Essay on Martin Luther King, Jr. - 591 Words

Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at home on Tuesday, January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Martin Luther, Sr. and Alberta King. He was born into a world where segregation was the law. Where his boyhood best friend, who was white, wasnt allowed to play with him once they started school. Where black people went to separate bathrooms, drank from separate water fountains, couldnt eat in whites only restaurants, and had to give up their seats on buses if a white person wanted it. Martin was a very intelligent boy. He was able to enter Morehouse College at 15 simply on the strength of his scores on the college entrance exam taken during his junior†¦show more content†¦D. in systematic theology. Upon graduating, he accepted a call to preach at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white man. The Montgomery Improvement Association (with King as their president) organized the boycott on the bus company that lasted 381 days and lost them 65% of their profits. In 1957, Martin helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was its first president. Martin was arrested 30 times and spent time in jail (where he wrote Letter From Birmingham Jail), had his house bombed, was arrested once for driving 30 in a 25 mph zone (havent we all done this at one time or another), was stabbed, and finally, was assasinated. In 1964, because of his work in the Civil Rights Movement, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for being someone who had contributed the most to the furtherance of peace among men. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voters Rights Bill into law. This law guaranteed that No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, colour, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination. From March 16 - 21, 1965, Martin lead a group of 3200 people in a protest march from Selma toShow MoreRelatedMartin Luther King Jr.867 Words   |  4 Pagespeople, one of them is Martin Luther King Jr. He made the world a better place for black citizens by doing non-violence movements and marched the way to freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta Georgia as Michael King Jr., but changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of Protestant Martin Luther. Through his activism, King played a pivotal role in ending the legal discrimination of African American citizens. During his childhood, Martin Jr.’s father stronglyRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr1194 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Simmons 1 Gabrielle Simmons Mrs. Fitzgerald Social Studies 8A 4/27/10 Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a well known and an inspiring man to all cultures of the world. King was and still is one of the most influential heroes. King s views and believes helped African Americans through the 50 s and 60 s to the rights and liberties that was their right. King faced many obstacles on his journey, things like jail and even assassination attempts. Despite these obstacles,Read MoreMartin Luther King Jr.1078 Words   |  5 PagesMartin Luther King, Jr., was a very strong person, constantly fighting for what he believed in, which was equality for African Americans. He was not scared to stand up and tell the world what he wanted for society. He was fearless and did everything in his power to prove a point. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the strongest individual of his time, for he fought until death, which proves how much he was willing to risk his life to make the world an equal place. Growing up, he had a very interestingRead MoreMartin Luther King, Jr Essay1153 Words   |  5 Pagesbe slaves, African-Americans saw a road trip to equality through the eyes of Martin Luther King, Jr. Even after being emancipated from slaves to citizens, African-Americans were not ready to wage the battle against segregation alone. The weight which African Americans carried on their back, was lightened when they began to see what Martin Luther King, Jr. brought to the table against segregation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the single most important African-American leader of the Civil Rights MovementRead MoreBiography of Martin Luther King, Jr745 Words   |  3 PagesMartin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born on in his mothers parents large house on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the second child, and was first named Michael, after his father. Both changed their names to Martin when the boy was still young. King JR was born into a financially secu re family middle class with that, They received better education in respect to most people of their race. King Jr, noticed this and this influenced him to live a life of social protestRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr.1144 Words   |  5 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. (January 15 1929-April 4, 1968) Brief Summary (of who MLK Jr. is): Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and an activist who led the civil rights movement in the 1950. He was a fundamental force behind the civil rights movement that ended legal segregation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. But he was sadly assassinated in 1968 on a second floor balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee†¦ Childhood: Martin Luther was never poor. He lived with a middleRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr.2405 Words   |  10 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. IN THESE GROUPS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNERS FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO DIED IN 1968 FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO WENT TO PRISON FAMOUS CAPRICORNS Show All Groups 1 of 19  «  » QUOTES â€Å"But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.† —Martin Luther King Jr. Read MoreMartin Luther King Jr. Essay1862 Words   |  8 Pagesbut the content of the character,† (Martin Luther King Jr,1963) Martin Luther King Jr. was a smart child and had a good childhood. He learned values from his parents, and Martin Luther King Jr was a man of much wisdom during his time. He was a major contributor to the civil rights movement, and those contributions have profound effect even today. Michael Luther King was Martin Luther King Jr’s name when was born. His parents changed his name to Martin Luther King when he was just a young boy. TheyRead More Martin Luther King Jr. Essay637 Words   |  3 Pages Martin Luther King, Jr. was perhaps one of the most influential person of our time. As the father of modern civil rights movement, Dr.Martin Luther king, Jr., is recognized around the world as a symbol of freedom and peace. Born January 15, 1929, King was the son of an Atlanta pastor. King accomplished many achievements during his life. He graduated from Morehouse as a minister in 1948 and went on to Crozer Theological seminary in Chester, Pa., where he earned a divinity degree. After that KingRead MoreThe Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.1123 Words   |  4 PagesMartin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) was known as an activist and a remarkable leader for African Americans throughout the Civil Rights Movement. He was put in jail for his non-violent civil rights campaigns, spoke out for racial justice, and tried to find an end to racial discrimination. King’s legacy is still known present day, and continues to be one of the most well known leaders. Throughout Martin Luther King Jr.’s lifetime and the Civil Rights Movement, King was devoted

