Border and Coastal Security (Criminal Justice) Essay Example for Free

Border and Coastal Security (Criminal Justice) Essay `Hardened Border Paradox’ and `Open Border Paradox. The `Hardened Border Paradox’ refers to the situation when tougher border controls fail to achieve their objective – stop illegal migrants and smuggling. Instead, it is argued, these tougher controls create an atmosphere ripe for spread of criminal activity. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, in his written testimony before a hearing of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate noted that â€Å"draconian measures to police the border invariably provide incentives for informal arrangements and criminal conspiracies to overcome cross-border barriers to commerce and labor movements†. There appears an industry for helping illegal migrants, whereas the cooperation of law enforcement bodies is reduced when one side unilaterally pursues strict policies. The border becomes more â€Å"chaotic†, and tough regulation â€Å"creates a demand for those who are in the business of arranging the illegal crossings† (Kirkpatrick, 2004). This paradox can be resolved by combating illegal groupings and promoting cooperation at the border between authorities on both sides. The ‘Open Border Paradox’ includes the need to combat the movement of terrorists and smugglers across open borders without damaging the free flow of goods and services that benefits the economies of both nations. This paradox exists, for example, on the US-Canadian border where the flow of goods and services is in dependence on anti-terrorist measures. To overcome this paradox, authorities from both sides can create special projects targeting terrorists without jeopardizing trade flows. Kirkpatrick in his testimony points out the example of a bi-national â€Å"Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET)† created on the US-Canadian border to overcome smuggling in 1996. Is it cost effective to spend millions and millions of dollars in an effort to stop a handfull of people` who are bound to terrorize the United States? Counteracting the bunch of people bound to terrorize the United States is worth millions of dollars and perhaps even more. This number is commensurate with the devastating impact September 11th and other events had on the development of the American economy and national security. Efforts to combat terrorism within the United States are also costly. The negative effect of terrorist activities on the economic activities of Americans can hardly be overrated. Terrorism poses a risk to the United States and all of its business. Foreign partners contemplating a deal with US companies will be more reluctant to do so if they perceive the state as being in continuous danger of an external attack. This means loss in indirect costs from dangers to the national security, with the effect similar to that political instability in developing nations has on their ability to attract and retain direct foreign investment. The costs of failing to keep the terrorists out are therefore serious issues that have to be addressed in order to prevent the possible danger to the economy. In this way, these efforts are similar to risk management in business. The risk averted may never materialize, and all the costs seem to have sunk in vain; however, if the risk did materialize, the impact on business would have been much greater. Speaking of the need to avert a terrorist attack through anti-terrorism campaigns, one need not forget that it is not only economic prosperity that is at stake. The negative impact on the quality of lives of Americans from September 11th attacks cannot be measured in dollars alone, for here one must factor in the pain, the grief, and the fear that affected even those who only saw the attacks on TV. The government has to deliver public goods to the people, and national security is one of them. Therefore, spending large sums on anti-terrorist measures is a sound idea as long as helps to prevent the terrorists effectively from getting into the country and perpetrating their crimes.

Concept of suicide

Concept of suicide 1.0 Concept of Suicide 1.1 Background Sir Thomas Browned originates the word suicide in 1642 in his Religio Medici. It was derived from SUI (of oneself) and CAEDES (murder).since then, this word has caused much controversy and evoked many professionals to continuous research and debate upon its definition in various ways from every aspects: medical, social, psychological, administrative, legal, spiritual and religious purposes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Suicide is no longer uncommon in the society and every day, there are people from many walks of life living under the same roof without us knowing what problems they are plagued with. Back centuries, suicide was a taboo subject to be discussed and yet, many are engaged in such behavior although it is believed that most suicide cases are unreported. To some, suicidal actions are glorified especially to cults and religion purposes. As time progresses, the mentality of the society changes along with time and the stigma of suicide is slowly undergoing much debate and understanding. Now, suicide is regarded more of a tragedy instead of ritual because part of the reason is that the society undergoes globalization and no longer practices scarification. Even if there is a minority of tribes who endorses scarification, the groups are negligible throughout the globe. Also, suicide in this era more often is done due to personal reasons; be it mentality, spiritual etc. In 1763, the first attempt was done scientifically by Merian to understand the rationale behind suicide. It is believed that suicide was not perceived as a sin or a crime. Instead, suicide has been regarded as a disease of mankind. After the death of Jean Jacques Rousseau in 1822, which had sequentially and graphically described circumstances of his death, Farlet manages to conduct a first in-depth examination on suicide. This enables better understanding on suicide with broader perspective. A famous psychiatrist, Dr R. Gaupp, says that amongst people committing suicide they possess unique and bizarre personality traits. For the past 50 years, it is concluded by series of researches that suicide begins from the state of mind, coupled with external factors, resulting in suicide. Herein, we will look in depths of suicide amongst Malaysian school students. 1.2 Definition A suicide idea is when one thought of ending ones own life. One thing leads to another, suicide ideas often leads to suicidal attempt and suicidal behaviour. Suicidal behaviours are thoughts or tendencies that started off a person and put them at risk for committing suicide. Simply said, suicide is an intentional or voluntary determination to end ones life, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). A suicidal person often closed ones options in life, and looks at another darker side of negativity. To them, dying is a pre-requisite for the end of all sufferings. A famous sociologist, Emile Durkheim whom not only proposes the theory of functionalism but also studied on Suicide, states that: the term suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result (1982, p. 110 [excerpt from Suicide]). 1.3 Description Suicide is not an uncommon issue these days and it is widely discussed in institutions although it is still condemned by the society. Much about discussing facts and truths behind this dark sentiment of life, there are common myths about suicide which we need to eradicate in order to comprehend the problem better we are able to curb this issue. When we listened to people whom talks about suicide, we assumed that these people would not do it since they are open to discussion. To include, people who are open to discussion should not be overlooked because they might also consider the options of suicide since the minds of a person is incomprehensible. In addition, the society views the troubled ones as people whom cannot be saved and are unwilling to seek help. Since they intend to commit suicide, nothing can stop him. These misconstrued assumptions are proven wrong because they are lost and sometimes hope for care and understanding. Indeed, these are individuals whom should not be segre gated. Another notion that should be avoided is that people believed that suicide indicates lack of faith in religion. This is incorrect because there are certain religions which encourage suicide in the name of faith. Thoughts and attempts of suicide as well as committing suicide are major concerns throughout the world and it is still a growing concern amongst the society. Very much obvious, most suicidal case involves adolescents and young teens. The teenage years are one of the most difficult stages in life, as identified by psychologists. Although teenagers are thought to enjoy life without worries of financial stability and mid-life crisis, suicide seems way an inconsiderable option to them since they ought to have no problems at this phase of life besides studying. But many changes in the mind which takes place during puberty can change their identity and their vulnerable self if they may have to cope with a broad range of personal and social obstacles. Since young people are so fragile, they may experience difficulty in dealing with stress. Children prior to puberty had hardly been bothered by suicidal behavior, probably due to their inability to envisage or execute a suicide plan. When puberty hits adolescence, risky psychiatric factors, such as depression and drug abuse become imminent and play a part in contributing to the causes of frequency in suicidal behaviour. Some children especially girls, view the transition from primary to middle school stressful. In addition, as one gets older parental supervision decreases, so teenagers are more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior without their parents consents. Suicide is divided into several commonly used terms to identify its symptoms and causes. Here are the descriptions provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding suicidal terms that needed to be taken into account:- Suicide: a planned act of killing oneself intentionally. The act can be performed by the person with or without the full knowledge or expectation of any fatal outcome. Suicidal attempt: A medical intervention is required in this case, after the person whom intended to end his or her life committed a life-threatening act with a conscious intent. Suicidal gesture: A series of self-threatening behaviour on display, which may be detrimental or non- detrimental. Suicidal idea: The power of mind to thought or set up the process to end ones own life. Suicidal risk: The tendency of ending ones life depends on this characteristic, depending on its presence or absence. Suicidal pact: Two or more people in agreement to die concurrently by committing the act of suicide. Suicidal cluster: People who gather in groups to commit suicide together, usually for a common objective. Suicidal counters: To prevent suicide, this set of factors operates within the individual, family or society. 