egyptians. Moreover, nature of God can be termed as merciful because He is concerned about the hardship and affliction of His people. Last but not the least, God can be considered as sovereign over all the facets as He has the power to perform any action without any fear or objection. 2. ACCORDING TO THIS SECTION OF EXODUS (ESPECIALLY CHAPTERS 5-12), WHY DOES GOD BRING THE VARIOUS â€Å"PLAGUES† UPON THE EGYPTIANS? CITE SPECIFIC PASSAGES THAT EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE FOR THESE PLAGUES (TAKEN T OGETHER). ACCORDING TO THE BIBLICAL AUTHOR, DO THE PLAGUES ACCOMPLISH THEIR PURPOSES? WHY OR WHY NOT? FINALLY, DEVELOP A RESPONSE: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS? When Moses and Aaron departed to Pharaoh of Egypt and said that the God of Israel has said to release the Israelites so that they are able to hold veneration to God in the wilderness then Pharaoh denies and said, â€Å"who is the Lord and why should I obey him† (BibleGateway.com, â€Å"Exodus 3 (American Standard Version)†; People’s Church Partington, â€Å"EXODUS 3 – 4:17†). Pharaoh further declared that he does not know the God and he would not allow the people belonging to Israel to go. On hearing this, Moses returned to the God and said, â€Å"

How did the two World Wars affect Africa and Africans Essay Example for Free

How did the two World Wars affect Africa and Africans Essay There were different implications and effects that were caused by the World War I and II to African and Africans as well. Many lives were lost and many were rendered useless. Though there are a lot of things that were achieved during this period, there are others that brought about great problems to people. In 1940, German armies were motivated to believe that Africans were in deed their enemies and there was a need to address the issue. With engaging in war with France, and France had several blacks in their army, they were the main target and they were being killed more than their white counterparts. German was fighting people who were below the Nazi, or who Nazi believed they were mutilating their colleagues (Raffael, 596). The effects of the war brought both the positive and negative effects to Africans and Africa as well. Nazi hierarchy had already begun to kill those who they thought were below their Aryan. This was a great suffering for Africans because they were being killed mercilessly. Even they are among their French counterparts, there was no African who was captured and imprisoned but instead they were killed. The other problem was that the Geneva regulations were not applicable to Africans. This was because, the Nazi rule and theory was that the rules were only applicable to the whites but not Africans, thus raising another effect to the African as they were killed without any word or anyone to defend them. Though there were some of the German militaries who were supporting Africans and defending them, those who were Nazified had not respect to Africans. This helped the African soldiers show their heroism as they were trying to defend themselves and in most cases being placed in the front line in the battle, they had to try their best and defend their combat. They believed that African culture believed that whenever an African gets his enemy, he would use coupe-coupe, which was believed was a deadly weapon compared to other short range weapons. They also believed that Africans were already on the attack positions and they would not hesitate attacking their rivals. They used this as a justification of killing Africans (Raffael, 600). In Africa, Africans had already learnt that there is nothing special with the whites and there is nothing whites can do blacks cant do. Africans developed resistant powers and they were now defending their land against occupation by whites. Africans were fighting for freedom and independence. This was not going well with whites in Europe as the information they were getting is that Africans are mutilating their people, raping their women and killing others. This brought about the justification of the Germans illegal activities of killing blacks and mutilating them ‘This charge became an ob- session of some German officers and soldiers and helped to justify the killings of black soldiers and the no-quarters policy in some battles with the’ (Raffael, 600). Most of the African Countries, though they had already suffered a lot, they had already started fighting whites and they managed to get their independence and have their own governments without of the colonial rules.