Vertical Boundaries Free Essays

Chapter 10: Vertical boundaries Chapter 10: Vertical boundaries Aim of the chapter To understand the factors that influence the ways in which transactions on a vertical chain (value chain) should be/are located on the market–organisation continuum. Learning objectives On completion of this chapter and the essential reading, you should have a good understanding of the following terms and concepts: †¢ transaction cost economics †¢ strategic calculation. Essential reading Buchanan, D. We will write a custom essay sample on Vertical Boundaries or any similar topic only for you Order Now and A. Huczynski Organizational behaviour: an introductory text. (London: Prentice Hall, 2008) Chapter 18. Douma, S. nd H. Schreuder Economic approaches to organisations. (London: Prentice Hall, 2008). Further reading Besanko, D. , D. Dranove and M. Shanley Economics of strategy. (New York: Wiley, 1996). Coase, R. H. ‘The problem of social cost’, Journal of Law and Economics 3 1960, pp. 1–44. Grossman, S. and O. Hart ‘The costs and benefits of ownership: a theory of vertical and lateral integration’, Journal of Political Economy 94(4) 1986, pp. 691–719. Williamson, O. E. ‘The economics of organization: the transaction cost approach’, American Journal of Sociology 87(3) 1981, pp. 548–77. 10. 1 Introduction As noted in Chapter 1, we may regard the basic unit in organisational analysis as an exchange or transaction generated in the division of labour. The division of labour (exogenous/endogenous – Chapter 3) creates value or vertical chains; for example as shown in Figure 10. 1(a) running from crude oil extraction to the retailing of petroleum products. We now operate at the level of organisations or firms (recognising that at a greater level of disaggregation the points in the chain are also based on chains of the division of labour) and pose the question as to where their boundaries should be located on the value chain. In fact the picture is usually more complex than the one depicted in Figure 10. 1(a). Activities usually depend on inputs at all points down the vertical chain, as depicted in Figure 10. 1(b). So organisations or market exchanges could control and coordinate each of these transactions. Furthermore, some of these inputs may be common to the points on the main chain (see Appendix 1. 2 in this guide), like accounting services, in which case the picture looks more like Figure 10. 1(c). Note the use of di-graphs once again. 91 Organisation theory: an interdisciplinary approach a) Oil extraction Refining Retailing †¢ (b) Shipping or pipe †¢ †¢ †¢ Distribution †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ (c) †¢ †¢ †¢ Accounting †¢ Figure 10. 1 †¢ †¢ †¢ In general we are asking the question as to whether a particular transaction should be internalised (make) or left in the market (buy), as depicted in Figure 10. 2; that is, whether a point on the cha in should be a department/ function or division or remain independent. For the moment we restrict our attention to this simple choice rather than the more elaborate positioning on the market–organisation continuum. We shall return to the more elaborate issue later on. †¢ †¢ Market (Price mechanism) Figure 10. 2 Start by asking what the benefits and costs of using the market might be. The benefits could include the following: †¢ Independent firms may be able to reap the benefits of economies of scale (i. e. operate at an output that minimises unit costs) whereas internal departments may not. Unless the firm itself can absorb all the efficient output of the department, it must either operate below the optimal output level or sell on to another firm. This might compromise any information advantages of the purchasing firm (see below). †¢ Independent firms are more subject to market disciplines than departments and may hold down costs they can control more effectively. Costs may be difficult to identify in departments. Firms might, though, attempt to replicate market incentives inside organisations. Tapered integration refers to a situation where a firm is supplied partially by an independent firm and partially by its own department. This allows their relative cost structures to be compared. Independent firms (i. e. their managers) may have stronger incentives to innovate when compared with managers of departments. †¢ †¢ Organisation †¢ 92 Chapter 10: Vertical boundaries The costs of using the market might include the following: †¢ Private information may be leaked to independent firms – particularly if there is a need to share technical information. †¢ The focal firm becomes to a degree depende nt upon an independent supplier (depending upon switching costs). Thus the latter has a power resource (see Chapter 6) and may use it to hold up the focal firm. It may prove difficult to control and co-ordinate flows of goods and services down a vertical chain of independent firms. This may be particularly so where there is a need to fit the products closely. ‘Just-intime’ methods seek to overcome this problem and permit independent firms often with long-term relational contracts (see below). The way most economists (following Coase and Williamson) think about the choice between a market and organisational exchange/transaction is entirely predictable – choose the arrangement that minimises costs. The innovation here is to ntroduce the idea of transaction costs – the costs involved in making (controlling and co-ordinating) the transaction. They are sometimes referred to as agency costs, and agency efficiency is found where they are minimised. So, if both production costs (which relate to technical efficiency) and transaction costs vary between organisational transactions and market transactions, then the total costs should be minimised. Activity Now read Sections 8. 1 and 8. 2 in D and S. If you would like to read a slightly more comprehensive economic approach to vertical integration, then read Besanko et al. 1996). In a world of fully informed, rational actors where contracting is complete, there are no transaction costs and the choice between market and organisational exchange is of no consequence (at least as conceived within this framework) unless production costs vary (which, again, they should not under the same assumptions). It is because we relax both the assumptions of full rationality and full information in the context of ‘real markets’ that transaction costs arise and the choice between market and organisational transaction is pertinent. Transaction costs theory is used both in a normative and positive sense. The new assumptions are as follows: †¢ Individual bounded rationality: people are intentionally rational but limitedly so. Individuals are neither able to make very complex calculations nor to assimilate large amounts of information. As you might expect, sociologists tend to like this assumption; they see it as more realistic than the full assumptions of rationality. †¢ Opportunism: individuals are not only self-interested but behave with guile. For example, in the context of game theory, individuals will issue promises which are not credible, make use of asymmetric information and they cannot be trusted. †¢ Contracting about transactions is incomplete because of inherent uncertainty and incomplete information. †¢ Contracting can thus lead to ex ante opportunism (namely, adverse selection) and ex post opportunism (namely, moral hazard). †¢ These hazards will be exacerbated to the degree that there is little choice of transacting partners and therefore reputations (see Chapter 7) in respect of third parties will not constrain opportunism – small numbers exchange. 3 Organisation theory: an interdisciplinary approach †¢ Anticipated repeated interaction will make reputations important to both parties but if in the process there is learning by doing, it is then costly to later switch exchange partner. Williamson (1981) calls this the ‘fundamental transformation’ – it ties the parties into the relationship. †¢ Williamson also observes that parties to a transaction might have a preference for a certain type of transaction in addition to the costs and benefits. He calls this ‘atmosphere’. In effect Williamson is introducing wider motives/utilities. Although the vocabulary introduced by Williamson is rather daunting at first sight, it has the advantage that it should link your thoughts into many of the ideas you have already encountered. Activity Think of transactions as a prisoner’s dilemma or trust game. Both parties would like to contract to achieve Pareto efficiency but each is wary of the other and in the absence of some mechanism to offset this wariness, the exchange does not materialise – the Nash equilibrium. So what mechanisms are available? You should be able to list the mechanisms. They can be derived as follows. Competitive market – the price as a sufficient statistic; here the prisoner’s dilemma does not model the situation. Organisation – three possible mechanisms which can produce the Pareto-efficient outcome rather than the Nash equilibrium are: 1. Authority and power. 2. Trust (cultural mechanisms). 3. Repeated transaction and reputation effects. As we have seen in earlier chapters, alongside monitoring and employment contracts (incentives), we expect organisations to avail themselves of a mixture of these mechanisms. But note, if we think in terms of ‘real markets’ rather than the ideal type of perfect markets, then the price mechanism is not sufficient and perhaps these mechanisms might also apply at different positions on the market–organisation continuum. We shall return to these matters later. Transaction cost economics embraces not only an unorthodox model of the individual but characterises aspects (‘dimensions’, to use D and S’s terminology) of transactions that impact upon the transaction costs. Activity Now read Section 8. 3 in D and S. The argument is that asset specificity (sometimes called ‘relation-specific assets’), uncertainty/complexity and frequency of exchange all increase the likelihood that a transaction will be placed (governed) inside an organisation (that is, make) rather than left to the market (that is, buy). Asset specificity comes in different forms: †¢ site specificity – adjacent sites, usually to economise on transport and communication costs †¢ physical asset specificity – e. g. pipeline delivering crude oil †¢ dedicated assets – assets of a particular buyer dedicated to a particular relationship †¢ human asset specificity – skills dedicated to a particular relationship which would be less valuable elsewhere. 94 Chapter 10: Vertical boundaries So we now have a predictive theory about vertical integration and, incidentally, contracting out. By and large, empirical evidence has supported transac tion cost theory – particularly the impact of complexity in the context of uncertainty – though one should bear in mind what Williamson terms ‘atmosphere’. If there are widespread specific preferences – for instance, managers might prefer the power implied by organisation – this would complicate the picture. Furthermore, other factors might influence the choice between market and organisation. Regulation and taxation can confer advantages in deciding where profits are generated. For instance, taxation might favour small firms, and firms operating across different national tax regimes may find it an advantage to contract out. An organisation might vertically integrate to gain a monopoly or acquire information or to limit the flow of information to competitors (see below). Given all these possibilities, it is perhaps surprising that such strong empirical support for transaction cost theory is found. Appendix 10. 1 in this guide gives a slightly more formal approach to Williamson’s reasoning. The transaction costs approach still leaves open two questions: 1. Will the integration, if appropriate, be backwards or forwards? 2. What type of organisation – e. g. centralised or decentralised hierarchy? (I leave an answer to this question to Chapter 12. ) An extension of transaction costs theory called property rights theory (which is not covered in D and S) provides an answer to the first question. When a transaction is internalised within an organisation, then ownership should (note the normative word) go to the party with the greatest impact upon the post-contractual rents. Activity Although this theory falls beyond this course, you might like to read Grossman and Hart (1986). Property rights theory is essentially a theory of bargaining power. Incomplete contracts mean that residual extra-contractual control of assets is important. Ownership confers bargaining power over operational decisions when enforceable contracts break down. Anticipation of post-contractual hazards determines earlier investment decisions. We now need to complicate the picture by reintroducing the market–organisation continuum, as in Figure 10. 3. I use the term ‘continuum’ with a certain amount of licence as the alternative positions on it vary in a number of respects and could be reordered. The continuum runs from perfect competition, at one end, to integration or organisation, at the other. The question now is: where should a transaction be placed on the continuum? Before answering this, let us look at what B and H have to say about the issues we have been discussing. 95 Organisation theory: an interdisciplinary approach Spot markets (perfect competition) Real markets Bargaining Franchising Long term contracts (network organisations) Tapered organisations Virtual organisations Alliances Joint venture Monopoly (small numbers) Externalities Asymmetric information Fixed cost (risk to supplier) Risk sharing Cost plus (risk to buyer) Decentralised Integration (up/down) organisation Figure 10. Activity Now read Chapter 18 in B and H. Again, this chapter in B and H is extremely detailed; you need to master the main ideas running down the left-hand margin. None of them is inconsistent with anything you have learned from D and S; though note that the definition of vertical integration is in fact backwards vertical integration. Table 16. 3 in B and H gives a good overview of what I have termed the organisation–market continuum. So let us now retur n to the continuum – see Figure 10. 3 – keeping the rich descriptions in B and H’s chapter in mind. First, look at what I have termed ‘real markets’. Here we recognise that in the real world the market environment is often far from perfectly competitive. If the transaction is left to the price mechanism, then various market distortions may undermine the price as a sufficient statistic. If, for instance, a supplier holds a monopoly, then backwards vertical integration may look attractive to a buyer. Likewise, a buyer might be tempted to vertically integrate backwards in order to acquire information or to reap benefits of vertical synergies (externalities). Long-term contracts (which will inevitably be incomplete) enable organisations to engage in a protracted relationship. They often occur between buyers and suppliers in a vertical chain. D and S introduced the idea of ‘relational contracting’ (an equivalent term). Remember, whenever you think in terms of contracts you need to think of the incentive, risksharing and information aspects. Fixed-term contracts put the risk of, say, increases in input prices to the supplier on the supplier’s back. Cost plus contracts reverse the situation. Between these two extremes, risk-sharing contracts can be designed. If the buyer and supplier have differing risk preferences then, other things being equal, an optimal contract can be found. Network and virtual organisations (see B and H) are usually based upon long-term relational contracts, as are alliances. Joint ventures imply equity contribution from both the supplier and buyer. Centralised 96 Chapter 10: Vertical boundaries So the question now is: where should a particular exogenously generated (by the division of labour) transaction be placed on the market–organisation continuum? (The normative question. Alternatively, where is it placed and why? (The positive questions. ) Transaction cost economics claims to be both normative and positive and answers both questions – minimise transaction and production costs! But as we have seen, this is only part of the story. Activity Now read Section 9. 8 in D and S. In summary, the choice of the position of any vertical transaction on the market–organisation continuum may be shaped b y: †¢ economies of scale †¢ anticipated information leakage †¢ acquiring information †¢ transaction costs †¢ residual property rights †¢ market imperfections †¢ regulation. But how are these various strands to be woven together? Unfortunately there is, as far as I am aware, no embracing theory. B and H introduce you to the concept of corporate strategy and to what many organisation theorists term strategic choice. Although the idea that organisational arrangements designed to control and co-ordinate activities are a matter of choice was first introduced by sociologists in reaction to an earlier tradition that spoke of ‘determinism’ – often technological determinism – we can now see this as an unhelpful distinction. Economists will always speak of choice where changing technology might either enhance or restrict the opportunity set which rational decision-takers face. We might then like to think of technological determinism when for whatever reason, the opportunity comprises a single option. I encourage you to think in these terms even if you want to question the restrictive notion of rationality (see Chapter 1). Activity Now read Chapter 9, particularly Sections 9. 1–9. 7, in D and S. Sections 9. 1 to 9. 6 of D and S cover issues of strategic planning that impinge upon organisation theory but are more often encountered in courses on management theory. You will benefit from reading them but they are not central to this unit. The central idea in management theory concerns the sources of what is termed sustained competitive advantage (SCA). Why do some firms/organisations manage to sustain a better performance than their competitors, while operating in the same markets? Statistics tend to suggest that this is a common experience in many markets. Firms often earn above-average returns (loosely rents) on their assets over relatively extended periods of time. The assumption is that they have some characteristics (but which? that their competitors find it difficult to replicate or improve upon, at least during the time in which the advantage is sustained. From an organisational theory point of view the question to ask is – are there ways of organising which can confer SCA? Notice that when an organisation possesses a competitive advantage, for whatever reason, then this implies that perfect competition is not operating. In so far as those running organisations seek SCA, they are trying to undermine 97 Organisation theory: an interdisciplinary approach competitive forces. The early sections of D and S’s chapter show how game theory is an indispensable tool in studying competitive strategies. 10. 2 Vertical contracting and strategic choice Consider a transaction between B and S, as in Figure 10. 4. The problem is to design a contractual relationship to gain any possible rents. In terms of competitive advantage this amounts to placing the transaction on the market–organisation continuum more effectively than the competition. Assume that there is need for relation-specific assets and a complete contract cannot be signed because of inherent uncertainties. Suppose now that B would like to persuade S to make the relation-specific investment. S’s ex ante problem is that in the absence of trust and credible promises, s/he anticipates that, once the investment is made, B will take advantage of the situation. S anticipates that B will always be able, once the contract is entered into, to find contingencies not covered by the contract. By making the investment, S in effect confers bargaining power upon B – who may even use this power to renegotiate the original contract (attempt to reduce the price of the good or service exchanged). S will then anticipate these moral hazards and accordingly not invest; the transaction will fail and both S and B will be less well off than they could be. Thinking in terms of the (for the moment, one-shot) prisoner’s dilemma, S and B find a Nash equilibrium rather than the Pareto-efficient outcome. So what can be done to achieve the Pareto superior outcome? S Figure 10. 4 B Some possibilities (neither exclusive nor exhaustive) are: †¢ B makes the relation-specific investment (but then B confers bargaining power to S) †¢ B nd S make a joint investment – an alliance or joint venture †¢ S continues to make the investment but enters into a long-term contract with B (note that relation-specific investments tend to imply long-term relationships in the first place) †¢ forward or backward integration (here non-market incentives/ monitoring/authority/power/culture achieve the move from the Nash equilibrium to the Pareto outcome). But let us continue to assu me that B wants to find a non-integration solution and still to encourage S to make the costly upfront relation-specific investment. S/he might do this in the recognition that S, as an independent organisation, may be relatively small, flexible and focused. S, furthermore, may be driven by a more entrepreneurial spirit than if it were to be a division or department in B’s ‘bureaucracy’. An independent S may be more innovative. Also small organisations tend to have lower labour costs (production costs). If so, then both S and B can benefit. The strategic problem is whether or not the transaction costs (ex ante and ex post) can be kept down while reaping these potential advantages. To offset S’s anticipated moral hazard problems, B needs to search for ways of reducing her/his own and increasing S’s relative bargaining power. To the degree that this proves possible, the strategy will offset S’s anticipated moral hazards. B needs to make her/himself more dependent upon S before the contract is signed. One notable way s/he can secure this is to decentralise some design and innovation responsibilities to S. B now becomes partially dependent 98 Chapter 10: Vertical boundaries upon S. Furthermore, B can commit not only to a long-term contract but also to relatively unconditional contract renewal. These strategies do of course put B at some risk. But since we are thinking in terms of incentives to transact, you should by now recognise that risk-sharing is another aspect of the possible contracts between S and B that can be subjected to strategic reasoning. Not unreasonably, I think, assume that S is risk-averse and B is risk-neutral. So S will accept a reduction in rent in order to reduce his/her risk and, relatively speaking, B will be prepared to shoulder more risk. So, a risksharing, long-term contract can conceivably lead to a Pareto improvement. Think in terms of post-contractual price negotiation. With a fixed-cost contract any increase in S’s costs will have to be borne by S. S will be reluctant to sign such a contract. With a cost-plus contract, on the other hand, B will bear all the risks of S’s cost increases. Furthermore, S will have no incentives to hold costs down nor, perhaps more importantly, to innovate in order to reduce costs. Clearly, B wants S both to innovate and, where possible, to hold down costs. It is not in B’s interests to take the risk from S and undermine these incentives. How can s/he provide appropriate incentives while reducing S’s risks and in so doing make the contract interesting to S? What B needs to do is to accept those risks of cost increases which S cannot control while making S responsible for those s/he can control – a tricky business. B needs to know the nature of S’s cost structure (an information problem – no problem with full information but with information asymmetry it is another story) before s/he can achieve this. Of course, integration might dispel this problem but then we encounter the bureaucratic losses mentioned above. What can B do? Go back to your principal–agent model (see Chapter 4). We can regard B as a principal and S as an agent. P (B) can acquire information by having more than one agent (S) operating in the same environment (in practice this is not easy). This is called multiple sourcing. It could be achieved by either multiple external sourcing or having an in-house comparator (tapered sourcing). But, of course, one needs to ask whether B’s sourcing requirements are of sufficient magnitude to reap any economies of scale across the multiple sources. If not, would it be sensible – from an information leakage point of view – to allow the sourcing organisation to sell to other organisations on the open market? If B has decentralised design to S then this might prove hazardous. As we have observed, long-term relationships (see Chapter 8) can invoke trust and reputation effects. Traditionally it was assumed that one of the advantages of integration into an organisation derives from the repeated interaction effects. B and S being in the same organisation, they repeatedly interact and, indeed, they will assume that there is a high enough probability that they will once again interact in the future. Thus prudent calculation can overcome the moral hazards in incomplete contracting. In game-theoretic terms B and S may play TFT (the folk theorem). B may also wish to protect her/his reputation for fair play. In short, an organisation can control and co-ordinate vertical relations by cultural means. However, long-term contracts with a continuation clause also produce repeated interaction (the Japanese were largely responsible, in the 1980s, for recognising this) and, thus, reputation and trust can be generated at other points on the market–organisation continuum. Cultural mechanisms can operate outside formal organisations. If B and S can trust each other not to behave opportunistically, then the advantages of S’s independence and reduced transaction costs can be realised. 99 Organisation theory: an interdisciplinary approach Finally, reverting to an extended value chain where S’s suppliers are also brought into the picture, we obtain the situation as in Figure 10. 5. †¢ †¢ R S B Price and market gt; †¢ gt; †¢ †¢ R S B Long-term contracts gt; †¢ gt; †¢ †¢ R S B Organisation span of co-ordination = 3 gt; †¢ gt; †¢ Figure 10. Should the whole chain be co-ordinated by integration (span of coordination) or perhaps co-ordinated by long-term contracts, etc.? If the latter, should B contract with S and R or should B contract with S and S with R? In either case we have examples of network organisation and even virtual organisation if the relationships are mediated by modern information technology. The strategic complexion of these sorts of organisa tion is little understood. Why don’t you have a go! I hope this section has given you some appreciation of how to analyse organisation choices from a genuinely strategic point of view. Much of the above reasoning can be underpinned from a game-theoretic standpoint. This further supports my earlier contention that modern organisation theory often requires a knowledge of strategic thinking and game theory. A reminder of your learning outcomes On completion of this chapter and the essential reading, you should have a good understanding of the following terms and concepts: transaction cost economics strategic calculation. Sample examination question 1. Explain why a transaction should be placed in a market or an organisation. 100 How to cite Vertical Boundaries, Papers