1.4 Facts and Figures With many reasons believed to be the causes for suicide, facts and figures of statistics below are generally shown to highlight suicide from methods of ending life in different ethnic groups (inference is drawn from analysis of data from suicidal cases from the University Malaya Medical Centre mortuary ) to why it is committed : It is estimated that 450 million people suffered from mental of behavioral disorder. Every year, close to 1 million people committed suicide and 1 in 4 families have at least a member with mental disorder. There are 25 million schizophrenic patients and 50 million who suffer from epilepsy, which About 40 million or 80% are assumed to live in developing countries Most of them lived for 33% of the years with disability are due to neuropsychiatric disorders (depression, alcohol-use disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder). From 2000-2004, University Malaya Medical Centre found suicides of 164 male (65%) and 87 female (35%) victims with their ages ranging from 15 to 80 years. The age group with the highest total of cases between 21 to 30 (83 of 251; 33.1%) The highest rate of suicide was among Chinese (ethnic groups) with a total of 120 cases (120 of 251; 47.8%) by using the common method; jumping from height (41%). Whereas, Indians commonly commit suicide by hanging themselves (49 of 87) and poisoning (20 of 37; 54.1%); and Muslims had shown the lowest cases of suicide (18 of 251; 7.2%). 1.5 Types of suicide Collective tendencies have an existence of their own; they are forces as real as cosmic forces, though of another sort; they, likewise, affect the individual from without (Thompson, 1982, p. 109 [excerpt from Suicide]) To separate true suicides from accidental deaths, Durkheim proposed this definition of suicide: the term suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result (1982, p. 110 [excerpt from Suicide]). Then, Durkheim proposes four types of suicide: 1) Egoistic suicide Minimal social integration allows outcasts and segregation of individuals who are not considered fit to be bounded to specific social groups. These individuals are left with little social support or guidance. Thus, tendency to commit suicide increases. For example, students especially girls in schools wanted to belong in groups or so-called cliques. Most of the times, the ones whom are shunned off are the ones to be laughed at and criticized. 2) Altruistic suicide The opposite of egoistic suicide. This type of suicide results from too much of integration. Self-sacrifice is the prominent trait and members of the group were so integrated that they lost their individuality and ever so willing to sacrifice for the groups interest. For example, black metal groups in school do underground sacrificial methods at times in their act of worshipping. 3) Anomic suicide (of moral regulation)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When means were unable to fulfill needs, an imbalance of means and needs arise. i. Acute economic anomie Traditional institutions such as religion and government failed to practise moral restraints on a capitalist society. Hence, the ruling of private individuals to determine ones fate in life. This type of suicide does not apply in Malaysia because it is a democratic country where everyone has the equal rights to flourish in their own ability. ii. Chronic economic anomie Social regulation gradually diminishes after a revolution or urbanization. As a result, traditional social rules deteriorated. Wealth and property was not enough to make individuals happy, as was demonstrated by higher suicide rates among the wealthy than the poor. For instance, richer students gain easier access to drugs because of their high allowance making it affordable for them. Later on, usage of drug substances will lead to suicide (will be discussed later in this topic). This also explains why students in urban schools are more prone to suicide instead of rural area students. iii. Acute domestic anomie   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The inability of an individual to adapt to sudden changes in life results in this suicide. For instance, a student who could not cope the loss of his or her family members might consider suicide as an option to end the suffering. iv. Chronic domestic anomie The way marriage is seen in different regulations and needs for each gender. Bachelors tended to commit suicide at higher rates than married men because of a lack of regulation and established goals and expectations. On the other hand, bachelorettes are lower risk to commit suicide because without marriage, they are not confined to boundaries set by the household. This is not an issue for students in Malaysian schools unless if young girls are married off during schooling. Such cases are rare in Malaysia unless in rural areas like in Sabah or Sarawak. 4) Fatalistic suicide This type of suicide did not receive much attention because it is a rare phenomenon of the real world. People who are over regulated and receive unrewarding lives like the slaves or childless married women might consider suicide. Their future is relies on others to determine. Cases do happened like prostitution or human trafficking, but this type of suicide does not relate much to the field of education. 1.6 Warning signs Rarely, suicide spurs a moment of intense decision, says Dr Suarn Singh, Head of Psychiatry, Ministry of Health Malaysia. More often, there are many clues to look out for to identify school students at risk of mental and social distress and signs leading to the actual attempt, such as: A change in behavior- speech or actions such as constantly saying that I cant go on or I want to end it all. Attitudes or appearance takes a toll on health and individual becomes recluse and not care of how they look usually by not grooming. Behaving recklessly by not taking safety measures, e.g.: crossing the road without looking. Giving away prized possessions and valuable items. Individual may be accompanied with unpredicatable mood swings like crying, self-mutilation and impulsiveness. Identify the distress and dramatic change that affects the students performance in school (e.g.: attendance and behavior) Lack of interest in school, overall decline in performance, misconduct in class, unexplainable absence or truancy. Abuse of substance, smoking or drug (including cannabis). Violent behaviour which sometimes involves the police. 1.7 Risk Factors and Risk Situations When accessing suicide patterns amongst students, all parties including school staffs, families and friends should be aware of the victims behaviour. Repetitive self mutilation should also be taken into note because distraught teenagers tend to repeat their acts. Particular suicide behaviour under circumstances is interdependent with the environment and genetic factors. Various states or neighbouring countries that features factors of cultural, political and economic differences may play a role in risking the youths decisions of suicide. On the other hand, risk situations are hurtful or injurious events which are experienced by the victims. These occurrences may wound the victims personal dignity and self-image. Example, a suicidal student may encounter with peer pressure in school, bullying, disappointment and failure in academic or high expectations from parents during examination. Suicide has become an intense debate, yet, it still remains as an ambiguous subject to fully grasp. A normal person will never understand to what extent these youth will do just to end their lives. Researches were done and found that major risk factors are linked to young people who are plagued with these causes that might have been the reasons leading them to suicide. The major risk factors to include are: Cultural and sociodemographic factors Family pattern and negative life events during childhood Cognitive style and personality Anxiety disorders Substance abuse Eating disorders Psychotic disorders Current negative life events as triggers of suicidal behavior Cultural and sociodemographic factors Different countries are linked to different cultures and demographic structures. In the third world countries, low socioeconomic status, lack of education system and unemployment are risk factors for suicide. Although Malaysia is a developed country and cannot be compared to third world neighbours, suicide still happens rampantly in urban areas, which is developed and suicide rates are expected to be lower instead of a drastic statistics to show. When