The use of water Essay Example for Free

The use of water Essay The use of water has been steadily increasing recently all around the world. Some of the reasons that account for this are due to the improvement of living standards, population expansion and human activities including but not limited to, agriculture, industrial and personal-use like, cooking, washing of cars and clothes. In Kuwait for example, the consumption rate of water increased rapidly specially after the discovery of oil in the 1930s. One can just imagine how a small country with a size of 17,820 km2 and a population of 2,505,559 (around 1,291,354 are non-Kuwaiti citizens) has seen tremendous rate of increase in water. Kuwait, consisting of flat desert with arid soil, little or no irrigation water and harsh climate is located in the Middle East region and is characterized by its hot climate in summer with high evaporation rate (long season), and another nearly cold climate season, winter, with a small rate of rain (short season). In the past, Kuwait counted on rain water found on the surface in shallow wells because there was no other water source. After some time, in 1905, a large fresh water capacity well was discovered in Hawally area. However all of those wells were no longer sufficient because of the increasing growth of population and the small rate of seasonal rain. Accordingly, Shaat Al-Arab (in Iraq) was the alternative solution at that time utilizing dhows (special ships) that brought fresh water which were stored in tanks. Thus, a primitive network for distribution was established. After the first oil shipment was effected in 1946, the wealth age of Kuwait began and from then Kuwait had to look for alternative industrial solutions. Two of the main concerns orf the government involved available water and electricity for the country’s development and construction expansion. In fact the water consumption in Kuwait is divided into two main parts, fresh water from desalination plants, and brackish water which usually come from groundwater. Both of them are delivered to households, farms, irrigation and industrial facilities but in separate pipes. However, brackish water delivers only two days per week (specific days for each town). Brackish water is distributed through network pipe lines which are parallel to the fresh water distribution line and is provided from the main distribution water system. It is used for blending with distilled water, irrigation and landscaping as well as for house-hold purposes, livestock watering and construction work, while the fresh water is for the human use. Moreover, the brackish water is distributed for consumers for free (free of charge). The consumption of both types of water has increased because of the growth of population and lifestyle development especially when the oil was discovered and Kuwait became a developed rich country. News released by (†¦) states that the Ministry of Electricity and Water indicated the need of new desalination plants which aim at producing 375 million imperial gallons per day due to the increase of the water consumption. There were also reports that in the final quarter of 2006, freshwater distribution was lower than the estimated consumption. The minister also noted that the consumption of fresh water in November 2006 was around 303. 6 Million Imperial Gallons (MIG) and in 2005 of the same month it was at 279. 6 MIG. Going back to the fifties, it is to be noted that the population of Kuwait was only ten thousand then and it reached around two million during the nineties which resulted in an increase of water consumption. Specifically, in 1957, the consumption of fresh water was 648 MIG and increased to 6638 MIG in 1970. In 1989 it reached 47605 MIG but it has decreased due to the Iraqi invasion in 1991 to 30814 MIG. The consumption of fresh water is gradually increasing since 1992 and reached 67464 MIG in 1996. For more details, the consumption rate until year 2005 is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: shows the gross consumption and the daily average consumption of fresh water from 1988 to 2005. On the other hand, 527 MIG was the consumption of brackish water in 1957, and then it went up to 9750 MIG in 1980 and increased in 1989 to 17998 MIG. The fresh water consumption decreased in 1991 due to the Iraqi invasion, brackish water consumption has decreased for the same reason to 1669 MIG. Since 1992, brackish water consumption is increasing and has reached 19697 MIG in 1994. There was a slight decrease due to the change in supply system in 1995 to 15957 MIG. The consumption of brackish water in 1996 has increased again to 17875 MIG. For more details, the consumption rate until year 2005 is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: shows the gross consumption of brackish water from 1989 to 2005. Most of the consumers received the two types of water by the distribution network but some of them were received by car-based tanks (tanks) specially the new towns that did not get the distribution network service yet. The distribution network makes the consumption rate higher and easier because of the availability of water while consumers from tanks have limited water. The consumption of both types of water usually increases in summer due to the arid location, very hot climate and dust during the season resulting in the need for more cleaning, cooling and irrigation, etc. For more details, the consumption rate per month for year 2004 and 2005 is shown in figure 3 (fresh water) and 4 (brackish water). Figure 3: shows the production and consumption of water monthly for year 2004 and 2005. Figure 4: shows the production