Effect of Urbanization on Obesity and Diabetes in India - Sample

Question: Discuss about the Effect of Urbanization on Obesity and Diabetes in India. Answer: Introduction India like any other nations in the world is experiencing high mortality rates due to the prevalence of obesity and diabetes (Bowen et al., 2011). A person is considered obese when his body mass index abbreviated as BMI is above 30kg/m2, with a range of 25 to 30kg/m2 defined as overweight. As it is evident, diabetes is a chronic disease in which the bodys ability to respond or produce insulin (a hormone) is impaired, hence resulting in unusual metabolism of Carbs (CHOs) plus elevated levels of sugar in the body, especially urine and the blood. Over the decades the prevalence of diabetes has been witnessed in India especially in the urban centers. In the early 1980s only 5% of Indian adults living in urban centers had diabetes, but in 2004 the figure had already risen to 15% (Ebrahim et al., 2010). In the suburban areas of India, diabetes is less common, with a rate of 6% which is almost a third of the prevalence in urban areas. Obesity has also been a contributing factor to the wides pread of diabetes. Studies show that urban areas have registered high rates of obesity compared to rural areas, especially the case of India. Ebrahim et al. in their study used a cross- sectional study to investigate the effect of urbanization on obesity and diabetes in India. The hypothesis that rural-urban migrants had greater risks of being obese as well as developing diabetes was analyzed and compared with the rural dwellers Methods Used. Using a framework of CVD hazard ratio, the study was conducted in four companies in the cities of Lucknow, Nagpur, Hyderabad, and Bangalore in the urban center of India. Out of these factories, the workers were recruited using an employer record as a sampling frame. In the recruitment, it was ensured that the workers were rural to urban migrants. Each of the recruited employees was asked to invite a non-migrant of their next kin of their age living in rural areas. When recruiting, the invitees were given priority in regard to gender and where the sex was the same the person close to the age of the worker was considered. Out of this exercise,' the rural dwellers recruited were from 20 states compared to the 29 Indian states, hence showing a migratory trend of the four factories labor force. Out of the invited non-migrants, 25% of them were randomly selected to participate in the study. However, the study commenced on March 2005 and lasted for 31 months. In the study, standing height w as taken using a stadiometer and the weight measured with shoes off and on light clothing. They were also examined for blood pressure and interviewed to obtain any data regarding alcohol consumption or tobacco use such as smoking of cigarettes. Obesity and diabetes-related outcomes were also assessed where the diagnosis of diabetes was made using a WHO fasting plasma sugar criteria of 7.0 millimoles per liter. Homeostasis model assessment scores (HOMA) for estimating insulin impairment were also established using a standard formula of blood glucose on the aspect of the initial approach. In the study, a dietary assessment was done using a food frequency questionnaire. To check for the worthiness of the questionnaire, sub-samples were pledged to fill questionnaires (n=185) and (n=305) following the completion of the survey in an initial data collection. Other 530 participants were subjected to the reference technique of 24-hour dietary recalls that were used to authentify the food frequency questionnaire. Besides, their fat intake was measured. Another method that was used in the study was physical activity where the interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to check the physical activity plus other usual daily occurrences. The validation of the questionnaire was done in 45 urban as well as 49 rural participants via making comparisons with the 24-hour activity diary plus uniaxial accelerometer. Moreover participants were urged to attend fasting where the period of the final meal was noted. Their blood samples with an exclusion of sugar assays was alienated and then stored. Lastly, men and women were analyzed each differently as it were foreseen that gender sensitivity might bring differences in the migration effects hence the cause of obesity and diabetes. Since the participants were from different factories and of different age, adjustments were made regarding such. As the rural group was expected to have fewer risks of obesity and diabetes compared to their counterparts in the urban group as postulates in the hypoth esis, a trend test was done scoring the groups 1 up to 3 as well as using R .T or likelihood ratio tests. Another hypothesis of whether the effect in migrant plus rural group was the same was also conducted and the analysis made using STATA 10. Findings Workers records showed that 21, 663 employees in the four cities/factories were available for the study. About 72% that is 15, 595 of those people were contacted of whom 88% about 13, 696 finished the assessment of eligibility for the study. Out of the 88%, 55% that is around 7, 595 were eligible for the inclusion reason being they were among the 25% who were randomly selected from the urban non-migrants. About 94% that is 7, 101 people conformed to complete the clinical examinations. Besides, factory employees living in suburban places and who traveled to their workplace every day were retracted from the analysis. There was no difference found in the mean age, migrant status, distance from the suburban area of origin as well as the marital status of the participants. Besides, self-reported widespread of CVD was 14.8% in non-responders a less percentage compared to the 21.0% of non-consenters and 19.4 % in responders. Ideally, there was also a difference in the smoking between respon ders as well as other groups. Out of the 6510 participants who were in the analyses about 42% that is 2723 were females. In general, 2112 were rural to urban migrants, 2111 no-migrant suburban residents and 2287 were non-migrant city dwellers. Urban males were a bit older relative to the suburban men but of the same age bracket to those of migrant males. Most importantly, the majority of migrants had spent a considerable amount of time in the urban areas with men having a median of 26 years and females 21years. Moreover, comparison of the risk factors as well as health issues between rural groups, migrants and urban has also been presented throughout the study. There was significant evidence in females and males of differences in body mass index between the suburban, urban and migrant people. Obesity was highly prevalent in urban women at a rate of 53% at 95% confidence interval and lowest in suburban men at 18% with the migrants in the intermediate position. Moreover, the occupation, age as well as the factory adjustment odds of obesity lied in the range of 3 4 fold higher in migrant compared to the suburban women and men. The urban plus migrant groups were equal concerning the MET h/d of physical activity while the suburban group had a greater MET h/.' Alcohol consumption and smoking were limited among women, however, among the migrant men, they registered the least chances of smoking while the suburban men the most. Odds of hypersensitivity in urban as well as migrant men was almost double that of suburban men. Besides, increased odds were evident in women. In both women as well as men, fasting blood sugar levels were the same in migrant plus urban groups and lowest in the suburban groups. HOMA scores registered a hierarchical trend from urban, migrant to suburban. The widespread of the disease was high in urban groups, followed by migrants and rural group the least. However, both migrant and urban males and females had over two-fold increased odds of obesity disease relative to the suburban participants. Discussion and conclusion A hypothesis that urbanization had higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes compared to the suburban non-migrants was highly supported by the findings (Ebrahim et al., 2010). On the other hand, the other hypothesis which migrants had intermediate prevalence relative to city residents was not upheld. However rural-urban migration was connected with less physical activity and increased fat consumption in males females relative to the rural residents, and this probably led to the greater obesity levels diabetes as it was witnessed in migrants. The gender difference witnessed in the study was not expected with the migration-linked differences in fasting blood sugar, hypertension, insulin, and lipids only observed in males. Also, adjustments for the body mass index in the analysis resulted in the weakening of the area of origin effect in males for lipids as well as blood pressure showing that rise in such factors among the migrants might be caused by being obese (Hernandez et al., 2012). Besides, the migration study does not separate the effect of age during the migration starting from the period of stay in the host demography. Among the Mexicans, it had been witnessed that the first generation immigrants had a good health irrespective of the low socioeconomic status compared to their counterparts, white Americans. However, such advantage decreases with the length of stay in America. Such findings imply that there might e latency of the effect of health behavior plus outcome. From the results of the study, theres evidence that influence of migration on being obese is fast, happening in the initial years of migration. This confirms findings from migrants to America. Hence, given a small number of migrant s in the research that had lived in city centers for a short while, the results needs to be viewed with keenness plus needs replication (Kaveeshwar and Cornwall, 2014). However, the aspect of access to better heath care might also play a significant role in the diagnosis of high blood pressure as well as diabetes. Besides, the subject of migration studies is not clear since the change in the health outcome might show the impact of an area of origin, the effect of the migration process itself, selection of the individuals who migrate as well as exposure to the new environmental factors such as climate. Mbanya et al., (2010) accounts that migration as an exposure is sophisticated since it entails a wide spectrum of environmental, behavioral and socioeconomic shifts. Despite the fact that data was collected using the sibling pair method, the aim of the current analysis was to compare between the urban, rural and migrant groups. Of the three groups only the migrant is paired with the rural groups while the urban group remains to be independent. However, a recent study on India gave an adult prevalence of being obese among people in the labor force of 20% in the urban centers as well as 6% in the suburban areas. This is much lower compared to the prevalence of over 20% and 40% in rural and urban ce nters respectively. Besides, in the larger survey of six major towns, the age-adjusted diabetes prevalence of 11% was registered in 2000 (Ebrahim et al., 2010). This figure is far way low relative to the urban diabetic prevalence of 15%. In a different study in India, a diabetic prevalence of 15 % was reported. Findings from this study confirm an earlier finding of high levels of insulin in cities relative to the suburban participants. This shows that a few of the impacts of rural to urban migration might be due to biological factors which lead to an increased (Yajnik, 2004). Insulin secretion in the body because of the cells resistance. The findings presented in this study conforms to other findings on migrants from other studies where greater level of insulin have been witnessed in Indians living overseas,' in demographics from other developed nations going through swift rural to urban migration as well as in migrant demographics elsewhere(Millet et al., 2013). The response rates presented in this study might have been lower compared to the anticipated large due to the logistic complexities of the sibling pair method. But in some of the instances, they involved say a day to reach the study station plus another day to commute back to the suburban sibling. Also, a difference in the smoking prevalence between the non-consenters, non-responders, and responders was persistent with a play of chance. To sum it up, urbanization is connected with increased prevalence in being obese that drives other risks such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to mention just a few (Misra and Ganda, 2007). However, migrants and especially the Indian migrants have sought modes of life which place them in the same danger to the urban demographics. Gender disparity as one of the risk factors by place of origin is unexpected to cause diabetes due to urbanization but it requires more explanation References Bowen, L., Ebrahim, S., De Stavola, B., Ness, A., Kinra, S., Bharathi, A. V., ... Reddy, K. S. (2011). Dietary intake and rural-urban migration in India: a cross-sectional study. PloS one, 6(6), e14822. Ebrahim, S., Kinra, S., Bowen, L., Andersen, E., Ben-Shlomo, Y., Lyngdoh, T., ... Mohan, M. (2010). The effect of rural-to-urban migration on obesity and diabetes in India: a cross-sectional study. PLoS Med, 7(4), e1000268. Hernndez, A. V., Pasupuleti, V., Deshpande, A., Bernab-Ortiz, A., Miranda, J. J. (2012). Effect of rural-to-urban within-country migration on cardiovascular risk factors in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Heart, 98(3), 185-19 Kaveeshwar, S. A., Cornwall, J. (2014). The current state of diabetes mellitus in India. The Australasian medical journal, 7(1), 45. Mbanya, J. C. N., Motala, A. A., Sobngwi, E., Assah, F. K., Enoru, S. T. (2010). Diabetes in sub-saharan africa. The lancet, 375(9733), 2254-2266. Millett, C., Agrawal, S., Sullivan, R., Vaz, M., Kurpad, A., Bharathi, A. V., ... Ebrahim, S. (2013). Associations between active travel to work and overweight, hypertension, and diabetes in India: a cross-sectional study. PLoS Med, 10(6), e1001459. Misra, A., Ganda, O. P. (2007). Migration and its impact on adiposity and type 2 diabetes. Nutrition, 23(9), 696-708. Miranda, J. J., Gilman, R. H., Smeeth, L. (2011). Differences in cardiovascular risk factors in rural, urban and rural-to-urban migrants in Peru. Heart, 97(10), 787-796. Yajnik, C. S. (2002). The lifecycle effects of nutrition and body size on adult adiposity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obesity Reviews, 3(3), 217-224. Yajnik, C. S. (2004). Early life origins of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in India and other Asian countries. The Journal of nutrition, 134(1), 205-210.

