Programs to rehabilitate young offenders

Programs to rehabilitate young offenders The intent of this dissertation is to explore the current shaping of the youth justice system and also to explore the programs that are in place to help rehabilitate young offenders who have been placed in young offender institutes. This research will discuss and examine the effectiveness of these programs put in place for young people who are in custody to help prevent them from re-offending once they are in the community. In 2006 the number of prisoners under the age of 21 years in England and Wales stood at 11, 672 and 2,528 of those where children (juveniles). In the past decade or maybe more the number of children and young people entering the penal custody in England and Wales has increased very significantly. It is believed that at least 85 percent of juvenile prisoners are held in Young Offender Institutions (YOI). Young offender institutes are described as specialist penal facilities which are usually managed by the prison service. These institutions are designed for prisoners aged 15-20 years. In these institutions male juvenile prisoners these are from the ages of (15-17 years) are normally detained separately from young adult offenders those who are 18- 20 years old. There are some exceptions to this rule which can at times be applied to female juvenile prisoners (Goldson and Muncie 2006). In England and Wales there is a total of 17 young offender institutes and 13 of those establishments ar e for males and the remaining 4 are dedicated for females up to the age of 17 years (www.yjb.gov.uk ). There are so many explanations which come in to light when it comes to the rise of crime among young people. The aim of the writer is to explore and evaluate the true prevalence youth re-offending and the issues and risk factors that underpin the rehabilitation of people in custody and how effective the rehabilitation programs put in place for young people are. Firstly the literature review will consider relevant viewing the topic of the current model and thinking of the youth justice system. It will also begin by looking at the history of youth imprisonment. Chapter two will explore the programs in place for young people in custody geared towards their rehabilitation. Chapter three will describe and analyse the methodology used in acquiring data. In the fourth chapter the writer will evaluate the rehabilitative programs/the initiatives found in young offenders institutions. The writer will conclude by discussing and summarising the findings and making and future recommendations for future practice. PART TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW The main legislation governing the youth justice system is the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which sets out the systems primary aim which is to prevent offending and re-offending by children and young people. The 1998 Act developed the Youth Justice Board and also the Youth Offending Teams which can be found in every local authority in England and Wales. It is the belief that the main aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending and re-offending by young people and children (National Audit Office, 2010). It is said that they are four arguments which are put forward for the use of custodial sentencing for young people these are Rehabilitation, Deterrence, Incapacitation and Retribution. Bateman et al (2005) suggests that the argument for Rehabilitation is that the prison should be able to deal with the underlying problems in a way that offenders who remain in the community can not be dealt with. Deterrence it is claimed has both individual and general forms. It is suggested that the presence and use of custodial institutions will prevent young people from committing crimes that might send them to serve custodial sentences. According to the individual form it is expected that custody will discourage those who experience it from committing any more crime so they can avoid further incarceration. Incapacitation is an argument which proposes that if young people who offend are removed off the streets, then they can not offend and so youth crime will reduce. Retribution is an argument which is sometimes used as a rationale for the use of custody. The person who commits the crime is made to pay for the crime they committed. However it is the belief that there is little effect in punishment unless it changes a persons subsequent behaviour (Bateman et al, 2005). Exploring the legislative history of youth justice and the development of the youth justice practice from 1997 onwards. Until 1908 there was no separate court which dealt with young offenders. The children act 1908 was developed and this led to the creation of the juvenile courts, however these courts were presided over by the same magistrates who sat in the adult courts and their formation showed very little understanding of the reasons why children and young people commit crime and also that the needs of children and young people who stand before the courts may be different from those of adults (Dugmore et al, 2006). According to Dugmore et al (2006) it was stated that it could be argued that there was some confusion which arouse at the inception stage between the different approaches which needed to be used when dealing with those children and young people who had committed offences and also those who where just in need of care. The 1908 Childrens Act gave the court authority over both care and criminal issues. Due to the judicial body having control over both the depraved (criminals) and the deprived (children in care) this Act gave birth to the system paying more attention to the process of distinguishing between the different types of young people who came before the juvenile justice system and by difference we mean those young people who deserved to be punished and those young people in need of help and care. The next momentous piece of legislation is the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. Goldson (2008) stated that: This Act aimed to strengthen certain enactments relating to young persons under the age 18 years in particular and The Children and young persons Act 1933 acted and revised measures relating to the protection of and employment of children generally and to criminal proceedings in particular. According to Dugmore (2006), the Act was passed as a result of the Maloney committee (Home office, 1927) which contained a blend of positivist and classicist explanations in children and young people. In this report, it was stated that law breaking was seen as a deliberate act of defiance, which had to be dealt with in the formality of the court and its Sanctions. However, it is recognised that delinquent behaviour may be caused by environmental and psychological factors that were beyond the young persons control. The 1933 Act played an important role in establishing what became known by many professionals such as social workers and others as the Welfare principle, however, Goldson (2008) suggests that much of this large and important legislation has since been transformed or discontinued. Even though this seems to be the case some of the sections of this 1933 legislation is still valuable and better still a majority it was very much still in use until recently. Section 44 of the Act is still regarded as very important for children and young people in court proceedings this is because it states in this section that the court shall have regard to the welfare of the child or young person who stands before it this principle also applies to the crown prosecution service and it is considered to be a weak principle compared to the paramouncy principle which is in 1989 Children Act. It was sated in this Act that the childs welfare must be the factor which determines the courts decision when it comes to the upbringing of a child (Goldson, 2008). Goldson (2008) stated that it was suggested that the duty to have regard means that consideration is provided with regards to the interests of the child or young person, the crown and youth magistrates courts can legally give precedence to other interests such as the need to prevent re-offending and to protect the public. However, this legislation stressed the need for the Juvenile courts to deal with children separately and whilst treating them differently. The Ingle by Report (1960) which is known as the report of the Home Office Departmental Committee on Children and Young persons was responded to by the Government through the introduction of a new piece of legislation which is the Children and Young persons Act 1963 and this legislation is mainly applicable to England and Wales. There are two