Probation officer Essay Example for Free

Probation officer Essay Being a Probation Officer can be interesting and challenging at the same time. You can make a positive impact on one’s life. A Probation Officer’s main role is to make sure that those released into his care are properly rehabilitated and obey to the terms of their probation. The officer also educates those released on probation on what they can and can’t do during the probation period â€Å"Probation and parole can be very cost efficient. In 2010, Larry J. Siegel wrote a report stating that the U. S. spends about twenty five thousand dollars meanwhile probation only spends two thousand. The government saves twenty three thousand dollars by keeping inmates out of prison and keeps prisons from overcrowding. Dangerous criminals should be kept in prison instead of being let out and keeping minor offenders in. Probation helps offenders recover by allowing them to enter society with a different mindset. Probation helps offenders recover by allowing them to do such things as preserve employment, gain support and help from their loved ones and once again become a productive citizen. That can’t be done in jail. Most prisoners have drug addictions. Keeping them in doesn’t give them the help that they should be receiving. The offender being out and put on probation allows him to recover himself by taking part in a rehabilitation center. Cons: there is the issue of community safety. Many offenders present a risk to community safety, even if it’s because the person persists in the risky behaviors associated with alcohol or drug abuse. Setting any offender free poses somewhat of a risk, however slight. The courts, judges, defense and prosecuting attorneys and probation personnel weigh these risks and balance them with the best interests of the probationer and victim. Usually, probation personnel monitor high-risk offenders closely through home arrest or electronic monitoring. Then there is the problem of victim concerns. Victims vary widely as to their perspective and feelings regarding probation for their offenders. In some cases, they may quickly forgive the individual and even build a relationship with them. In other situations, they may petition the courts for harsh penalties. Probation allows the courts to monitor the defendant’s activities in the community while he works and repays any restitution that he or she owes his victims. Some victims, however, may care more about his punishment than reimbursement Many offenders need minimal rehabilitation in order to become productive members of society. Completing substance abuse treatment or community service hours can motivate offenders toward compliance with probation requirements. They can stay in the community; maintain family ties and work to contribute to their family. If these same offenders are sent to prison, they might become hardened and learn further criminal behavior, when they could have easily just remained supervised in society. Probation personnel can further monitor compliance with court terms and conditions. One of the primary reasons that traditional probation hasn’t been successful in rehabilitating offenders is much too often probationers are completely unsupervised. An offender on probation could simply fill out a one page report of their work activities and submit this to their probation officer by mail. Offenders that are part of traditional probation programs have a recidivism rate of 65%. That means only 35% of probationers don’t commit new offenses. Offenders are accommodated into halfway houses. This is where offenders have to follow strict rules like curfew. Counsellors and psychiatrists are on call 24 hours a day to help clients with adjusting to outside life and coping with problems if they occur. Probation officers have a large number of offenders and they have a difficult time supervising them closely. This is because there are not enough probation officers to supervise offenders properly. Probation officers have offenders mail in a form weekly or monthly and there is a checklist that an offender has to follow and answer, employment and any law infractions. Pros: Cons our stance we are on the pro side of both probation and parole, as we believe they can be greatly beneficial to both the community and the offenders whom are placed in these programs. Granted, not all cases are a success, but we believe that the criminal justice system would be a far worse place without probation and parole†. (Larry J. Siegel) A Probation Officer plays a key role in changing one’s ways that may not be suitable for the public’s view. The public sees these offenders as no good and thinks they should be removed from our communities and placed in confinement. Knowingly this may resolve the issue of one’s misbehavior for a short length of time but there are many more out their committing these same crimes. So what possibly should be done other than confining these offenders  for long or short periods of time, and in an eight by ten cell? Well, a rehabilitation program set up when the offenders is released. This rehabilitation program may also be enforced upon release from jail or prison depending on the offender’s circumstances. Rehabilitation comes in many different forms such as, drug and alcohol classes. A person committing a crime that involved the use of drugs and or alcohol would be required to attend these classes upon release from jail, for a period of thirty days, sessions or the judge’s discretion. There are such classes that revolve around anger management classes; this would assist an offender in learning how to deal with anger issues and present those ways to relieve one’s stress, anxiety, or just the urge to combat. Rehabilitation also involves community service. Such offenders would be required to sign up at a local agency (Caltrans), and on a daily basis be required to show up at a set time and clean-up the sides of freeways, underpasses, parks, and communities. This would be a way to assist an offender in being accepted back into his or her community. Becoming a Probation Officer, as of 1995 virtually every state has a Probation Officer program in place for young and old law offenders. The duties of Probation Officers vary from state to state. A Probation Officer will meet with the â€Å"offender† on a regular basis and will provide guidance to the offender that will help the offender make better decisions in life. In the hope the offender will conform to the laws. Other duties can include field work such as locating an offender who’s failed to report as agreed and also testifying in a court regarding the probation violation(s). A life as a Probation Officer will be interesting and challenging. Probation Officers must have a keen interest in both criminal justice enforcement and helping young and old law offenders. Being a Probation Officer requires performing several duties and putting in a great amount of time and energy. This career provides a unique opportunity to intervene in the lives of criminal offenders and provide an opportunity for reform. The career comes with safety risks, but many current officers relish the opportunity to make a difference in not only one’s life but a community as a whole. When it comes to the benefits of a Probation Officers career, one may think the benefits are gracious but in fact a probation officers pay can be quite low, about forty five thousand dollars a year on average. Not considerably bad for a starting salary and if just coming into the work force. These benefits may or may not increase over time but other benefits include medical, dental, vision