Polictal Phylosophy. What it it Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Polictal Phylosophy. What it it - Term Paper ExampleThis paper shall be a intervention of my soulfulnessal policy-making philosophy. Specifically, it shall be a give-and-take of my liberal political philosophy, largely based and supported by John Lockes philosophy. A discussion of my political philosophy as applied in the Iraqi invasion shall be established by this paper followed by a discussion connect to gay marriage. My other political views shall in any case be considered, as well as the relationship of this philosophy with other political philosophies. Body I rescue a liberal political philosophy. By this, I mean that I believe in the freedom of the people to decide their own fates within the spring of law and morality with limited interference from other people, other states, and from the government. I adhere firmly to this philosophy because I believe that man was by temperament born free and possessing of these inherent liberties. As such, he is free to decide his d estiny and his fate as an individual and as a free person (Gaus, 1983). I also believe that allowing the individuality of people to emerge can help ensure the favorable development of human beings. It also allows them to become the person they most want to be, without anyone or anything preventing them from fulfilling their ultimate goals (Mill, 1963). I believe this to be the best ideology which a person can apply in his feeling because through such ideology, he will be able to get closer to the perfection he desires. Only under liberal principles and philosophies can a society which is ideal for the greatest number of people be achieved. Every man has an opportunity to shine and to gain success under this philosophy and it would also serve to equalize economic disparities among the people, thereby giving the poor people a chance to seek their fortunes and dreams under the protection of this philosophy. My political philosophy acknowledges the particular that a favorable life is one which is freely chosen and one where a person can develop his individual and unique qualities based on his plans in life (Galston, 1980). I also adhere to this political philosophy because I strongly oppose the dictatorial and authoritarian ideals which are contrary to the ideals of liberalism. I also do not adhere to the idea that might makes right. I believe that we started out as a people without any government, without police political science or even private properties, and yet with vivid and inherent reasoning, we have managed to coexist favorably with each other and have managed to resolve our differences using natural laws. By adequate and logical reasoning, it is sufficient to think that people have their rights to their labor and their properties (IEP, 2001). Eventually, with time, people have been able to discover that in order to coexist with each other, they needed to establish social contracts with each other, and from such contract, political obligations and the management of private properties have been established (IEP, 2001). With these precepts, I adhere to the liberal political philosophy because it is a philosophy which is likely to benefit the most number of people in fair and naturally efficient ways. I am also a liberalist because the philosophy it espouses are fertile grounds for the application of

Black People and South Africa Essay Example for Free

Black People and South Africa EssayThe movie invictus portrays a very controversial issue that has been presented throughout history in many ethnic groups and is seen in societies up to these eld. The apartheid is clearly pictured in the movie through many of the attitudes and actions that people take towards the other race they break in their day by day. What is to a greater extent, Mandela constitutes unmatched of the most important figures in South Africa, especially for the black race as he ? liberated them?from the apartheid. From those days Mandela has been recognized worldwide as a major symbol of the rainbow nation a reality of distinction between the black and the white people and its establishing differe nces. In the movie, it is highly represented the context in which two incompatible races coexist, and how such(prenominal) a usual sport as rugby can actually hold a powerful bond between two races, stimulating a feeling of companionship and unity for the populati on .For instance, one of the most significant examples seen in the movie is that about the rejection towards Nelson Mandela as a falsify person when he was first elected as president of the republic of South Africa. The staff of the presidential house, for example started to resign at the very moment it was officially proclaimed that the new president, who had been 27 years in prison for the conflict of the segregation, was a color person.Besides all the differences the two races had in the 1990? s, such as economic standards, prohibition in public places, and extremely opposite ideologies , the Spring Boks which were the most popular rugby aggroup, reached the goal to give an end to the Apartheid. This does not only concern the social, as well as governmental, and ec onomical issues, but rugby also serves as an emotional trigger to what represents the unity, compassion and sets free the passion to honor a country.As the Spring Boks managed to win the World Cup, which was firstl y asked by the president, the country started to be a better one, a country which had day by day less and less differences between the two races that were facing each other for more than 10 years. The feeling of rejection towards being in the same room with a colour person was vanished, the passion that both ? nations?had achieved for the South African rugby team was found in each of the African member, and what is more, the strength that the country accomplished by the power that Mandela had towards his family, the South African population. The equality that had been formed between the different races was totally represented in the movie in all the aspects of the population, from the economic Maria Eugenia Traibel Senior III West Social Studies Invictus Essay position, to the social, political and ideological one.This can be demonstrated with many situations that were demonstrated in the movie Invictus. On the one hand, I could express the changes in the social aspects with a punct ual situation that besides it was shown in the movie, it was a situation tha t was lived in South Africa every day, this one is associated with the prohibition of access of public places such as bathrooms, rugby and football fields, and the feeling of being in the same room with a person of a different race.The social rejection that the population matt-up towards the black people, and the feeling of revenge that the colour people felt towards the white ones, was such that they couldn? t speak to each other. From the ideological aspect, I could say that it was one of the aspects that were mostly shown especially through the rugby. The black people couldn? t stand or see the symbol of the spring Boks, as it represented to them the segregation, the apartheid, even the children who were given clothes as a gift because they couldn? t have them, they didn?t accept the Spring Boks t-shirts, it made them feel revenge and fear.But as Nelson fought for having a rainbow nation through the rug by, colour people started to change their minds and support their country as they didn? t do before. They lea rned to play the sport they waved the Spring Boks masthead and the South African one and also shared the passion for the game with all the African population. The distrust that the white people had towards Nelson Mandela made a nothingness when he went directly to the important symbol of them, the rugby.All he learned about the other culture was while he spent time in prison, the strategies that he used to make a better country all came to him with the time, and with the 27 years that he had to think while he was alone in his cell. All in all, the movie Invictus is a great demonstration of the history of apartheid that the Republic of South Africa suffered, and also how the powerful symbol of it, Nelson Mandela, fought to reach the end of it, and to reinforce the country, so they could have a rainbow nation, a nation with equality in their lives.