provisions of this act and number one is concerned with the age of criminal responsibility meaning the minimum age of which a child may be charged with a criminal offence. In this report, it was recommended that age for criminal responsibility in both England and Wales should be raised from 8 to 12 years with the responsibility of a further rise to 13 to 14 at some time in the future. However the then Conservative government refused and by way of compromise increased the age of responsibility to 10. The Children and Young Persons Act 1969 according to Pickford (2006) is considered to be the most welfare orientated established with regards to the treatment of juvenile offenders. This Act was introduced by the Labour government which was in power at that time. It is stated that some of the more welfare orientated provisions of the Act such as the proposal to allow local authorities to deal with juvenile delinquents by using methods such as supervision, arranging care and raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. These proposals never came into force due to the incoming Conservative government which refused to implement these ideas, however during that same period in Scotland there was little opposition to the Welfare Model of youth justice as proposed by the Kilbrandon in Scotland (Home office, 1964) as cited in (Pickford, 2006). The 1969 Act granted the criminal court the power to pass a criminal sanction on a young person that in effect amounted to a welfare provision the criminal care order which was abolished in 1989. In this sentence both the deprive and the depraved became one and the welfare measure became a criminal sanction (Muncie, 2004). It is stated by Pickford et al (2006) that this legislation created greater powers of discretion for social work but did nothing to stem a rising flow of custodial disposals. Exploring the Current model of the youth justice policy and philosophy Many academics such as Fionda (2005) and stated that one case in 1993 known as the James Bulger case who was killed by two 10-year-old boys changed the opinion of the public and the direction of the youth justice policy in relation to young offenders. The belief is that the shock of the public which was largely fuelled by the media following the case led to a moral panic about how children and young people were breaking the law Cohen (1973). Some academics for example Jenks (1996) argued that the Bulger case led to the death of childhood innocence and the subsequent demonisation of youth. It is suggested that due to this realisation, children were no longer considered too pure and innocent they were now considered capable of the worst kind of evil ever imagined. The idea that children were born innocent and so need to be protected from a society that is corrupt was abandoned and society adopted the notion that children are born capable of evil and need to be controlled (Hendricks, 2002). Academics such as Brown (2005) have agreed that the medias portrayal of young offenders allegedly being treated softly by the juvenile justice system swung the political and publics opinion towards a period of getting tough on youth criminality. Public statistics suggest that the number of young offenders aged 10 to 17 found guilty r cautioned of an indictable offence fell by 30percent between 1987 and 1997. According to Nacro (1999) since 1987, the number of male juvenile offenders has fallen by 33% and female young offenders by 17%. Pickford (2006) highlighted that the frenzy about the problem of youth crime appears to make little sense when the statistical data for that period analysed. The number of young people receiving custodial sentences during that period rose, whilst the number of young offenders detained under sentence fell by approximately 50 per cent between 1980 and 1993. Statistics show that these figures then rose up by at least 56 per cent in the four years leading u p to 1997. Together with the hysteria caused by the media the rise in the figures worked well with the development of a definition called persistent offender over this era and also the getting tough policies which related to the individuals put in this category. In the run up to the 1997 electione political debate surrounding the general election promised a law and order agenda from all major parties. Labours promise was to get tough on crime as well as the causes of crime and this included youth crime. In this period the government in power (Labour Party) established a youth crime task force and the momentum for reform of the criminal justice continued. As a result of this reform seven consultation papers were released and five of those papers related directly to youth justice. These five consultation paper relating to youth justice where published by New Labour after its election to government in1997 setting out its proposals for reform (Pickford, 2006). The 1998 Act was passed as a result of those seven papers. The Act was passed by the New Labour government to provide a root and branch overhaul of the youth justice system, which was to be implemented over a number years following the establishment of and feedback from pilot schemes and pathway sites, which tested the ground of the new reforms (Goldson, 2008). Bateman et al (2005) stated that according to the then Homer secretary Jack Straw the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 represented one of the most radical shake up of youth justice in 30 years. The Criminal justice provisions promised victims of crime a voice in the outcome of criminal cases, while the new civil measures offered to empower middle England by handing it the legal and administrative means to re-establish order and civility in its communities. The entire system was to be vigorously managed at a local level to ensure that it all joined up and offered best value to the public. Section 37 of the 1998 Act emphasized the primary aim of prevent and it states that: It shall be the principal aim of the youth justice system to prevent offending by children and young people (Goldson, 2008). Under this section a duty is placed on all personnel working within the youth justice area to have regard to this very important aim while carrying out their duties. The Home office Juvenile Offenders Unit in order to deliver this principal aim set out a number of key objectives are: Encouragement of reparation. Reinforcement of parental responsibilities. Intervention into risk factors including family, social, personal and health factors. Tackling delays- halving how long it takes for young offenders to be passed from arrest to sentence from an average of 142 days in 1996 to a target of 71 days. Confronting the young offenders with the consequences of their offending and encouraging responsibility for actions. Introduction of a new range of penalties in order to enable those who enforce punishments to punish in proportion to the seriousness and persistence of offending. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 set out six key themes which would assist with achieving the objectives set out above. Section 41 of the act related to the national framework and it set up a framework for the national Youth Justice Boards operation this was aim at encouraging and monitoring nationwide consistency in the implementation of the system of youth justice whilst ensuring goods standards for good practice and good delivery of the service. Section 73 established a new detention and training order which was implemented in April 2000. This order is claimed to be a constructive and flexible custodial sentence with a clear focus on preventing re-offending behaviour. The order can be used by both youth and crown courts in respect of all young offenders under the age of 18years who have been found guilty of an offence that if committed by an adult would be an imprisonable offence. The sentence is split into two half is spent in detention and the other half under supervision is the community (Dugmore, 2006). Section 8 of the act created a parenting order made applicable to the parents of those convicted offenders under the Criminal Justice Act 1991. The new order combines requirements of parents to fit in with their individual situation. However the order may place specific responsibilities on a parent such as ensuring their child attends school everyday. Section 6 and 7 encourages the development of local partnerships to provide a method for identifying Crime and Disorder problems within a local framework in a particular area. Section 67 brought in the reparation order which was designed to help young people who offend to face up to the consequences of their offending behaviour. Section 69, 11, 14 and 65 