and consumption of brackish monthly for year 2004 and 2005. Agriculture has not been a priority compared to other sectors of development. According to the weakness of natural resources and the availability of fresh water, Kuwait’s agriculture used to get water from the brackish groundwater or some fresh water wells (very rare and some are human made) in some places such as, Al Abdily, Al Wafra and Fontas. Since the introduction desalination plants and the improvement done to the distribution networks, agriculture has developed and expanded. Farms in Al Wafra and Al Abdily became the highest water consumers in Kuwait. These farms are divided into two sections: †¢ Private farms which consumes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¢ Government farms which consumes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Meanwhile, irrigation for planting streets, decorating roads, deck dress towns and public parks are also expanding in Kuwait. Some of these plants are irrigated by a specific distribution system, drip irrigation and others by water tanks. Kuwait is regarded as a non industrial country compared with other countries like USA or Japan but it has some minor industrial facilities. Most of its products are produced from oil such as those from plastic, aluminium, and the most important manufacturing part. It must be noted that Kuwait is one of the biggest countries in producing oil for exportation. Oil derivatives are used to cover public needs such as, pesticides, benzine, diesel, plastic, blacktop etc. This makes the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) as the company with the greatest water consumption section when compared with other industrial facilities. In 1951, the consumption of water was 80000 G/d for the KOC. Currently, the production of oil is around 2. 5 million barrels per day and this means the need for water required for oil processes such as cooling systems, cleaning, pumping and many others. Due to the growth in oil production, the mount water needed has increased sharply compared to the one consumed in the fifties. However, in the past, technology was not as developed as now, and currently part of the water used by the KOC comes from the oil production wells themselves. In contrast, while the oil is pumped out, water comes out as well but this water is usually very acidic (effluent). This water is first treated to reduce its acidity to a level close to the sea water level otherwise it can be harmful to the environment. The water is then pumped back to the ground in order to create enough pressure to push the oil up. When the amount of this effluent water is not enough, additional amount of water (sea water) is used to maintain such pressure. In some cases, average quality water is also produced; this water is treated and used for cooling systems and cleaning. Another source of water consumption is the desalination factories where they use non-negligible amount water for cleaning and cooling system in order to continue their processes (see figure 5). Figure : shows the water consumption inside the desalination plants in 2005. The consumption for households is the largest among all and is the priority concern in Kuwait. Since Kuwait became one of the richest countries, the lifestyles of most of the people there have completely changed. For example, people in Kuwait own big houses and the average number of bathrooms in each house is approximately six and around five cars per house (2-3 cars for people in each apartment). Additionally, the prices of water became very cheap compared with the income of each person. Furthermore, a statement released by (†¦) says that Kuwaiti people wash their cars daily for at least four days a week. Clearly, these reasons will result in more consumption of water besides the hot, dry season and dust storms in summer. Therefore, the consumption of water in summer is more than in winter because of the dust which needs more cleaning (the house, cars, cloths, more showering etc) and cooling for the very hot climate. It is to be noted that most of the houses in Kuwait have gardens (average size of 8 x 6 meters), and this means more water is needed for gardens’ irrigation. In 1960, the mean consumption was 4851 IG per capita and this has further increased in 1970 to 9252 IG. In 1980 it reached 16734 IG, then it increased to 29583 IG in 1992 and in the year 2000 it was 36931 GI. In 2005, the mean per capita consumption was 37279 GI which estimated as one of the highest in the world. Figure 6: shows the consumption of fresh water per capita from 1985 to 2005. The increase in consumption is largely due to the residential areas in Kuwait which have introduced piped water, together with the increase of population and the development of new residential areas. Finally, the consumption of freshwater per capita has reached its saturation levels. Conclusion It is evident that water consumption in Kuwait has increased rapidly in recent years as compared to the past two decades. It has been considered one of the current major concerns since the consumption has been very high as compared with the country size and population. The increase of water consumption is due to several factors. One of these is the discovery of oil in 1991 which made Kuwait one of the richest country, having more facilities and activities most of which are water-based such as big gardens and swimming pools and artificial aqua. Although it has decreased in 1991 due to the Iraqi invasion, it gained momentum and started to increase rapidly again after the war. Water consumption has also increased due to the increase of agriculture and industrial activities.