and 401k plans. These other benefits can be seen as a great deal as well because one does need a career that will help them in a time of need. Other benefits one may see are the fact of being able to deal with various situations and scenarios on a day to day basis not to mention the thrill and risks waiting every day. Many want to know what it takes to become a probation officer. Well, you must be at least twenty years of age, have at least a bachelor’s degree on up to a master’s degree, depending on what probation role you are seeking. Some physical fitness also plays a role in this position; you want to be physically active with exercises, walking, jogging etc. This will assure the apprehension of an offender in the event he or she tries to run or fight. A background check will be conducted, you must pass. If all goes well and you are accepted for an interview, you will meet with the interviewing party and answer some question and also this is the time in which you also may ask questions that you seek answers to. You must pass the interview process sometimes more than one interview will be conducted. After acceptance you will have to drug test and pass. And on toward the career you have been seeking awaits you. Life as a probation officer can be stressful. This can affect a person’s life at work and home. The position requires dedication and time. You must be dedicated to the laws set forth by the people and willing to spend the time it takes to assure one’s attempt to being rehabilitated. A probation officer acts as a liaison between the courts orders to the offender and respond on the offenders behalf when the offender has either completed his or her court orders or the offender violates one or all the orders set forth by the court. These determinations will determine whether the offender is released from probation or determine that the offender cannot be rehabilitated at the time and needs to spend the rest of their time in incarceration. Anyone can become a probation officer so as long they want to help society’s not so best, become better and get rehabilitated. This position requires education, physical demand, and stress no doubt. There are some qualifications that must be met but the outcome is great. The benefits are awesome and most wouldn’t be disappointed. With this all being said you may now know whether or not a probation officer is the job for you. If Probation sounds like something you may be interested in, get information and ask questions. There is plenty more information to seek out. The career of a probation officer is not only rewarding and challenging, but comes with great benefits. If helping people is the answer to your future this position can be a great place to start. There are risks and opportunity that come with changing someone’s life whether they are young or old. Many probation officers relish the opportunity to change the lives of law offenders.

Brand equity Essay Example for Free

Brand equity Essay How much a product can earn over its identical competitor by virtue of its brand, determines its brand equity. It can be a neat result of many factors like years of experience, proven track record of quality, legacy, emotional bondage and company outlook, where it adds more value to the product and thereby helps the product to score over its identical competitors. Without brand equity a product loses its competitive advantage, and for that matter some companies measure brand equity relying on financial measures of brand performance (Dobney, 2007). Thus Brand India should be able to score over its Asian counterpart. Figure – 3 The brand management chain (Based on Wood, 2000; Kapferer, 2004) Integration of the theoretical constructs brand equity (Aaker, 1996) and brand orientation could be instrumental in the understanding of brand value, where brand equity commands more attention as it aims for generating long-term values for the company by understanding the conceptual basis for the value of brand and its implications (Keller, 1993). Brand loyalty. Brand loyalty refers to the customers consistent preference to buy a selected brand in a particular product category, irrespective of other provocative options presented by the competitor of that brand. This situation occurs after the customers make a trial run of the brand and get convinced about the efficacy of that brand towards fulfilling certain needs of theirs and decide to buy that brand again and again. That practice forms the habit and thus customers continue purchasing the same brand because the product is safe and familiar (Giddens, 2002). This situation speaks of the dual responsibility of branding too, where on one hand it should influence the rationality of its prospective customers, while invoking the emotional response among them on the other. As for example, a particular meal in a restaurant might declare about a possible health benefit with the inclusion of tomato in it by saying, lycopene in tomato lowers the risk of cancer, thereby influencing the rationality of the customers, and at the same time it can evoke the nostalgia in customers by labelling the meal as grandmas special recipe. In this strategy lies the clue of embedding medical/healthcare tourism with general tourism and Incredible India should utilize it. Figure – 4 Brand Awareness: Brand awareness is a gauge of marketing effectiveness measured by the ability of a customer to recognize and/or recall a name, image or other mark associated with a particular brand (Waters, 2008). Though brand awareness cannot measure the customers approach towards the brand, yet it is very helpful in forming a positive attitude among the target audience about the brand. Incredible India Campaign should take care of that. Figure 5 The above diagram shows that recollection or identification ability first created aided awareness in the prospective customers, which might convert into a top-of mind awareness, if the brand convinces customers either with its logistics or direct service. Thus, brand awareness can work on two folds, primarily making its way into the mind of the customer and then working on its way to achieve the recognition, where the brand first generates strategic awareness in customers, where the customers understands the distinctive qualities of the product and associates them with their need. Current campaign strategy of Incredible India lacks that finesse. Brand Value While brand loyalty proves to be a cost-saving yet effective tool to garner higher sales, brand value reflects how a products name, or company name is perceived by the marketplace (Free, 2004), which involves both target audience and the general audience. Brand value can be tangible too, in the event of a brand being sold, where extracting the value of the brand from the value provided by other, tangible, resources becomes possible (Simon, C. J. Sullivan, M. J. , 1993, Conchar, et al, 2005). From this perspective, even the title of the campaign in discussion, Incredible India needs to be reviewed and if needed may be replaced. The name should denote the power and strength of a brand. As for example, if Coca-Colas facilities Atlanta were to burn overnight, the company would still be able to start up the next day due to its brand value (What, 1998). Therefore it is the success story of a company that earns its brand value. However, to gauge the impact of brand value, the company needs to take help of empirical research. The process might then looks like below (Persson): Figure 6 Brand value is the outcome of consistent and successful brand building, where the action of the company would