Short Detective Story

The detective did not look like the gumshoes from old dime-store novels.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Short Detective Story specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He was a lot thinner and he wore a close-fitting bodysuit rather than a raincoat. He was, however, just as focused on getting his man and finding the facts as Sherlock Holmes ever was. However, he was always plagued by a sense of not quite knowing why he needed to find this or that man, or this or that fact. He was not, in fact, sure he was working for. He was drawn to following perfectly ordinary men and women who appeared to have little background, and no history. Whatever their crime, it was subtle. They seemed to crop up in large cities, slightly off-kilter in dress and speech, youngish, handsome or pretty beyond the norm, and a bit credulous and naà ¯ve in their behavior at times. He had watched in horror more than once when one of these t argets of investigation had turned over his or her suitcase or watch to an obvious street criminal and thereby were neatly robbed. Clearly, these folks were not themselves pickpockets; they were just too innocent. They were also too often seized by waves of racking, hacking coughs after taking huge, enthusiastic lungs full of the city air. They seemed to have no fixed addresses, but found themselves bunking with one person after another, sometimes for a day, other times for longer, and then moving on. He followed them assiduously, and noted their movements in his pocket computer. From time to time, he sent a report to an address through the computer with no identifying information and always felt better afterwards. Then the compulsion would return. Find the folks who look like they don’t belong, and follow them. There was nothing else in his life, and, as a matter of fact, he could not remember a life or a time before this job, this pursuit. No childhood, adolescence, no fam ily, no loves lost or gained; just find the folks and follow them. One late summer day, he located a small group of them in a hollow of ground in the main city park, surrounded by trees and quite out of view of passersby. If he had not been tracking one of them, he would never have found them. They shared that look of not being comfortable in their clothes, and the habit of gazing at perfectly ordinary objects such as pigeons, squirrels, trees, bushes, grass, and especially the occasional hawk or falcon with rapt appreciation. They also were all wearing sunglasses and long sleeves, in spite of the heat. They were now directing their attention to, of all things, a pile of sticks, which they were adding to diligently. On the ground nearby were several bags of what looked like groceries, perhaps from the delicatessen that was close to the park entrance. To his astonishment, when one of the peculiar folk opened the bag, he could see that, indeed, the bag contained, of all things, some s ort of sausages, nested together like pink snakes. Advertising Looking for critical writing on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More His surprise was so great that he made an unplanned move, and the branches around him rustled loudly. The group around the pile of sticks looked up, and he felt he needed to withdraw immediately to avoid detection. Imagine a detective being spotted – imagine the irony. He made no report, being too bemused even to conjecture at what was happening. The next time he encountered any sizable number of them was when the autumn winds were blowing and the darkness was descending earlier and earlier. Again, it was outdoors, in a largely empty lot just on the river bank. This area had never been developed into condominiums or casinos or yacht clubs. Only a few car carcasses blocked the wind, and he hid behind one of them. In the blowing, cloud-tossing dusk, a circle of people was gat hering. In the center of the circle was a pile; again, a pile. And the circle was growing as more and more folk arrived, as if from thin air. Each one carried a handful of something, something that did not weigh them down, but something clearly treasured. At a certain point: he could not have differentiated it from any other, there was a spark, and suddenly, a fire! The scent of burning leaves filled the air with a sharp and biting tang. He took out his hand-held computer and started describing the crowd, and the now-dancing fire in rapid, concise text. Almost immediately, he found himself in a blindingly white room, along with the entire crowd that had last been surrounding the fire with grave and loving attention. He was standing before an authoritative looking fellow, who was inexplicable beaming at him. â€Å"Well done! You nabbed them!† â€Å"Who?† asked the detective.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Short Detective Story specific ally for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"The time fugitives† said the other man, with a note of deep distaste. â€Å"They weren’t content with the domes, the recycled air, the recycled food, the unvarying light and temperature, and the behavioral constraints here in this century, and so they have to take their nasty perversions back in time and pollute in the past.† â€Å"How? Why?† babbled the detective, thoroughly lost in this discussion. â€Å"Oh, of course, you’re still in your 22nd century persona. Here, let me switch you over to present time.† He tapped out a command on the detective’s mobile computer, which was still clutched in his sweaty hand, and suddenly, the detective’s head whirled. As though a foggy window had cleared, he recognized the other as his supervisor, Sterling, in the Temporal Special Crimes Unit. When he turned to look at the crowd of people from the empty lot, the fire-starters, he realized that many were the same as he had seen in August, preparing, he now realized, to start a fire in the park glen, and, yes, they were going to roast wieners. That was it. They were holding a – what was that term – a â€Å"barbecue†, and in a location where it was not, strictly speaking, allowed, for forest fire prevention reasons. But where else could they have staged a â€Å"barbecue†? In his 25th century mind, the mere word gave him shudders of revulsion and terror. Polluting the domes, polluting the air, eating animal flesh; horrible ideas! And, just a few moments ago, what had they been preparing for in that deserted, chilly lot? A – again the memory of the term came to him from an official glossary, probably in his training manual – a â€Å"bonfire†. And again, with returning understanding, welled up the sense of horror. He looked around him. These individuals had not been willing to accommodate themselv es to the constrained life of their own century. They could not accept the limitations of their post-holocaust world. They never got used to the precious and many-times re-used air, water, and essential proteins, all sequestered in the dome and protected from the toxic human-generated nightmare outside. No, they wanted to breathe unfiltered air, and eat animal flesh seared over a flame, and, burn things for no reason but to smell the perfume and incense of autumn.Advertising Looking for critical writing on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thinking back to the scurrying clouds and the smell of cold and the sweet smoke rising from the tiny fire, he thought maybe, just maybe, he could understand why they went to the effort of time travel and secretive burnings of meat, wood, and leaves. But he was not going to share that opinion any time soon. He grasped the returning memories that were even now washing away the artificial life history that had served him adequately back in the past as a detective in 22nd century North America, He straightened up, and summoning his most official voice, said, â€Å"You have the right to remain silent†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Just then, the door opened. An even more imposing fellow walked through, this one surrounded by bodyguards. â€Å"Well done! You’ve finally returned.† â€Å"Who?† asked the detective. â€Å"You spotted their aberrant behavior and triggered the temporal return mechanism. It was strictly against the law to build bonfires back in the 25th century due to the ongoing atmospheric deterioration. Luckily, that problem has been solved with today’s technology.† said one of the man’s bodyguards. â€Å"How? Why?† asked the detective, once again thoroughly lost. â€Å"Oh, of course, you’re still in your 25th century mind. Allow me to brief you on what has changed in the last century.† The detective shook his head. He was just now getting used to the idea that time travel was possible, and he was not sure how much more he could accept in the way of revelations. He had just seen his 22nd (or was it 21st ?) century self disappear like a bathtub ring down the drain. The imposing fellow jabbed a finger at the screen of his mobile computer, and the image of a folder opened up in front of them and rested on his lap. â€Å"An aircraft of unknown origin crashed into the Brooks mountain range of Alaska in 1944. Military forces rushed in to lock down the whole area and the survivors were determined to be of non-ter restrial origin. We’ve kept those we rescued in a special facility ever since.† Several holograms of the crash site and the survivors popped up out of the virtual folder and hung between them, glimmering slightly at the edges. The apparently human figures were, to all appearances, about 24 years of age, and very attractive by the standards of 1944. And, the detective observed to himself, the standards of the 25th century, as well. â€Å"Over time, as we observed them in their containment facility, we started to realize they age at a much slower rate than we do. Scientists at the time of the crash had no knowledge of DNA, but as soon as the implications of Watson and Crick’s work with chromosomes dawned on them, the ETs were tested genetically. Even by the late 1960s, we could tell that there were slight variations in their DNA composition. They look just like us and it is nearly impossible to distinguish visually between a regular human and those biological ent ities. Unless†, he added, â€Å"you can stare at them for 20 years or so, as their initial observers did, growing gray and wrinkled while the ETs stayed vibrantly youthful. The ETs also seemed to be able to time travel, even without their damaged ship. We have not ever figured out the knack, but the genetic differences probably explain a great deal.† â€Å"This is spectacular news, but what does any of this have to do with me?† One of the imposing fellow’s assistants leaned over and poked at the computer screen, extracting an image of the detective and his immediate boss to pop up in front of them. â€Å"In 2472, you’re part of a special operations team run by your boss, Sterling, here. You’re last seen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What year am I in now?† the detective interrupted. â€Å"The year 2572. The individuals you were asked to follow all the way back into the 22nd century weren’t just ordinary criminals or terrorists. Instead, they were extraterrestrials who managed to make their way out of the crash site before our forces could arrive. We called them the Sleepers. They had melted into the crowded cities of that globalized era, managing to survive on the margins of society. In fact, they actually thrived, since they had the appearance of youth and beauty on their side. They sometimes traded on their physical appeal to obtain housing, food, or travel. They made out like bandits in the 21st century, and did decently in the 22nd, as you witnessed, but in the subsequent centuries, the changes around them made life in this marginal niche more difficult.† The computer responded to another fingertip prodding by issuing forth more pop-up images – this time from space. â€Å"Here is the earth in the 21st century.† The blue marble planet hung in the blackness of space, gorgeously jeweled. â€Å"Here is the 23rd century – note the changes at the equator†. In this picture, the ba nd of brown desert was massively larger, and was engulfing Europe. The next image was terrifyingly dun colored. â€Å"The ETs ran into trouble once really strict government controls were imposed. Things got really difficult for them once the domes were built to shelter the remnant of humanity in the late 2300s. Most of them had serious problems adapting to the constraints that became necessary in the 25th century. They clung to a lot of the customs and privileges of the 21st century such as building bonfires and eating meat, and daily bathing. We conjecture that in their home world, they were either able to do these things freely, or had had to give them up, and were delighted to find them available here. For the most part, they don’t want to talk to us very much, even after all this time, for perhaps understandable reasons. Additionally, few of them ever wanted to work. In a word, many were mooches, and never paid their way in life. Naturally, such behavior got them evict ed from everywhere they wanted to live, whether indoors under domes, or outdoors. They were eventually branded as criminals, as resources all over the globe became tighter and tighter. They became truly outcasts and fugitives for having broken environmental laws and laws of trespass over and over again. They had an immense advantage over any other lawbreakers, because they could flee in time, as well as space. They tended to gravitate towards the 21st century because that was the last time that the world was both beautiful and fertile and it was relatively safe to breathe the air and drink the water and eat ‘real’ food from animal sources. Efforts were set in motion to have local constabulary round them all up in our century. Soon after this initiative, another group from the higher-ups captured you along with most of the rest of the Sleepers. Your blood was tested along with others and as it turns out, you’re one of them. This was a bit of a surprise, since y ou had always been a very dedicated worker and a credit to the Temporal Crimes Unit. You must have been an anomaly amongst your kind. We are still not quite sure what you were doing with them when that group was detained.† In the detective’s mind there blossomed a memory – this one seemed real, and his own – of a week spent by a small, relatively unpolluted river, with days full of skinny dipping and nights full of campfires and glimpses of stars beyond the persistent scum of polluted air. Was he a time fugitive then, as well? Did he have a secret life spent with his fellow†¦what did they even call themselves? â€Å"I don’t see how this can be possible†¦ and why are they, no, we, called Sleepers? And all these centuries of life: how is this feasible†¦?† anxiously, the detective interrupted once again. â€Å"Please allow me to finish. Your appearance is just as fresh as the day you were hired by Sterling, your boss for the last decades. When you showed up in the round-up, we decided to inject you with a denatured toxin known as Atroxium. It was originally designed for individuals who had troubles sleeping at night. We took the liberty of enhancing the effects of the toxin to a point where one could sleep for literally hundreds of years without ill effects. Needless to say, it was put into use on you, and some of your people. Atroxium has the sometimes unfortunate side effect of wiping memory rather efficiently. In your case, it was exceedingly helpful. We were able to teach you a new set of only the most basic memories by hypnopaedic methods. You were awakened to help us find the whole group, since you could time-jump just as easily as your fellow sleepers. You have done so very efficiently. Now, you’re free to go. All of you.† The man stood up and put started closing down the holographic images that still hung in air. â€Å"After all these years, you people have decided to acknowledge and g ive free access to your world, and your past, to me and my people. There must be a reason for that?† asked the one who still thought of himself as a detective. â€Å"It wasn’t my decision. The newly elected president decided that you’ve suffered enough. To be honest, I am strongly against this but I have no choice but to act accordingly. It seems extremely dangerous to me to release a race with largely unknown characteristics into our gene pool.† The detective and his fellow aliens walked out and were never seen again. This critical writing on Short Detective Story was written and submitted by user Dahlia Pierce to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Interesting Gadolinium Element Facts

Interesting Gadolinium Element Facts Gadolinium is one of the light rare earth elements belonging to the lanthanide series. Here are some interesting facts about this metal: Gadolinium is silvery, malleable, ductile metal with a metallic sheen. It is fluorescent and tends to have a faintly yellowish tint.Gadolinium, like other rare earths, is not found in pure form in nature. The primary source of the element is the mineral gadolinite. It is also found in other rare earth ores, such as monazite and bastnasite.At low temperatures, gadolinium is more ferromagnetic than iron.Gadolinium has superconductive properties.Gadolinium is magnetocaloric, which means its temperature increases when it is placed in a magnetic field and decreases when it is removed from the field.Lecoq de Boisbaudran separated gadolinium from its oxide in 1886. He named the element for  Finnish Chemist Johan Gadolin, the discoverer of the first rare earth element.French chemist and engineer  Felix Trombe was the first to purify gadolinium in 1935.Gadolinium has the highest thermal neutron cross section of all the elements.Gadolinium is used in nuclear reactor control rods to regular fission. The element is injected into MRI patients to increase image contrast.Other uses of gadolinium include manufacture of certain iron and chromium alloys, computer chips and CDs, microwave ovens, and televisions.The pure metal is fairly stable in air, but tarnishes in moist air. It slowly reacts in water and dissolves in dilute acid. At high temperatures, gadolinium reacts with oxygen. Gadolinium Chemical and Physical Properties Element Name: GadoliniumAtomic Number: 64Symbol: GdAtomic Weight: 157.25Discovery: Jean de Marignac 1880 (Switzerland)Electron Configuration: [Xe] 4f7 5d1 6s2Element Classification: Rare Earth (Lanthanide)Word Origin: Named after the mineral gadolinite.Density (g/cc): 7.900Melting Point (K): 1586Boiling Point (K): 3539Appearance: soft, ductile, silvery-white metalAtomic Radius (pm): 179Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 19.9Covalent Radius (pm): 161Ionic Radius: 93.8 (3e)Specific Heat (20 °C J/g mol): 0.230Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 398Pauling Negativity Number: 1.20First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 594.2Oxidation States: 3Lattice Structure: HexagonalLattice Constant (Ã…): 3.640Lattice C/A Ratio: 1.588 References Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952), CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.)