Civil Rights and Responsibilities Essay Example for Free

Civil Rights and Responsibilities Es thinkThe Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution shortly after its ratification. These amendments guarantee certain political, procedural, and property ripe(p)s against infringement by the national organization activity (Patterson, 2009). A bill of rights is what the people ar entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should ref practice session, or balance wheel on influence (Thomas Jefferson). The inaugural Amendment provides the foundation for freedom of expression which is the right of individual Americans to hold and communicate views of their choosing (Patterson, 2009). The motivation of the Bill of Rights was to guarantee individual rights and freedoms. The origin Amendment reflects this tradition, providing for freedom of godliness along with freedom of speech, press, gathering, and petition. The three provisions of the start-off Amendment are the freedom of speech , assembly and religion.The freedom of speech states that you are free to say almost anything except that which is obscene, slanders another person, or has a high probability of inciting others to take imminent lawless action. The freedom of assembly states that you are free to assemble, although government may regulate the judgment of conviction and place for reasons of humankind convenience safety, provided such regulations are applied evenhandedly to alone groups. The freedom of religion states that you are saved from having the spiritual beliefs of others imposed on you, and you are free to believe what you like. Freedom of religion simply means citizens have freedom to attend a church, synagogue, synagogue or mosque of their choice, or not to attend at all.The freshman Amendment sanctions us to practice our religion the way we want to. When talking about freedom of religion and the First Amendment I think about religion in the schools. Every since the Supreme Court held school-sponsored prayer unconstitutional in the early 1960s, there has ben a concerted and well-funded campaign to reintroduce religion in public schools. Public schools themselves should not be in the business of promoting particular religious beliefs or religious activities and they should protect children from being coerced by others to accept religious (or anti-religious beliefs.A Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission inquiry ruled in July that the Saskatoon Board of Education essential end a practice of giving teachers the option of conducting prayers in public school classrooms and assemblies. In practice, the choice has been primarily the Lords Prayer. The ruling will not adjustment practices in separate schools. The inquiry followed a complaint six years ago by nine parents, including Muslims, Jews, Unitarians and atheists. About 20% of the 550 public school classrooms in Saskatoon begin the day with prayer. The decision may be appealed in court (Globe and Mail, 1999). The relationship between religion and government in the united extracts when it comes to the United States Constitution is governed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which both prevents the government from establishing religion and protects privately initiated religious expression and activities from government interference and discrimination.The First Amendment thus establishes certain limits on the conduct of public school officials as it relates to religious activity, including prayer. Prayer should not have been taken out of schools. Parents should be sent home a letter opting out of religious activities and employees should be given the same option, but taken it out of schools was ridiculous. The case of Engel v. Vitale (1962) went to the Supreme Court and the case was about a time in 1951 the New York State Board of Regents (the State board of education) approved a 22-word nondenominational prayer for recitation each morning in the public schools of New York. It read A lmighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country. The Regents believed that the prayer could be a useful tool for the development of character and good citizenship among the students of the State of New York.The prayer was offered to the school boards in the State for their use, and participation in the prayer-exercise was voluntary. In New Hyde Park, New York, the Union Free School District no(prenominal) 9 directed the local principal to have the prayer said aloud by each class in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of the school day. The parents of ten pupils in the New Hyde Park schools objected to the prayer. They filed suit in a New York State court seeking a ban on the prayer, insisting that the use of this official prayer in the public schools was contrary to their own and their childrens beliefs, religions, or religious practices. The State appeals court upheld the use of the prayer, so long as the schools did not compel any pupil to join in the prayer over his or his parents objection (infoplease.com).The Freedom to put together gives people the right to assemble peacefully without causing any damage to others. As much as I do not agree with the KKK views and opinions they should be able to assemble if they do it in a peaceful manner. The First Amendment prohibits government from abridging the right of the people peaceably to assemble. This basic freedom ensures that the spirit of the First Amendment survives and thrives even when the majority of citizens would rather suppress expression it finds offensive. Over the course of our history, freedom of assembly has protected individuals espousing myriad viewpoints. Striking workers, civilian rights advocates, anti-war demonstrators and Ku Klux Klan run intoers have all taken to the streets and sidewalks in protest or in support of their causes.Sometimes these efforts have galvanized public support or changed publ ic perceptions. Imagine a civil rights movement without the March on Washington or the womens suffrage movement without ranks of long-skirted, placard-carrying suffragists filling city streets. The U.S. Supreme Court recognized the importance of this freedom in the 1937 case De Jonge v. State of Oregon, writing that the right to peaceable assembly is a right cognate to those of free speech and free press and is equally fundamental. fit to the Court, the right to assemble is one that cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles which lie at the base of all civil and political institutions (archive.firstamendmentcenter.org).The KKKs right to assemble peaceably was secured by the famous 1977 case of National Socialist Party v. Skokie, in which the American Civil Liberties Union successfully argued that the First Amendment prohibited officials of Skokie, Ill., from banning a march by the National Socialist Party. Skokie is a Chicago suburb that is home to many Holoc aust survivors. One federal judge reasoned that it is better to allow those who preach racial hatred to expend their venom in rhetoric rather than to be panicked into embarking on the dangerous course of permitting the government to conclude what its citizens may say and hear (archive.firstamendmentcenter.org).In conclusion, the First Amendment of the United States protects the rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression as well as freedom of assembly from government interference. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The Establishment clause and the Free Exercise clause are two clauses in the First Amendment that guarantee freedom of religion.The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the separation of church and state. The Free Exercise Clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a persons practice of their religion. The right to assemble allows people to gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. Implicit within this right is the right to association and belief. With that being said, all people should be having some kind of freedom. They should be able to boycott and assemble peacefully without causing any harm to anyone. People should be free to have their different views and opinions of religion, be it that they religious or anti-religious. To sum it all up I would love for everyone to feel that they are free.Referenceshttp//www.oyez.org/cases/ 1960-1969/1961/1961_468http//www.aclu.org/religion-belief/program-freedom-religion-and-belief-government-funded-religionReligion in schools (teachers in Saskatchewan will no longer have the option of conducting prayer services in class). Humanist in Canada 130 (1999) 4, 39. cosmopolitan OneFile. Web. 25 June 2012.http//www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html