Age assessments for unaccompanied asylum seeking

Age assessments for unaccompanied asylum seeking DISSERTATION Age assessments for unaccompanied asylum seeking children: Policy, law and implications for social work. Abstract Methodology Literature Review Chapter One – Introduction Chapter Two – Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers Chapter Three – Age Assessment Policy, Legislation and Practice Chapter Four – Conclusion and Recommendations. Unaccompanied asylum seeking children arrive in the UK seeking refuge from often-horrific events in their home countries. The response of both national government and local authorities to this influx has been largely unsatisfactory with campaigners arguing that the focus has been on cutting costs and removing young asylum seekers rather than providing them with the care that they are entitled to. This study suggests that policy and practice around age assessment is central to this argument. There is significant evidence that local authorities are pressurising social workers to age assess children as older than they are in order to save them money. The haphazard way in which age assessments have usually been carried out only serves to encourage this behaviour. Even without financial pressure, the lack of a standard approach to age assessment is also leading to inconsistencies when age assessments are put into practice The focus of this dissertation has been to analyse how, why and when age assessments are used in processing unaccompanied asylum seekers and examine whether the process is fair and consistent. The methodology has primarily to adopt secondary sources and evaluate evidence from as wide a range of viewpoints as possible. The dissertation has been aimed towards a conclusion that the current process is unsatisfactory and has attempted to deliver recommendations that could improve the process. Literature for this dissertation has been gathered from a combination of academic books and journals, government publications, reports produced by independent agencies and articles from newspapers and magazines including The Guardian and Community Care. One of the most detailed reports on the subject of assessment is the 2007, When is a child not a child? Asylum, age disputes and the process of age assessment by Crawley. Much of the factual detail about the actual mechanics of age assessment has been gathered from this source. Of academic journals, the articles written by Kohli have been most useful as they delivering the results and analysis from a wide range of studies around unaccompanied asylum seekers. Each year, approximately 3000 unaccompanied children and young people arrive in the UK to seek asylum.[1] Many of these are subject to age assessment to clarify that they are entitled to services available to vulnerable children in the UK. The age of people claiming to be children can be disputed by a range of professionals, from immigration officers to police and social workers. It is important to define what an age assessment actually is at the beginning of this study. An age assessment is he method used by either the UK border and Immigration Agency or local authority social services departments to assess the age of an asylum seeker.[2]There is currently no method that is capable of defining the exact age of a child and the accuracy of the assessment will often be produced within a range of two years over or below the assessment age.[3] Some commentators have argued that many local authorities have proactively looked to avoid the cost of looking after young asylum seekers in need and have set up control measures to keep children aged 16-18 out of the territory.[4] One of the mechanisms for doing this has been attempts by social workers to stop classifying unaccompanied minors as children. There have been suggestions that many social workers became preoccupied with attempting to assess the age of applicants rather than providing services and that such an assessment was crude exercise based on the individual opinion of a single social worker. As Kohli writes â€Å"studies reported a growing disbelief in respect of those claiming to be under 18 and the treatment of anyone over 16 years as a de facto adult allowed access to food and shelter but little else.†[5] Professionals working in the highest echelons of childcare have expressed similar concerns, for example the Children’s Commissioner Sir Al Aynsley Green has stated: â€Å"Although Home Office Policy is for the immigration officer to apply the ‘benefit of the doubt’ in favour of the applicant in borderline cases, the evidence suggests that in practice this is frequently not adhered to. The result is that a substantial number of asylum seekers who are in fact unaccompanied children are excluded from the protection of domestic care regimes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [6] Government policy from the early part of the decade has been to work in partnership with local authorities and disperse asylum seekers of all ages around the country. The Home Office negotiated contracts with a number of authorities to receive and accommodate asylum seekers.