all of these orders are to do with tackling offending behaviour and providing early intervention for young people (Dugmore, 2006). The Youth Justice Criminal Evidence Act 1999 which was amended by the Powers of The criminal Courts Act 2000 helped achieve the proposals of reform which were outlined in the 1997 White Paper No more excuses (Home Office, 1997d). It is said by Crawford et al (2003) that the act created what is known as a referral order which was compulsory and meant for young people convicted for the first time. With this referral order, a young person is referred to a youth offender panel (YOP) which consists of members of the local community and it is put together by youth offendings teams. This order can be served for periods of between 3 months to a year. Under this order, a contract is drawn up with the young offender and their parents specifying the details of the order. The contracts are made specifically to suit the needs of the young person involved. The referral order is also designed to address the young persons offending behaviour in order to help prevent them from re-offending. The order must include preparation and can at time involve community work, contact with the victim, mediation and participation in education programmes or individual activities. The belief is that once the order is completed, the young persons offence has been spent for the purpose of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Other significant legislative changes Fionda (2005) suggests that following the 1998 and 1999 Acts there has been no statute specifically addressing youth justice practice that has been passed, meaning that many of the reforms are still being considered to be fairly new by experienced youth justice practitioners. However there have been other statutes which have been passed which cover criminal justice and these have had impact on youth disorder and criminal justice procedures. Youth imprisonment within its current model and philosophy The writer Jewkes (2010) suggested that in contemporary Britain there has been an emergence of the adultified child and this is due to the high rate teenage pregnancies, children winning the right to divorce their parents, children being tried in adult courts and many more. It is argued that in England and Wales children are criminalized at a much earlier age and also they are more inclined to lock children up, compared to other countries such as Belgium, Austria, France and many others. It is claimed that in England and Wales twice as many children are put into custody (Goldson, 2003). According to jewkes (2010) one could claim that since the teenage rebellions of the 1980s and 1960s, the age at which young people may be designated folk devils has decreased. However since the beginning of 1990s there have been regular reports about the pre-teenage children committing very serious offences such as burglary, rape and many others (Jewkes, 2010). The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 10 years which means anyone aged 10 and above can be held criminally responsible for their actions. Between 2000- 2010 provisional data showed that young people have committed 201,800 offences even though they make up only 11 percent of the population which is above the age of criminal responsibility. It is estimated that offending by all young people cost the economy 8.5 11 billion pounds in 2009 alone. The crimes most committed by young offenders and which they are commonly convicted of are theft and violence. However even though these young people havent been offending for a long time compared to adult offenders it has been noted that at least a third of those young offenders been previously been convicted, warned or reprimanded in relation to an offence (National Audit Office, 2010). It is claimed by the National Audit Office (2010) that they has been a 14 percent reduction in the number of young people held in custody over a duration of five years. Although at times in some cases the use custody is deemed necessary, it is the belief that custody is of limited effectiveness in reducing re-offending behaviour and is considered to be the most expensive sentencing option. It is said that Youth Justice Board is meeting its objective to reduce custody numbers partly through the use of other means which encourage caseworkers to recommend community sentences. CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY In order to gain further knowledge regarding youth offending rehabilitation and imprisonment of young people, the secondary data utilised for this work includes, reports, internet sources, papers, journal articles, textbooks and reports published by the Home Office, Nacro. There are a vast number of ways that data can be obtained. As suggested by Clifford and Gough (1990) when considering the data collection, method selected is compatible and appropriate to both the aims and the theoretical framework being used by the study. METHODS FOR DATA COLLECTION There are two major approaches to gather information these are secondary data and primary data. This study will use secondary data because it is readily available and it takes less time than using primary data. Primary research is very time consuming in terms of establishing samples, arranging and completing interviews, and the collecting and processing data. It is stated by Bryman (2008) that secondary data is the most common research method used by social science researchers today. According to Bryman (2008, p296) secondary data involves the processing of data that has already been collected by other parties or researchers. With this method of research, researchers will consult previous studies and findings such as books, reports, appropriate internet sources such as Youth Justice Board, Nacro, Her Majestys Inspectorate of Prisons, journals and many more. Academic books, journal articles and reports used throughout this dissertation, provided an excellent method of gathering secondary data from well established and respected authors for example Professor John Muncie, Tim Bateman and Professor Pitts. Literature suggests that most secondary data uses qualitative methods, so the research method used would be mainly qualitative. However, qualitative methods aim to study people in their natural social settings and to collect naturally occurring data. Qualitative describes in words rather than numbers. This is opposed to quantitative data which as the manipulation of numerical data through statistical procedures for the purpose of describing phenomena or assessing the magnitude and reliability of relationships among them (Bryman, 2008). Quantitative allows us to see when, where and which social conditions are most likely to create the situations in which young offenders find themselves which in turn encourage them to offend. Qualitative methods on the other hand, can help us develop an understanding of the complexities of young peoples behaviour attitudes and in the context of their experiences whilst in custody in preparation for when they are released back into the community. Qualitative method is for this current study because quantitative research is more concerned with collecting and analysis of data that focus on numbers and frequencies rather than on experience or meaning. In contrast to the research topic, qualitative method helps to develop an understanding of young peoples attitudes, experiences and feelings. As noted they are many reasons why young people re-offend and why custody is used as method of rehabilitation. Understanding these reasons will be a key target for researchers if we are to understand issues around custody, rehabilitation programmes and re-offending of young people in the future. ETHICAL ISSUES Ethical issues had to be taken into account, even though the writer did not use primary research in the study. There is a procedure which requires all participants of the research to give informed consent before conducting any research. Participants must be fully made aware of the nature and procedures of the research. The information given during interviews must remain confidential and not presented to those not directly involved in the study. The British Sociology of Criminologys guidelines on ethics for researchers have been consulted and no ethical issues were noted in relation to the nature of this secondary research project. CHAPTER THREE: OFFENDING BEHAVOIUR PROGRAMMES The main task for youth justice managers and practitioners is to make certain the selection of offender oriented programmes which have been proven to be mainly effective or at least show that in the future they can chive the main goal. Bloom (2006) formulated some questions