urbanization enforces competitions, psychological impact of torture may lead to self-conflict between oneself and the society. One is expected to perform to the standards of societys customary demands. Likewise, in Malaysian schools, students are very academic inclined. This is a powerful risk factor for students to be depressed and may resort to self-destruction. Also, students and adolescents whom lack of self-identity and cultural roots may opt for this choice of suicide under stressful environment. That said, Each individual young p ersons growth is intertwined with collective cultural tradition, as stated by World Health Organization (WHO). Since Malaysia is a multiracial country, there are more than one race that plays a greater attribution of gender nonconformity and identity issues. Imagine an Indian girl being placed at a Chinese school with the majority of Chinese, she is hardly accepted into the culture of the majority. When a student begins to fear a serious acceptance problem, they will lack of support in order to experience an optimum growth during that phase of life. Family pattern and negative life events during childhood Personal loss and conflict, associated with parents or romantic attachments are one of the commonest reasons for suicide amongst students. Physical or sexual abuse, family feud played a part in suicide contemplation as well. Usually, suicidal youth will leave a note or tracks that they are about to suicide. Like the diary, short notes of apologies, so on and so forth. More often, suicidal students want to escape the pressure from demands of the environment or from psychological aspects that the truth is a painful unbearable fact to handle. Broken families and traumatic experiences e.g. rape, mental torture, etc. leave a scar for life in the child especially when the child is unable to manage with the aftermaths of trauma. There are evidences that suggest suicidal students often come from destructive families with more than one factor risks. The effects are cumulative and these problems are usually not known because suicides are more likely to refrain from seeking help from others. He re are a few negative aspects to take note of a dysfunctional family that often characterizes cases of suicidal students: Family with the history of suicide. Alcohol and substance abuse member in the family. Abusive family (physically, mentally or sexually). Divorce and separation of family Very high or very low demands of standards from the parents. Lack of attention and care from family members. Cognitive style and personality It is arguable between the relationship of a certain suicidal trait and an array of cognitive style and personality that risk suicides amongst young people. It is generally equivocal and ambivalent because suicidal patterns vary amongst different individuals. The following traits are observed in a suicidal youth, particularly students during adolescence: Instability in mood. Aggressive and needs anger management. Anti-social High impulsiveness Inability to grasp realities and rigid mentality, often in their own world of illusion. Great feeling of worthlessness and despair. Anxiety and inferiority. Provocative behaviour towards others including family and classmates. Ambivalent relationships with the society (family, friends, people). Suicidal behaviour is overrated amongst school children and adolescents with the following psychiatric disorders: Anxiety disorders and Depression It is known from studies that have proven the connection between anxiety disorder and suicide. Whilst traits of anxiety appear to be independent of depression, its effect always leads to psychosomatic symptoms if not treated. Unlike depression, anxiety disorder is prominent to detect and victim will always shows signs of worries and unhappiness with themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Discussion about depression should be taken seriously. Depression is often beyond recognition. Students may seem fairly disappointed or angry at minor disturbances and may never considered suicide. But if the symptoms of depression last for more than a week or so without improvement, help is needed. The signs of depression noticed amongst students or youth include: Utter degree of sadness Gradual withdrawal from everything. Student becomes recluse and isolated. School performance dropped with no apparent reasons. Loss of interest in activities that student used to enjoy. Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness Lack of motivation. Differences in sleeping habits and fatigue. Change in appetite and eating patterns. Self-neglect and self-hatred. Physical complaints, sad thoughts or death. Anger management needed for reckless attitude and temper. Substance abuse. Restlessness and agitation with one self or others. School students with depression symptoms oftentimes present anti social behavior and both are precursor to suicide. It is noticed that depressed female student will be more silent and withdrawn from others, whereas on their male counterpart, students of that gender becomes aggressive and disrupted and seek a great deal of attention. Prior to that, students can kill themselves too without having to be depressed and they can also be in a state of depression without killing themselves. Substance abuse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Students who abused alcohol and drugs are often linked to suicide. Teenagers are oftentimes found to have committed the act of suicide after consuming the substances. Sometimes, students used these substances to ease their stress and depression. In another case, youth whom have never thought of suicide may have done so after taken alcohol because alcohol suppresses rationale thinking. Simply, their actions are based on an impulsive act which leads them to ending their lives even so they might never have contemplated suicide when they are sober. Eating disorders Eating disorders happen mostly to the female genders whom are dissatisfied with their own bodies. In the eye of the society, thin slender girls are objects of desire. The media often portrays catwalk models, who are skinny and scrawny. In schools, fat students are always being sneered and jeered as well as being outcast. Anorexic and bulimic girls are susceptible towards depression and suicide risk for anorexics are as much as 20 times more than youth in general. Psychotic disorders Albeit, we hardly heard of Malaysian students suffering from severe psychiatric disorders like the schizophrenia or manic-depressive disorder, those affected are still in jeopardy with suicide risks. But most psychotic youths started off with other risk factors, such as excessive smoking and substance abuse. Current negative life events as triggers of suicidal behavior As aforementioned due to inherited genetic factors, destructive families and negative aspects in life, students of this age find themselves susceptible towards suicide because when current negative life events happen in concurrent with their condition they find it difficult to cope furthermore. This susceptibility makes it difficult to cope with negative life events adequately, and that said, stressful life events precede suicide. They reminds of the student of sense of hopelessness and despair. 2.0 How Schools can Prevent Suicide Usually, suicidal students hardly attempt suicides within the school compound. But when the outbreak of a students suicide takes place, even off schools territory, the news will shock others, causing extreme emotional distress amongst students, staff, and parents whilst school activities will come to halt for weeks before it is resumed. Hence, schools play an important role for preventing suicides. Many young students whom are affected by mood disorders or substance abuse later on contemplate suicide. Whilst the other emotional setbacks linked to suicide includes conduct disorders, aggression, split personality disorder, and intense feeling degree of hopelessness (Berman, Jobes, and Silverman, 2006). Here, the schools responsibility and roles to play are summarized by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) (Poland and Lieberman, 2003): 2.1 Detection/ Awareness School administration and staff personnel should take note of students behaviour for signs of suicide. Interaction on a regular basis is encouraged amongst the school and students. School counselor must play his or her responsibility in helping problematic students before any occurrence of suicide. 2.2 Parent notification When awareness is created, any changes in attitudes or suspicious acts arise the school should update the parents or guardian of students. Face to face discussion is recommended to come about ways of preventing the student from suicide, which includes close supervision or referral to professionals. Also, a record of victims parent and victim should be kept confidential. 2.3 Support for students at risk of suicide The school, psychologists and counselors, should monitor and support suicidal students. Counseling and follow-up services shall be recommended. 