[7] There also is evidence to support this. Central government has since 2005 looked to change the role of social work teams at ports of entry to work practically as adjuncts to the Border and Immigration Agency, deliberately narrowing the gap between immigration and social services functions. There is clearly a financial motivation for this – in 2005 the 6000 unaccompanied asylum seeking children offered services by local authorities comprised less than 10% of cases yet used up approximately 25% of the Home Office budget.[8]Social work teams have been set targets in terms of turning away age disputed asylum seekers and assessing clients claiming to be 15 as older.[9] This study looks at how the UK deals with unaccompanied asylum seekers and in particular examines policy and practice around age assessment. Chapter two focuses on the legislation in place and policy around it whilst chapter three looks more specifically at the age assessment processes and the general failings of the system in the UK. Chapter four concludes with recommendations on improving the system Unaccompanied asylum seeking children arrive in the UK for a number of reasons. A recent study of 218 arrivals found that half came from countries undergoing armed conflict or serious disturbances and over two fifths were victims of direct or indirect persecution. Deprivation, poverty or trafficking for exploitation were other primary reasons for seeking asylum.[10] Dealing with asylum seeking children, either with or without their families is a growing area of social work practice yet one in which there is relatively little understanding of the needs or circumstances of such children.[11] In legislative terms, legislation such as The Children’s Act 1989 and The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families remain central to issues around assessment and care for asylum-seeking children and they should also be included under the remit of the Every Child Matters agenda. The Children and Young People’s Plan 2005 for example makes reference to joint working between housing and social care bodies to meet the housing needs of unaccompanied asylum seekers. [12] For local authorities, there is a duty to provide services necessary to safeguard and promote the well-being of any children deemed to be in need under the Children Act 1989. Due to the absence of their parents, unaccompanied children are classed as vulnerable and therefore in need. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 also reinforces the local authority duty to support unaccompanied minors. It is helpful to have a clear definition of what an unaccompanied asylum seeker actually is. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate definition is a young person under the age of 18(or who appears to be if there is no proof); who is applying for asylum in his or her own right; and who has no adult relative or guardian to turn to within the UK.[13] The age of an unaccompanied asylum seeker has historically been an important factor in respect of the Special Grant that the Home Office made available to unaccompanied minors. Prior to 2004 there were two levels of support available, with those supported under the age of 16 receiving a higher level and those first supported at age 16 or 17 receiving half that amount.[14] However, a judicial review – the Hillingdon Judgement – carried out in 2004 has significantly increased the impact on local authorities. The judgement ruled that, except in exceptional cases, all asylum-seeking children must be treated under section 20 of the Children’s Act 1989 which classes them as looked after children. [15] There is clearly an impact on service provision for both national and local government. Watters writes that â€Å"the arrival of significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children through the port of Dover thus presented very significant challenges to social care, health and education providers in the south east.† [16] Asylum seekers who after the assessment process became looked after children would be entitled to foster or residential placements, an allocated social worker and financial support. They may also have qualified for the benefits of leaving care status up to the age of 21, a further financial burden on local authorities. The question of age then is a crucial issue for local authorities. Many young people seeking asylum do not have official papers or documentation confirming their age so practitioners in both social services and immigration have difficult decisions to make. It can be difficult to draw information from asylum seeking children – research shows that when they are asked about reasons for their asylum request, they try and fit their stories into the narrow format that they believe are acceptable in their given country.[17]This in turn can lead to scepticism amongst officials and social workers, the same research reported instances of social services personnel being cynical about young Kosovan and African males claiming to be younger than they looked and thus worrying that their services were being exploited and their resources drained.[18] Ultimately, age assessment is a crucial tool for immigration officials and social workers. There are asylum seekers who try to abuse the system, so a method of asserting age is required. When the current practices serve this purpose will be discussed in chapter three. When and Why Most age disputes in asylum cases occur when an asylum seeker first applies for asylum, normally at their port of entry.