speak louder than words, besides proving its ethical standings in the marketplace. IV. 7. Brand personality Much like a human being, a brand too serves as the ambassador of the company personality, depicting its outlook and aspirations, besides its services and promises. Thus much depends on the carriage of the brand, because it is the coveted message of the company to the outer world about its activities, aims, aspirations and promises – in short, a package of total company outlook. From this angle too, the campaign in discussion needs to be reviewed. Figure 7 A strong brand does more than it meets the eye, however, its activity should be powered towards achieving the targeted benefit out of it. For that matter, the first step towards creating a strong brand is to identify the benefits (Saarte, 2008). Target benefit would surely help to determine the nature of the branding, which would help the company to identify the necessary elements into branding, such as company image, the USP of its product, type of promises, and desired platforms of bonding and more. Incredible India is yet to create a clear USP to position itself. V. Conclusion/Recommendation The detailed discussion and analysis above clearly shows that Incredible India Campaign falls far too short in achieving its desired outcome and thus needs to be thoroughly reviewed and modified to meet the demand of the time and position India as a strong brand in the global tourism market. Thus this study recommends following steps towards achieving the target of building a strong Brand India in the global market: 1. Incredible India needs to review its name, packaging, price and its history and modify it concerning the current demand. 2. Ensuring that it becomes capable of Delivering the message clearly. Â  Confirming the credibility of the company. Connectingthe target prospects emotionally. Motivating the buyers. Â  Concretizing the user loyalty 3. Incredible India has to focus more on emphasizing emotional bond with UK through exploiting the earlier history of close communication. 4. It must study and research other Asian countries pros and cons in this sector to ensure that Brand India should be able to score over them. 5. It should embed medical/healthcare tourism with general tourism to generate brand loyalty. 6. Through constant, consistent, cohesive and cogent campaign, it should create the brand awareness (UK still have a poor awareness, around 30%) 7. Periodic assessment of the campaign is a must to check the brand value. 8. Campaign should get facelift periodically with a central theme of personality. Ends. References Aaker, D. A. (1996) Building Strong Brands. The Free Press, New York. ISBN 0-02- 900151-X Atithi Debo Bhava. (2004) Incredible India [online] available from http://www. incredibleindia. org/newsite/atithidevobhava. htm [accessed 4 September 2008] Bizhelp. (2008) What is Branding? [online] available from http://www. bizhelp24. com/marketing/what-is-branding-. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Brand Definition. (2008) [online] available from http://www. investorwords. com/568/brand. html [accessed 3 September 2008] Brand. (2008) [online] available from http://whatis. techtarget. com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211703,00. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Brandguru Inc. What IS Branding? Viewed 24 March 2008, http://www. brandidentityguru. com/popUps/whatisBranding. html Conchar, M. P. , Crask, M. R. Zinkhan, G. M. (2005) Market Valuation Models of the Effect of Advertising and Promotional Spending: A Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 33, No. 4, 445-460. Dobney. com. (2007) Brand equity and brand value [online] available from http://www. dobney. com/Research/Brand_equity_research. htm [accessed 4 September 2008] Dolak, D. (2001) Building A Strong Brand: Brands and Branding Basics [online] available from http://www. davedolak. com/articles/dolak4. htm [accessed 5 September 2008] Dunn, S. (2008) What is Branding and Why Do You Want It? [online] available form http://www. ecomhelp. com/KB/Branding/kb_what-is-branding. htm [accessed 5 September 2008] Free Definitions: Define Brand. What is Brand? (2004) [online] available from http://www. learnthat. com/define/view. asp? id=279 [accessed 4 September 2008] Giddens, N. (2002) Brand Loyalty [online] available from http://www. extension. iastate. edu/AgDM/wholefarm/html/c5-54. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Incredible India campaign woos more Americans (2008) The Press Trust of India Ltd [online] available from http://www. accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286- 34809894_ITM [accessed on 4 September 2008] Indian Tourism’s ‘Incredible India’ Campaign (2005) Research paper [online] available from http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/marketing%20communications/C LMC010. htm ] Indias rise in medical tourism (2007) News [online] available from http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/travel/destinations/india/article2257994. ece [accessed 4 September 2008] Kapferer. (1994) Strategic brand management: new approaches to creating and evaluating brand equity. Free Press, New York. Keller, K. L. (1993) Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing,Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 1-23. King, T. E. (2007) Incredible India? Campaign has Incredible Budget [online] available from http://www. travelmole. com/stories/1118243. php [accessed 5 September 2008] Lake, L. (2008) What is Branding and How Important is it to Your Marketing Strategy? [online] available from http://marketing. about. com/cs/brandmktg/a/whatisbranding. htm [accessed 4 September 2008] McCall, K. (2003) Marketing Angel [online] available from http://business. mainetoday.com/smallbusiness/mmm/030601. shtml [accessed 5 September 2008] O M (2003). Incredible India [online] available from http://www. ogilvyindia. com/work/incredibleindia. asp [accessed 5 September 2008] Persson, N. Understanding of the nature and relevance of brand orientation and brand equity in B2B brand management – implications for future research. Ph. D. Thesis [online] available from http://www. nhh. no/Admin/Public/DWSDownload. aspx? File=%2FFiles%2FFiler %2Finstitutter%2Ffor%2Fconferences%2Fnff%2Fpapers%2Fpersson. pdf [accessed 1 September 2008] Saarte, L. A. (2008) Fitting It All Together. EzineArticles. [online] available from http://ezinearticles. com/? BrandingFitting-It-All-Togetherid=1043858 [accessed 1 September 2008] Simon, C. J. Sullivan, M. J. (1993) The Measurement and determinants of Brand Equity: A Financial Approach. Marketing Science, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 28-52. UK Indian doctor sets shop in Goa for medical tourists (2007) News [online] available from http://www. newkerala. com/topstory-fullnews-14322. html [accessed 4 September 2008] Waters, S. (2008) Brand Awareness [online] available from http://retail. about.com/od/glossary/g/brand_awareness. htm [accessed 1 September 2008] What is the Value of a Brand? [online] available from http://www. csom. umn. edu/Assets/3478. pdf [accessed 31 August 2008] Why Brand Loyalty is Important? [online] available from http://www. brandloyalty- int. com/site. asp? pagina=8 [accessed 1 September 2008] Why India? (2007) Government report [online] available from http://www. medical-tourism-india. com/medical_tourism_india. htm [accessed 5 September 2008] Wood, L. (2000) Brand and brand equity: Definition and management. Management Decision, Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 662-669.