2.4 School-Based Suicide Prevention Programs Schools should train teachers and staffs to help recognize students at risk of suicide. This can be done through training and appropriate mechanisms necessary. These mechanisms include a series of programs specially designed to counteract suicidal risks. Schools must heed these vital steps to control suicide among their students: Ø School-based suicide prevention program and school-based mental health services Health screening, mental health survey and educational activities are carried out at school level to help students recognize and seek help when needed. Programs like health promotion program and risk prevention can be effective if made comprehensive to students. Ø Suicide prevention gate keeping program People who have regular interaction and contact with students in school are teachers. They need to know how to recognize students behavioural patterns and warning signs. Also, teachers need to be actively involved in dialogue to explore the risk of suicide amongst students and to ensure that the victim must receive proper guidance and treatment when it is necessary. Records must be kept up to date and problematic students must be scrutinized. Ø School crisis preparation and response plan This prepares the school in the case of emergency, from natural disaster to violence within the school. The school crisis preparation plan should include procedures of preventing self-destructive students as well as students in the midst of contemplation. Also, guidance must be taken into account as a reference for teachers and staffs to respond such cases when such tragedy arises. Ø Postvention Such term is used to measure preventions to be implemented after a tragedy takes place. The purpose of this program is to lessen the risk of those witnesses to be affected directly after the incident. Suicide or unexpected death of another student can result in a traumatized individual. This program includes grief counseling for students and school party. Postvention helps to identify other students whom may be at risk after a trauma, and to support students. Sometimes, school works with the media to ensure such coverage of news does not lead to additional risks of suicide. 3.0Suggestions: A guide for Teachers and School Staffs It takes time for a student to attempt suicide. Rarely, suicide occurs out of sudden with no warning. Most cases, teachers and members of the society who observe the victim on a daily basis is able to distinguish a behaviour of norm and suicidal. The following are three (3) steps of prevention: before, during and after a suicide: 3.1 General prevention: before any suicidal incident Early recognition helps save lives. Experts advised that it is not a wise approach to teach about suicide explicitly. Rather, they recommend tackling this problem by replacing issues of suicide with a positive mental health approach. a) Mental health of schoolteachers and other school staff Teachers are the role model in any causes. A positive teacher is able to change the outlook of a persons perspective in a brighter light. Hence, strengthening the mental health of a teacher only can he or she guides the students into the correct path in life. b) Students self-esteem Positive self-esteem is vital to protect students against suicide. One with topnotch of esteem will cope better with stress even how difficult ones situation may be. To nurture positivity amongst the students, a few rules should not be taken lightly. Firstly, students must never been pressured constantly to fare better than other students. They must always look on the brighter side of life experiences in order to forge a positive identity. Every student should be cherished as who they are and be accepted for what they are. In addition, the school should work on introducing life skills by having experts giving talks and later on assimilate a positive workshop as part of the curriculum. Most importantly, the programme is able to send out messages of knowledge to peers on how to be supportive and seek help if necessary. Plus, the school should revise and review the education system to enhance the development of every student holistically. c) Emotional expression Students should learn on how to express their emotions appropriates and to take charge of how they feel seriously. When things gone awry, they should confide in parents, teachers, adults, doctor, friends or even religious advisors. d) Bullying and violence at school Issues on bullying have been a serious matter for ages since bullying make suicide seemed more pleasant to students to escape from humiliation and personal dignity. Because the victim could not determine what others had done to him/her, the victim had only his own life to control. Thus, specific skills should be taught in schools to prevent bullying and violence. This way, only the school can provide a sanctuary for safety and intolerance of the negative aspects. e) Information about care services In Malaysia, Befrienders are not unfamiliar to the society these days. Students should be aware about the availability of these services and by making it accessible to the young people, so that they can utilize the help lines in the case of crisis and psychiatric emergency. To include, there are over 240 Health Centres nationwide in Malaysia that have psychiatric units and also counseling unit for help. The latest news up to date, Prof Hu

The communication quality between doctor and foreign patient

The communication quality between doctor and foreign patient 1. Introduction While traveling is getting easier and migration is taking place frequently, cultural differences and communication problems have emerged as a new problem of today. The most important case communication is inevitable for a non-speaker of the native language is being a patient. Some undesirable outcomes may occur if the patient can not give the correct information. With the recent migrations in the western countries such as Germany, France, USA, Canada, UK, Holland the number of non-speakers of the native language has become noteworthy. In Turkey, there is also an increase in the number of foreign patients with the real estate sales to the foreigners in the places such as Antalya and Bodrum. On the other hand, highly qualified healthcare professionals and competitive pricing increased the share of health tourism in the whole tourism income (http://www.medicaltourisminturkey.org). On the ground of the importance of communication, according to various resources, 80% of the medical mistakes are caused by giving incorrect information [13,8]. Having gained more and more importance recently, foreign patient-doctor communication and the gaps it has, will be evaluated with the view of knowledge management, and finally, the method developed to prevent the incorrect information translation will be introduced. 2. Literature Review Foreign patients do not know the local language and therefore the language of the doctor is analyzed in detail. [1,2,10,14] In the basis of this study, lies the increase in the number of the non-speakers of the language of migrated country. For example in USA, 18% of people older than 5 years speak another language at their home (U.S. Census Bureau 2002: QT-P16, cited in Lee 2003:3). This information takes place in the article of Alexander and friends (2009) that contains interesting data about the non-speakers of native language: â€Å"In Geneva, Switzerland, 43% of the population is foreign born and about 25% of the population speaks a language other than French at home.† 2.1. Culture Edward Tylors definition is cited as the first definition of culture[15]. Tylor(1903/1988) defines as â€Å"culture or civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society†.As one of the famous authors who has decoded the most about his studies on culture, Hofstede (2005:4) defines culture as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another†. According to these definitions, language is critical for both underlined words. â€Å"Capabilities† are built by interpretation of language. â€Å"Collective programming of mind† programming codes are generated by language. We can say that culture is created by language. The effects of culture on health care are similar to those of language. For example in Turkey (strong uncertainty avoidance and collectivist culture) women are willing to be consulted to a woman obstetrician ( H2 hospital Director of Quality Department), in USA (weak uncertainty avoidance and individualist ) there is no such problems. According Collins et al. (2002, cited in Lee 2003:5): â€Å"Effective communication between patient and doctor is critical to good medical outcomes.† So a woman patient form a different culture may affect the medical outcomes. In literature, several paper [2,6] use language and culture interchangeable but in this paper we will use the language as creator of culture. 2.2. Developed Methods To Pass Trough The Language Barrier Information transfer (communication) between a patient and a doctor is generated in two ways. If the patient and the doctor speak the same language and their cultures are close to each other the transfer is established directly. If there are differences in the language and the culture of patient and doctor, a proxy is used. Followings are the proxies developed in the situation if the patients do not know the local language: Going to hospital with a friend or relative who knows local language and using him or her as translator. -In the deep interviews done with medical sector workers, most of the foreigners live in Turkey use this method, but if the friend or relative in the role of translator does not know the local language so much then some problems may emerge. Interpreter establishes the communication between patient and doctor. -This method is specially used in private health care enterprises in Turkey. Because of cost, increasing effects, interpreters are not chosen by patients who have no good economic welfare. In many countries the language requirements of interpreters are not defined, and non-medical professional interpreters are used widely. In the study of Karliner et al.(2007) â€Å"professional interpreters are associated with improved clinical care more than is use of ad hoc interpreters, and professional interpreters appear to increase the quality of clinical care for limited English proficiency(LEP) patients to approach or equal that for patient without language barriers.† Also many studies showed that professional interpreters who do not know the culture of the patient may offend the patient and the patient may lose confidence [3] .