Child Abuse and Role of the Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Child Abuse and Role of the Family - Essay Example This paper discusses child abuse and role of the family in a concise and comprehensive way. As summarized by the World Health Organization (2002, online), "Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power." Child physical abuse involves a parent or caretaker intentionally inflicting physical pain on the child and can range, for example, from shaking, dragging, or spanking a child to the extremes of kicking, punching, or beating. Child sexual abuse involves a caretaker using a child for sexual gratification and can range from non-contact abuse (proposition, exhibition) to the extremes of actual penetration, to commercial sexual exploitation. Child emotional abuse involves inflicting psychological pain on the child (Child Trauma Academy, 2003). This includes, for example, yelling at, ridiculing, degrading, or humiliating a child; communicating that the child is flawed or unlovable; threatening a child or a child's loved one; exposure to domestic violence. Child neglect involves a caretaker's failure to provide for the child's basic needs. This includes physical neglect (adequate shelter, food, clothing), medical neglect (adequate health care), cognitive or educational neglect (intellectual stimulation, involvement in child's schooling), supervision neglect (monitoring the child's whereabouts, involvement in child's activities), and emotional neglect (providing emotional responsiveness, support, and affection). Prenatal neglect and abuse (failure to obtain proper care and/or substance abuse during pregnancy) constitutes yet another category of maltreatment (McLoyd, 1998). The consequences of child maltreatment are considerable, not only for the child, but also for society. Some consequences for the child are greater for one type of maltreatment than another. For example, child neglect is most strongly associated with the child having a lower IQ and lower educational achievement; child physical abuse with the child engaging in violence as a teen and adult; and, child emotional abuse with subsequent psychopathology. However, all forms of maltreatment are associated with adverse effects for children and the adults they become (Small, Luster, 1994). Child physical and emotional abuse and neglect all increase the likelihood that the child will subsequently: * - Be cognitively impaired (e.g., lower IQ and cognitive development; lower grades and

Affect Of Attitudes To Risk On Decision Outcomes Essay

Affect Of Attitudes To Risk On Decision Outcomes - Essay Example Individuals tend to take bigger risks if they have a big amount of wealth in their portfolio. Normally, where there is a high risk in an investment, it is probable that the payoff tends to be bigger, and where the risk is small, the payoffs tend to be smaller. Due to this reasons, individuals with massive wealth in their portfolio tend to be riskier so as to maximize their payoff. This type of individuals mostly is driven by their ambition to acquire more wealth in the future. Thus, they take a bigger risk in their investments because even if they lose out because of an unsuspected market condition, their wealth always cautions them and thus they have little to fear.Another individual factor that impacts the attitude on risk on the decision outcomes is the knowledge from the market that mostly is bought from the consulting and experts firms in the market. These firms gather, analyze and predict the future market condition and thus they can advise managers on the riskiness when undert aking certain projects and investments. Knowledge from the experts helps individuals to make informed and proper decisions that have a positive impact on the expected outcomes. Although the perfect information is costly, it saves a great deal as opposed to having no information at all. When one has the knowledge, he or she has power, and it is only right that he uses it for the betterment of his decisions and judgment.Another individual factor that affects the risk attitudes on decision outcomes is the earlier periods' outcomes.

Business Placement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Business Placement - Essay Example For the purpose of this assignment, the fields selected are energy, FMCG and Information Technology. The reason for selecting FMCG and energy is their extensive nature and opportunities of having employments on global scale. There are many companies in these sectors that are operating on global scale e.g. Nestle, Unilever, P&G, 3M, Philip Moris, British American Tobacco, Colgate-Palmolive, Kellog etc. On the other hand, companies operating in these industries at small and medium level are also using e-commerce and other techniques to expand their operations beyond borders through imports and exports. If American industry is explored alone, the market is quite extensive and there is still a room for new entrants to exploit opportunities offered by this industry. My third choice would be IT sector. The reason for selecting IT industry is its robust and highly creative nature. Everyday new applications and products are coming into market and there is a never-ending need for innovative p roducts and services. In order to understand dynamics of each industry, it is important to explore how they operate individually, what kind of career prospects and remuneration they offer along with skills required by each of them. For this purpose, an extensive industry analysis is performed with reference to FMCG, energy and IT sector in United States. This analysis will further help in analyzing career opportunities available in respective fields of employment. The research regarding best employers was performed with the help of various online sources and periodicals such as business insiders, Forbes, CNN Money. With the help of this research, it was found that Google Inc was one of the best employers which not only provided better and growing career prospects but also a suitable working environment as well. Since work environment is one of the most important factor affecting employees’ satisfaction and their retention with their employers, therefore Google Inc would be my future prospective employer from IT sector (CNN Money, 2013). Another top employer is 3M from FMCG sector. Lastly, Devon Energy company would be a preferred employer from energy sector. 2.0 Energy Sector in United States The United States is named as the market leader when it comes to global energy sector. Similarly, with increase in commercial and domestic consumers, it is also the biggest user of energy resources. The industry itself has various kinds of sub-fields such as renewable energy and fuel, oil and gas, coal and nuclear energy, industrial energy efficiency, smart grid etc. The energy sector of United States alone contributes $ 6billion in global energy market (SelectUSA-Energy, 2013). The employers in this field mainly perform integrated process, exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, marine businesses, and service and supply. According to American Petroleum Institute (2013), â€Å" The industry also supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.3 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested over $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.†