[19]There is little in the way of formal assessment at this point, age disputes will be lodged primarily based on the basis of appearance, demeanour and documentation. Another issue of contention is the range of individuals or professionals that might dispute the age of an asylum seeker – this can include immigrations officials, social workers or police officers. Social workers may even dispute the age of a child who had not been queried by immigration officials. Age disputes may happen several months or even years after a child has entered the country. Crawley quotes a case study of a young girl who had been brought into the country at a young age to be used as a domestic slave. When immigration officials became aware of her five years later – still under the age of 16 – she was age disputed before eventually taken into the care of a social services department.[20] In contrast, many young people, perhaps some who are over 18, slip through the net and are classed as minors. Many social services departments simply do not have the resources to undertake formal age assessments and have concerns about the impact of multiple interviews and assessment on young asylum seekers. As such, decisions are made not to query age. Policy and Legislative framework Home Office policy in terms of unaccompanied minors is set out in policy documents including Policy bulletin 33, Guidance from processing applications from children and Guidance on age disputed cases 3rd ed which lays out specific procedures for professionals who dispute a claimant’s age and believe that it is an adult claiming to be a child. One of the most interesting aspects of policy and perhaps the most controversial in the light of what appears to be happening is that the INDs guidance on age disputed cases states clearly that when there is an age dispute â€Å"a claimant must be given the benefit of the doubt with regards to their age unless their physical appearance strongly suggests that they are aged 18 or over†.[21]It seems that this is not the case currently in practice – local authorities certainly are encouraging social work team to dispute age more regularly. Other aspects of the IND guidance can be confusing and it is not surprising that there are inconsistencies in practice. For example there is no actual duty for immigration officers to refer age disputed cases to the appropriate local authority, rather this is something that should be done in principle, a situation that can only complicate things for social workers further down the line. Overall, the current system seems disjointed and variable. As Crawley writes: â€Å"There is evidence of a significant gap between what is supposed to happen and to what happens in practice†[22] and some of the issues involves at age assessment units around the country highlight this: A general lack of care, including a lack of food and water, for young people waiting to be screened A failure to use the privacy of separate interview rooms Difficulties with microphones meaning conversations held through the glass screen in the public area are either overheard or not heard at all No responsible adult being present to support young person[23] Clearly age assessment is not a simple matter. All children vary in development, maturity and natural growth and there can be a wide range of supposed ‘normal findings’ at various ages. It is extremely difficult to accurately gather a young persons age and things such as race, ethnicity and local conditions such as disease and malnutrition have to be considered in any assessment. Whether children’s social workers are qualified to do this is questionable The organisation Youth Support which assists young refuges reports that in its own age assessment process it includes as many factors as possible including â€Å"height, weight, body mass, shoe size, developmental factors such as skin care and teeth, sexual development; mental and emotional age estimates including thought processes and general concepts. Also of great importance is the history and social milestones which the young person might have experienced – again talking culture and religion into consideration.†[24] There is clearly inconsistency in the process nationwide. Michie argues that one of the problems in the UK has been that a diversity of systems and guidelines has developed in assessing the age of unaccompanied minors, involving a combination of history collection, physical anthropometry and radiographs. He writes: â€Å"Their lack of uniformity identifies an underlying difficulty: there is no method by which chronological age can be precisely estimated in this age group. Paediatricians in the United Kingdom care for small numbers of individuals in late adolescence and early adulthood in graduate outpatient services, but often have little experience in this area.†[25] There are some success stories. At Heathrow Airport for example, Hillingdon Social Services have used a number of strategies to deal with large volumes of unaccompanied asylum seekers. These have included use of a dedicated police officer for child protection, a specific questionnaire for staff working at terminal 3 and the development of a specifics age assessment tool combined with specific training,.