Examining Prejudice and Discrimination in Singapore

Examining Prejudice and Discrimination in Singapore In this essay, we will be explaining and giving the definitions of prejudice and discrimination. Also, we will go in depth and elaborate about the various kinds of discrimination in todays society such as gender, disability, size, looks, monetary, status, education, sexual and racial discrimination. After which, we will give solutions and ways to reduce racial discrimination in Singapore. Finally we will end with a round up of conclusion. Prejudice and discrimination is a rising issue in todays society. According to Dictionary.com, prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. Discrimination is the treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the  group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit: racial and religious intolerance and discrimination. To be prejudiced is to have a cultural mindset and that is relied on negative or unpleasant stereotypes about individuals or groups because of their ethnic, religious, racial or cultural background. To discriminate is to have an active denial of desired goal from a certain group of people. The group can be based on sex, ethnicity, nationality, religion, language, or even class. More recently, disadvantaged groups now also include those based on gender, age, and physical disabilities. Prejudice and discrimination are very common at both the individual and societal levels. Any attempt to eradicate or solve the problem of prejudice and discrimination must thus deal with prevailing beliefs or ideologies, and social structure. Gender- There are many types of discrimination. Gender discrimination, also known as sexism is very common. In most societies, women have been viewed as the weaker sex who is in constant need of protection from the rough world. Women are more delicate by nature compared to men, and are often victims of physical, emotional and psychological abuse. Gender discrimination does not only apply in communities and sometimes families but also a lot of times in workplaces. In Chinese Culture, boys are more wanted than girls as they can pass down the family name. According to BBC news, around a million girl fetuses are aborted and tens of thousands of girl babies are abandoned in China, every year. A boy will bring status and he will also continue the family line. Families also throw big celebrations for baby boys while neglecting the less-wanted girls. The preference for boys is tied up in the Confucian belief that male heirs are necessary to carry on the family name and take care of the family spirit s. A Chinese family worries that if there is no son no one will look after them and keep them company in the afterlife. Confucius once said, There are three ways of being disloyal to your ancestors. Not carrying on the family name is the worse. In early Japan, there is large gender discrimination. They have a saying that goes men as breadwinners and women as homemakers. Even after Japan introduced the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1985, which prohibited discrimination against women in employment and urged employers to treat women equally in terms of recruitment, job assignment and promotion. But, they are still the last to be rehired in a full-time job. Japanese women are also expected to quit their job if they have children. Even if companies are facing a shortage of workers, they had no plan to try to hire more women. Women have to work twice as hard as man to advance their careers because of the prejudices within Japanese companies. Their university education is roughly the same as those without an upper secondary education. In 1997, statistics show that Japanese women hold only 9.3% of professional positions, compared to 44.3% in the United States. Womens income is only 45%of mens even though they make up 64% of J apan industry. Females appear to be less strongly oriented toward personal terminal values than men, but more strongly oriented toward moral means. Also in sports, especially soccer, where female officials/referees are slowly introduced to the male side of the game are being discriminated. One such example was Andy Gray, a former footballer, popular football pundit and commentator. He was British television channel Sky Sports main pundit since 1992. However, he was fired after he was found to made sexist comments and made offensive gestures to a female co-presenter. He had commented, Can you believe that? A female linesman. Women dont know the offside rule. in which his fellow presenter, Richard Keys replied, Course they dont. Somebody better get down there and explain. during a post-match show when they thought they were off air. In another show, he was caught on camera( in which it was edited out later on) tugging his pants and asking his female co-presenter Charlotte Jackson to tuck the microphone into his pants. (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3371091/Andy-Gray-sacked-over-sexism-row.html) In Singapore today, Gender discrimination while still existent, is less obvious. Disability Besides the various types of discriminations stated above, there is also a discrimination against the disabled people. Having a disability means that a person has a physical or mental impairment. This in turn has a substantial and long-term negative effect on ones ability to carry out normal everyday activities. Disability discrimination occurs when one is treated less favorably because of their disability as compared to someone without a disability. This is known as direct discrimination. There are cases in which people with some form of disability are treated differently, or are victimized. People who are not disabled laugh at the disabled because of the way they walk or talk. These people gang up and make fun of the disabled. They belittle them, and feel satisfied with themselves. The disabled are not able to do anything about it because there are too many people treating them that way. There is also indirect discrimination where everyone is treated equally, but by treating everyo ne equally, the disabled is put to a disadvantage. This is more subtle and may also be unintentional. An example would be when there are stairs to enter a building but a person with a disability might not be able to use the stairs and may need a ramp. Size/looks Being of a different size or looking different may also be a form of prejudice and discrimination. Often during first meetings, people are judged on first impressions, and first impressions are all about the visuals. Many a time people are discriminated against just because they are too fat, too skinny or not good looking enough. Society has set a standard where everyone wants an ideal body and face. This is known as the golden ratio. The ratio of (foot to navel): (navel to head) is the golden ratio of the human body. A persons face has to be symmetrical and have nice proportions to be considered good looking. There is a reason why plastic surgeries are in demand. While applying for jobs, people are required to attach photos of themselves. More often than not, the people who are better looking tend to get the job as compared to those who are less good looking. Then there is the case of body size. People tend to make remarks about fat people and fat jokes. An example would be Yo Mama So Fat jokes, which is very common. Even though different cultures have a preference for people of different sizes, everyone in general prefer slim to fat. Monetary/financially- Financial discrimination is when people look down on others that they are poorer than them. This will affect them if they want to find a job, get a rent or