GMO the Necessary Evil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

GMO the Necessary Evil - Essay Example There have been many mixed reactions due to GM foods because of the rampant debate surrounding GMO technology. Today, the process of genetic modification is rapidly advancing throughout the planet. In 2004, 8.25 million farmers in 17 nations grew the crops (Ahmed 30). The production and marketing of GM foods are due to the superficial benefits they hold either to the producer or to consumption of these genetic foods. When it was first introduced, GM seeds developers needed their products to be accepted by producers and focus on innovations that have direct benefits to the farmers and the food industry at large. For example, the International Rice Research Institute located in the Philippines manufactured the GM golden rice to help people in South East Asia that were lacking food. Research has shown that GMO presents significant threats because of inconclusive research on their safety and their effects on the environment. However, I believe GMO is a necessary evil that the human race must contend with because it faces an imminent food crisis. GMO is the necessary evil that will solve the world food problem (Specter 34). GMO foods are unavoidable, and we cannot live without them. The World Health Organization (WHO), the Food, Drug Administration, and other scientific bodies in the world have strongly advocated for the use of GM foods, since they do not predispose the human health to any harm. Additionally, research shows that the risks to human health that may be brought about by the consumption of GM foods are the same as those that are produced by the consumption of non-GM foods. Moreover, GM foods are safe to use as they tested for food safety and passed the safety assessment. Some people believe that GM foods should be eliminated due to the risks they have like the health issues. It is a fact that people have eaten some of the GM foods unknowingly, but no complains of serious concerns (Ahmed 18). By 2040, the world’s population is predicted to increase

Analysis of Globalization and Transnational Processes Literature review

Analysis of Globalization and Transnational Processes - Literature review Example Apart from the highly debatable claims about the diminished role f states, there are additional issues that theories f globalization face. For the focus on how globalization negates the very concept a center and periphery by generating diasporic public spaces tend to lead to an undertheorizing f the differentiated peripheries, which have disparate relationships with the various centers. This is an undertheorizing f the centers which, United States hegemony not-withstanding, are composed f a number f complexly hierarchized and contending entities, for example, in Scottish--English--Welsh relationships. It is, as well, an undertheorizing f the peripheries which also have complex hierarchical inter-ethnic, cultural, and sometimes racial inter-relationships, first fall within their own borders, then between themselves as peripheries, and, finally, with the various centers. In other words, in theorizing the undoubtedly new phenomenon f globalization, it is critical not to lose sight f the specifics f this process. There are complex and dynamic patterns f racial, ethnic, cultural, class, and social hierarchies that are being generated within particular societies and on a global scale. Sometimes these generate new hierarchical spaces, but often they reinforce old hegemonies within and between nations, without necessarily undermining the power f nation-states as such. Thus I have pointed out that globalization, as it restructures societies internally, simultaneously establishes and reinforces international hierarchy f races, ethnicities, cultures, and nations. Broadly speaking, this hierarchy is based on an international ranking according to political, economic, and cultural prestige and power. This is measured, for example, by such standard economic criteria as per capita gross national product rates f technical innovativeness, and the obvious consequences that economic and technical dominance has for global military dominance. This global racial-cultural hierarchy places Anglo-American culture at the apex and Sub-Saharan African culture at the base. Hegemony is exercised, the first fall, within the complex racial and cultural hierarchies internal to the United States and Europe, and through this route, extends itself globally. Latin, Slavic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindu, and other cultures (usually with their own complex and dynamic internal cultural, social, economic, and political hierarchies) jostle to occupy intermediate positions between the two extremes.  Ã‚  