[26] Guidance for Social Work Practice Age assessment is clearly a difficult area for social work practitioners. There is little experience in this type of work and relatively little in the way of practice guidelines. The guidance drawn up by the Children’s Legal Centre is perhaps the most useful document for social workers to refer to when carrying out age assessments. Some of the points included are: Taking account of ethnicity, culture and customs of the person being assessed and well as the level of trauma, tiredness, anxiety and bewilderment present The asylum seeker may have had coaching prior to arrival. It is important for the social work to engage with the person in a process sometimes known as ‘joining’. The assessment framework should be led by open, non-leading questions The practitioner should note the verbal and non-verbal (body language) behaviour of the person A useful indicator is if the person seems uncomfortable talking to an adult A detailed family tree with ages of parents and siblings can help assessing likely age Questions about the activities and roles a person was involved in prior to entering the UK can be a good indicator Social workers may consider arranging for the person to be put in a social situation with people of the age stated and observing interaction Gaining detailed accounts of educational history can be a valuable source of information in making an accurate age assessment Assessment of life skills is useful – does the person have any experience of living independently, managing money etc[27] All of the above can be done in conjunction with opinion and input from other sources including foster carers, teachers, doctors, interpreters and residential workers. It is useful also to have input from paediatricians, dentists or optician although a social worker should take into account advice from paediatricians that there can be a five year error in age assessments.[28] Just as important is information and best practice sharing between professional involved in this type of work. A uniform approach to age assessment across the UK should be a shared objective. There are clearly huge improvements necessary in the way that social service departments across the country deal with unaccompanied asylum seekers. This includes both the process for age assessment and the subsequent services provided. Evidence shows that staff in the various agencies dealing with these children lack knowledge about the services available and how to deal with the emotional trauma that many of these children will have experienced.[29]Social workers dealing with age assessments are clearly lacking in the skills to do so accurately. One reported when surveyed: â€Å"We do them (age assessments) but we can be wrong five years either side – it matters a lot doesn’t it? They can end up with many dates of birth – social services, Home Office, their own..†[30] Practitioners need such understand the vulnerability of the young people they are dealing with and avoid taking a cynical approach. As Michie concludes: â€Å"The fairness, legality and ethical base of any national framework for age assessment has to take into account legal history, jurisprudence as well as the paediatric wisdom, â€Å"What if this were my child?†, Although it may be difficult to quantify the inadequacies of the current system, it clearly compounds abuse to a vulnerable group of children. We must do better.†[31] The are some positives in examining the UK response to unaccompanied asylum seekers . The more holistic approach developed in recent years seems to be more efficient are more aware of the sensitivities of the issues than for example the US and Australian governments. Bhaba et al write of the UK: â€Å"It has made extensive efforts to identify children in genuine need at the earliest possible stage and to institute programmes to target trafficking in children through training of in country border officials and the instigation of research. [32]This is a pleasing sign, yet problems still occur when age is disputed. Recommendations: There are a number of steps that can be taken to improve the way in which young asylum seekers are treated to ensure consistency. Protection of vulnerable children is crucial, yet it is also important that age assessments can be used to identify asylum seekers over the age of 18 who seek to abuse the system. The EU’s reception directive states that unaccompanied children seeking asylum should be appointed a legal guardian[33] and this should be adopted by the UK Helping vulnerable children through the process would be a welcome improvement. Trained, skilled age assessors should be employed at ports of entry. These may well be social workers, experienced in dealing with this age group, accountable to a child protection team with paediatric expertise open to them in some form. Another option would be to establish fully trained multi agency teams based in regional assessment centres, something that would produce holistic and better-informed outcomes. Ideally age assessors should be financially independent of local authority social services – this would limit