buy an apartment. People tend to look at the appearance to analyze whether you are rich or you are poor. For example, salesman will normally look for people that are trendier from those who wear clothes that seem old and tear. Service staff of well-known brand in some regions might not serve or even come up to you if they think that you have no money to pay if they let you try. So, what is the point to spend so much time to serve you? In United States, there is a case that they are discriminating against the blind people by refusing to make money readable for them as they think there do not have the need. They dont go out a lot, there does not have many chance for them to use the notes. Even for the device that is specially made for them to differentiate the money is expensive. At the end, blind people have to folding their bills in different positions to tell them apart. (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/395668/financial_discrimination_against_the.html?cat=15) Financial discrimination also involved the low-waged workers. In a way that large number were paid lesser than the minimum wage that they should get and they had worked overtime without pay. When they get injured in the work place, they had to pay the bills themselves instead of having compensation from their company. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112506238) Status/Education For status discrimination, most of this happens in the work place. We can see lot of who butter up status that up high and despise those who have low status than them. Everybody wants to get to a higher place. For these people that have status discrimination in mind, they normally think that this is a short cut and time saving way. For lower status in the society, they are always afraid of offending the people of the higher status. This is because they cant afford to spend the money to fight cases with them. We can also see employer refuse to hire people that have foreign name, speaks with accent, from another country or even locals who does not have a high level certificate. Competition is getting higher and higher in the work place. Nowadays, it is the certificate of education that decides the fate of status in society. Without a certificate, you will get no jobs. In Singapore, there are several foreign domestic worker abuse cases. Many do not know how to speak English and many doesnt know where to seek for help. There are also many cases about children bring their parents to old folks homes and do not care about them anymore, or old folks being abuse because they are a burden to the family. Sexual discrimination (gay/sexual orientation) People often get confused between gender discrimination and sexual discrimination. While gender discrimination is biased opinions about the female/male gender, sexual discrimination is about their sexual orientation. In society today, talking about homosexuality is still an uncomfortable and touchy topic. While it has progressed from the past where homosexuality was illegal and you could be hanged for admitting that you were a homosexual, it has now been legally acceptable to pronounce yourself one. However this does not stop the community around you to form perceptions and opinions about you. The 2 main places where Sexual discrimination is most evident are in schools and the workplace. In the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), homosexuals and effeminate men are managed according to the dictates of a manpower directive issued. Probably its most well know classification is Category 302, a medical code given to servicemen who are homosexuals, transvestites, paedophiles, etc. homosexuals are further classified into those with effeminate behaviour and those without effeminate behaviour. This form of discrimination persists despite the fact that homosexuality was depathologised by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, and homosexuality is not regarded as a psychiatric condition by the local medical profession. More so, the categorization of homosexuality with transvestism and paedophilia by the SAF further backs up the publics wrong impression that it is abnormal. During the enlistment for Nation Service, any self-declared or discovered servicemen who are homosexual are immediately referred and sent to the Psychological Medicine Branch of the Headquarters of Medical Services for a thorough psychiatric assessment. After which, each of their parents are to come in for an interview. Once they are catagorised as a homosexual, they are instantly medically downgraded to a Public Employment Status of C (PES C), regardless of their level of fitness, and put through modified Basic Military Training. After Basic Military Training, they are deployed into a vocation which has no security risks, posted to non-sensitive units and given a security status which restricts their access to classified documents. (http://knol.google.com/k/discrimination-against-homosexuals-in-singapore#Singapore_Armed_Forces) In Singapore, while being homosexual is legal, same-sex marriage is not, and any acts of indecency between two people of the same sex, will have you charged. Singapore being a diverse nation, which encourages harmony between different race, religion and background does not have as many Sexual discrimination cases as compared to America. In fact, according to BBC News on 16 May 2009, there was an event help by pinkdot.sg to commemorate love in all forms and between people of every orientation. The event was for Singaporeans in general to affirm our respect for diversity and the freedom to love, regardless of sexual orientation. Figure : 2,500 pink-attired supporters of gay rights, in a Singapore park. We recognize that many Singaporeans are conservative so we planned an inclusive event that would reach all Singaporeans, straight and gay, organizer Mr Soh says. Racial Racial discrimination is the discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race, also known as Racism. Where most countries do not condone Racism, it is still exists and has become a stereotype in society today. In the US, many laws forbid racial discrimination, and a number of these are directly derived from Title VII in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The first of these acts makes manifest that employers cannot refuse to hire qualified employees based on race or skin color, and they cant do other things like harass them for race, refuse promotions, or pay them at lower rates. The 1991 Civil Rights Act defines some ways that people who have experienced racial discrimination can sue. Till today, racial discriminations still exist, especially in workplaces where largely foreign workers are employed (mostly Chinese nationals, Bangladeshis and Indian nationals). Faced with language barriers and already lowly paid, they still have to follow orders and listen to vulgarities being thrown at them by their local employers and superiors. The same can be said for domestic helpers, where there are numerous reports of physical (and sometimes sexual) abuses by their employers and agencies. Solutions that can be used to reduce prejudice and discrimination in Singapore Education It not right to judge someone base on his or her race. They might look different from others but they are still human. In order to make people minimize discrimination, it is better to start from the younger generation because they are the future. First step is to take down the Special Assistance Plan( a programme that is catered to students who achieved the top 10% of the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE)) school system (Aaron, 2006). This school system concentrate on Chinese