Macroeconomic Convergence, Development And Growth Essay

Macroeconomic Convergence, Development And Growth - Essay Example The convergence process is dependent on a large number of factors such as the population growth, speed of capital formation and the presence of efficient economic policies as well as appropriate financial institutions. Along with this the accumulation of human and physical capital are important as it significantly influences the savings and rate of investment (Halmai & Vasary, 2009, p.3). Technological spread, change in growth rate and total productivity of the factors are the major players in enhancing the rate of convergence (Halmai & Vasary, 2009, p.3). As per professor Jeffrey Sachs, countries following closed economic polies have not been successful in converging. The countries following closed economic policies had a growth rate of 2% whereas the countries following open economic policies have a growth rate of 4.5 %. As sited by many economists, endogenous rather than the exogenous factors triggers the growth of an economy (Alfaro et al, 2005). The Asian tigers such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea have been successful in converging with the developed countries. An economy is said to have achieved economic growth, if it is able to produce more goods and services than what it used to produce initially. Economic growth is often related with technological progress. If an economy has achieved growth than the standard of living of its citizens also improves. In US, the economic growth occurred with the introduction of high technology in the country. Financial development also follows from the economic growth. This is due to the fact that if an economy is financially sound then its economy is also developed. Association between Economic Growth and Macroeconomic Convergence Economic growth takes place in a country whenever the resources are utilised more efficiently (Romer, 2007). As per the neoclassical growth theories, a country converges to its steady state rate, if there exists diminishing returns from investing in the physical capitals. Poore r economies have a greater tendency to converge owning to its high marginal productivity. This process of convergence which eventually leads in the equalisation of the per capita incomes amongst the countries is called absolute convergence. If for a country the convergence takes place both in terms of growth rate as well as income levels than the process becomes beta convergence. According to the idea of club convergence, if countries have similar initial conditions then they have a tendency to converge. This concept is regarded as sigma convergence. It is also emphasised that if the countries vary in their initial conditions then they will not converge, this could however be overcome if the economic policies could eliminate the variations. Solow growth model emphasise that such variations in a country’s economic policy cannot lead to long run economic growth (Romer, P, 2007). As the scatter plot alongside shows, the association between average annual growth rate and real GDP per capita need not be associated similarly for all nations, even though they are featured by similar initial characteristics. A country’s economic growth is measured by its level of technological progress. According to the endogenous growth theory, creation of enlarged market in an economy leads to a better utilisation of economies of scale. This on the other hand has a positive impact on a