Employee reward

Employee rewardEmployee Reward AssignmentThe aim of this essay is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages relating to grand- destinying and razing make up structures. The first part of this paper will define wide- bar and grading pay structures. It will continue including dissimilar morals of twain spacious-branding and grading pay structures and besides discussing the benefits and drawbacks of applying both structures indoors an organisation. The summary of the key findings will be included at the end of this paper in conclusion.A pay structure outlines the various levels of pay for avocations or groups of trick by reference to their relative internal judge as recognized by job evaluation and to external relativities as recognized by market rate surveys. In Figure 1.0 is an example of a Pay- grade structure.Example of a pay graded structure is shown in design 1.0 (Google Images)The pay structures in organisations must be suitable to the necessary characteristics an d needs of the required organisation and employees to enable it to work and be successful and worthwhile.The structures should make it come-at-able to achieve equity, operational flexibility and continuous development, steadiness and fairness in managing employee reward. The main types of pay structures are narrow-graded, Broad dress circleed, job family, individual job grade, pay curve, spot rate and pay spine. Broad dance orchestra is the compression of a pecking order of pay grades or salary ranges into a small take (typically 4 or five) of width bands. This was first introduced in organizations in the late 1980s and early 1990s (World at work, 2002). The aim of breaking down the job clusters or levels of positions into a few number of width bands are to Provide pay structures which fit flatter organisation structures, Allow processes initially created to withstand hierarchy and vertical movement to be replaced, Work upon other methods of payment that reflect a broader r ange of employee development and contribution, as well as increased levels of competence, achievement acquisition, incessant learning, locomote development and flexibility, etc.Each of the bands at that placefore spans the pay opportunities, which beforehand were covered by several pay ranges as illustrated in find out 2.0Figure 2.0 Example of a broad-banded structure (Armstrong, 2002).Broad lot is an attractive alternative to rigid, structured, specialized and hierarchical organizations. (Aon Consultings Forum, 2002). It differs from a conventional grading system overdue to the greater pay range within each band and the smaller number of bands.Determining the width of the bands requires care to be taken because if a band tends to be too broad it runs the risk of giving impractical expectations to those near the bottom. In this case, some organisations have introduced bands within bands, which are known as zoning, and agent being is to contain expectations and make the struct ure more easily to understand and manage.The way Broad banding works is that, when job evaluation has been finalized, the artificial divisions, which ordinarily differentiate between grades, are ignored. A group of titles such as manager, supervisor, operative, clerk are ga thered into one large band. This then allows all employees in the organisation to fit into a salary structure, which may have as few as 5 broad bands as illustrated and mentioned above. Also, in Figure 3.0, is an example of a broad-banded salary structure.Figure 3.0 Example of Broad-banded salary structure (Stredwick, 2005) Adopting a broad banded structure concentrates on evaluating the individual, focalizationing on lateral career development and on competency growth rather than upward progression through a hierarchy.In a 1994 survey by the American pay Association/Hewitt Associates examined why organizations had implemented broad banding, 71% of the participants reported supporting a flatter organization an d nurturing a new organizational culture, 57% mentioned the promotion of a widely skilled work force and facilitation of career development, and 55% reported minimizing administrative effort and reducing job evaluations. (Peters, 1994). Reasons as to why organizations sop up such an approach are a de-emphasis on formal job evaluation systems can free up time for senior managers and wages professionals to guidance on critical business and people management issues. In addition to this, a broadband structure can support organizations with collaborative work styles that value process and results over control and status. (Aon Consultings Forum, 2002)Pay Expert Michael Armstrong recommends 12 steps for developing and installing a broad banded pay structure in his publication Employee Reward. A couple of examples of these steps are Reach an agreement that it is the most appropriate pay structure for progression.Decide on the width of bands, the academic degree of overlap (if any), th e anchor points and pay zones. (LGE)Broad banded are most likely to be introduced to organisations, which are flexible, who do not operate with extended hierarchies and rely in continuous development. Broad banding continues to be an approach that has a great interest to managers seeking to enhance organisational performance. During the 1990s the number of companies implementing broad banding continued to increase from 10% of firms surveyed in 1993 to 23% in 1999. (HR Focus, 2000). Broad banding started out in the USA. William Mercer carried out a study in 1997. angiotensin converting enzyme of the outcomes of the study was that of approx. 3000 US organisations it was found that close to 45% had either installed the broad banding approach or were considering to do so. (Armstrong, 2002)Looking at the percentage, it is quite a large amount of organisations, which make broad banding look more attractive to other organisations that may be unsure about adopting this approach.Broad band ing started of slow in the UK but research carried by Watson Wyatt in 1996 showed that 20 per cent of the 346 firms surveyed had introduced the system. More than half of the remaining firms planned to introduce it in their organisations. (Armstrong, 2002) Since then, there has been a considerable increase in the number of organisations with broad bands.The CIPD 1999/2000 survey of 193 organisations (Armstrong and Brown, 2001) found that 60 per cent of them had broad banded structures with five or fewer bands. Broad banding has become the most popular approach to the design of pay structures. In broad bands, pay is managed more flexibly than in a conventional graded structure and great is paid to market relativities. There are many advantages of adopting a broad banded structure as there are fewer number of bands which makes it easier to manage and an organisation operating with a small number of bands is able to address communication issues more effectively because it grades cold m ore employees within the same pay category, greater width of bands, greater overlap between bands which means continuous development without being upgraded.Although broad banding has come to the force, graded pay structures remain the most standard types in the private sector, however broad banded structures are replacing traditional graded structures. In a broadband structure, the range of pay in a band is significantly higher than in a conventional graded structure. The band width may be as much as 100 per cent or even more, and there may be only four or five bands in the structure (Perret, 2007)As more employees will be grouped in the same band it can be apply to reduce the status consciousness that is often found in a narrow banded pay structure. This in turn might help to focus employee attention to the external environment rather than internal equity.Broad-banding has flatter organisational structures and also encourages flexibility dispensing the need for constant regarding and promotion, less competition compared to graded pay as there is competition trying to compete to the next level of the structure rather than working as a team.In broad banded pay systems, employees are encouraged to pursue the development of job skills the need to achieve the next promotion. (Loma, 1999) From research that was conducted