- Translation of those who are not medical staff -This type of translation is more common among immigrants. Because of large numbers of Turks living in Germany, it is quite probable to find non-medical staff that knows Turkish in the hospital.- If the medical staff knows foreign language. -The manager of public hospital and the managers of H1 and H2 hospitals said that the most important communication problem of medical sector is medical staffs without foreign language.- In these studies low content rates of the patients can be seen. The most satisfactory method is bilingual staff and the least one is translation of relatives/friends of the patient. 3. Data and Method The aim of this paper is to improve communication quality between doctor and foreign patient. The research question is How can we improve the communication quality between doctor and foreign patient? Yin (1994) defined a case study as â€Å"an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.† Kohn(1997) states that â€Å"Yin suggests the methodology may actually be more powerful for explanatory purposes in its ability to answer questions of how and why†. In this paper by the definition of case study methods and the structure of the research question. Semi-structured interviews and observations are used for data collection and case study method is used for analyzing data. 3.1. Selecting Cases In Turkey there are 5 types of hospital. H1 private and multi branch, H2 private unique branch, H3 private, multi branch and foundation supported ,H4 public hospital, H5 university hospital. Cluster sampling method is used because population is heterogeneous. The population is first divided into separate groups of elements which is called as clusters, H1, H2, H3, H4, H5. A sampling from the hospitals in service in different cities, eager to provide data and known as the best in their cluster, is generated. As some hospitals demanded during the negotiations, the clusters they belong to are mentioned instead of their names. Table 3 -Hospital Characteristics in each Cluster Cluster Total Staff (approximately) Total Branch Is there a department for foreign patient? Informant H1 7500 17 Y Hospital Director(M.D), Professor of PhysicalMedicine andRehabilitation H2 450 1 N Director of Quality Department, Head of Nursing Department, Emergency Doctor(M.D), Emergency Nurse, Senior Staff of Public Relation H3 800 4 N Medical Director(M.D), Manager of Human Resources H4 1600 1 N Head of Nursing Department, Emergency Doctor(M.D), Emergency Nurse, H5 More than 10.000 1 N Emergency Doctor1(M.D), Emergency Doctor2(M.D), 3.2. Problems with patients who do not know Turkish In some regions of Turkey, there are people who do not know the native language. We see that usually a relative or a friend of the patient help the communication as a translator (H1 Professor of PhysicalMedicine andRehabilitation). During the deep interviews with H3 Medical Director, he says: â€Å"Citizens from the eastern region of our country, and immigrants from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa come to hospital when they are ill, with a relative or a friend of them; and we intervene the patients with the translation of these people.† The process goes on in two ways for the non-citizen patients. If the patient can speak English; as the public relations, nurses or the doctor can, the communication is established with the help of staff. But if the patient speaks a language other than the staff can do, then a translator is required. Hospital Director in H1 hospital stated that: â€Å"The number of our foreign patients that become ill in Turkey is less than the patients that was ill before coming to Turkey. We sent our doctors to other countries and enable them to meet doctors working in clinics and hospitals. In the next step, foreign doctor sends his/her patient to us. Before the patient arrives, we get the tests and diagnosis applied to the patient. We meet the patient at the airport and accommodate the patient according to his/her economic welfare. All the transportation and other needs of the patient are met by our department established for this purpose. Taking into consideration the countries most foreign patients come from, we employ that staffs who know their language. Because the number of foreign patients in H1 hospital is more than other private and public hospitals, many applications were developed in accordance with the needs. For example, if the patient gets lost anywhere in the hospital and shows the card given to him/her to any hospital employee the problem is solved. â€Å"In the frame of JCI accreditation, the patients and employee are not asked to identify themselves according to their room number. For the probability of being lost in the hospital mostly used sentences takes place in Turkish and in the language of the patient. When patient shows his or her need in own language, the Turkish translation takes place under it then the communication is established.† In H2, H3, H4, H5 hospitals, patients usually come after they get ill in Turkey. Quality manager of H2 hospital: â€Å"Our patients usually come us after an illness in Turkey or according to the recommendation of their acquaintance who were satisfied from our service. Among our patients, there is a group which establishes contact with us before they come to examination and shows the previous cure documents, and the other group comes without any plan or foreknowledge.† In 2007 the distribution of the foreign patients came to H2 hospital is as follows: Many demographic features of the patients are: 64% are men and 36% women. 52% paid cash, 26% used assurance and 21% cured for free by the hospital. Foreign patient level in all hospitals is about 1%. If we consider the graphic which Hofstede(2005:191) has drawn according to the cultures of the countries; The patients coming to H2 hospital take place in all four areas. These patients took service in 15 different departments. In communication with these patients, proxies were used. In 2007 H1 hospitals foreign patients came from 69 different countries such as Afghanistan, Argentina, Germany, Angola, Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, UK, USA, Canada, Finland, Czech Republic, India, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Uruguay shortly all quadrants of Hofstedes culture dimentions. In literature LEP (limited English proficiency) concept is used but limited Turkish proficiency, limited Arabic proficiency, limited Chinese proficiency are also problem. When we look at the problems about the culture and language, the cases in USA and Europe countries are common for all countries and should be solved in all countries. In mostly used method, using proxy, the main problem is the transfer of the knowledge. Knowledge changes while transferring from one place to another, so knowledge can not be transferred but translated. For example; in communication with simultaneous translation the question of Turk doctor â€Å"Neyin var?† is translated as â€Å"what is wrong?†or â€Å"obligation† word is used. But the purpose here is to ask â€Å"What seems your chief complaint today?† In the article of Holden et al(2004) which includes usual examples, the following part takes place: â€Å"For example, Japanese speakers of English are influenced by the notions of politeness. Rather than categorically refusing a request, Japanese might say: ‘Ill think about it (which means â€Å"there is no way I am going to do anything about it.; or, often with a great sucking of breath between clenched teeth: ‘Thats very difficult, meaning that something is a sheer impossibility.† 3.3. Specific Situation Patient Name : Y.S. Year : 2008 Age : 48 Nationality : Greece â€Å"The patient comes to Bursa because of the dead of a friend of him. He goes to emergency with stomach ache. He is alone. The patient speaks English and Greek. After he turns to information desk, he is taken to the emergency doctor. The emergency doctor knows only Turkish. A professional interpreter is called. Patient tells the interpreter that when he first comes to the emergency he could not express himself to the hospital employee and he needs immediate cure. In addition, he says that he was depressed even before the therapy and if he didnt have to, he would not come to a Turkish doctor.†(Interpreter, H2 hospital Emergency Doctor(M.D), Emergency Nurse, Senior Staff of Public Relation) As we can understand from these expressions the patient has a negative point of view against Turkey because of the dreary events between Turkey and Greece in the past. This point of view is considered as a code given form the society he lived since his childhood [18] As the patient has to wait despite the emergency, he uses accusatory expressions. He says that â€Å"the doctor in the emergency is young and inexperienced†. That the translator is easy-going and that he mentions the negative behaviors of the patient after the examination has been an important factor in the success of the treatment. â€Å"After the therapy blood test and abdominal USG are demanded. Then gastroenteritis is diagnosed and his prescription was filled.† (Emergency Doctor) â€Å"After making a good bargain, patient lowers the price and pays in cash.†(H2 Director of Quality Department) Because of the proximity of a less individualist society and relatively low prices in Turkey, the patients says that he also has a tooth ache and wants to see the therapy room for teeth. After seeing the room he takes a tooth therapy, as well. 4. Solution In this article we stated that knowledge is translated not transferred. Culler(1982) states that â€Å"every understanding is a misunderstanding.†[4]. If every understanding is a misunderstanding then communication between different cultures using different proxies is a distorted understanding. To establish the communication in mother language gains importance. â€Å"Communication between physicians and patients is fundamental for medical care.