education as there are so many Chinese students and that most of these schools has rich Chinese traditions and history (eg, Hwa Chong Institution). Therefore, how can the racism be reduced in schools like this. Furthermore, government schools should also include religious subject in their system. In addition, universities should also organize some events that relates to intercultural exchanges. This will give an opportunity for students of any nationality to study different cultures. Workplace The company should take racially and culturally staff (Strategies for Reducing Racism, 2001). It is not only for worker and for employee but also apply for management or director. Talk to different people from different cultural and try to figure out what is problem that they have meet. By doing this, the organization will know what they need to do to improve better working environment for their employees. Moreover, try to put different pictures of multicultural so none will feel isolate. Furthermore, there should be a special team to solve any racial problem in the workplace. This group can also come up with some activities for employees so everybody can get closer to each other. Race In Singapore alone, the government has implemented racial harmony. It was in 1964, that Singapore went through 2 five-day periods of racial riots. First in 21st July and second was in 2nd September. The minority of Malays in Singapore had thought that they would benefit from the special rights for Malays that was part of the 1957 Federation of Malaya Constitution when Singapore merged with Malaya. However, it was not part of the agreement of the merger that the special rights were applicable for the Malays in Singapore as well, causing unrest among the Singapore Malays. Reason being that then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had wanted equal rights for all Singapore citizens, regardless of race. The riots that broke out in the 2 dates resulted in lives lost and many injured. (http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_45_2005-01-06.html) And so, on 21st July, which was also the date that the first racial riot broke out in 1964, is celebrated as Racial Harmony Day, in which inter-racial harmony is emphasized and celebrated in schools which students are allowed and also encouraged to dress up in traditional costumes of races other than their own. As most Singaporeans stays in HDB flats, the government have also implemented certain racial quotas for certain flats so that there is a balance between races in a neighbourhood. For instance, certain flats are only allowed to be bought by a certain race. If so happens that the owner of the flat wishes to sell the flat, the buyer would have to be of the same race as the previous owner so that there is always a balance in the races within the area. Because of this rule, there are many cases whereby neighbours of different races have inter-cultural exchanges during festive periods. Like how an Indian neighbor share their homemade delicacies with their Chinese neighbour and vice versa. Locality Welcome new people no matter where they come from, give them some flower or small gift with nice saying such as It is nice to meet you; I hope you will enjoy living here. In this way, everybody will act equally with each other and there will be no prejudice or racism. Another way is that some family can even put the sign with the writing All race are welcome here. By doing this, the new people will feel just like at home. Individual People do not have to make a group in order to reduce racism. People can minimize discrimination by themselves. Just be nice and be polite to everybody. Be brave to stand up again racial discrimination, read book or research about racism on the internet. Talk to those who still a victim of discrimination so people will understand more about this issue. Media As Racial Harmony Day is only emphasized in schools, it can also be spread through the media like radio, television, movies, etc, so that both young and old can be more educated about the importance of racial harmony. Having Racial Harmony Day in school is not enough as the younger generations could still be influenced by others around them especially family members and neighbours. Even though the older generations might have grown up with different races in the older kampong days, there still might be possibility that they have prejudices against other races due to conflicts that might have happened in the past. Conclusion After looking at prejudice and racial discrimination in Singapore, there is still a lot to be done even though it is a multi-racial society as it is still very much a predicament in Singapore. Through our solutions such as more inter-cultural exchanges outside of schools where the government is only implementing the racial harmony idealism, in my opinion, racial harmony must still be educated to each and everyone regardless of age so that everyone knows the importance of racial harmony. Bibilogy http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1506469.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8054402.stm http://aaron-ng.info/blog/racism-in-singapore.html

Billy Budd :: essays research papers

As portrayed in the Bible, Adam and Eve were the perfect human species. This was only a result because of their complete innocence. God let them remain in his presence because of this reason. After the devil conned them into eating fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil they became unclean. In Herman Melville’s Billy Budd the question this apparent: Is innocence and ignorance dominant over knowledge and power? To emphasize the importance of this theme, Melville uses the character Billy Budd. Aboard the ship, the Rights-of-Man, Billy is a cynosure among his shipmates. He also becomes a leader by setting an example by his innocent ways. He is later transferred to the Indomitable. After waving goodbye to his shipmates, he salutes the ship saying "And good-by to you too, old Rights-of-Man" (11). Many witnessed this event to be ungrateful to the Indomitable and his role as a member of this ship. While aboard the Indomitable, Billy meets up with John Claggart, the master-at- arms. Claggart’s personality coincides with that of Billy’s and with the help from Dansker, Billy soon realizes. Billy soon realizes that Claggart is out to get him after he talks to the Dansker. "The old man†¦ rubbing the long slant scar at the point where it entered the thin hair, laconically said, Baby Budd, Jemmy Legs is down on you" (34). This surprised Billy, because the master-at-arms had been nothing but, what seemed to be, nice to him. Throughout the story, Billy witnesses incidents and threats made by Claggart on other members of the ship. This is just the start of tension between Claggart and Billy. "Starry" Vere, the captain of the ship, is a man who believes the military duty of one’s life must rise above the moral values. And everything must be done in a procedure manner. This contrasted Billy’s way of life in which he remains pure and quiet about the mutiny aboard ship. After much turmoil, Claggart decides to approa ch Captain Vere about Billy, accusing him of conspiring to mutiny. Captain Vere is overwhelmed by this information and does not believe what he is hearing. However, to keep things fair and under control he schedules a conference between the three. After hearing the amazing propaganda that Claggart has presented, Billy becomes speechless and strikes Claggart in the head killing him instantly. Captain Vere tries to keep military law before morals and decides to hold a trial in which persuades the jury to sentence Billy to death.