Can Give Rise To Psychological Issues

Explain Can Give Rise To Psychological Issues? Withholding of the truth about Amy can give rise to psychological issues and have an impact on her quality of life. Her physical inabilities as difficulty to find words and repetition during a conversation and lack of concentration are contributing to her psychological distress, as she is unable to understand the reason of her sudden change in behaviour and memory. Withholding the information can have a negative impact on the patient’s attitude. It would reduce her coping ability, cause mood disturbances and anxiety and reduces her ability to prepare for the future(Kelley & Morrison, 2015). The withholding of life limiting illness about Amy also has serious negative impact on her family. Her mother is in her 80’s and witnessing such a change in behaviour and mood in Amy can have psychological impact and extremely painful. Her son Erik finds it difficult to conceal the truth of her life limiting illness from Amy and that might affect her end-of-life care and her compliance with the treatment and medication. This puts her family members in a hard situation and her family members face ethical dilemma whether to inform her or not. This situation raises ethical dilemma for me. Although, Amy and her family members wants to withhold her life limiting illness as posed by the family, the primary concern is to disclose the illness to her in culturally sensitive manner. This ethical dilemma can affect her end-of-life care and response to treatment. As she has limited English speaking ability, it is important to convey through family members or interpreters. The considerations include using of plain language, addressing of one piece of information at a time and ask about Amy’s worries, thoughts and understandings after illness disclosure through culture centred communication (Katz & Johnson, 2013). The care provided to Amy should include her cultural practices and spiritual needs and directed towards culture-centred care. It is important for the staffs to learn about her beliefs, cultural attitudes meanings of illness, health and symptoms. As she is diagnosed with life-limiting illness, it is important to recognize the unique cultural aspects of the care provision at the end-of-life (Wittenberg, et al., 2015). Knowing about cultural values of Amy would help the staffs to understand, grapple and navigate through the limiting illness. Integration of Amy’s cultural needs would help staffs in delivering her end-of-life care. Staffs need to understand that cultural factors and their integration into healthcare would influence her healthcare seeking behaviour, medical and clinical decision-making and finally health outcomes. Therefore, culture-centred end-of-life care act as driving factor in delivering culturally competent healthcare to Amy. By providing culture-centred, care to Amy would help her and family to respond to the end-of-life care and have a positive impact on their psychological well-being. The cultural consideration and specific spiritual needs of Amy would be fulfilled in her terminal diagnosis, as the staffs would provide culturally appropriate care that improves her and family situation. As a graduate health professional, I would like to spend time to develop an understanding of her feelings and specific needs to address anxiety and point of disagreement in providing end-of-life care. I will try to develop an empathetic relationship with Amy and her family in providing culture-centred care. For this culture-centred communication, principles are important through interpreters to understand Amy’s true preferences for receiving illness information. As she has limited English speaking ability, it is important to be cognizant about how her cultural factors and beliefs might affect her end-of-life care. This sensitivity to Amy’s individual and cultural preferences would help to avoid stereotyping and in making incorrect assessments in providing her end-of-life care (Moir, Roberts, Martz, Perry, & Tivis, 2015).   Katz, R. S., & Johnson, T. G. (2013). When professionals weep: Emotional and countertransference responses in end-of-life care. Routledge. Kelley, A. S., & Morrison, R. S. (2015). Palliative care for the seriously ill . New England Journal of Medicine,  373(8), , 747-755. Moir, C., Roberts, R., Martz, K., Perry, J., & Tivis, L. J. (2015). Communicating with Patients and their Families about Palliative and End of Life: Comfort and Educational Needs of Staff RNs. International journal of palliative nursing,  21(3), , 109. Wittenberg, E., Ferrell, B., Goldsmith, J., Smith, T., Glajchen, M., Handzo, G., & Ragan, S. L. (2015). Textbook of Palliative Care Communicaiton. Oxford University Press.

Duty to Warn and to Protect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Duty to Warn and to Protect - Essay Example Some individuals may cause harm to themselves while other may be dangerous to other people. In any case, it is the job of a therapist to make sure that a person copes with the personal crisis and carries on happy and productive life. For the purposes of this paper, one should imagine the following scenario. The author will be a therapist that has a patient. The latter tends to be distressed. He is a white male in his mid-twenties, experiencing a personal crisis: he wants to find a girl who will ultimately become his wife, but he simply can not, not matter how hard he tries. His inability to cope with this problem causes him to experience severe stress. There are two ways that he deals with it: on the one hand, he spends much time in the bed, waiting for the feelings that tear his soul to go away; on the other hand, he recently started thinking about hurting other people. The latter thoughts are very rare and the subject clearly acknowledges that they are wrong. However, he admits that there are times when he looses control over his actions. To begin with, it may be important to identify the legal issues that this case holds. Thus, the therapist is made aware of the violent intentions of his client. The latter said several times that hurting others will allow him to release the stress. The subject is well educated person with a stable income with no legal history. Other than during the session he acts cheerfully and assertive. It is highly likely that he will be able to buy a gun if he wants to. With all this in mind, the therapist is faced with a possibility that his client might start a shooting spree. That is why it is the legal obligation of the former to inform law enforcing agencies that there is a subject in the area that experiences a personal crisis and made a clear statement of possible intentions of hurting others because of that. There is also an

Treating Abused Adolescents by Eliana Gil Essay

Treating Abused Adolescents by Eliana Gil - Essay Example Gil begins the book by outlining the case of Jennifer, who was subject to sexual abuse from the age of 2. Having run away from home and several foster homes, she turned to prostitution and panhandling and becomes pregnant by the age of 13. Jennifer was a seemingly hopeless case as she had suffered too long and too deeply. Yet she dug deep within and found the courage to cope with her problems effectively. On this inspiring note, Gil proceeds to give an overview of the book. She describes the term â€Å"adolescence† and gives us a history of its roots, explaining how social and political movements and changes have influenced our perception and understanding of these individuals. Adolescence is a crucial developmental period in the life of the individual and traumatic events that disrupt normal development may have lifelong implications for the victim. This is therefore a serious issue and one that has been largely ignored because of existing misconceptions about adolescents who are in a delicate transitional phase, where they are neither children nor adults.

Free

Free Trade Essay Free trade, alone, explains the varying fortunes of British industry and agriculture. How valid is this view of the period 1846-68? There is doubt that during the years 1846-68, the British industry and agriculture experienced a period of vast growth and varying fortunes. Free trade has been seen by many historians as the main motive for such a successful period, it in theory makes the world a richer place, but undoubtedly there were other remarkable improvements in Britain which accounted for the varying fortunes of industry and agriculture. There had been good developments in agriculture, seeing an increase in prices and exports. Firstly, there was stability in the price of wheat and other prices rose steadily; wheat in 1851-55 was 3% above the 1840 price. However, the best growth in prices laid in livestock related areas. A steady increase in major elements of production also had a good impact on farmers generally. There was a huge increase in drainage projects to help the quality of land and amount of land that was cultivated. This ignited a growth of technical efficiency; with much more intensive farming developments in production and use of fertilisers. Machinery, such as the steam-driven threshing machines made it possible for farmers to produced more output per acre and a lot of attention went into the correct feeding of animals, they way land was used and crops rotated. The British industry also saw great improvements in exports and growth. Over the period, the British industry enjoyed a remarkable export boom like which they had never experienced before. For example, exports in steel increased from 458,000 tones in 1845-9 to over 2,027,000 tones by 1856-9. Coal also endured the same growth in exports, with 2.5 million tones in 1845-9 to 9.86 million tones by 1865-9. The total value of exports from Britain in 1840-9 was set at à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½83 million, this figure rose to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½244 million by 1870. This was down to a steady rise in prices, although real wages grew, as did investment and production increase too. Free trade was a major cause for the growth in this area, due to a number of reasons. It allowed Britain to make a great deal of money in opening up and developing industries in other countries, e.g. at one stage in the early 18602, Brassey, the English Contractor, had railways building on five separate continents. In the period of 1846-68, between 20% and 25% of world trade was British. In addition, free trade gave more choice to consumers, adding to the GDP and growth of economy. This also allowed Britain to flood the world with cheap manufactured goods. Free trade was finally introduced by Sir Robert Peel in his controversial 1845 budget act, influenced greatly by the Manchester School, a group of northern industrialist who came to believe that tariffs were stifling British industry. Their judgement was by no means wrong, as import duties on raw material made them more expensive less foreign countries were willing to trade than they would be otherwise. This was also keeping production costs too high the British businesses and reducing their sales, hence corrupting the economy. In Peels budget of 1842 and 1843, Peel demolished large number of the remaining duties, so that after 1845, duties on over 600 articles had been removed completely. By 1853, the attack on tariffs had initiated yet again. Gladstones 1853 budget abolished nearly all remaining duties on partially manufactured goods, food and nearly all remaining duties on fully manufactured goods, effecting over 350 separate articles. The 1860 budget continued this trend; only 48 import duties on articles left once duties were abolished on a further 375 articles. This was restricted down further in 1864 when Gladstone reduced the duty on sugar and halved the duty on tea. This provided a great stimulus to the British economy and industry. The 1860 Cobden Treaty alone produced a three-fold increase in trade with France by 1880. Nevertheless, with the benefit of hindsight, you can clearly see that there were other causes for such a period of success in both industry and agriculture. Firstly, Britain was still enjoying the advantage of being the first nation to industrialize and competition from abroad was limited. The US were having tremendous difficulty in supplying their own rapid increase of population and was held back by the Civil War of 1861-5; Germany did not become unified until 1871 so both of these countries were interdependent on British manufacturing exports. Secondly, the population growth increased the demand for such manufactured products domestically. Britain saw population increase from 27.4 million in 1851 to 31.5 million in 1871, which acted as a stimulus to industry. One major factor which contributed to the boom was the spread of railways. The decade saw immense investments in railway building. In 1843 there was only 2000 miles of track, but this soon resulted in the construction of a further 5000 miles of track by 1850, and in 1873 a total of 14,510 miles of track was opened. The industry employed large amounts of labour which were spending their wages on item such as clothing and housing which was being pumped back into the economy and helped the growth of domestic demand. In addition, the industry also encouraged technological developments in the iron and steel as vast amounts were demanded for construction. The demand for coal grew, as did the demand for service from mechanical and civil engineers. Most important of all, railways made it possible to transport manufactured goods to the ports much moor quickly. One last factor which also contributed to the boom of British industry was the vast sums of capital available for investment. Banking and credit facilities became more reliable after the Bank Charter in 1844. Even investments abroad helped the demand of British manufactured goods, as railways and factory projects were implemented overseas; the foreigners were able to buy British goods. Motives for the prosperity in agriculture differ slightly. James Caird, a farmer, wrote the famous pamphlet high farming explaining his ideas how farmers should respond to the threat of foreign competition once the Corn Laws were abolished in 1843. He believed the answer was to maintain their land more intensively, using the latest techniques and inventions to increase yield at the lowest price possible. High farming resulted in much higher productivity. Farmers begun to use clay piping to improve drainage, and Britain saw an increase in mix farmer, ranging from crops and wheat, to cattle, sheep and pigs. Overall profit for farmers doubled, even farm labourers were becoming slightly better off as far as wages, housing and food were concerned. Another factor for varying fortunes in agriculture is the rapid growth in population, increasing the demand for farmers products, which consequently meant higher prices and profits. This was also a result from very little competition from abroad. In addition, the railway boom enabled livestock to be transported quickly and cheaply over long distances. This allowed farmers to sell into new markets. Finally, even the weather was kind to the farmers and gave mostly good summers and harvest between 1850 and 1873. In conclusion, you can see that free trade did help the British industry, by allowing cheap raw materials to businesses meaning cheaper products for consumers. This stimulated the economy and made British businesses more efficient from foreign competitors. However, you can only assume that free trade would not be as positive on agriculture, as farmers faced much competition from cheaper products abroad, and to an extend, you could say that there were weaknesses in British Agriculture. There was still a great deal of conservatism in farming, large amounts of investments were often had a poor return, and there was still insecurity of tenure for tenant farmers. There were other factors, arguably more important than free trade, for the varying fortunes in both British industry and agriculture. Large increase in population meant demand rose substantially, the railway boom stimulated jobs, provided more money for citizens, helped technical developments in steel and iron industry and enabled farmers to sell in new markets. Therefore, the validity of this view is weak, as there are many more factors contributing the varying fortunes of industry and agriculture.