†(Joos et al.1996, cited in Lee et al. 2003). The solutions are developed in a way that the patients take less time of the proxies. Physician reads the report in his/her own language both audibly and visually, and may also provide videos and audios in the language of the patient[5,19]. The method developed in the scope of this article is a little more different. Native speaker doctors prepared the questions for diagnosis in their own language as well as the answers to such questions. Until the diagnosis the patient chooses the questions in own language then physician and patient gets the printouts in their own languages. The forgotten point in the developed audio and video based system is, while answering physicians question without the system patient uses own language and physician does not understand. Videos are important in one-way communication as giving information about how the test will be done like as urine test. How can we solve communication problems between foreign patient and doctor? Can XML be a solution? XML is defined by the W3C: â€Å"Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a simple, very flexible text format .Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the Web and elsewhere† (http://www.w3.org/XML) We can use xml for information transfer from one language to another one. We use transfer because native speaker doctors prepared the questions for diagnosis in their own language as well as the answers to such questions. Foreign patient and doctor use software in their own language, culture and words. Foreign patient and doctor information transfer process can be modeled as below: Both foreign patient and the doctor can see every question in their native language and culture. 4.1. Software This software can support all languages. When we add a new language program XML file is extending. When we add a new language it will be located in this section: en de tr fr new language code I have only migraine data for testing software in Turkish, French, German and English languages. Lets think that our doctor is a Turk and patient is a French native speaker. Doctor select question in his/her native language â€Å"Ã…Å ¸ikayetiniz nedir?† and patient see this question in his native language â€Å"Quest ce quil vous arrive ?†. CultureStr for doctor is â€Å"tr† and for patient is â€Å"fr†. If we add a new language this section will be extend. and . Screen shot: 5. Conclusion Translations done by ad hoc interpreters and professional interpreters who does not know patients culture are equivalent according to the transfer of the knowledge but are not equal. Because of this, these are the translation of knowledge rather than transfer of knowledge. Our solution can be a solution for knowledge transfer problems and limited all language proficiency. What we need is only questions for every complaint, what doctor are asking to their patients. It is not easy but if we do this, a visit to a foreign country will be much safe and a patient will have a chance to chose his/her doctor in which country he/she wishes. Every understanding may be a misunderstanding because what we understand may be different from what is said by others. We understand equivalent of what said by others, not equal. By this project we are trying to extend understanding. As we mentioned before according to varied resources 80% of the medical mistakes are caused by wrong information (wrong information transfer). If we extend enough equivalent it will be nearly equal, at this point medical mistakes will decrease. 6. Acknowledgement We gratefully acknowledge the support of Yalà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±n Aytek ÃÅ"stà ¼ndaÄÅ ¸, Asst. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Erà §ek, Didem Parlak, Ä °smail Cahit Gà ¶rmez, Asst. Prof. Dr. Melike Ã…Å ¾ahiner, Asst. Prof. Dr. Ã…Å ¾ule ÃÆ'-ncà ¼l, Prof. Dr. Zeynep Gà ¼ven, Dr. Demet Dinà §, Dr. ÃÆ'-mer AydÄ ±n, Dr. ÃÅ"nal Egeli, Senem Kayas, Dr. Suna YÄ ±ldÄ ±rÄ ±m and Onur Uslu. 7. References [1] Alexander B., Perneger TV., Bovier PA., Loutan L., and Stalder H. Improving communication between physicians and patients who speak a foreign landuage. British Journal of General Practice 2003: 53: 541-546 [2] Alexander B. and Hudelson P. Communicating With Foreign Language- Speaking Patients: Is Access to Professional Interpreters Enough? Journal of Travel Medicine 2009: 1-6 [3] Collins KS., Hughes DL., Doty MM., Ives BL., Edwards JN., and Tenney K. Diverse Communities, Common Concerns: Assessing Health Care Quality for Minority Americans. Findings from the Commonwealth Fund 2001 Health Care Quality Survey. New York: Commonwealth Fund. [4] Culler J. On Deconstruction, New York: Cornel University Press 1982. [5] Galvez E and Stronks A (2007) â€Å"Hospitals, Language, and Culture† Joint Commusion International(http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/E64E5E89-5734-4D1D-BB4D-C4ACD4BF8BD3/0/hlc_paper.pdf Last accessed Agust 2009) [6] Gale DD. Cultural Sensitivity Beyond Ethnicity: A Universal Precautions Model. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice 2006:4(1):1-5 [7] Holden NJ. and Kortzfleisch HFOV. Why Cross- Cultural Knowledge Transfer is a Form of Translation in More Ways Than You Think. Knowledge and Process Management 2004: 11(2): 127-136 [8] Joint Commition International. http://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/SentinelEventAlert/sea_25.htm Last accessed: June 2008 [9] Joos SK., Hickam DH., Gordon GH., and Baker LH. 1996. Effects of Physician Communication Intervention on Patient Care Outcomes. Journal of General Internal Medicine 11(3): 147:155 [10] Karliner LS.,JAcops AE, Chen AH and Mutha S. Do Professional Interpreters Improve Clinical Care for Patients with Limited English Profeciency? A Systematic Review of the Literature. Health Service Research 2007: 42(2): 727-754 [11] Kohn LT. Methods in Case Study Analysis( Panel discussion conducted at the 1996 meeting of the Association for Health Services Research) 1997. [12] Lee SM. A Review of Language and Other Communication Barriers in Health Care. Office of Public Health and Science 2003. [13] Packard, C.Finding Links between Healthcare Safety, Communication, and Cultural Norms and Assumptions. Carle Selected Papers 2009 Vol.50 No.2 : 55-58 (http://www.carleconnect.com/CSP/CSP%20Fall_Winter%2007/13.Packard.pdf Last accessed Agust 2009) [14] Perloff RM., Bonder B., Ray GB., and Ray EB. Doctor-Patient Communication, Cultural Competence, and Minority Health. American Behavioral Scientist 2006: 49(6): 835-852 [15] Vatrapu R., and Suthers D. â€Å"Culture and Computers: A Review of the Concept of Culture and Implications for Intercultural Collaborative Online Learning. IWIC 2007: 260-275 [16] Hofstede G. And Hofstede GJ. Cultures and Organizations Software of the Mind. McGraw-Hill. 2005 [17] Yin, R.K.Case Study Research, Design and Methods, 2nd ed. Newbury Park, Sage Publications, 1994. [18] Hostede G.and Hofstede GJ. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2005. [19] http://pgsi.com (Last accessed Agust 2009) 8. Corresponding Author Serkan Tà ¼rkeli, AcÄ ±badem University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Healthcare Management, Istanbul, Maltepe, Turkey,Tel:(0090) 505 488 84 45, Fax:(0090) 216 589 84 85 E-Mail:[emailprotected], Web:www.nasnim.com/serkanturkeli

Kepler :: essays research papers

Kepler   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As far as people who are well versed in just about every aspect of life, Johannes Kepler was one of the great few. Unlike many of the great thinkers of his era, he was not skeptical about writing down his findings in his correspondence and, in turn getting them published so he would receive full credit for his ideas. At the time of Kepler there were no scientific journals that he could post his findings on. His work in developing the Planetary Laws of Motion supercede all findings in celestial mechanics. This is not to mention that the man is credited with originating the word satellite as well as several firsts in the field of optics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Johannes Kepler was born in Weil der Stadt, Wuttenberg on the 27th of December 1571. Wurttenberg was then part of the Holy Roman Empire, but now its borders lie in present day Germany. He died November 15th, 1630 in Regensburg which also currently lies in Germany. Kepler was the first child born to a mercenary soldier and the daughter of an innkeeper.# The very same inn that Johannes stayed for much of his childhood after the age of five when his father left the family to fight in the Netherlands. Kepler’s early work at a nearby seminary got him enough recognition to honor a scholarship to the University of Tubingen.1 It was there that he was first introduced to the ideas of Copernicus, which he seemed to take a strong liking to right away. In one of his first published works while earning his way as a Mathematics teacher in Graz he was the first to defend Copernicus and his Copernican system. The theory that the planets revolve around the sun not the Earth was still being refuted by some of the more prominent thinkers of the time. His school was undoubtedly Lutheran, which also was the religion of his family so the connection was strong. He held fast to the Augsburg Confession of Lutheranism, but refused to sign the Formula of Concord because of his disagreement with some of the values listed in it.# This did not sit well with those in authority and Kepler was excluded from the sacrament in the Lutheran Church. He also refused to convert to Catholicism during this time which left him no side to take in the Thirty-Years War. This did not deter him from his faith and belief in God.