Aesthetic Music Educatin and the Influence of Bennett Reimer Essay

An explicit concept since the late 1950s, aesthetic education first developed to provide a strong philosophical foundation for music education and continues to evolve as a solid theoretical orientation for current effective practices. Bennett Reimer has contributed much to the discussion and development of the value of aesthetic education for the teaching and learning of music. Others in music education also support and promote these ideals and focus on developing an improved understanding for music educators. Some scholars oppose the principles of an aesthetic education, recently demonstrated by David Elliott who favors a praxial philosophy of music education centered on musical performance. The work of Reimer shows an influence of these thinkers and illustrates the essential benefits of a professional emphasis on aesthetics, the branch of philosophy especially devoted to studying the value of the arts. With guidance from aesthetics, music educators better understand the value of music and its fundamental role within the school curriculum. With its introduction, aesthetic education provided an understanding of authentic fundamental characteristics of music not previously discussed and encouraged an articulation of those ideas into relevant objectives for teaching and learning. The appearance of Basic Concepts in Music Education (ed. Nelson B. Henry, 1958) and the college text Foundations and Principles of Music Education (Charles Leonard and Robert W. House, 1959) promoted the acceptance of an aesthetic-based philosophy as a guiding theoretical foundation. These significant resources encouraged individuals to put their previous intuitions into effective practice using a shared, progressive concept of musical experience and learning. Many music educators embraced aesthetic education (and continue to do so) because it reinforced the validity of music study in the school curriculum for reasons intrinsic to the art itself. Reimer emphasizes that we (as music educators) need not establish discipleship to one particular person or point of view of aesthetic education. The ideal of â€Å"Music Education as Aesthetic Education† (MEAE) does not exist as a particular collection of fixed certainties; it supports the attitude that philosophical truths develop and transform as we advance and verify new ideas. Many sources (books, journals, articles, etc.) provide the insig... ...le, J. Scott and Marie McCarthy. â€Å"Music Education Philosophy: Changing Times,† Music Educators Journal, 89:1 (September 2002): 19-26. Reimer, Bennett. â€Å"Putting Aesthetic Education to Work,† Music Educators Journal, 59 (September 1972): 29-33. Reimer, Bennett. â€Å"Music Education as Aesthetic Education: Past and Present,† Music Educators Journal, 75 (February 1989): 22-8. Reimer, Bennett. â€Å"Music Education as Aesthetic Education: Toward the Future,† Music Educators Journal, 75 (March 1989): 26-32. Reimer, Bennett. â€Å"Essential and Nonessential Characteristics of Aesthetic Education,† Journal of Aesthetic Education, 25:3 (Fall 1991): 193-214. Reimer, Bennett. â€Å"David Elliott’s â€Å"New† Philosophy of Music Education: Music for Performers Only,† Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 128 (Spring 1996): 59-89. Reimer, Bennett. A Philosophy of Music Education, 3rd edition, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003). Schwadron, Abraham. â€Å"Some Thoughts on Aesthetic Education,† Music Educators Journal, 56:2 (October 1969): 35-6, 79, 81-5. Schwadron, Abraham. â€Å"Are We Ready for Aesthetic Education,† Music Educators Journal, 60:2 (October 1973): 37-9, 87-9.

Abortion: A Freedom of Choice Essays -- Argumentative Persuasive Essay

Abortion: A Freedom of Choice During the last twenty-five years, abortion has been one of the most heated topics being debated the world. The only topics that equal the abortion debate are race and war. Abortion is a discussion of human interaction where ethics, emotions, and law come together. People have different opinions usually only have two choices when confronted with abortion. They are either for it or against it. There is the pro-choice and the pro-life. These are the only two categories that people?s views fall into. A pro-choice person would feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of the mothers and the government has no right to interfere. A pro-lifer would hold that from the moment of conception, the embryo or foetus is alive. Since this embryo or foetus is alive and is a person you have no moral right to abort a life. If you aborted the life you would be committing murder. The word ?murder? is mainly used by pro-lifers to describe what happens when you abort a foetus. Murder means deliberate and unjustified killing of another person containing intent. A women cannot bear the thought of having a child that would be a constant reminder of what happened on such and such a day, such and such number of years ago. The mother doesn?t want to kill a baby; she wants to interrupt the growth of an embryo so that it will not become a baby. My own personal opinion is that each woman has the right to decide whether she wants to abort an unwanted preg...