it was found that in one large organization that had introduced broad banding, senior management reported that they received more thoughtful recommendations for promotions because managers did not need to promote people to get a raise simply because they were at the band ceiling. (Tyler, 1998) There are rewards rather than attributes in broad-banding and also worker commitment is at its highest. In traditional pay grading structures theres no prospects at getting to the top.In a business environment where organisations want to respond flexibly to global developments and customer requirements, the inflexibility of a traditional scheme has uttermos t too many disadvantages. Promotions are now far fewer as organisations have de-layered, reducing greatly the number of management and supervisory positions. Employees need to be far more flexible, willing to change their roles and learn more skills to meet the needs of the quickly changing their roles and learn more skills to meet the needs of the quickly changing national and international marketplace. The stiff, hierarchical grading structure is far less likely to match the quick-moving, responsive culture required in both manufacturing and service industries. They need to be able to adapt quickly to new changes being implemented.Despite the numerous advantages of the wider use of broad banding, at the close of the 90s, a Wyatt survey of 1,300 companies found that less than one in 10 used broad bands. If one was to remove the larger companies from the survey (5000 employees or more), only 6% to 7% used this approach. (Stern Associates, 2006)A few companies find that it works fo r them, but most are redesigning their structures to allow pay ranges to reflect the market.ConclusionsAs with any compensation structure, broad banding must be suited to the strategy, culture and employee needs of the particular employer. In my opinion and after careful consideration on broad banded structures I feel a broadband structure is best adopted in a culture that is flexible and team-based or at to the lowest degree is moving quickly in that direction.Companies should carefully weigh broad bandings pros and cons to ensure it fits with their organizational culture and business goals.Despite all the advantages of the broad banded systems, broad bands are still viewed as a novel approach to pay, yet to be proven workable. While companies continue to move to broadband pay programs, anecdotal reports indicate that many early-adopters are returning to more traditional pay structures.Clearly it is found that managers in organizations that have implemented broad banding intend they will have greater flexibility in directing the workforce if they can move people more readily in all directions within the organization without the constraints of narrowly defined jobs and restrictive pay grades/ranges.

The Influence of Police Culture

The Influence of jurisprudence CultureIn golf club to appropriately address the topic of discussion, startlely, it is principal(prenominal) to understand what is meant by the concept legal philosophy culture. After establishing its exposition, it then becomes a task to assess whether jurisprudence culture does indeed fix a negative influence on the elan the patrol work as an institution or whether it still ensures that a certain level of consistency in achieved in terms of the appearance ships guard officers conduct themselves in their daily working environment.The term police culture has in itself been a topic of both(prenominal) discussion with sociologists being divided wholly over what the definition should and should not include as there isnt an established, concrete definition of the concept. For example one contributor who has attempted to rectify this problem is Reiner (1992) who describes it as the values, norms, perspectives and swap rules which inform po lice conduct (Reiner 1992 quoted in Loftus 2009 3). Whereas another definition comes from Manning (1989) who defines it as accepted pr subroutineices, rules, and principles of conduct that are situationally applied, and generalised rationales and beliefs (Manning 1989 quoted in Loftus 2009 3). Although these definitions dont appear too several(predicate) at first glance, there is in event a clear distinction between the two that should and essential be made mainly the fact that Manning stresses that such(prenominal) principles of conduct are situationally applied, which of course suggests that police culture is not always necessarily influential to an officers conduct. Some officers brook and do hold a certain level of professionalism when taking to the streets and both values which may corrupt such professionalism remains behind closed doors in the company of their colleagues only. Yet Reiners provided definition suggests that the police culture remains with the police office r when they take to the streets and he/she then en staff offices the informal rules which have been established with their fellow colleagues, which generalises that all police officers act in accordance to the police culture . However what must be taken from both definitions is that there is reason to suggest that there is a entanglement of a shared set of norms and values within police mights which could potentially have an effect on how they operate in a working environment.What similarly must be stressed is that there is also a distinction between the terms police culture or cop culture (as its differently known) and canteen culture which is another concept which crops up time and time again in countless criminology texts. Canteen culture, as mentioned by Waddington (1999), is understood to be the norms and values held by police officers whilst off-duty, whereas police culture is the norms and values which are expressed during the course of their occupational lives (Waddingto n 1999 cited by Crank 2004 16-17) Newburn (2007) also makes this a strike point by explaining that there is a common tendency to assume that what police choose to say and how they choose to act when off-duty is not only suggestive of how police officers think, but also how they act in public. (Newburn 2007 216) Yet Waddington has a problem with such assumptions, as he form of addresss that this is not the case all of the time. The way officers act and the views they hold whilst off-duty, whether in the pub with friends or work colleagues is but a safety valve to release the pressures of the realities of life as a police officer (Waddington quoted by Newburn 2007 618) Such an argument claims that in experiencing somewhat controversial views outside of the working sphere, a person is opened up to new perspectives which sociologists such as Waddington would argue helps to avoid them from being over-exposed to a particular ideology which could then influence the way in which they car ry out their duties. But what also must be considered is just how valid Waddingtons argument actually is. Yes, of course in some instances exposure to different attitudes and values can be beneficial to an officer in terms of becoming more aware of the possibility of potential new threats, but there are also some officers who would then, due to any extreme views which they may have been subjected to, may target an individual(a) or a group of people because of the stereotypes attached to such persons and not because of genuine suspicion.Police culture, it is claimed by Reiner (1992) has many characteristics in which it can be identified with, with suspicion being just one of them. Suspicion is an absolute necessity in the police force as it is suspicion that helps the police prevent crimes from spendring and therefore everyday working experiences encourage officers to generalise people into particular labels, whether or not this is a legitimate way to suspect possible offenders (Re iner cited by Newburn 2007 618). Unfortunately there is a strong link between suspicion and heathenity, with ethnic minorities suspected to exact in criminal activity more than people of white ethnic origin. The 2005/2006 Home Office statistics relating to police searches provide a great example for this. In interpreting the results of stop and search practices, 15.4% of the entire UK Black community were stopped under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE compute A) in likeness to only 1.6% of the entire white population. This discrimination however doesnt just end with the police it branches out into other areas of the criminal justice system such as the