The music industry-globalizing in many ways Essay -- essays research p

Edi K. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY – GLOBALIZING IN MANY WAYS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The music industry is in a time of growth at this very moment. The environment for its growth has been increasing rapidly on many geographical boundaries and has been established through information technology and Internet. In this paper I will analyze how the music industry not only has been affected by Globalization as an economic institution but also that it has become a worldwide-globalized commodity. First, I will begin by analyzing how the music industry, though its consumption is not a necessity, it is affected by large economic factors and has become a large Music Market. Furthermore I will analyze how the music market has globalizing tendencies for the consumers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People get into their cars and listen to music, you walk into a shopping center and they are playing music; walk into a restaurant and they are playing music too, people listen to music in their work place as well. Runners listen to music as they exercise, you can even listen to music while you are sitting on the dentist chair. Everybody listens to music! Everywhere at anytime! Try to go on line and among other links on Travel, Stock Quotes, Sports or Entertainment, you’ll find a link on Music. There are so many companies that advertise music on line. Every day mass emails are sent that offer music on line. Did you know you can get 12 CDs for only one penny ? All you have to do is join one of the online music distributors : it doesn’t matter whether is BMG or Columbia House, the ‘package’ is the same. It doesn’t matter either if you are in the United States or not, they deliver internationally! Music is not a necessity but everybo dy is using it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kadi 2 The production and consumption of music has become a market of its own that has been growing and getting stronger every single day. Many companies have found their fortune in the music industry and have become part of the globalization by entering the worldwide market and economy.   Ã‚  Ã‚   ... ...all over the world listens to, it welcomes the â€Å"G† word within and becomes part of it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Music, this new commodity, is helping the world to become a global marketplace as well as bringing the consumers into an unexpected globalization. The music industry is spreading far and wide across the globe bringing people of all countries, cultures and races together by the sounds of American popular music. WORKS CITED T. Mitchell, 1997. â€Å"New Zealand Music on the Internet: A Study of the NZPOP Mailing List,† Perfect Beat, Volume 3, number 2, pp. 77-95. G. Stahl, 1997. â€Å"Citing the Sound: New Zealand Indie Rock in North America,† Perfect Beat, volume 3, number 2, pp. 60-76. National Music Publishers Association ( NMPA ), 1997. International Survey of Music Publishing Revenues. New York: NMPA. Music & Copyright, 27 August 1997. R. Burnett, 1993. The Popular Music industry in transition. Popular Music and Society, pp.141-143. Al Roussan, Rasheed. September 2000, C.S. Fischer, 1992. America calling: A social History of the telephone to 1940. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Role of Medieval History in Modern Day

A common story plot in modern day films portraying Middle Age themes is a damsel in distress being saved by a knight in shining armor. For instance, the popular animated children’s movie, Shrek, follows the story line of Shrek and his partner, Donkey, going off on a journey in order to save a princess imprisoned in a tall castle tower and guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. The entire plot setting is based roughly around the same time frame as the actual middle ages, so the elements of medieval culture in this movie are clear.The guarded castles, mythical creatures, and feudal system enforced between the peasants and royalty are all elements of medieval culture. One major scene that depicts the essence of the Middle Ages best is when Shrek leads Lord Farquaad to Fiona as an exchange for guaranteed privacy of Shrek’s swamp. Two main aspects of this scene to focus on is the interaction between Lord Farquaad and Shrek and also the use of Princess Fiona as an object of trad e for Shrek’s reward.Traditional ranking of nobles and commoners are rooted within the Middle Ages, and although Shrek acts rather brutish and unpolished in Lord Farquaad’s presence, there is still an act of submission as depicted by Shrek’s delivery of Fiona. It was typical of knights in the middle ages to battle against one another or perform favors and acts of bravery in order to gain favor in the eyes of a King. Lord Farquaad’s use of Shrek as a way of obtaining Princess Fiona would then give Shrek an opportunity to gain favor in Lord Farquaad’s eyes so that his request of gaining back full ownership of his swamp would be granted.Due to the treacherous nature of retrieving Fiona, this would constitute as one of many acts of valor that many knights would partake in at the time. Princess Fiona’s part in this scene is as an object of bargaining, as shown when Shrek brings Lord Farquaad to her in order to fulfill his side of the arrangement. It should be noted that Princess Fiona’s hand in marriage was necessary for Lord Farquaad to gain full control cover a larger jurisdiction and for him to have the title as King bestowed upon him.The use of marriage as a way of combining kingdoms and making negotiations derive from medieval culture and also emphasize the importance that the feudal system played during this time. Although Lord Farquaad had enough power to grant or take away land from landowners, such as the fairy tale creatures, the only way for him to become a real king was to marry a princess, which in this case would have been Princess Fiona.Similar situations like this regularly occur in modern popular culture, such as the film The Princess Diaries 2, where Princess Amelia is being urged by the Genovian government to marry someone who holds an official title as a prince in order for her to become a true queen. It has become common knowledge in today’s society that a Princess or Prince cannot hold th e title as a Queen or King until they are married—this particular idea originating from the Middle Ages.By looking at these examples, one can see how ideals from the Middle Ages carried over into modern day popular culture. In fact, modern day knighting still takes place in the British government and is still based off of recognition of service and contributions to the British nation. The Order of the British Empire is perhaps the most common knighthood given today and is frequently awarded to British scientists, educators, doctors, and even Paul McCartney. This tradition is significant evidence of the carry over of Middle Ages in contemporary culture.However, one of the many misconceptions of the medieval times is the mistreatment and the demeaning of woman as being a prominent thing in society. This is portrayed in the treatment of Princess Fiona as a means for bargaining, and one should note that her objections to being married to Lord Farquaad held little to no weight whe n it came down to her fate. Aside from Princess Fiona, the amount of parts where women held significant character roles were almost nonexistent and further pushed the stereotype of how medieval women were disregarded in medieval times.On the contrary, women, such as St. Joan of the Arc, held positions of high authority in the time of the Middle Ages and were not treated with as little esteem as modern society thinks today. This kind of thinking encourages the damsel-in-distress scenario where the woman is rendered helpless and waiting for a strong and able man to come and save her. Such depictions associated with medieval society are emphasized over and over until the image of an incompetent woman is incorporated into the general consensus of what medieval times were like.The use the medieval times as the setting for Shrek also played along with stereotypical Middle Ages as being a time of ignorant common people that blindly followed the rule of the king without any question. The ov erall appearance that the environment in Shrek gives off is a place that is unorganized and unhygienic, much like what modern society thinks of the middle ages today. Setting Shrek in the Middle Ages effectively played out the stereotypes and general idea of what medieval society means to popular culture.The exaggerated difference of living conditions between peasants and royalty, the disregard of women, the bartering by marriage, and even the uneducated and dirty lifestyles of many commoners exemplify common misconceptions of the Middle Ages that many people in society take as fact. Popular culture, in turn, starts to immediately associate a time of ignorance and uncleanliness as being characteristic of the Middle Ages—whether they are true or not.