the chance of pressure being put upon assessors to reach targets for the number of age assessments found to be 18+. The lack of statutory guidance on the process of age assessment should also be addressed – this would help alleviate some of the inconsistencies in the process. A final recommendation, supported by Crawley, would be for the age assessment process to be overlooked by an independent age assessment panel which could provide support and guidance, help with the auditing process and make it less likely that decisions could be challenged or influence by those holding the local authority purse strings. The most important thing is that age assessment is done fairly and consistently, and that young asylum seekers are treated in the same way, regardless of port of entry or the local authority overseeing them. At present this is not the case and there is work for legislators, policy makers and practitioners to do if this is to be rectified. Bibliography Bhaba J, Finch N, Crock M Schmidt S, Seeking Asylum Alone, Themis Press 2006 Chase e, Emotional Well-being of asylum seeking children, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2008/07/29/108994/well-being-of-asylum-seeking-children.html accessed 15 October Children’s Legal Centre, Practice Guidelines for age assessment of young unaccompanied asylum seekers, http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/NR/rdonlyres/BAA6E134-7810-42C1-9634-2AC500D326DE/0/PracticeNotesKarenGoodman.pdf accessed 15 October Crawley, H, When is a child not a child? Asylum, age disputes and the process of age assessment, Immigration Law Practitioners Association, May 2007 DFES 2005, Guidance on the Children and Young People’s Plan, Hayes D, Humphries B, Cohen S, Social Work, Immigration and Asylum, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2004 Kelly A, Minors Conflict, The Guardian Jan 31 2007 http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/jan/31/asylum.guardiansocietysupplement1 accessed 16 October Kohli R, The Comfort of Strangers: social work practice with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people in the UK, child and Family Social Work ,vol 11 2006 Kohli R, The Sound of Silence: Listening to What Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children Say and Do Not Say, British Journal of Social Work vol 36 2006 Michie CA, Age Assessment: time for progress? Archives of Disease in Childhood, 90(6) June 2005 Mitchell F, The social services response to unaccompanied children in England, Children and Family Social Work, vol 8 August 2003 Watters C, Refugee Children, Routlege 2008 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jan/05/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices accessed 15 October Asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jan/05/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices accessed 16 October http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/asylumprocessguidance/specialcases/guidance/disputedagecases.pdf?view=Binary accessed 15 October www.everychildmatters.com accessed 14 October http://www.ilpa.org.uk/infoservice/Info%20sheet%20Age%20Disputes%20%20Age%20Assessment.pdf accessed 16 October 1 [1] Chase e, Emotional Well-being of asylum seeking children, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2008/07/29/108994/well-being-of-asylum-seeking-children.html [2] http://www.ilpa.org.uk/infoservice/Info sheet Age Disputes Age Assessment.pdf [3] http://www.ilpa.org.uk/infoservice/Info sheet Age Disputes Age Assessment.pdf [4] P2 Kohli R, The Comfort of Strangers: social work practice with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people in the UK, child and Family Social Work ,vol 11 2006 [5] p2 Kohli 2006 [6] p4 Crawley 2007 [7] p85 Watters 2008 [8] p84 Watters C, Refugee Children, Routlege 2008 [9] p84 Watters C, Refugee Children, Routlege 2008 [10] p179 Mitchell F, The social services response to unaccompanied children in England, Children and Family Social Work, vol 8 August 2003 [11] p132 Hayes D, Humphries B, Cohen S, Social Work, Immigration and Asylum, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2004 [12] p22 Guidance on the Children and Young People’s Plan, DFES 2005 [13] P179 Mitchell 2003 [14] p179 Mitchell 2003 [15] Kelly A, Minors Conflict, The Guardian Jan 31 2007 http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/jan/31/asylum.guardiansocietysupplement1 [16] p85 Watters 2008 [17] p711 Kohli R, The Sound of Silence: Listening to What Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children Say and Do Not Say, British Journal of Social Work vol 36 2006 [18] p718 Kohli 2006 [19] p14 Crawley 2007 [20] p16 Crawley 2007 [21] p43 Crawley 2007 [22] p44 Crawley 2007 [23] p47 Crawley 2007 [24] Asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jan/05/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices [25] p612 Michie CA, Age Assessment: time for progress?Archives of Disease in Childhood, 90(6) June 2005 [26] p613 Michie 2005 [27] Childrens Legal Centre, Practice Guidelines for age assessment of young unaccompanied asylum seekers, http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/NR/rdonlyres/BAA6E134-7810-42C1-9634-2AC500D326DE/0/PracticeNotesKarenGoodman.pdf [28]