which are central to the assessment of what works he states What social programs, policies and interventions work? For whom do they work, and under what conditions? And why do they work- or fall short? (Bloom, 2006). What are the offending behaviour programmes? One could claim that that there are two fundamental ways in which to change a young persons behaviour by changing either or both the environment in which he or she hangs or lives in and also by changing the actual individual. It has been highlighted that the most important cause of criminality amongst young people who offend is their individual characteristics whilst for others it is their environment be it the community, home life and much more (Wikstrrom et al, 2008). COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THEARPY (CBT) The idea of CBT is that if you can change the way a person be it male or female perceives and thinks about the social settings they come across and their actions, you can change that persons behaviour. This prevention model suggests that cognition is significant for behaviour and short-term interventions can change young peoples cognition in a way that significantly impacts their offending (Wikstrom et al, 2007). CBT is a fairly new intervention type which has began from advances in the understanding of the role of internal cognition in the expression of external behaviours. In the past three decades according to Leschied (2002) cognitive science and neuropsychology have advanced rapidly bringing a new awareness of how the ways in which persons feel and think influences how they react to the settings in which they take part. This progression is claimed to have revolutionised thinking in the field of criminology. The study of the causes of crime has extended to the causal chain from internal to environmental influences through attention and perception. It is suggested that successfully influencing elements in behaviour and crime causation can have significant and a long-term impact on how individuals choose to act (Wikstrom, 2006). CBT is built around the idea that cognition affects behaviour which also includes offending behaviour. It is believed that individuals have the capacity to monitor and adapt their ways of thinking, which can change how they react to those settings. Hollin (1990) extended this theory by suggesting that offenders may think and feel differently than non-offenders and that this difference in cognition may be the causal link to their offending behaviour. However there are many different types of cognitive behavioural interventions which aim to correct distorted, deficient and dysfunctional cognition which may reinforce offending behaviour by teaching new cognitive skills such as self awareness, moral reasoning, interpersonal perception and many more which increase awareness of the link between thought processes and maladaptive behaviours, and support an individuals ability to actively change those processes in a more positive way (Wilson et al, 2005). Coyle (2005) stated that cognitive behavioural interventions can affect different areas of cognition and behaviour example which may be target are for example decision making, emotional characteristics of behaviour. Areas which are commonly addressed by CBT are victim impact, anger management, moral reasoning social skills training cognitive restructuring, relapse prevention and much more. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) within Young Offender Institutions (YOI). Wilson et al (2005) states that within Young offender institutions CBTs are usually delivered in groups of 8 to 12 offenders. One of the most commonly use interventions applied in YOI are Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), which is a moral reasoning intervention, which targets moral developments and is delivered in groups of between 10 and 15 participants, Reasoning and Rehabilitation (RR), a cognitive skills training intervention, which is delivered in groups of six to eight participants. There are also other therapies which according to Kurtz (2002) are deemed to be popular and effective these therapies include Aggression Replacement Training (ART), which include anger management, moral reasoning elements and other cognitive skills training interventions, which target awareness of thinking patterns, the perceived legitimacy of offending behaviour and problem solving skills to encourage consideration of alternatives. MULTI-SYSTEMIC THERAPY (MST) MST focuses on the need for changes in an offenders immediate social environments such as their family. School and peer environments, the aim is to help reduce or prevent their problematic behaviour and offending. It is the belief that offenders do not act in a social vacuum and their criminality is an outcome of their interaction with the social environment. It is claimed for example that it may be easier to change an offenders moral values and habits that support law breaking by also changing those aspects of the individuals environment that may influence or support such values (Wikstrom and Treiber, 2008). The writer Borduin et al (2003) said that MST was developed specifically to treat youths with serious offending and behaviour problems. MST is aimed youths aged between 10-17 years. It is individualised intervention programme which is intensive and targets the social systems in which a young person who offends operates. MST views offending behaviour as a consequence of the link between individuals and the external systems in which they partake in socially. The primary goal for MST is to promote multi-faceted change in individual, school, neighbourhood and familial variables which influence offending There are two theoretical explanations of which MST draws up, the first is Bronfenbrenners human ecology theory which suggests that there is a link b

Effects of television on children Essay

Every day for the few decades; children have been subjected to the harmful messages of advertisers on television. There is some discussion in the literary works over the years at which adolescent children can distinguish television broadcasts from programs, and when they can conjure up and want what they lay their eyes on and when they are able to figure out that the advertiser’s goal is to sell a manufactured product. Resolution of the dispute has been hindered by methodological difficulties and models which fail to fully apprehend and figure out children’s acknowledgments to advertisements. This research uses a book and ecologically accurate method of searching how toy advertising act on children by studying their demands sent to Santa Claus, monitoring game commercials and obtaining television viewing data. Eighty children aged from 5 to 7 years, who had set forth the messages to Father Christmas, were consulting with looking upon the extent and quality of their television viewing. Reports and related data were also analyzed for 16 nursery school kids, aged 4 to 5 years, using survey replies from their parents. Overall, kids who observed more commercial television were found to call for a larger number of things from Santa Claus. These kids also demanded more branded items than kids who watched less. Without Regard To, the children’s demands did not agree significantly with the most every now and then advertised game merchandise on television during the build up to Christmas. An accurate relationship was founded between watching television solely and number of demands. The Effects of Television on Children Television was invented eighty five years ago by a farm boy named Philo by mistake, now it’s one of the main sources of entertainment, education and problems worldwide. At many different ages, kids observe and understand television in many different ways. In broad, it depends on their consideration and attention, the method they use to help process information and data, their attentiveness to that specific information, and, of course, their own experiences in life itself. Television, movies, series and advertising can affect our society significally and particularly our children. The huge amount of impact that’s caused by different aspects such as how many kids watches television and whether alone or with adults, as well as whether parents discuss what they see on television with their children. Children’s age and personality are also very important factors that help influence the amount of television impact. Television has both positive and negative influences on children. Television has brought many changes to the way children spend their free time. While some of these changes have been good and beneficial, others have had a harmful effect. Thus, the job of this paper is to investigate