Juvenile delinquency: an integrated approach Essay

Rick: A â€Å"Delinquent Youth† The youth court adjudicated or judged Rick, a 14-year-old, a â€Å"delinquent youth,† for motor vehicle theft and placed him on formal probation for six months. He and a good friend took without permission a car that belonged to Rick’s father. They were pulled over by the police for driving erratically—a classic case of joyriding. Rick was already a familiar figure in the juvenile court. When Rick was 12, he was referred to the court for â€Å"deviant sex† for an incident in which he was caught engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl. The juvenile court dealt with this offense â€Å"informally.† A probation officer met with Rick and his parents to work out an agreement of informal probation that included â€Å"conditions† or rules, but no petition into court. Not long after this first offense, Rick was taken into custody by the police for curfew violation and, on a separate occasion, vandalism—he and his good friend had gotten drunk and knocked down numerous mailboxes along a rural road. In both of these instances, Rick was taken to the police station and released to his parents. Even though Rick’s first formal appearance in juvenile court was for the auto theft charge, he was already well-known to the police and probation departments. Rick was a very likable kid; he was pleasant and personable. He expressed a great deal of remorse for his delinquent acts and seemed to genuinely desire to change. He had a lot going for him; he was goal-directed, intelligent, and athletic. He interacted well with others, including his parents, teachers, and peers. His best friend, an American Indian boy who lived on a nearby reservation, was the same age as Rick and had many similar personal and social characteristics. Not surprisingly, the boy also had a very similar offense record. In fact, Rick and his friend  were often â€Å"companions in crime,† committing many of their delinquent acts together. Rick was the adopted son of older parents who loved him greatly and saw much ability and potential in him. They were truly perplexed by the trouble he was in, and they struggled to understand why Rick engaged in delinquent acts and what needed to be done about it. Rick, too, seemed to really care about his parents. He spent a good deal of time with them and apparently enjoyed their company. Because Rick was adopted as an infant, these parents were the people he considered family. Rick attended school regularly and earned good grades. He was not disruptive in the classroom or elsewhere in the school. In fact, teachers reported that he was a very positive student both in and out of class and that he was academically motivated. He did his homework and handed in assignments on time. He was also actively involved in sports—football, wrestling, and track and field. Rick’s six months of formal probation for auto theft turned into a twoyear period as he continued to get involved in delinquent acts. Through regular meetings and enforcement of probation conditions, his probation officer tried to work with Rick to break his pattern of delinquency. Such efforts were to no avail. Rick continued to offend, resulting in an almost routine series of court hearings that led to the extension of his probation supervision period. The Study of Juvenile Delinquency The continuing pattern of delinquency included a long list of property and status offenses: minor in possession of alcohol, numerous curfew violations, continued vandalism, minor theft (primarily shoplifting), and continued auto theft, usually involving joyrides in his father’s car. Rick’s â€Å"final† offense was criminal mischief, and it involved extensive destruction of property. Once again, Rick and his best friend â€Å"borrowed† his father’s car, got drunk, and drove to Edina, an affluent suburb of Minneapolis. For no apparent reason, they parked the car and began to walk along France Avenue, a major road with office buildings along each side. After walking a while, they started throwing small rocks toward buildings,  seeing how close they could get. Their range increased quickly and the rocks soon reached their targets, breaking numerous windows. The â€Å"fun† turned into thousands of dollars worth of window breakage in a large number of office buildings. Because of the scale of damage, Rick faced the possibility of being placed in a state training school. As a potential â€Å"loss of liberty case,† Rick was provided with representation by an attorney. This time, the juvenile court’s adjudication process followed formal procedures, including involvement of a prosecutor and a defense attorney. In the preliminary hearing, Rick admitted to the petition (statement of charges against him), and the case was continued to a later date for disposition (sentencing). In the meantime, the judge ordered a predisposition report. The predisposition report is designed to individualize the court’s disposition to â€Å"fit the offender.† The investigation for the report uses multiple sources of information, including information from the arresting officer, parents, school personnel, coaches, employers, friends, relatives, and, most importantly, the offending youth. The predisposition report tries to describe and explain the pattern of delinquency and then offer recommendations for disposition based on the investigation. In Rick’s case, the predisposition report attempted to accurately describe and explain his persistent pattern of property and status offending, and it offered a recommendation for disposition. Finding no information to justify otherwise, the probation officer recommended that Rick be committed to the Department of Corrections for placement at the Red Wing State Training School. Depending on one’s viewpoint, the state training school represented either a last ditch effort for rehabilitation or a means of punishment through restricted freedom. Either way, Rick was viewed as a chronic juvenile offender, with little hope for reform. It was one of those formative experiences. I [coauthor Jim Burfeind] was fresh out of college and newly hired as a probation officer. I was meeting with two experienced attorneys—one the defense, the other the prosecutor. Almost in unison, it seemed, they turned to me and asked, â€Å"Why did Rick do this? Why did he develop such a persistent pattern of delinquency?† They wanted to make sense of Rick’s delinquency, and they wondered how the  juvenile court could best respond to his case. I had become familiar with Rick only in the previous few weeks when his case was reassigned to me as part of my growing caseload as a new probation officer. Now, meeting with the attorneys to gather information for the predisposition | 3 4 | JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH report, I was being asked to explain Rick’s pattern of delinquent behavior to two legal experts who had far more experience in the juvenile justice system than I did. I was, after all, new to the job. How could I possibly know enough to offer an explanation? I also had the daunting responsibility of making a recommendation for disposition that the judge would most likely follow completely. Rick’s future was at stake, and my recommendation would determine the disposition of the juvenile court. As I attempted to respond to the attorneys sitting in front of me, my mind was flooded with questions. The answers to these questions became the basis for my predisposition report—an attempt to explain Rick’s delinquent behavior and, based on this understanding, to recommend what should be done through court disposition. The questions with which I wrestled included the following: Is involvement in delinquency common among adolescents—that is, are most youths delinquent? Maybe Rick was just an unfortunate kid who got caught. Are Rick’s offenses fairly typical of the types of offenses in which youths are involved? Will Rick â€Å"grow out† of delinquent behavior? Is Rick’s pattern of offending much the same as those of other delinquent youths? Do most delinquent youths begin with status offenses and then persist and escalate into serious, repetitive offending? (Status offenses are acts, such as truancy and running away, that are considered offenses when committed by juveniles but are not considered crimes if committed by adults.) Is there a rational component to Rick’s delinquency so that punishment by the juvenile court would deter further delinquency? Did the fact that Rick was adopted have anything to do with his involvement in delinquency? Might something about Rick’s genetic makeup and his biological family lend some insight into his behavior? What role did Rick’s use of alcohol play in his delinquency? Are there family factors that might relate to Rick’s involvement in delinquency? Were there aspects of Rick’s school experiences that might be related to his delinquency? What role did Rick’s friend play in his delinquent behavior? Did the youth court’s formal adjudication of Rick as a â€Å"delinquent youth† two years earlier label him and make him more likely to continue in delinquent behavior? Should the juvenile court retain jurisdiction for serious, repeat offenders like Rick? What should the juvenile court try to do with Rick: punish, deter, or rehabilitate him? Should the juvenile court hold Rick less responsible for his acts than an adult because he has not fully matured? The Study of Juvenile Delinquency | Perhaps this list of questions seems a little overwhelming to you now. We don’t present them here with the expectation that you will be able to answer them. Instead, we present them to prompt you to think about what causes juvenile delinquency and to give you an idea of the types of questions that drive the scientific study of delinquent behavior. Throughout this book, we address these types of questions as we define delinquency; consider the nature of delinquent offenses, offenders, and offending; and present a variety of theories to explain delinquent behavior. We return to Rick’s story and these questions in Chapter 14. After reading the next 12 chapters, you should have the tools necessary to think about and respond to these questions in a whole new light. ââ€"   Understanding Juvenile Delinquency The questions that shape the scientific study of juvenile delinquency constitute attempts to define, describe, explain, and respond to delinquent behavior. Rather than being asked with regard to a particular case like Rick’s, the questions that inspire the study of juvenile delinquency are cast more broadly in order to understand delinquent behavior as it occurs among adolescents. An understanding of delinquent behavior builds upon explanations that have been offered in theories and findings that have been revealed in research. The primary purpose of this book is to cultivate an understanding of juvenile delinquency by integrating theory and research. Throughout the book, we focus on the central roles that theory and research play in the study of delinquency, because these two components form the core of any scientific inquiry. Before we go any further, we must define what we mean by â€Å"juvenile delinquency.† This definition is far more complicated than you might think. In the next chapter, we offer a thorough discussion of the social construction and transformation of the concept of juvenile delinquency. Here we offer a brief working definition of juvenile delinquency as actions that violate the law, committed by a person who is under the legal age of majority. Our exploration of juvenile delinquency reflects the four basic tasks of the scientific study of delinquency—to define, describe, explain, and respond to delinquent behavior. The first two major sections of this book are devoted to defining and describing juvenile delinquency, the third section to explaining delinquent behavior, and the final section to contemporary ways of responding to juvenile delinquency. Responses to delinquent behavior, however, should be based on a thorough understanding of delinquency. Thus, an understanding of juvenile delinquency must come first. The Study of Juvenile Delinquency The first section of this book describes the historical transformation of the concept of juvenile delinquency and the methods and data sources researchers use to study involvement in delinquent behavior. We begin by developing a working understanding of what we commonly call â€Å"juvenile delinquency† (Chapter 2). This includes not only the social, political, and economic changes that led to the social construction of juvenile delinquency as a legal term, but also the contemporary transformations that have dramatically altered how we as a society juvenile delinquency Actions that violate the law, committed by a person who is under the legal age of majority. 5 6 | JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH view, define, and respond to juvenile delinquency. We then explore how researchers â€Å"measure† delinquency (Chapter 3). We describe the research process, various methods of gathering data and doing research on juvenile delinquency, and sources of data on crime and delinquency. The Nature of Delinquency The second section of this book presents a trilogy of chapters in which we describe the nature of delinquent offenses, offenders, and patterns of offending. Any attempt to explain juvenile delinquency must first be able to accurately describe the problem in terms of these three dimensions. Chapters 4 through 6 report research findings that describe the extent of delinquent offenses (Chapter 4), the social characteristics of delinquent offenders (Chapter 5), and the developmental patterns of delinquent offending (Chapter 6). Explaining Delinquent Behavior The third section of this book examines a variety of explanations of delinquency that criminologists have proposed in theories and examined in research related to those theories. These chapters are organized in terms of the major themes that run through seven different groups of theories. One group of theories, for example, emphasizes the importance of peer group influences on delinquency. These theories, called social learning theories, address how delinquent behavior is learned in the context of peer group relations (Chapter 11). Six other themes are also considered: the question of whether delinquency is chosen or determined (Chapter 7); the role of individual factors, including biological characteristics and personality, in explaining delinquent behavior (Chapter 8); situational and routine dimensions of delinquency (Chapter 9); the importance of social relationships, especially family relations and school experiences, in controlling delinquency (Chapter 10); the structure of society, and how societal characteristics motivate individual behavior (Chapter 12); and social and societal responses to delinquency (Chapter 13). We also apply these various explanations to Rick’s case, which opened this chapter, and examine integrated theoretical approaches (Chapter 14). Throughout the book, as we present theoretical explanations for delinquency, we weave together theories and the most relevant research that criminologists have conducted to test those theories. Responding to Juvenile Delinquency The final section of this book comprises a single chapter that describes contemporary juvenile justice (Chapter 15). We have deliberately chosen to keep the discussion of juvenile justice in one chapter, in order to provide an undivided view of its structure and process. The formal system of juvenile justice includes police, courts, and corrections. Yet a substantial amount of juvenile delinquency is dealt with informally, sometimes by agencies outside the â€Å"system.† Juvenile justice encompasses efforts at prevention, together with informal and formal action taken by the traditional juvenile justice system. Formal procedures, such as taking youths into custody and adjudicating them as delinquent youths, are central to the task of responding to juvenile delinquency. But informal procedures designed to prevent delinquency and divert youths from the juvenile justice system are far more common. The Study of Juvenile Delinquency | ââ€"   Developing and Evaluating Theories of Delinquency In 1967, two noted sociologists, Travis Hirschi and Hanan Selvin, observed that theories of delinquency suggest a â€Å"sequence of steps through which a person moves from law abiding behavior to . . . delinquency.†1 Criminological theories try to identify and describe the key causal factors that make up this â€Å"sequence of steps† leading to delinquent behavior. In doing so, theories of delinquency emphasize certain factors as being causally important and then describe how these factors are interrelated in producing delinquent behavior. Stated simply: â€Å"a theory is an explanation.†2 Components of Theories Like other scientific theories, theories of delinquency are composed of two basic parts: concepts and propositions. Concepts isolate and categorize features of the world that are thought to be causally important.3 Different theories of juvenile delinquency incorporate and emphasize different concepts. For example, the theories of delinquency we consider in later chapters include concepts such as personality traits, intelligence, routine activities of adolescents, relationship ties (called attachments), associations with delinquent friends, and social disorganization of neighborhoods. Concepts require definition.4 Definitions serve two functions: they clarify concepts and provide common understanding, and they describe how concepts will be measured for the purpose of research. Propositions tell how concepts are related. Scientific theories use propositions to make statements about the relationships between concepts.5 Some propositions imply a positive linear relationship in which the â€Å"concepts increase or decrease together in a relatively straight-line fashion.†6 For example, some theories offer the proposition that the number of delinquent friends is positively related to delinquent behavior: as the number of delinquent friends increases, so does the likelihood of delinquency. In a negative linear relationship, the concepts vary in opposite directions. For instance, one theory offers the proposition that level of attachment and delinquency are negatively related: as attachment increases, delinquent behavior decreases. Relationships between concepts may  also be curvilinear. Here, too, the concepts vary together, either positively or negatively, but after reaching a certain level, the relationship moves in the opposite direction. For example, researchers have found that parental discipline is related to delinquency in a curvilinear fashion.7 Delinquent behavior is most frequent when parental discipline is either lacking or excessive, but it is least common when levels of discipline are moderate. If you think of parental discipline as a continuum, delinquency is highest on the two ends of the discipline continuum, when discipline is lax or excessive, and lowest in the middle, when discipline is moderate. Different theories may offer competing propositions. One theory may propose that two concepts are related in a particular way, whereas another theory may claim that they are unrelated. For example, one of the major issues in delinquency theory is the role of the family in explaining delinquent behavior. One major theory contends that the family is essentially unrelated to delinquent behavior and that delinquent peers are an important factor in explaining delinquency. Another theory An explanation that makes a systematic and logical argument regarding what is important and why. concepts Isolated features of the world that are thought to be causally important. propositions Theoretical statements that tell how concepts are related. 7 8 | theory of delinquency A set of logically related propositions that explain why and how selected concepts are related to delinquent behavior. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH influential theory proposes the opposite relationship, arguing that family relations are strongly related to delinquency, whereas peer relations are less important in explaining delinquency.8 To summarize, a theory of delinquency is a set of logically related propositions that explain why and how selected concepts are related to delinquent behavior.9 A theory offers a logically developed argument that certain concepts are important in causing delinquent behavior. The purpose of theory, then, is to explain juvenile delinquency. Levels of Explanation level of explanation The realm of explanation— individual, microsocial, or macrosocial—that corresponds to the types of concepts incorporated into theories. Theories of delinquency operate at three different levels of explanation: individual, microsocial, and macrosocial.10 On the individual level, theories focus on traits and characteristics of individuals, either innate or learned, that make some people more likely than others to engage in delinquent behavior. The microsocial level of explanation considers the  social processes by which individuals become the â€Å"kinds of people† who commit delinquent acts.11 Criminologists have emphasized family relations and delinquent peer group influences at this level. Some microsocial theories also point to the importance of the structural context of social interaction.12 Race, gender, and social class, for example, influence social interaction not only within families and peer groups, but in virtually all social contexts. As a result, the distinction between social process and social structure is not always clear, nor is it always useful as a means of categorizing theoretical explanations.13 At the macrosocial level, societal characteristics such as social class and social cohesiveness are used to explain group variation in rates of delinquency.14 For example, poverty, together with the absence of community social control, is central to several explanations of why gang delinquency is more common in lower-class areas.15 The level of explanation—individual, microsocial, or macrosocial—corresponds to the types of concepts incorporated into a theory.16 Individual-level explanations tend to incorporate biological and psychological concepts. Microsocial explanations most often use social psychological concepts, but may incorporate structural concepts that influence social interaction. Macrosocial explanations draw extensively on sociological concepts. Theories can be combined to form â€Å"integrated theories† (see Chapter 14), which sometimes merge different levels of explanation into a single theoretical framework. Assessing Theory We have proposed that concepts and propositions are the bare essentials of theory.17 These components, however, do not automatically produce a valid explanation of delinquency. We can begin to assess the validity of theory—the degree to which it accurately and adequately explains delinquent behavior—by paying attention to several key dimensions of theory.18 We highlight these dimensions (e.g., clarity, consistency, testability, applicability) in the following list of questions. We invite you to ask yourself these questions as you evaluate the theories of delinquency we present in later chapters and consider how well they explain delinquent behavior. 1. Conceptual clarity: How clearly are the theoretical concepts identified and defined?19 How well do the concepts and propositions fit together—how compatible, complementary, and congruent are they?20 The Study of Juvenile Delinquency 2. Logical consistency: Does the theoretical argument develop logically and consistently? Do the concepts and propositions depict a causal process leading to delinquency? 3. Parsimony: How concise is the theory in terms of its concepts and propositions? This question concerns economy of explanation. Generally, simpler is better. So if two theories explain delinquency equally well, we should favor the theory that offers the more concise explanation with the smaller number of concepts. 4. Scope: What is the theory attempting to explain?21 Some theories try to explain a wide variety of criminal acts and criminal offenders. Others focus on particular types of offenses or offenders. What question is the theory designed to answer? Theories of delinquency usually address one of two basic questions: (1) How and why are laws made and enforced? and (2) Why do some youths violate the law?22 Far more theories try to answer the second question than the first.23 5. Level of explanation: At what level (individual, microsocial, or macrosocial) does the theory attempt to explain delinquency? 6. Testability: To what extent can the theory be tested—verified or disproved by research evidence? It is not enough for a theory simply to â€Å"make sense† by identifying key concepts and then offering propositions that explain how these concepts are related to delinquency.24 Rather, theories must be constructed in such a way that they can be subjected to research verification.25 7. Research validity: To what extent has the theory been supported by research evidence? 8. Applicability and usefulness: To what extent can the theory be applied practically? In other words, to what extent is the theory useful in policy and practice? These questions reflect key concerns in assessing theory. In the end, theory is the foundation for the accumulation of knowledge, and it is indispensable for an understanding of juvenile delinquency. However, theory must be tested through research. Together, theory and research constitute the two basic components of a scientific approach to juvenile delinquency. ââ€"   Purposes of Delinquency Research Delinquency research serves two vital purposes: to generate or develop theory, and to test theory.26 In Chapter 3, we discuss research methods and sources of data used in the study of delinquency. Here we briefly describe the two purposes of research as it relates to theory. Generating Theory Research is sometimes used to gain sufficient information about juvenile delinquency to theorize about it.27 Despite the old adage, â€Å"the data speak for themselves,† research findings about delinquency require interpretation, and it is this interpretation that yields theory. As a result, the development of theoretical | 9 10 | inductive theorizing The development of theory from research observations. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH explanations of delinquency requires a long, hard look at the â€Å"facts† of delinquency (repeated and consistent findings), in order to isolate and identify key concepts and then explain how these concepts are related to delinquent behavior. Along this line, Donald Shoemaker defines theory as â€Å"an attempt to make sense out of observations.†28 The difficult task of making theoretical sense of research observations is sometimes referred to as â€Å"grounded theory† or inductive theorizing. 29 In the process of inductive theorizing, research involves collecting data and making empirical observations, which are then used to develop theory. For example, Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck, whose work we discuss more fully in later chapters, spent their entire careers attempting to uncover the most important empirical findings about juvenile delinquency. They referred to their task as Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency—the title of their most important book.30 The Gluecks’ work was heavily criticized for being atheoretical, or without theory.31 Their research, however, was clearly directed at providing empirical observations that would allow for the development of a theoretical explanation of delinquency, even though they never developed such a theory.32 In recent years, their data and findings have become the basis for an important new theory called â€Å"life-course theory,† which we describe in Chapter 10. Testing Theory deductive theorizing The evaluation of theoretical statements through research. Research also provides the means to evaluate theory and to choose among alternative theories.33 In contrast to inductive theorizing, deductive theorizing begins with theoretical statements and then attempts to test the validity of theoretical predictions.34 As we already discussed, theories advance explanations of delinquency in which propositions identify certain concepts and describe how they are related to delinquent behavior. These theoretically predicted relationships can be tested through research and either verified or disproved. For example, one simple proposition of differential association theory (presented in Chapter 11) is that attitudes  favoring delinquency are learned in the context of â€Å"intimate personal groups.†35 The predicted relationship portrayed here is that youths develop attitudes from peer group relations, and delinquent behavior is then an expression of these attitudes: peer group relations âž  delinquent attitudes âž  delinquent behavior If research findings support the theoretical propositions tested, then the theory is verified or confirmed. If research findings are not consistent with the predicted relationships, then the theory is disproved. Different theories often offer different predictions. To continue with the previous example, differential association theory and social bond theory (presented in Chapter 10) provide competing predictions about the relationships between peers, attitudes, and delinquent behavior. In contrast to differential association theory, social bond theory contends that attitudes are largely a product of family relationships.36 Delinquent attitudes result in delinquent behavior. Associations with delinquent peers then follow from delinquent behavior as youths seek out friendships with others like themselves. The relationships predicted by social bond theory are as follows: The Study of Juvenile Delinquency delinquent attitudes âž  delinquent behavior âž  delinquent peer group As this brief example illustrates, theories have empirical implications, and one purpose of research is to enable scholars to choose among competing theories.37 The preceding discussion of the two purposes of delinquency research implies that the processes of inductive theorizing and deductive theorizing are completely distinct. The former is used to generate or develop theory; the latter is used to test theory. We must acknowledge, however, the complexity of the relationship between theory and research, and note that the distinction between the two purposes of research is not necessarily clear-cut. Even within the process of deductive theorizing, for example, an element of inductive theorizing exists. In deductive theorizing, researchers begin with theoretical predictions and then use empirical observations to test those propositions. The research results may lead to modification or refinement of the theory being tested. The latter part of this process, in which observations are interpreted and may result in a revised statement of theory, is consistent with the process of inductive theorizing. Although the relationship between theory and research is complex, it is clear that the development of theory and the performance of research go hand in hand.38 ââ€"   Summary and Conclusions The scientific study of juvenile delinquency attempts to describe and explain delinquent behavior through theory and research. Theory seeks to provide a systematic and logical argument that specifies what is important in causing delinquency and why. Like other scientific theories, theories of delinquency  are composed of concepts and propositions. It is necessary to assess the validity of theories, including those we apply to explain delinquency. We provided a series of questions that you can use to evaluate the theories of delinquency we present in later chapters. The second basic component of the scientific method is research. In relation to theory, research serves two purposes: to generate theory and to test theory. Research is sometimes used to gain sufficient information about juvenile delinquency so that it becomes possible to theorize about it. The development of theory from research observations is called inductive theorizing.39 Research is also used to evaluate or test theory in a process called deductive theorizing. As we noted earlier, the primary purpose of this book is to cultivate an understanding of juvenile delinquency by integrating theory and research. This chapter has offered an overview of the key elements of a scientific approach to juvenile delinquency, focusing especially on theory. We describe research methods in Chapter 3. With this basic understanding of theory and its relationship to research, we can begin our study of juvenile delinquency on solid ground. The first two sections of this book present criminologists’ efforts to define and describe juvenile delinquency, the third major section presents explanations of juvenile delinquency that have been offered in theory and tested in research, and the fourth section considers contemporary responses to delinquency. Throughout the book, we present theoretical explanations of delinquency together with the most relevant research that has tested those theories. | 11 12 CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 1. Define theory without using the words â€Å"concept† or â€Å"proposition.† 2. Why does a scientific approach to juvenile delinquency depend on theory? 3. Develop your own example of inductive theorizing. Develop your own example of deductive theorizing. 4. As you read Rick’s story at the beginning of this chapter, what factors seemed most significant to you in considering why Rick engaged in delinquency? Why? SUGGESTED READING Gibbons, Don C. Talking About Crime and Criminals: Problems and Issues in Theory Development in Criminology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994. GLOSSARY concepts: Isolated features of the world that are thought to be causally important. deductive theorizing: The evaluation of theoretical statements through research. inductive theorizing: The development of theory from research observations. juvenile delinquency: Actions that violate the law, committed by a person who is under the legal age of majority. level of explanation: The realm of explanation—individual, microsocial, or macrosocial—that corresponds to the types of concepts incorporated into theories. propositions: Theoretical statements that tell how concepts are related. theory: An explanation that makes a systematic and logical argument regarding what is important and why. theory of delinquency: A set of logically related propositions that explain why and how selected concepts are related to delinquent behavior. REFERENCES Akers, Ronald L. Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Application. 4th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury, 2004. Babbie, Earl. The Practice of Social Research. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1998. Bohm, Robert M. A Primer on Crime and Delinquency Theory. 2nd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001. Cloward, Richard A., and Lloyd E. Ohlin. Delinquency and Opportunity: A Theory of Delinquent Gangs. New York: Free Press, 1960. Cohen, Albert K. Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang. New York: Free Press, 1955. ———. Deviance and Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1966. Cohen, Bernard P. Developing Sociological Knowledge: Theory and Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1980. 13 Curran, Daniel J., and Claire M. Renzetti. Theories of Crime. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Gibbons, Don C. The Criminological Enterprise: Theories and Perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1979. ———. Talking About Crime and Criminals: Problems and Issues in Theory Development in Criminology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994. Gibbons, Don C., and Marvin D. Krohn. Delinquent Behavior. 5th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1991. Gibbs, Jack P. â€Å"The State of Criminological Theory.† Criminology 25 (1987):821–840. Glaser, Barney, and Anselm L. Straus. The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine, 1967. Glueck, Sheldon, and Eleanor Glueck. Unraveling Delinquency. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1950. Hepburn, John R. â€Å"Testing Alternative Models of Delinquency Causation.† Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 67 (1976):450–460. Hirschi, Travis. Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1969. Hirschi, Travis, and Hanan C. Selvin. Delinquency Research: An Appraisal of Analytic Methods. New York: Free Press, 1967. Jensen, Gary F â€Å"Parents, Peers, and Delinquent Action: A Test of the Differential Association Per. spective.† American Sociological Review 78 (1972):562–575. Laub, John H., and Robert J. Sampson. â€Å"The Sutherland–Glueck Debate: On the Sociology of Criminological Knowledge.† American Journal of Sociology 96 (1991):1402–1440. Sampson, Robert J., and John H. Laub. Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993. Shaw, Clifford R., and Henry D. McKay. Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas: A Study of Rates of Delinquency in Relation to Differential Characteristics of Local Communities in American Cities. Rev. ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969. Shoemaker, Donald J. Theories of Delinquency: An Examination of Explanations of Delinquent Behavior. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Short, James F Jr. â€Å"The Level of Explanation Problem Revisited.† Criminology 36 (1998):3–36. ., Stark, Rodney. Sociology. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1998. Stinchcombe, Arthur L. Constructing Social Theories. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1968. Sutherland, Edwin H., Donald R. Cressey, and David F Luckenbill. Principles of Criminology. 11th ed. . Dix Hills, NY: General Hall, 1992. Turner, Jonathan. The Structure of Sociological Theory. Rev. ed. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press, 1978. Vold, George B., Thomas J. Bernard, and Jeffrey B. Snipes. Theoretical Criminology. 5th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. ENDNOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Hirschi and Selvin, Delinquency Research, 66. Bohm, Primer, 1. Turner, Structure of Sociological Theory, 2–3. Bohm, Primer, 2. See Bernard P. Cohen, Developing Sociological Knowledge, 140–148, for a full discussion of concept definition. Vold, Bernard, and Snipes, Theoretical Criminology, 4. Bohm, Primer, 2. Glueck and Glueck, Unraveling Delinquency. Sutherland, Cressey, and Luckenbill, Principles of Criminology, 211–214; and Hirschi, Causes of Delinquency, 140–146. Stark, Sociology, 2; and Curran and Renzetti, Theories of Crime, 2. Short, â€Å"Level of Explanation.† Albert K. Cohen, Deviance and Control, 43; and Gibbons, Criminological Enterprise, 9. Sampson and Laub, Crime in the Making; Sutherland, Cressey, and Luckenbill, Principles of Criminology; and Short, â€Å"Level of Explanation.† Akers, Criminological Theories, 4–5. 14 14. Albert K. Cohen, Deviance and Control, 43; Gibbons, Criminological Enterprise, 9; and Akers, Criminological Theories, 4. 15. Shaw and McKay, Juvenile Delinquency; Albert K. Cohen, Delinquent Boys; and Cloward and Ohlin, Delinquency and Opportunity. 16. Short points out, in â€Å"The Level of Explanation Problem Revisited† (3), that the level of explanation corresponds to the unit of observation and the unit of analysis. 17. Our discussion of delinquency theory comprising concepts and propositions makes theory seem simple and straightforward. But we must admit that, among social scientists, â€Å"there is still no agreed-upon view of what theory is† (Bernard P. Cohen, Developing Sociological Knowledge, 170). See also Gibbs, â€Å"State of Criminological Theory.† 18. Drawn from Bernard P. Cohen, Developing Sociological Knowledge, 191–192. 19. Shoemaker, Theories of Delinquency, 9. 20. Akers, Criminological Theories, 6–7; and Shoemaker, Theories of Delinquency, 9. 21. Akers, Criminological Theories, 6–7; and Curran and Renzetti, Theories of Crime, 3. 22. Akers, Criminological Theories, 2–6. Renowned criminologist Edwin Sutherland defined criminology as the study of law making, law breaking, and law enforcement (Sutherland, Cressey, and Luckenbill, Principles of Criminology, 3). 23. Akers, Criminological Theories, 4. Gibbons (Talking About Crime, 9–11, 73–76) describes two key criminological questions: â€Å"Why do they do it?† and â€Å"the rates question.† The first question addresses â€Å"the origins and development of criminal acts and careers,† and the second question addresses â€Å"organizations, social systems, social structures, and cultures that produce different rates of behaviors of interest† (9). See also Gibbons, Criminological Enterprise, 9; Gibbons and Krohn, Delinquent Behavior, 85–86; and Short, â€Å"Level of Explanation,† 7. 24. Akers, Criminological Theories, 7. 25. Stinchcombe, Constructing Social Theories. 26. Bernard P. Cohen, Developing Sociological Knowledge, vii, 10; and Stark, Sociology, 3. 27. Stark, Sociology, 3. 28. Shoemaker, Theories of Delinquency, 7. 29. Glaser and Straus, Discovery of Grounded Theory; and Babbie, Practice of Social Research, 4, 60–64. 30. Glueck and Glueck, Unraveling Delinquency, 1950. 31. Gibbons and Krohn, Delinquent Behavior, 83–84. 32. Laub and Sampson, â€Å"Sutherland–Glueck Debate;† and Sampson and Laub, Crime in the Making. 33. Bernard P. Cohen, Developing Sociological Knowledge, 10. 34. Babbie, Practice of Social Research, 4. 35. Sutherland, Cressey, and Luckenbill, Principles of Criminology, 88–89. 36. Jensen, â€Å"Parents;† Hepburn, â€Å"Testing Alternative Models;† and Hirschi, Causes of Delinquency. 37. Stark, Sociology, 2; and Bernard P. Cohen, Developing Sociological Knowledge, 10. 38. Gibbons, Talking About Crime, 7. 39. Stark, Sociology, 3.