prison service. Genders Player in (1989) claimed that prison officers sometimes use active stereotypes and labels to help order their working environments by predicting inmate behaviour in order to maintain authority at all times. Prisoners within the ethnic nonage demographic were perceived as having a chip on thei r shoulder, as they felt up they were being victims of racial persecution and thus the officers paid more attention to monitoring their behaviour.Arguably the most problematic characteristic of a police culture in terms of the impact it has on police and community relations is the element of racial prejudice. One of the most notable examples of racial prejudices derives within the Macpherson Report (1999), arguably the most notable report in criminology, which followed the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. The report found that the police were institutionally racist after discovering that police were ignoring life-and-death evidence to the investigation and were displaying discrimination in the interviewing process of suspects suggesting that it was black on black crime, despite Lawrences friend (an eye witness) being adamant that it was a racially motivated murder. Despite the findings of the report and the provisions set out to try and avoid the recurrence of racial con troversy within the police, there is evidence to claim minority ethnic recruitment still remains low and there are still continuing problems in terms of police relations with ethnic minorities (Croall 2011 221-222). The aftermath of the Macphereson Report proved that institutional racism was still rife in police recruitment stubs, as four years onwards a BBC documentary titled Secret Policeman was aired which centred on the police recruitment centre, Bruche which was located just outside of Warrington. Consequently after the footage of the documentary went public, the centre was forced to close so as to not further damage the reputation of the police. New police training systems were also introduced nationwide to try and turn racism from the police force as a result of the documentary. (The Observer 2004)How officers are socialised is of another great significance. The next characteristic of a police culture is the degree of solidarity, and it is this element which although is rei nforced in numerous police forces, it is an aspect which is initially developed between candidates during the recruitment stages. Due to the intense genius of the job including the long hours which officers are required to work, the intensity of some of the work and the expectation of being the ones to prevent social decline, officers are encouraged to bond potently and they learn to rely on one another, and as such tend to develop an us-against-them attitude. This resulting mentality, in some situations, results to not officers making pacts with one another in which they agree not to grass on fellow officers for any discrepancies that they might have witnessed whilst on duty. This is more commonly known as The Blue Code of Silence. Just like any other subculture, in order to ensure cooperation and commitment to the Blue Code, a tribal value system is implemented which makes police culture sort of like a family structure in which members of the system will receive emotional suppo rt and security from the other officers upon requirement. Several police departments worldwide have been found to have followed the Blue Code, probably most notably was a New York police department which the Mollen Commission reported were to be covering up infringements of their officers. In such case where an officer was to break the Code, then his/her reputation and essentially his career too would be ruined as he/she would then be ostracised and labelled a whistleblower and thus it is the threat of this tarnished reputation that encourages the officer to obey the unwritten rules. (Loftus 2009 14)Accusations of excessive force by members of the police force are far from uncommon, particularly in America. And it is the use of excessive for which Manning (1970) claims is a perfect example of police culture and how it can have a negative influence on the way officers carry out their duties. (Manning 1970 cited by Crank 2004 107) However, excessive force is not detected in all cases. Victims of police brutality may feel that the odds are stacked against them in filing a complaint to an officers superiors and are thus reluctant to do so and may feel that even if a complaint is acknowledged and results in a court case, the judge and jury would overlook excessive force as the perceived perspective would be that the victim shouldnt have gotten his/herself in a position in which the use of force was needed in the first place and thus the consequences of their anti-social behaviour was deserved. Yet with that said, there are of course examples where the victim of police brutality are non-deserving of such treatment and thus the police force as a whole have come under criticism despite it being a minority of officers that participate in such excessive violence. For example a British police constable, PC Simon Harwood, was charged with the manslaughter of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in 2009. Tomlinson was finding another lane home after his usual route was b locked by the protests when he was struck by PC Harwood with a baton and then pushed to the ground Tomlinson fatally collapsed and an autopsy revealed the cause of death was a heart attack, which the actions of PC Harwood where no doubt a triggering factor. PC Harwood was acquitted of manslaughter, which only strengthens the argument mentioned previously that the courts are sympathetic to the police when the question of honest/excessive force is raised. However, it must be stressed that many police forces do have provisions in place to deal with any complaints of impossible behaviour regarding their employees in which inquiries will be carried out and, if found guilty, the officer in question may be reprimanded, suspended or permanently disregard depending on the circumstances. Also, as in the case of PC Harwood they may also, if necessary, face criminal prosecution or at the very least face a civil hearing if the victim wishes to sue for damages caused by the officers ill-consi dered actions.But how are the police able to get away with these kinds of infringements? Again, it all relates backward The Blue Code of Silence. As already mentioned earlier in the essay, officers of some police forces claim ignorance of any wrongdoings of their work partners and in some cases, they testily which is typically an American slang term for when an officer gives false testimony in court. Relating back to the tribal values, not participating in activities such as testilying would lead to an officer being shunned and sometimes even harassed to the point of retirement as they arent assisting their family members, in effect betraying their own kind.In 1994, the Mollen Commission found that some officers within the NYPD fabricated crucial documents such as arrest reports and warrants and some officers were found to have falsified witness statements for the purposes of manipulating the jury as they felt that an accused individual deserved it. This is particularly common in c ases of bad character in which an accused has had a history of offences but has escaped punishment. Although corrupt as it is, testilying is merely seen as another way of getting the job done.In conclusion, there is a huge interest towards police culture due to the impact it can and sometimes does have on society. if it is to have an influence on the way the police go about their work. The police hold a massively important role to society as they are a visible symbol of law and order and are granted various powers such as those which alter them to arrest members of the public who they feel prove a threat to the rest of society. Although most officers do operate in a reasonable manner, it is generally the actions of the minority which enable the public to misconceive that all officers are bigoted and aggressive. Such generalisations lead to a mass distrust of the police and tensions then begin to occur between the police and their publics. You only need to look at the summer riots o f 2011 (which were reported to have been sparked by an officers seemingly unauthorised use of deadly force on a suspect) to see just how damaging poor police-community relations can be to the polices image as a social institution.