World Com and Accounting Ethics Essay Example for Free

World Com and Accounting Ethics Essay Current business and regulatory environments are more conducive to ethical behavior due to many new laws that have been put into effect in recent years. For many companies, especially small ones, the checks and balances are not put into place as well as they should be. With new laws in effect and more and more accountants paying attention to their clients’ accounts, ethical behavior is on the rise although it will take a long time to recover from the scandals that rocked the world beginning with Waste Management in 1998 and following with Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, HealthSouth, Freddie Mac, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff and Saytam in 2009. For 10 years unethical behavior and choices almost brought our country to its knees and even now many people are losing their homes and their jobs because the economy has still not fully recovered. In 1983 in a small coffee shop in Hattiesburg, MS, the business concept that would become WorldCom was born. The company was to become one of the largest telecommunications companies that would one day rival ATT. WorldCom began as a small long distance telephone company and through an aggressive acquisition strategy, evolved in the second-largest long distance telephone company in the United States and one of the largest companies handling worldwide Internet data traffic. WorldCom achieved its position through a large number of acquisitions and between 1991 and 1997, WorldCom spent almost $60 billion in the acquisition of many of these companies and accumulated $41 billion in debt. With each acquisition, WorldCom’s stock continued to rise as the company became more noticeable, rising from pennies per share to over $60 per share in 1997. As the company grew people sat up and took notice and Wall Street investment banks as well as analysts and brokers began making buy recommendations to investors worldwide. All of this would have ended well if WorldCom had obviously played by the rules but alas, that was not the case. As with any acquisition, let alone 65 of them in six years, management at the top level requires considerable attention to make the merging of the two companies run smoothly. Secondly, the accounting of the financial aspects of each merging company must be accomplished through the application of generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP). WorldCom’s merger with MCI was the beginning of the end. Bernie Ebbers (CEO) paid little attention to the details of the operations and many things began deteriorating, mainly customer service. Customers were told they were not customers, computer systems conflicted with each other and billing systems were not coordinated – a recipe for disaster. Although WorldCom had an immense talent for buying competitors, it was not up to the task of merging them. WorldCom also used their own interpretation of accounting rules when preparing financial statements. â€Å"In an effort to make it appear that profits were increasing, WorldCom would write down in one quarter millions of dollars in assets it acquired while, at the same time, it â€Å"included in this charge against earnings the cost of company expenses expected in the future. The result was bigger losses in the current quarter but smaller ones in future quarters, so that its profit picture would seem to be improving.† (Moberg) WorldCom managers also made their own assumptions regarding accounts receivables which if the money customers owe the company. They chose to ignore the accounts receivables because this allowed for a lower assumption of non-collectable bills which in turn required a smaller reserve fund. The end result allows for higher earnings. All of these practices could continue as long as WorldCom continued to acquire additional companies, using those companies as their â€Å"merry-go-round† to utilize poor accounting practices. Not only poor practices but unethical. In 2000, the merry-go-round stopped when the government refused to allow WorldCom to merge with Sprint. Another accounting practice that that was uncovered was the allowance of the board of directors to authorize loans to senior executives. Mr. Ebbers received a $341 million loan authorized by the board of directors which is the largest amount any publicly traded company has lent to one of its officers in recent memory. This brings concerns about conflict of interest and breach of fiduciary duty but nevertheless WorldCom was not the only company allowing this practice. And on top of that the loan interest rate was as low as 2% which was not much of a return for the company that loaned him that large of an amount. WorldCom’s unethical accounting practices were found by Cynthia Cooper who worked as an internal auditor for WorldCom. Cynthia and her team became suspicious of a number of peculiar financial transactions and began their own private investigation. What they found were multiple entries that were misallocated and unauthorized to the tune of $4 billion dollars in capital expenditures. It appeared the company was trying to represent operating costs as capital expenditures in order to make the company look more profitable. By allowing these kinds of practices and attempting to have others following the same kind of unethical behavior, moral and trust were at an all time low within the company. Beginning in 2002 everything began to unravel. The SEC began an investigation on the company and WorldCom was trying to avoid filing for bankruptcy. Within months they laid off more than 17,000 employees, almost 20 percent of their workforce. By the time it was all said and done, 30,000 employees lost their jobs and investors lost over $180 billion dollars. WorldCom improperly booked $3.8 billion as capital expenditures which improved cash flow and profit over a 5 quarter period. This disguised the actual net loss for 2001 and the first quarter of 2002. It is possible that the accounting irregularities go back to 2000. In simple terms WorldCom did not account for expenses when it incurred them, but hid the expenses by pushing them into the future, giving the appearance of spending less and therefore making more money. This apparent profitability pleased investors who pushed the stock up to a high of $64.51 in June 1999. When WorldCom was stopped from acquiring Sprint they had to find a way to hide their large expenses so that the price of the stock would not go down. They did this by treating $7 billion of line costs as capital expenditures. These line costs were basically rental fees paid to other phone companies to use their phone lines. Up until 2001 these fees (expenses) had always been properly expensed in previous years but when WorldCom placed them in the capitalization category the expense was delayed to future periods which in turn boosted current-period profits. The accounting guideline that made this decision fraudulent was materiality. Materiality refers to the impact of an item’s size on a company’s financial operations. Materiality states that if an item would not make a difference in decision-making, the company does not have to follow GAAP in reporting the item. In this case, $7 billion dollars in expenses makes a huge difference so GAAP guideline should have been followed. Consequently profits for 2001 and 2002 were overstated greatly. This ethical breach could have been avoided long before it became a huge problem basically by maintaining the accounting system from the very beginning. Because WorldCom was more interested in acquiring companies than in merging them properly, accounting systems from various companies did not work together well. After a time and more and more acquisitions it became a huge mess and nobody really had any idea what was right and what was wrong. Senior management used that disorganization to conceal their fraudulent activities. This large of a fraud should have been easily detected by doing a routing comparison of the actual physical assets with a list of the physical assets shown in the accounting records. Following the scandal of WorldCom which closely followed the Waste Management Scandal in 1998 and the Enron scandal in 2001, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, introducing the most sweeping set of new business regulations since the 1930s.