the positive and negative effects of television on our children who in the course of time will be our future generations. Television has an enormous impact on how children see the world in general. Kids waste more time watching TV than they spend on their school work. Kids and teens between 8 and 18 spend at least 4 hours a day in front a television screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside school work) and playing video games (â€Å"Kaiser Family Foundation†). Television viewing takes away the time a kid needs to develop very important skills like his own native language, social skills, imagination and most importantly creativity. School kids who watch too much television tend to work less on their homework. When children do homework with a TV in the background, they tend to absorb little information and fewer skills (â€Å"Parenting early years†). According to language and speech expert Dr. Sally Ward, 20 years of research and commitment show that children who are harassed by background television noises in their houses have problems paying attention to voices and calls when there is also a background noise. Television viewing takes away time from writing and improving reading skills through practice (â€Å"Psychology Today Magazine†). Children watching cartoons and series and entertainment television during pre-school years have lower pre-reading skills at age 5. Kids who tend to watch entertainment television are also less likely to read books and other types of media (â€Å"Parenting Early Years†). Television has become a huge part of a child’s life for the past few decades, and there is an argue that there is a link between a kid’s abnormal or aggressive behavior and television violence. Eighty percent of television programs include violence. In addition, it is important that children spending their leisure time in watching television should be controlled by the parents (Judith and Lawrence, 2004). TV violence does not just affect a child’s adolescence; it also affects his or her adulthood. It also can destroy a kid’s mind; the effects can be long lasting and ceaseless. Many psychologists feel that the continuous disclosure to television violence might unnaturally accelerate the impact of the adult world on the child leading him or her to early matureness. As the kid matures into a grown up, he can become frightened, have a greater mistrust towards others, a shallow oncoming to adult problems, and even the unwillingness to become an adult (Judith and Lawrence, 2004). Television includes many acts of violence and destruction not just in violent movies, but also in night news, cartoons and stand up comedies. Studies taken show that television violence makes children less sensitive, cruel, cold hearted, rude, lacking consideration for other and more aggressive. Watching violence on television reduces the sensibility of kids to real demeanor of vehemence. Other studies connect newspapers and TV publicity of suicides to a high risk of suicide that can be committed by children (TV’s harmful effects of kids). In many diverse ways video vehemence can turn into actual violence. As interpreted atop, when kids observe a bit too much television violence the world becomes bland in comparison. Children need to create violence to keep them contented (Erica and George, 2010). Also kids like to imitate fictional and non-fictional characters on television and find it fun. Kids also love to portray models on television and movies because the ideas that are shown to him are more alluring to the spectator than the ones he can think up himself (â€Å"Psychology Today Magazine†). Fictional characters are being imitated widely around the globe like for example power rangers and Ben 10 which children cannot seem to get enough of. Television violence effects are mostly seen and apparent in big cities; aggressive behavior was more admissible in the big cities as long as the child’s popularity was not hindered by his or her aggression (Judith and Lawrence, 2004). In the major cities, violence, felonies and crimes are unavoidable and expected therefore is left unchecked. Many researches were conducted into the topic of children and television violence and in the end pointed and lead to the same direction. There is an indisputable relationship between aggression and television violence. The outcome was acquired in a survey of London schoolchildren in 1975. Greensburg found a significant connection between the viewing of violence and aggression (Erica and George, 2010). In this area the government has made many researches. An experiment was conducted where kids were left alone in a room with a videotape monitoring other kids playing and having fun. Kids who had just seen commercial vehemence accepted many superior levels of aggression than other kids. After quite some time, things got out of hand â€Å"and progressive mutilation began to take place†. The results were published in a report. Sergon Generals report found some† preliminary indications of a causal relationship between aggression and television viewing conduct in kidsâ€Å"(Psychology Today Magazine). During our time it is noticed and observed that extremely coarse and rude programs on television standardize high aggressiveness, shortage of consideration of others, shortage of politeness and respect and public coarseness. All such behavior without doubt influences the conduct of kids in our community. In other researches among United States kids, it was discovered that violence, academic problems, unpopularity with peer and aggression feed off each other. This encourages vehemence behavior in the kids (Television’s Impact on Kids). The combination of continued Television watching and aggression lead to low scholastic standings as well as unpopularity. All these can easily cause more aggression and malicious cycles to begin spinning (Television’s Impact on Kids). Viewing some programs may cause irresponsible sexual behavior in kids (â€Å"Psychology Today Magazine†). Pictures of hypersexual behavior, accidental sexual clashes without any common consequences, made use of programs for example such as BBC’s â€Å"Are You Hot OR NOT? † and sex exploitation in advertising may cause negative consequences for kids. Such movies, programs and TV shows cause very young people to have early sexual relation. Such sexual behavior becomes normal for many young kids with time, though many of them may be a bit mentally and physically traumatized by early sexual issues. In spite the fact that telly can be a very strong method of educating kids about the hazards and liability of sexual behavior, such issues as sexually transmitted infections like AIDS and HIV and unwanted pregnancy are rarely debated in programs with genital content (â€Å"Television’s Impact on Kids†). Research states that kids who spend more time on television are inclined to think that women and men have particular roles in our community (TV’s harmful effects on kids). It is apparent that TV usually shows women as weak and obedient in collation with some men who are usually described as dominating and rigid (TV’s harmful effects on kids). It may provide kids with a full comprehension of what they are awaited in the near future. Impact on self-image, specifically for teenagers, is crucial and well documented. The negative consequences caused by television over the last 10 years in regard of self-image are high increases in bulimia, depression, self-mutilation, eating disorders, and anorexia Watching too much television of any kind has evident psychological and physiological negative outcomes on kids. In Biology it is known as the  «couch potato » syndrome. A lot of studies show that even mild television content reduces imagination and creativity of kids, which in return increases obesity, physical activity, and laziness. In supplement, it leads to inferior grades in school, reduced ability to manage stress and conflict, and offensive behavior in connection with peers. And for your information, obesity in childhood can be highly encouraged by junk food advertised on television to children. Violent shows and late-TV watching has been known to be associated with sleep problems in kids. The emotional stress caused from too much night shows prevent kids from dreaming and may eventually result in nightmares. In supplement, incorrect samples of sleep during the night can easily push kids to be less alert within the day; also advancing poor performance in school (â€Å"Television’s Impact on Kids†). It is very important to know that too much television watching may have a bad impact on academic and learning execution of kids (â€Å"Television’s Impact on Kids†). Especially it is apparent if the time of television viewing replaces healthy mental and physical exercises. Most part of children’ free time must be spent in such activities as exploring nature, playing music and sports, and reading (â€Å"Television’s Impact on Kids†). Besides, the time of TV watching significantly cut back contact with family and companions (Judith and Lawrence, 2004). It is important to take into account the impact of commercialism. There are a number of manipulative commercial messages on television and even at school almost every day. Companies aspire to manipulate kids and with this they tend to hire psychologists to help influence kids. This is called the  «art of winemaking.  » The redundant number of commercial messages has produced a chronic anxiety in teenagers, and many psychologists bear in mind that these messages have raised depressions in kids. The other invalidating effect is that advertising on television raises a claim to acquire something like for example toys. Quite A few studies declare that parents carry on a primary role in social learning of their kids, but if the parent views are not discussed with their children, the medium may instruct and have an impact on them by absence (â€Å"Impact of media use on children and youth†). An example in an account from the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Children and Television, it was decided that: â€Å"Television watching promotes an attraction toward vehemence, an apathy when real vehemence is seen, passive learning, provides unrealistic messages regarding substance abuse (drugs, alcohol, and tobacco), and also encourages the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, and by delivering an unrealistic way of problem-solving and/or dispute resolution and it is linked with obesity because of  «snacks with high calories » pulmonary consumption† (â€Å"Television’s Impact on Kids†). Some specialists, however, believe that television is not all that evil. They restrict though that watching television can be good if it is done in balance, and if the program being viewed is chosen some television shows can inform, inspire and educate. It can be more useful than audiotapes and books in teaching your child about methods like how to bake a cake or how to plant a plant. Studies show that children who view non-violent and educational children’ shows do better at reading, writing and math examinations than those who do not follow these programs. Kids who watch informative and educational presentations as preschoolers tend to view more educational and informative presentations when they get older. They deal with television effectively as a complement to school learning. On the other hand, children who view more entertainment programs tend to view fewer educational programs as they grow older (â€Å"Television’s Impact on Kids†). Kindergarteners who watch educational programs tend to have superior grades, value their studies more and tend to be more aggressive before and after they reach high school, according to a short-term study (â€Å"Television’s Impact on Kids†). Finally, scientists from the University of Siena found out that children experience a painkilling, soothing result by watching cartoons. So there is no harm in watching a little entertainment television here and there, and can be a source of relaxation for children who are in pain or stressed. Conclusion In summary, the viewing and watching of television causes an important impact on the behavior and development of children of all ages. The Television set may have both negative and positive for children of all ages, and many researches have paid peculiar regard to the television percussion on our community and, in particular, our children. Today there is an extraordinary mission to stop the negative impact of television on kids. It is clear that quality-aligned programming for kids must be produced in the approaching future. Furthermore, speaking to kids at their homes with their families together and in school with their instructors about their favorite programs and many other popular programs and films can help kids get a better understanding of things on television and on the world itself. Thus, parents are the greatest impact on the lives of their kids and as their duty must control the state and try to manage their television view. Since we will never be able to convince the mass-media to narrow down advancing sex and vehemence, especially, on television, we can aspire to comply with what our children are subjected and handle them and talk with them about the programs they pay attention to, especially if they are with negative content. Research Sites I. http://freeresearchprojects. blogspot. ae/2012/02/research-paper-on-television-and. html II. http://www. essayforum. com/writing-feedback-3/television-has-brought-positive-negative-effects-children-28297/ III. http://www. odec. ca/projects/2005/kaiser family foundation/zerb5m0/public_html/positiveEf. html IV. http://www. raisesmartkid. com/all-ages/1-articles/13-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-tv-on-your-kid V. Television and Child Development by: Judith Van Evra. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004 (3rd edition) VI. Media and the American Child by: George Comstock and Erica Scharrer. VII. Psychology Today Magazine: Psychological effects of television. VIII. Parenting Early Years: TV’s harmful effects of kids. IX. http://www. med. umich. edu/yourchild/topics/tv. htm X. http://kidshealth. org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child. html

Elements of Gothic Literature Essay

Gothic literature was born in 1764 when Horace Walpole published The Castle of Otranto, which is considered to be the first gothic novel ever written. Gothic literature was originally written as a reaction to the age of reason, order, and the politics of eighteenth-century England. Containing anti-Catholic sentiments and mythical aspects, Gothic literature explored the tension between what we fear and what we desire. The stories were usually set in some kind of castle or old building that showed human decay and created an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. Often, one of the main characters would be some sort of damsel in distress, threatened by some man. The words chosen in these novels and short stories were very descriptive, creating overwrought emotion and often, feelings of gloom and horror. Also, within the plot, some sort of ancient prophecy, along with omens and visions, could usually be found. The most important elements to the structure of canonical gothic literature, however, are supernatural and unexplainable events. In The Castle of Otranto, much of the plot surrounds one unexplainable incident: a giant black helmet falls on Prince Conrad, thus killing him. Because of Prince Conrad’s death, Manfred, his father, captures a passing peasant, Theodore, and pursues Isabella, Conrad’s fiancee. Later, it is learned that Jerome (the minister) is Theodore’s father. If the helmet had never fallen on Conrad, Manfred never would have stopped Theodore, and Jerome would never have found his long lost son. Manfred, still believing that Theodore is guilty of dropping the helmet by sorcery, is ready to execute him. At this point in the story, Isabella’s long lost father appears, which halts Theodore’s execution. It is later learned that Isabella’s father found her because a dream he had led him to a monk, who led him to Otranto. The supernatural event here is the dream, which turned out to forecast reality. He accuses Manfred of not being the rightful ruler of Otranto. Eventually, everything is confirmed when the giant version of Alfonso the Good that has been living in the castle (another mysterious incident) breaks through the walls and proclaims Theodore the natural heir of Alfonso and the rightful ruler of Otranto. The Ruins of the Abbey of Fitz-Martin, whose author remains anonymous, also has a similar dependency on a chain of supernatural events. Sir Thomas Fitz-Martin acquires an abbey, which he finds in ruins. He is certain it can be repaired, so he and his people venture inside. Upon exploring the abbey, Fitz-Martin opens a door with difficulty, only to be met with severe shrieks from inside that particular room. Later in the story, the superstition surrounding those screams is explained. Evidently, every night, the ghost of St. Anna can be seen walking up to the altar. She stays there until midnight, and then walks to the south tower. She screams three times, and the ghost of the evil Baron, who possessed the abbey years before, comes. Then, Anna chases him with a â€Å"fire-brand† in one hand and a dead baby in her other arm. The two ghosts eventually