Administrative Or Conventional And Critical Research Media Essay

Administrative Or Conventional And Critical Research Media EssayThe land of push-down storage conversations is relatively upstart and is both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary in nature. It is therefore not surprising that the admission to mass communications go out into will be mixed.This essay attempts to look at the issues which gave rise to search theories and distinguish between the terms administrative or conventional and critical seek. It will discuss and severalise the similarities of both types of investigate while evaluating the aimfulness and relevance of both approaches and what it meant for the development of the media. Finally, it will look at the different traditions of media question and explain how they manifest every conventional or critical characteristics.The history of mass communications research is a short unrivaled. In the 1940s, when communication and media studies came about in the United States of the States (USA), research focused on th e needs of an expanding society, including the positioning of political and economic interests which (was based on the critical pragmatism) and sociology of the Chicago School (Hardt, 1992, p. 9).However, Wilbur Schramm suggested that communications research was quantitative, kinda than speculative and argued that its practitioners such as Lazarsfeld, Lewin, Laswell and Hovland (who were identified as the founding fathers of communications research in the USA) were deeply interested in theory, but in the theory they can test (Hardt, 1992, p. 11). His view cut the history of concerns about communication and gardening that had characterized the Chicago School (Hardt, 1992, p.10). Schramm insisted that they were behavioural researchers and as such interests in the wider complaisant and cultural aspects of media and communication were left unaddressed. Schramms interest was journalistic rather than scientific and communications research is the USA served the system at the sequence instead of gainsay it because of the influence by media and commercial interests.Hardt (1992) concluded that in the USAMainstream communication and media research had failed to address critical developments from within and without its boundaries. It had remained within specific categories of interests, reflected in an academician specialization in the study of communication that was interdisciplinary by its commitment to a behavioural science orientation, but without any significant or booming attempt to break out of its modiac circle (p. 19).In Great Britain, media research did not begin until the early 1960s. Halloran noted that a much(prenominal) critical, holistic approach emerged where the approach to research was more disciplined and systematic and focused on media as institutions and communication as a kindly process.The first review of the field was conducted in Great Britain and published in 1963 (Halloran 1963) and referred to few research exercises which concentrat ed on media effects which looked at the impact of media on attitudes and behaviour of individuals. Even though a number of studies have been conducted in the field of mass communications, researchers have not been open to gather enough information because of the way research has been defined, initiated, back up and organized, (Halloran,1981, p. 9). He adds that in addition to having limited information, it is overly unfair and biased.He emphasizedResearch is not initiated, organized, executed or applied in a fond/political vacuum. Appreciation of the nature of research and its application calls for an understanding of the diachronic, economic, political, organizational, disciplinary, professional and personal factors which impinge on the research process in so many ways (p. 33).Halloran (1981) defined conventional research as having value-free, positivistic, empiricist, behaviouristic, psychological emphasis (p.34). He noted that earlier media research conformed to the dominant paradigm at the time and responded to the requirements of new-fashioned, industrial, urban society for empirical, quantitative, policy link information about its operations (p.37). Research was basically carried out to improve the effectiveness of the media and assist media entities in achieving its aims and objectives. This type of research used quantitative methods such as surveys, and field experiments (Boyd-Barret, 1995, p. 69) while critical media research was concerned with obtaining data that could easily reproduced (reliable data) through scientific testing as contend to data that was valid. It was more holistic in approach and was viewed as cosmos service orientated.Critical research was criticised because it was viewed as alternate(a) research which did not support the placement quo at the time as most media entities supported administrative research. It argufyd the long held values of media establishments and willd the first real challenge to media entities. In t his regard, most media organisations viewed critical research as being not scientific, qualitative and having a political agenda.Halloran (1981) points to three main characteristics that differentiate critical research from conventional research and which would have been ignored by the latter. Firstly, he said communication is treated as a kindly process. While administrative research was described as being media centric and pro -media critical research looked at the institution behind media and those affected by the media. This suggested that administrative research was more occupied by the efficient and effective operation of the media at the expense of other issues such as refining concepts, development of theories and the whole notion of kindly change.In contrast, critical research is what Halloran called society centric and to this end it addressed issues of prevalent concern and focused on how media addressed these societal or public concerns. unitary of the striking featu res is that it looks at the medias role in promoting the democratic process and sociable reproduction (Boyd-Barret, 1995, p. 188). It also examines the inverse effect of the communications process i.e how social factors affect communication and media operations. One such example is the research of Racism and Mass Media (Hartmann and Husband, 1974) which examined the role of media with regard to racial prejudice. A good example that in full demonstrates both the weaknesses of the administrative approach and the broader, more realistic perspectives of the sociological or critical approach, is to be found in research which has attempted to deal with the maintain media/violence relationship (Halloran, 1995, p. 26).Secondly, media institutions are studied in relation to other institutions and within the wider social context. Critical research examines the whole system rather than comely mere individuals which was the focus of administrative research, its unit of measure was society as opposed to the individual and research was not conducted in a vacuum. Critical researchers look at issues of ownership, hold back and technology. By contrast, administrative research focused on fine tuning media methods to facilitate specific institutional aims and goals. In so doing, it ignored certain factors that affected the communications process as well as what the media produced.The third characteristic, as described by Halloran, is that critical research addressed issues associated with structure, organization, professionalism and participation. Its more independent of institutions, policy and problem orientated and research enquiries are conducted externally with the aim of forming policies. Unlike administrative research, critical research is less likely to be of a social or administrative character and does not stroke the egos of media managers and owners by researching their issues or by accepting their definitions of media problems. Critical research challenged their (administrative) ideologies and attempted to provide alternative research forms to the field.Critical research and its researchers became very unpopular and were viewed with suspicion because it was hoped at the time, that research would support the status quo and the system. The dominant