First Confession

By Frank O'Connor I'm very attracted with the first person in this story named Jackie. This is a story about Jackie's experience of his first confession. Jackie always thought the terrible things about confession like the angry priest, a lot of sins he made, the sinner who would burned the furniture, etc, but the fact that he passed the first confession successfully. I think Jackie have the same bewilderment with me about first confession. I don't have background knowledge of the story and also do not know ome terms like Confession in the Church or Three Hail Marys.Because of Jackie's story, I could imagine the situation since Jackie was also experienced it at the first time. Moreover, I can understand the rites and practices of the Catholic religion. In this story, Jackie hated her grandmother and sister so much and wanted to kill them. I'm sure Jackie would not truly do that as he was only a eight-year-old child who still couldn't control his emotional feeling. Actually, it's becau se of the bad behaviors of them. His grandmother should be a good example for him but she always drunk and ever gave pennies to him but to his sister, Nora.It was good that Jackie was not influenced with his grandmother behavior, he thought that it was an awful instead. Usually a child will follow what adult does but Jackie was different, he was precisely mortified to follow the wrong one. He also realized that his wish for killing her grandmother and sister were wrong. Then, I think that Jackie was very honest and courageous. Although he was scared to death of confession, he told his sins truthfully to the priest. Some of us maybe will remain to silent about our sins or even denied it, n the contrary Jackie told everything.At first I thought he would not have courage to confess because of the threats from her sister who claimed being a sinner would get punishment not treatment. A bad confession story from Mrs. Ryan that made shocking impression on him also could make him denied his sins. But Jackie was one of a kind; his honest confession made the priest amazed and so did l. Jackie honesty and braveness made the priest gave him Three Hail Marys even the priest came out of the church with Jackie that he'd never done to Nora. First Confession Alexandro Ramirez English 1302 Professor Robin Russell 4/12/13 Critical Essay #1 â€Å"First Confession† At the beginning of the story, O’Connor, in the short story, â€Å"First Confession†, may use the all-knowing or omniscient point of view. He describes to choose any act of the character and any thought of the character, and he tells the goodness and the bad side of the character. Instead the story is written in first person point of view. The narrator in this story is also the main character, or protagonist.This way the reader is allow to the see the world in the eyes of Jackie, and his point of view about his grandmother, Nora, and Mrs. Ryan, and women itself. Jackie does not stand her grandmother at all, he relates her as the source of his entire problems, â€Å"and all because of that old woman! † Even thou his grandmother lives with him, because of the dead of his grandfather, he was actually afraid of her, he had to make excuses to his friend so h e won’t go inside his house to play because, â€Å"because I could never be sure what she would be up to. He also is disgusted by the woman’s love of porter beer, her inclination to eat potatoes with her hands, â€Å"she had a jug of porter and a pot of potatoes with-some-times-a bit of salt fish, and she poured out the potatoes on the table and ate them slowly, with great relish, using her fingers by way of a fork,† and of course favoring Nora, â€Å"she knew Mother saw through her, so she sided with Gran. † Nora his old sister was a pain to Jackie, she often was picking on him, and got him into trouble, â€Å"Oh, Dadda, do you know what Jackie did at dinnertime? Then, of course, it all came out; Father gave me a flaking; Mother interfered, and for days after that he didn't speak to me and Mother barely spoke to Nora. † Even thou Jackie is really nervous and afraid for his first confession, because he doesn’t want to tell the priest he wan ted to kill his grandmother, Nora instead of supporting him, she was playing with this mind, â€Å"She held my hand as we went down the hill, smiling sadly and saying how sorry she was for me, as if she were bringing me to the ospital for an operation. † Also before arriving to the chapel, Jackie confesses horrible things that Nora does to him that we will never know of or his mother, â€Å"that girl had ways of tormenting me that Mother never knew of. † An old woman called Mrs. Ryan is teaching Jackie and his class mates about the Ten Commandments and hell. She tells the class the story of a man who made a bad confession which was not telling the truth to the priest and whose hands burnt the bed of a priest. Jackie thinks Mrs.Ryan is trying to frighten the children into being good or they will burn in hell for eternity, â€Å"Then she asked were we afraid of holding one finger-only one finger! † Also she is trying to make sure that they don’t tell the pr iest a bad confession, â€Å"hell had the first place in her heart. † To tell a bad confession in Jackie’s eyes means dying and burning in hell. Jackie  doesn’t  want to make a bad confession but knows that he will because he  doesn’t  think he’ll be able to tell the priest that he wants to kill his grandmother.The day the class is to make their confession Jackie pretends that he has a toothache so that he can avoid confession, because Mrs. Ryan gets wind of his absence and makes arrangements so that Jackie can go to confession he was literary scared to death, â€Å"I was scared to death of confession,† the following Saturday and still be able to attend his first communion. Jackie does not see women with good eyes, in fact he thinks they are bad people because of the way they treat him, â€Å"girls are supposed to be fastidious. Also in this short story we are able to see three great examples for this. First his grandmother, which h e thinks it’s all her fault and an ugly woman who doesn’t know how to act in town, â€Å"unsuited to the life in town. † Nora another great example who is a bad big sister, who only plays with his mind and doesn’t see the suffering of his young brother. Lastly Mrs. Ryan a woman who tries to scare him, â€Å"new half-crown, and offered it to the first boy who would hold one finger, only one finger! in the flame for five minutes. † With this Firs Point of View we could actually feel Jackie’s feelings and intention to why he portraits women, or in this case this three women like that. A third person point of view, would help much at understanding Jackie, but the author choose wisely and now the reader can conclude all of the ideas portrait on this short story, and also we can be on Jackie’s shoes and know the true story behind it.