come to the Baron’s old room, where â€Å"dismal yells and dying groans† can be heard from. Fiery lights surround the Baron’s old room until the clock that hasn’t been touched in years strikes two, or sometimes three o’clock. This story of supernatural occurrence strikes the curiosity of Rosaline, Sir Thomas Fitz-Martin’s daughter, who then decides to go investigate the south tower. When she does, she finds the torture chamber where they killed St. Anna so many years ago. She is debating whether or not to go in, when she hears a voice commanding her to enter. She feels almost possessed, as the voice tells her to reach inside the coffin. When she does, she pulls something out and takes it with her, fleeing in terror. It is the supernatural phenomenon of this voice that brings in St. Anna’s story, which is written on the papers with which Rosaline fled in terror. The Vampyre by John Polidori casts an interesting slant on the element of supernatural events. The entire story is a supernatural event because Lord Ruthven is a vampire, a supernatural creature. Before this is revealed to the reader, however, there are important unexplainable events that allude to his being a vampire and are of utmost importance to the story. It is the mystery of Lord Ruthven’s appearance that first attracts Aubrey to him, and thus begins the story. Aubrey wants to get to know him better, hopefully to  understand the enigma of his demeanor. They leave on a trip together, and Aubrey notices that Lord Ruthven is extremely charitable. He also notices, though, that Lord Ruthven always gives his money to the scoundrels of society, those who will piddle away the charity pursuing their vices. Then he realizes that all who receive money from Lord Ruthven end up far worse than they were before the charity. Although Aubrey cannot explain this, it intrigues him and makes him wonder if there isn’t a spark of evil in Lord Ruthven. Some time later, Aubrey receives letters from his sister and his guardians. The letter from his sister is very loving, but the letter from his guardians bears only bad and mysterious news. They tell him that his traveling companion is pure evil, that all the women at home that he wooed because of their virtues, have now come forth and shown that they are tainted, and pursue their vices publicly. The people of their town find this unexplainable and very unnerving. He was suspicious of Lord Ruthven’s evil before, but upon reading the letter, Aubrey decides that he must leave Lord Ruthven for the remainder of the trip. Aubrey travels to Greece, where he stays with a kind family and falls in love with their daughter, Ianthe, although he does not act on it. It is here that he learns the legend of the vampire. One day he goes to a place to research, and they tell him to be back before dark because of the vampire. He loses track of time and it is soon dark. He hears a scream and runs toward it. He finds a hut, and picks up a dagger that is inside. However, he is too late. Ianthe was murdered by the vampire. Aubrey falls into a fever and Lord Ruthven returns to him and nurses him back to health. Soon after this, they are attacked by robbers and Lord Ruthven is wounded. He dies, but makes Aubrey promise to him that he will not speak a word of his death. When Aubrey goes back for Lord Ruthven’s body, it is gone, and the robbers tell Aubrey that they had to put it in the moonlight the first night of Lord Ruthven’s death. They go to where they left the corpse, but it has mysteriously disappeared. Aubrey decides that it is time to go home. On his way home, he goes through Lord Ruthven’s things and finds a shaft that matches the dagger he found in the hut exactly. This confirms for Aubrey  that Lord Ruthven is the vampire. When he arrives home, his sister holds a drawing-room. Here, Aubrey is snatched by the arm and told to ‘remember his oath.’ Aubrey is dumbfounded because Lord Ruthven is supposed to be dead, but here he is, pursuing his sister. This drives him into a terrible fever. During this fever, he figures out that his sister is engaged to Lord Ruthven and fears for her. He tries to stop the wedding, but everyone thinks that he is crazy and dismisses him. His sister is killed at the end of the story. The fact that Lord Ruthven is a supernatural creature accounts for all of the supernatural events and the entire story. If he was not a vampire, his demeanor would never have attracted Aubrey initially, and Aubrey never would have gone traveling with Lord Ruthven. Had Aubrey not gone traveling with him, he never would have discovered that Lord Ruthven was a vampire, and gone crazy. If Aubrey had not gone crazy, he would have been able to stop the wedding and save his sister’s life. Supernatural and unexplainable events are crucial to the plot of a gothic story. Often, they act as the backbone of the plot and many of the circumstances and coincidences rest upon them. In The Castle of Otranto, they act as the coincidence drivers as well as supply some of the omens and visions, another element of gothic literature. They bring the real story to the surface in The Ruins of the Abbey of Fitz-Martin, and provide the foundation for the story in The Vampyre. Without the element of supernatural and unexplainable events, much of the canonical gothic literature would not stand on its own.

The Marketing Mix Matrix Essay Essay Example

The Marketing Mix Matrix Essay Essay Example The Marketing Mix Matrix Essay Essay The Marketing Mix Matrix Essay Essay In 2005. Chekitan Dev and Don Schultz introduced the client focused selling mix ( SIVA ) in Marketing Management. SIVA was presented as an alternate attack to McCarthy’s authoritative concern orientated selling mix popularly known as the 4Ps. SIVA and 4Ps are presented here as a complementary mechanisms to determine selling pattern through sing the demands of the client within the restraint of the organization’s capacity. To that terminal. we present a agency to unite the managerial focal point of the authoritative 4Ps with the client orientation of SIVA as the Marketing Mix Matrix. McCarthy ( 1960 ) suggested an enterpriser had entree to four key governable variables – merchandise. publicity. topographic point and monetary value – which could be adjusted to appeal to consumers for improved success in the market. Merchandise is the offer the enterpriser makes to the market that can be consumed to run into a demand. supply a solution or be used in the proce dure of making something else of value. Diverseness of signifier has been the trademark of the merchandise construct given that it incorporates physical goods. physically-orientated services that are performed on people or objects. intangible services including the cyberspace. intangible merchandises such as package or mp3s. experiences such as film and thoughts including advice. cognition or emotional results. Promotion refers to the entire array of deliberate communicating between the selling organisation and its clients. spouses or society through the usage of the promotional mix. Communication between client and market in publicity was traditionally unidirectional from the seller to the market until the Hoffmann and Novak ( 1996 ) computing machine mediated communicating theory. and societal media facilitated conversations between clients and companies. Topographic point refers to every mechanism involved in the coordination of a merchandise from the point of production to the point of ingestion. The logistical challenges of presenting intangible benefits to the client through embedded services. thoughts. digital merchandises or experiences has renewed involvement in the importance of topographic point in the selling mix. Price encapsulates the entire cost that the consumer has to bear in order to get. entree or utilize the merchandise including non fiscal and fiscal factor. Dev and Schultz ( 2005a. 2005b ) suggested a client focused alternate to McCarthy’s 4Ps attack with the SIVA mix. SIVA represents the four key determination influences from the consumer’s position and stands for Solution. Information. Value and Accessibility. Solution refers the value that the client creates by devouring the offer made by the organisation and acknowledges that persons actively consume merchandises and services in different ways. adding their ain reading and utilizations and accordingly become portion of the overall value creative activity procedure. Solution sees the complexness of the consumer’s needs as an chance to co-create customized results which means sing the universe from â€Å"What jobs can my merchandise work out? † instead than the outward focal point of â€Å"Who wants these characteristics? † Information represents the sum sum cognition the client has about the seller. selling offer and interactions with the selling house. It moves beyond the controlled selling messages emanating from the organisation. and includes the information derived from the customer’s anterior experience with the merchandise. the ascertained and communicated experiences of their online and offline societal webs plus any 3rd party information found through merchandise reappraisals. web logs and other beginnings. Value refers to the possible. existent and future cost of the solution and represents the entire forfeit the consumer will do in return for the package of benefits from the solution which incorporates the societal costs of clip. attempt. pride and repute in add-on to any pecuniary elements. Accessibility refers to the bringing of the promised solution at an acceptable cost by giving the clients what they want at a location that suits them in a clip frame that meets their demands. The focal point in handiness alterations the focal point of the supply and logistics channels to stress the points of entree that the client can utilize to get the solution.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg essays