paradigm at the time would have viewed critical theorists as not supporting the status quo.Additionally, critical research was starved for funding while administrative research was financed by the institutions that outfit the research and as such the results were predetermined. In attempt to make mass communications research scientific, administrative researchers pushed the study of mass communications into positivism and empiricism.Earlier, the consummate study of mass communication assumed that mass media have a total and immediate effect and thought audiences to be passive. Early effects studies were listless by persuasion and studies were grounded in psychology, more specifically referred to psychoanalysis and stimulus response and emerged primarily in the USA (Newbold, 1995).The development of the media effects tradition started in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when many social upheavals were being experienced by many countries and the media was viewed to be engaged in social control by moulding behaviour in line with the will of those who controlled the media (Newbold, 1995, p. 7).Then, the content of media was viewed as having direct effects on individuals who relied on the mass media as their altogether source of information about the world. Newbold (1995) notes that this gave rise to the hypodermic needle theory or magic bullet theory which implied that mass media had a direct, immediate and respectable effect on their audiences (Hypodermic needle model, Wikipedia). The Payne Studies of 1928 were the first major(ip) empirical studies to establish effects. Carried out in the USA, these studies looked at how motion pictures impacted children. T he findings of the studies indicated that while films provided blue prints for bread and butter the effects of these films were not anti-social. Newbold (1995) stated that Cantrils study was among the first to question the magic bullet model and involve social and cultural factors in its analysis.Much reproach of effects studies focused on the media centric approach of researchers and the individualistic approach of the research, thereby being administrative in nature. Researchers were viewed as taking an approach which was stringently interested in the direct relationship between the medium and its audience, failing to take into account the social and cultural influences of audiences which might also help reach their views (Newbold, 1995, p. 12). In this regard, social and audience reckonations were seldom taken into account.The Peoples Choice Study, conducted by Lazarsfeld et al and which sought to reveal the importance of interpersonal ties in the mass communications process (two step flow) was heavily criticised by Mills (1959) who described the approach taken in the study as abstracted empiricism because it was viewed as a study of voting in American politics and not necessarily the substance of opinion or dynamics.Newbold (1995) explained thatBy abstracted empiricism, Mills is referring to the prevailing full(prenominal) value ascribed to statistical data derived from sampling procedures and interviews data upon which speculations are made, and the relations between them established. He argued that quantification was pursued for its own sake, and at the expense of other major important issues for which quantifiable data might be difficult to obtain (p. 18).This in itself meant that the research displayed administrative characteristics which was media centric in nature and conducted in a vacuum without any social considerations. Newbold (1995) adds that while abstracted empiricism still appears to be a characteristic of this style of research, the two-step flow is still one of the most important developments in effects tradition because of its sociological orientation and shifting focus from the individual to the primary group thereby making the social context difficult to ignore.Following on from media effects, another tradition in mass communications research which is similar in focus but opposed to its perspectives is the political economy tradition. The political economy tradition searches for answers to the question of power of the media in the analysis of their structures of ownership and control.Mosco (2004) offered two definitions of political economy. Firstly, he described political economy as the study of the social relations, particularly the power relations that mutually constitute the production, distribution and consumption of resources, including communication resources (p. 6). This definition he explained focuses on how the communication business operates. A more general and ambitious definition of political economy is the study of control and survival in social spiritedness (Mosco, 2004, p.7). By these definitions, Mosco points to the fact that media institutions are both economic and political in nature.Adopting a fundamentalist Marxist approach, studies of this tradition have been based on the assumption that the dynamics of culture producing industries can be understood primarily in terms of their economic determination (Murdock and Golding, 1977, p. 37, cited in Bussaba, 2008, p. 24), thus the contents of the media and the meaning carried by their messages are determined by the economic base of the organization in which they are produced. Political economy is also characterized by an interest in examining the social whole or the totality of social relations that make up the economic, political, social and cultural areas of life (Mosco, 1995, p. 6) which holdd moral implications with an interest in social intervention to change society.Mosco (2004) indicatesTraditionally, the poli tical economy of communication studied the major business firms responsible for producing and distributing mass media and the government agencies responsible for regulating and making communication policy. It focused on the power of media companies, demonstrated in the trend towards media concentration, and on how they use this power to influence media content (p. 28).With the aim to broaden the perspective in political economy, recent work addressed major processes such as commodification, spatialization and structuration. These process looked at making communications a market commodity addressing the festering and spread of media institutions (especially the simplification by governments to do this by developing pro business regulation and policies media production and access influenced by social, class, gender and race (Mosco, 2004).The very(prenominal) mechanisms and processes whereby ownership of the media or control of their economics is translated into the message are compl ex and often problematic. The workings of the control are not easy to demonstrate or easy to explain empirically. The evidence is often circumstantial and is derived from the ideology implicit in the message and the interests of those in control.Mosco (2004) added that cultural studies and policy science are disciplines on the boundaries of political economy (p. 26). The broad based intellectual movement of the cultural studies approach which focuses on the constitution of meaning in texts and defined broadly to include all forms of social communication can contribute to the process of renewing political economy in several ways (Storey, 2003, p. 15, cited in Mosco, 2004, p. 26).Additionally, Mosco (2004) highlighted how cultural studies contributed to a broad based critique of positivism and has defended a more open philosophical approach that concentrates on subjectivity or on how people interpret their world, as well as the social creation of knowledge (p. 26). However, political economy can also contribute to rethinking cultural studies since it insists on epistemology that maintains the value of historical research, of thinking in terms of social totalities, with a well grounded moral philosophy and a commitment to overcome the distinction between social research and social practice (Mosco, 2004, p. 26).British cultural studies arose in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the Marxist informed work of Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggart and Edward Thompson who were all interested in political questions of class culture, democracy and socialism as it related to working