I Want to Coach High School Football :: Teaching Education Philosophy

I Want to Coach High School Football As I was preparing to leave high school and look for a career, I had to make an immense decision. I had to decide what field I wanted to pursue, and how to go about it. I knew I wanted to teach because it offered everything I wanted in a profession including, good benefits, decent pay, the chance to work with children, and the chance to eventually coach High School Football. No other career I found can offer all of these advantages. Although I know I want to teach there is more to the teaching profession than that. First, I have to learn the curriculum and then how to bring that material across to the students. The actual learning process comes naturally for me, but I had to stop and think about how I would bring it across once I become a teacher. This involves many aspects of my life and what I feel is important. I feel ones teaching philosophy pulls from every portion of an individuals belief system. These can include your moral and ethical beliefs, your personality, and also what you, as a teacher, feel is important for the students to learn. To me this seems to be a very big responsibility, so when I started considering my teaching philosophy, I did not take the task lightly. It seems to me that there is a very thin line between fulfilling your own expectations as a teacher, and giving the children what they need and even what they want. I decided that I as a prospective educator, found no teaching philosophy that fulfilled all of my beliefs and hopes. I felt that choosing one philosophy in its entirety was to extreme. I feel that there are parts of all of the philosophies that are excellent, but the philosophies as a whole fail the students in some aspects. That is why for me, I chose an eclectic philosophy. I broke down all of the ways of thinking and came up with my own personal philosophy to use some day when I achieve my dream of being a teacher. I feel it is very important to teach the basic skills first.

Death benefits Essay

Scholars such as Gnckenzie (2007) advised people to take action before the 1st of July in order to ensure that they stand an opportunity to benefit under the new super rules. Among the things people were advised to do were to make a clear review on their nominations of death benefits, to make sure that they were still appropriate and in the current manner. Doing a review on insurance cover was also necessary to consider whether the amount in the account should be increased or not. Another strategy was to do a combination of all or part of the money for those who started their funds before 1983, the 1st of July. The set one million as a limit was also supposed to be utilized by people if they were to get advantage in the new changes. According to Betamann (2006) a person was supposed to make sure that they had effectively quoted the number on the tax file (TFN) to make good use of the new rules on their superannuation funds. Co-contributions were to be appropriately made to the government for the people whose contributions on the super is non-concessional, all these were recommended to be done before 1st July 2007. People were also advised to review their arrangements on salary contributions and confirm that the contributions they made did not go above the set limits. The set one million as a limit should be utilized by people if they are to get advantage in the new changes. A recommendation was also made that one should make sure that they have effectively quoted the TFN to make good use of the new rules on their superannuation funds. Co-contributions should be appropriately made to the government for the people whose contributions on the super is non-concessional. Annette (2006) advised people to make a review on minimum payments allocated on pension and be careful about the amount of money they withdraw, because if one withdraws a lot of money, then it means their accounts would soon run out. There was an advice to people to make applications for the health card of the seniors if they were legible for that. Checking whether one would suitably fit in the non-commutable to be able to enjoy the benefit of exception on the asset test which is on a 50% limit. Conclusion By and large the, the changes made on the 2007 simplified superannuation Act as Gnckenzie (2007) stated, have had a great improvement on the lives of the employees who were approaching retirement period. The exemption of tax, tax deduction, reduction of tax on death penalties and tax free death benefits upon the immediate dependents are among the benefits the seniors have enjoyed. However, the limitations introduced in the Act may have negative effects on the retirees who may not be able to comply. If a retiree takes action on the advice offered by the scholars, then they stand a great chance to take advantage of the 1st of July simplified superannuation Act. References Annette, N. (2006).Choices of Individual Investment and Retirement Enhancement: The Subcommittee Hearing. New York: McGraw Publishers. Batemann, H. (2006). Retirement Provision in Scary Markets (3rd ed. ). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Clare, S. (2005). Retirement in Australia and Superannuation: The Government Fund. Cambridge: Anderson Publishers. Cohen, P. (1998). Superannuation and Retirement (2nd ed. ). Chicago: Moody Press Gnckenzie, R. (2007). The Book That talks On Money: How to Manage Your Money Well. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mcdonald’s Business Plan Essay

McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s leading food service organization. By 1967 McDonalds expanded its operations to countries outside the U.S.A. This unyielding expansion led the Corporation to open 23,000 McDonald’s restaurants in 110 countries in 1994, producing $3.4 in annual revenues. In addition, McDonald’s opens a new restaurant every three hours and has twice the market share of its closest U.S. competitor, Burger King, representing 7% of total U.S. eating-out sales. Similarly, McDonald’s serves about 1% of the world’s population on any given day through its 23,000 restaurants internationally. Big Mac, the world’s most sold hamburger was developed by Jim Delligutti in 1967 to feed construction workers. ‘Big Mac’ is the biggest attraction and backbone of the corporation. Moreover, McDonald’s maintains its competitive advantage by constantly creating new items to add onto its menu. This shows us that McDonald ’s practices an analyzer type of strategy, introducing new items and defending its existing ones. This is a sample business plan and here we reflect our standard business plan model, some of the numbers shown in our following Financial Plan are fictitious, so be advised. 1.1 Industry McDonalds Industry is one of the biggest food chain companies around the world; is the world’s largest fast food restaurant chain, with over 32,000 locations in over 110 countries. McDonald’s operates its own restaurants and franchises its brand to local businesspeople (about 70% of the world’s McDonald’s restaurants are franchised). In the U.S, McDonald’s focused on increasing sales at existing locations by renovating stores, expanding menu options and extending store hours. Internationally, McDonald’s expanded aggressively, opting to franchise rather than operate its new locations, providing new income with little overhead. Domestically, McDonald’s  continues to perform well despite a pullback in consumer spending and is even benefiting as consumers trade down from more expensive eating options and at the same time, international operations are driving profit growth. 1.2 Target Customers McDonald’s uses demographic segmentation strategic with age as a parameter. The main target segments are children, young adults and the busy executive on the go. Kids reign supreme in FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) purchase related to food products so, to attract children McDonalds has Happy Meal with which toys ranging from hot wheels to various Walt Disney characters, the teenagers with the price on the products to satisfy their expectative as well as the facility of the WI-FI which it makes it attractive to most of the student’s college students. Also, the strategy is aimed at making McDonald’s a fun place to eat attracting the young urban families wanting to spend some quality time while their children have fun at the outlet. 