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg essays I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg, is a description of a sixteen-year-old girl's battle with schizophrenia, which lasts for three years. It is a semi-autobiographical account of the author's experiences in a mental hospital during her own bout with the illness. This novel is written to help fight the stigmatisms and prejudices held against mental illness. Joanne Greenberg was born in Brooklyn in 1932 and is a very respected and award-winning author. Because of her experiences as a Jewish-American and having fought her own battle with schizophrenia, Greenberg wrote I Never Promised You a Rose Garden to help people understand what it is like have to face so much hardship. After her illness was treated, she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in anthropology and English. Throughout her life, she has fought for the respect and empathy that individuals suffering from both physical and mental handicaps have been denied. Joanne Greenberg presents her experiences by relating them to Deborah Blau. Deborah Blau, who is very bright and artistically talented, creates an imaginary world she calls the Kingdom of Yr, to use as a defense against the confusing and frightening truths of the real world. When Deborah is five, she has an operation to remove a tumor that causes her to be incontinent. This is a very traumatic experience because a great deal of physical pain and shame comes along with the problems caused by the tumor and resulting surgery. Deborah suffers frequent abuse from her anti-Semitic peers and neighbors during her childhood. When Deborah first creates Yr, it is a sort of haven, but as time goes on, the gods of Yr become Deborah's masters and control her every word and action. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden shows the issue of mental illness from several different viewpoints. During Deborah's three years in the hospital, the reader is provided with a glimpse of mental illness from the patient's point of...

Withdrawal reflex and habituation in the garden snail Essay

Withdrawal reflex and habituation in the garden snail - Essay Example There is many types of learning, the most basic form of which is non-associative learning. Surprisingly noticed even in primitive life forms, such as the protozoan Stentor coeruleus, it represents a type of learning where the organism becomes aware that some events are unrelated and irrelevant. The most common example of such learning is habituation. According to Thompson and Spencer, it is defined simply as "the gradual waning of an evoked behavioral response with repeated stimulation."3. In essence if an animal first responds to a stimulus that is neither rewarding nor harmful the animal reduces subsequent responses. There are two basic characteristics that separate habituation from the other types of learning. One is that it does not require conscious motivation or awareness to occur, and that it is stimulus specific and that does not cause a cause a general decline in responsiveness.The garden snail (Helix aspersa) is no exception when the process of habituation is concerned. Hab ituation in the Helix aspersa is well documented and easily observable, particularly in the withdrawal reflex of both the entire body of the garden snail, as well as the eye stalk. When the body or the eye stalk of the garden snail is stimulated, the Helix aspresa instinctively withdraws the entire body towards its shell or the eye stalk towards the body, respectively. This very simple and instinctive action, with the purpose of maintaining the structural integrity of the body of the garden snail, represents the withdrawal reflex in the Helix aspresa. ... When the garden snail is presented with a novel stimulus, the sensory neurons generate large excitatory postsynaptic potentials in the interneurons and motor cells. These potentials cause the motor cells to discharge strongly, leading to the rapid withdrawal of the body or eye stalk. As the stimulus is repeatedly presented, the synaptic potentials produced by the sensory neurons in the interneurons and in the motor cells become progressively smaller. In time, fewer action potentials are generated in the motor cells, and the behavior is reduced. Finally, the postsynaptic potentials become very small and fail to produce action potentials in the motor neurons, and therefore no behavior is produced. The reduction in the effectiveness of the synaptic connections between the sensory and motor neurons is what maintains the state of habituation that the garden snail has acquired. - Background Although the effects of the withdrawal reflex and the subsequent habituation are easily observable, the underlying principles have been scrutinized by the scientific eye. There are many scientific papers that deal with this issue. One of them, written by Steven Prescott and Ronald Chase explains the sites of plasticity in the neural circuit mediating tentacle withdrawal in the garden snail. With their research, they have managed to show that the different parts of the nervous system in the snail mediate different reactions when the withdrawal reflex is concerned. In an another paper, the same others try to explore the matter even further, with analyzing the neural circuit mediating tentacle withdrawal in garden snail, with specific reference to the competence of the

Management written assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management written assignment - Essay Example In the process, it induces people to define their desires and to pursue them with passion. Ultimately, leadership transforms potential into reality. After reading the article ‘Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?’ by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones, I can honestly say that it would take considerable time and practice for one to be an inspirational leader – but it is definitely possible. The authors identified four qualities of inspirational leaders: having the ability to show their weakness, becoming a sensor, practicing tough empathy and daring to be different. I do not have any qualms about acknowledging my weaknesses as I am aware that in doing so, I would have the means to apply corrective measures to change for the better. Becoming a sensor, though, takes time and professional experience to discern and assess the condition of certain situations and to apply appropriate action. It also acknowledges that assistance and guidance from affiliates are sometimes required. Goffee and Jones emphasized that â€Å"even the most gifted sensor may need to validate his perceptions with a trusted adviser or a member of his inner team.† (Goffee & Jones, 2000, 68) In addition, practicing tough empathy needs a lot of courage and strength in one’s personality. The authors defined tough empathy as â€Å"giving people what they need, not what they want.† For a leader to know the difference between the needs and wants of their people, one must have genuine concern and passion for their team. This trait can be developed over time. Finally and more significantly, I am aware that each and every individual is unique. The unique qualities of each one should be utilized to excel, stand out and capitalize on these qualities to blend and balance those of others to maximize the requirements of a particular scenario. As aptly concluded by Goffee & Jones, â€Å"the challenge facing prospective leaders is for them to be themselves, but with