class cultures in the UK. Williams work contributed significantly to the development of cultural studies as he attempted the study of relationships between elements in a whole way of life (Williams, 1965, p. 334). In 1964, Hoggart together with Stuart Hall established the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary cultural Studies (CCCS) which analysed mass media and popular culture and while many rese archers did not share Hoggarts view of mass culture and cultural decline they did adopt some culturalist methodologies canvass cultural texts and practices including media texts and practices (Gough-Yates, 2007).Structuralist methods allowed cultural studies to explore the rules and practices of culture, including media culture, and to ask how culture might generate the missing (Gough-Yates, 2007, p. 33). Ferdinand de Saussure and Roland Barthes while credited with making significant contributions to structuralism were also criticised for the structuralist assumption that signs can have stable, denotive meanings.Althussers concepts have also contributed to the development of cultural studies by pushing cultural studies to more analysis of popular culture and its role in fixing and containing identities away from the Frankfurt school style focus of the media. The Althusserian approach, because of its view of media products as closed texts that imprison their audiences and denies the m any agency in their lives was challenged (Gough- Yates, 2007, p. 20). Gramscis model of hegemony argued that the consumption of poplar and media culture can be empowering as a refusal of subordination or form of resistance to dominant ways of being and doing (Gough-Yates, 2007, p. 32) and it helped scholars to address some of the criticisms of the Althusserians perspectives.Poststructuralists approaches also informed cultural studies and drew more attention to audiences rather than texts because of its approaches to cultural construction of meaning and their power relationships as it related to society and the domination of groups (based on gender, class, sexuality etc). As such, cultural studies shared some of its political interests with feminism and was challenged by feminists theory and politics which argued that cultural studies marginalized feminist issues and concerns (Schiach, 1994). This was evidenced in the CCCS Womens Studies Group (1978) publication Women Take Issue w here feminist researchers encountered considerable difficulties in working around definitions of culture and notional perspectives that excluded and marginalized women, (Gough-Yates, 2007, p. 28). Post modern theory which has engaged cultural studies since the 1980s has broken down the traditional boundaries between culture and art, high and low culture, and art and the commercial which reflects the cultural, economic and proficient change of society. Cultural studies especially new audience research offers the study of mass communications a means of researching through qualitative research, the cultures and discourses of media use in a new way (Gough-Yates, 2007, p.33).Hermes (2005) notes that the sudden increase in qualitative audience studies in mass communications research is sometimes know as the ethnographic turn (or new audience research) because key studies involved are inspired by particular traditions of anthropological research called interpretive ethnography (p. 5). Al though new audience research is a type of research it is different from other traditions that use comparable research techniques.New audience research practitioners prefer the use of qualitative methods rather than quantitative which allows them to study more social contexts in which the media is used its focus is more culture and cultural backgrounds that are sometimes marginalized by mainstream research traditions and its research objective is often popular culture. Interactive research methods such as interviews are used and it often has a feminist agenda.One prime example of New Audience Research is Ien Angs study of watching Dallas, the American prime time soap opera (Ang, 1985, cited in Hermes, 2005, p. 6) in which Ien Ang was able to assess, through qualitative methods, audience pleasure in viewing the show.Ethnographic turn was born of three traditions including British or European cultural studies American cultural studies and qualitative mass communications research and et hnographic refers to four characteristics including the study of the media in a broader social context rather than in isolation as done in the James Lull research of the role of television in the dynamics of family life. The meanings of media practices are of much more interest than media practices in new audience research and stands for a more political investment as the practices of media are mostly researched for specific institutional goals. Finally, its aim is to develop theoretical understandings of the practices that were observed through lengthy, open interviewing (Hermes, 2005, p. 28). The lack of methodology and its revisionist politics has been the most popular criticisms of New Audience Research.In conclusion, much of mass communications research now is neither administrative nor critical and proceeds as if no debates had been held as Livingstone (1993) points out and she advises that all research projects should consider text, audience and context. She adds both resear ch processes and its subject matter can be questioned since much research from either tradition can be, and often is, used to support or critique the status quo (p, 7).

A Comparison of Schools in the U.S. and Japan Essay -- Essays Papers J

A Comparison of Schools in the U.S. and JapanIn Nipponese schools, from elementary schools to universities, teachers direct what students should do or how they should be. Students follow the school rules and the directions of teachers. In American schools, on the other hand, students have to be more independent than Japanese students in many ways. Because of differences between Japanese and American schools, Japanese students who begin to study in an American school are shocked, and they take a fairly long time to adjust themselves to the way of American schools. Differences between schools in the two countries are seen in classrooms and during classes the genius of lectures, the relationship between student and teachers, and the style of examinations.First, many Japanese students are surprised by American schools because American students pay much attention to teachers, and also they interrupt teachers to ask questions or to deliver their opinions. The style of teaching in the U .S. is completely different from Japan, especially in two points. One difference is that teachers in Japan expect students to be cool it in classes. In general, teachers explain the content of textbooks, hand-outs, and other materials. But in American schools, teachers think class participation is very important, and they require students to give their opinions or ask questions in classes. Another difference is that teachers in Japan economise down important things on a blackboard, alone teachers in the U.S. seldom write every(prenominal)thing they just explain orally. Japanese students are very quiet during classes, and all they do is listen to teachers and copy what teachers write on blackboards. They seldom ask questions during classes but ask friends or teac... ... classes.School systems, including grading systems and examination styles, in Japan and the U.S. are quite different. Also, the relationship between students and teachers is completely different. Most Japanese stu dents who withdraw from Japanese schools to American schools, or who go to an American school after they graduate from a Japanese school, may be shocked by the impertinently and different systems and the relationship to their teachers. For Japanese students, the way of American schools seems very difficult--to attend classes, to study, and to understand the system itself--but they also notice that they can study and live to the fullest as a student, as they talk or argue for or against other students or teachers in the classes. Also, they can get satisfaction from learning and understanding every class through the relationship between teachers and other students.