1.3 Competitor Analysis McDonald’s is the clear leader of the fast food industry in terms of revenues generated and restaurants established; it faces competition from other fast food chains which are introducing new products themselves. The major direct competitors in the (hamburger-based) fast food industry that includes: Burger King the second largest hamburger fast food chain, Wendy’s which are the third largest hamburger fast food chain, and some others. McDonald’s also competes with non-hamburger-based fast food restaurants, local and national dine-in restaurants (such as Red Robin’s and Shari’s), pizza parlors, coffee shops (Starbucks), street vendors, convenience stores and supermarkets. But, even though McDonalds still the most famous and visited by the different types of families worldwide. 1.4 Company Description McDonald’s was founded and started franchising in 1955. A man name Ray Kroc, who was a milkshake mixer vendor, came across brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, who were running a small hamburger stand. He saw how quickly  customers were being served and suggested the brothers open a chain of restaurants. They did, and Kroc became their business  partner. McDonald’s, and the signature golden arches, have since become internationally recognized symbols. Their signs proclaim â€Å"millions served,† and that is not an exaggeration. With over 32,000 locations worldwide, McDonald’s is the leading global fast food franchise. 1.5 Products / Service Plan Customer perception is a key factor affecting a product’s success. Many potentially revolutionary products have failed simply because of their inability to build a healthy perception about themselves in the customers’ minds. McDonalds being an internationally renowned brand brings with it certain expectations for the customers that expect to be in a hygienic ambient and a little sophisticated brand that respects their values. The customer’s expect the brand to enhance their self-image. Customer responses obtained at the Vile Parle, Mumbai outlet confirmed the fact that they connect strongly with the brand. However, fulfilling some of the customer expectations like a broader product variety provide McDonald’s a great scope for improvement. 1.6 Mission and Vision Vision: Is to be the world’s best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile. Mission: Be the best employer for our people in each community around the world; deliver operational excellence to our customers in each of our restaurants; and achieve enduring profitable growth by expanding the brand and leveraging the strengths of the McDonalds system through innovation and technology. Marketing Plan 3.1 Market Description There are close to 50,000 fast food chains across the United States, with McDonalds being the largest restaurant chain. In the world, there are more than 500,000 fast food places. Kids between the ages of 6 and 14 eat fast food 157,000,000 times every month. Ninety-six percent of kids in school could recognize an image of Ronald McDonald, the face of McDonalds. The only recognizable figure that ranked higher was Santa Claus. To top it off, Americans spend nearly $100 billion on fast food every year. There are around 13,000 McDonalds in the U.S. 40% of all of American family meals are eaten outside the home. 3.2 Market Facts McDonalds has grown rapidly in the last 10 years, following are some points related to the fast food customers in the USA. * 40% of all of American family meals are eaten outside the home. * 1 in every 4 Americans eat at a McDonalds on a daily basis 11 * McDonalds sells more toys than Toys R Us each year. * With all the tests scientists did, they came to the conclusion that many children can recognize McDonalds before they can even speak. * Over 25 percent of Americans consume fast food every day 3.3 Market Growth Fast food restaurants represent one of the largest segments of the food industry with over 200,000 restaurants and $120 billion in sales in the U.S. alone. Fast food restaurants, also known as quick service restaurants, are noted for their short food preparation time. Some of the largest players in this category include international giants like McDonald’s. 3.4 Market Demand Fast food restaurants in the USA are getting more demanding with the passage of time. Following are some common demands that have arise in the recent past. 1. Affordable: Fast food is affordable people and families with low income are able to afford the food from fast food restaurants. 2. Convenience: Families today are always on the go between works, school, and after school activities the quick accessibility to be able to order, get served, and eat a meal in just minutes makes it convenient for families today. 3. Easy access: They are now the world’s leading fast-food retailer, with more than 30,000 restaurants serving more than 52 million people in more than 100 countries each day. This makes it easily accessible for everyone. 3.5 Market Opportunities McDonalds offers a lot of opportunities for existing and potential investors. Their market is growing for many reasons some of them are the following: 1. More than 70 percent of McDonald’s restaurants around the world are owned and operated by independent local businesspeople. 2. The most frequently used method to buy a McDonalds franchise for sale is by buying an existing restaurant. 3.6 Barriers to Entry Government regulations, economies of scale, customer loyalty, advertising budget, and an exclusive agreement with suppliers are some barriers to entry for the fast food industry. 3.7 Targeted Audience McDonalds will be starting its operations in Miami, Florida. McDonalds target their advertising at children and students which is an important market for them. A parent with children might visit which gives children a treat. McDonald’s Happy Meals are one example, which includes a toy often, tied in with a newly-released children’s film, building playgrounds inside their restaurants, and creating one of the world’s best-known mascots, Ronald McDonald. The children want to visit McDonalds as it is a fun place to eat. McDonald’s was the first chain to put its restaurants near—and inside—schools as a strategy to market to children. In Chicago, one of the chain’s biggest markets, more than 90 percent of the city’s McDonald’s were located within walking distance of a school. Children watch, on average, an hour of fast-food commercials on television each week—more time than many children spend playing outside. The average child sees about 20,000 fast-food commercials every year. In 2006, fast-food restaurants sold more than 1.2 billion kids’ meals with toys. An estimated 20 percent of public schools sell branded fast food, mostly in high schools, where kids have more  discretion to buy â€Å"a la carte,† rather than from the regular lunch program. 3.8 Competition In one sense, McDonald’s doesn’t have any real competitors, as they are the  largest restaurant chain worldwide. But some of the other restaurant chains large enough to cut into its market share include Burger King Corporation. So how is it possible for Burger King to go up against history itself? Surprisingly they did and even though McDonald is still the best fast food franchise Burger King is trailing by not too far. One of the reasons why Burger King was so successful includes many factors but one of them was location. One of the best ways to explain it is Burger King has always found outlets where there is a large concentration of people but that wasn’t there only strategy because they also had the great idea of going head-to-head with McDonald across the street. By setting outlets in front or near a McDonald outlet they were guaranteeing visibility of their franchise. McDonald can come up with new marketing ploys and new food but it couldn’t have the advantage of location like Burger King. Remember both of them are fast food franchises so for the common customer the closest franchise is enough. In most cases people who have ate at McDonald’s have tried Burger King and people who ate at Burger King have tried McDonald and that’s completely normal. At the end of the day there isn’t much difference except for the name of every meal. If you look at it both franchises have the same types of combo which includes a hamburger, fries and a soft drink. The process may vary a little bit but in general you’ll be eating the same thing at both outlets. I. Product The first p is product. Which is one of the important things to remember when offering menu items to possible customers is that there is a huge amount of preference available to those potential customers with regard to how and where they spend their money. Marketing constantly monitors the customers’ preferences. In order to meet these changes, McDonald’s has created many new products and removed old ones over time, and they will continue to do that depending on what the customers’ needs are.