Berlin s Crisis Of The Cold War - 1203 Words

At the end of the Second World War, U.S., British, and Soviet military forces divided and occupied Germany. Also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located far inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. The United States, United Kingdom, and France controlled western portions of the city, while Soviet troops controlled the eastern sector. As the wartime alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union ended and friendly relations turned hostile, the question of whether the western occupation zones in Berlin would remain under Western Allied control or whether the city would be absorbed into Soviet-controlled eastern Germany led to the first Berlin crisis of the Cold War. The crisis started on June 24, 1948, when Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The United States and United Kingdom responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany. The crisis ended on May 12, 1949, when Soviet forces lifted the blockade on land access to western Berlin. U.S. Navy and Air Force aircrafts unload at Tempelhof Airport during the Berlin Airlift. (U.S. Air Force) U.S. Navy and Air Force aircrafts unload at Tempelhof Airport during the Berlin Airlift. (U.S. Air Force) The crisis was a result of competing occupation policies and rising tensions between Western powers and the Soviet Union. After the end of the Second World War, the future of postwar Germany was plagued by the divisionsShow MoreRelatedThe Cold War Had A Myriad Of Factors That Contributed To1371 Words   |  6 PagesThe Cold War had a myriad of factors that contributed to the ignition of the war between the United States and the USSR, but the primary contributing factors, such as the Nuclear Arms Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Blockade of Berlin, shows the USSR is to blame for causing the Cold War, even though the United States is responsible because of the policy of containment. The Cold War had many factors that contributed to the start of the war between the United States and the USSR, but theRead MoreWas the Cold War Truly a Cold War? Essay examples1492 Words   |  6 PagesThe ‘Cold War’ is one of the most interesting ‘wars’ fought in world history. The sheer number of countries both directly and indirectly involved is enough to pose the question – To what extent was the Cold War a truly Global War? This essay will examine this idea. It will identify two main areas of argument, focusing on the earlier part of the conflict (1945-1963). Firstly it will examine the growing US and Soviet influence in the world post 1945. Secondly it will examine three main conflicts, theRead MoreCold War And The Soviet Union859 Words   |  4 PagesDige Li AMS2270 Cold War This essay will discuss about cold war, including the background, beginning, progress and ending. As we know, cold war is a struggle between U.S. with NATO and Soviet Union with WTO from 1947 to 1991. It is a significant event in history, and it influence the almost all of world, it directly lead to the radical change of eastern Europe and the breakup of the USSR. 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The most significant background cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the u nderlying cold war ideology of capitalism vs communism. This was dramatically increased by the second key cause, a series of events that quickly built tensions between the super powers from 1959 such as the U2 incident, JFK’s response to the Berlin Wall, and the Bay of Pigs incident. The third cause was the relationshipRead MoreConceptions of the Cold War Essay1006 Words   |  5 Pagesterm Cold War? The term Cold War can be defined as the period of political impasse which existed between our country (U.S.A.) and U.S.S.R. from the early 1950s until the fall of Communism in the early 1980s. Words and phrases associated with Cold War include, race to arms, race to space, Bay of Pigs, and The Berlin Wall. Did you ever study the Cold War in school? If so, what are some aspects of the Cold War that you remember? 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Genetically Modified Foods And The United States - 1087 Words

More than sixty countries have a ban, labeling, or restrictions of some sort on genetically modified foods (). The United States is not amongst them. Originally GMOs were introduced to create better yields, tolerate droughts and increase nutrition (). Today GMOs have excided beyond the standards of the past. 80% of the foods sold in the U.S. today are genetically modified. This group of foods include alfalfa, corn, canola, cotton, sugar beets, soybeans, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, oil, golden rice, salmon and many more(). While the production of GMO foods have increased the FDA refuse to regulate it because in 1993 the FDA declared GMOs as â€Å"not inherently dangerous† so they therefore do not need special regulations (). Unlike the United†¦show more content†¦Once the USDA is done with this process it is then shipped to the FDA who do not require companies for consultations, including the effects of the products on people (). Companies who create GMOs feel no pressure to consult the FDA because they are not required to do so. GMO regulation should be taking away from the FDA because the FDA do not address the health concerns of GMO’s, they have done no labeling whatsoever on GMO foods, and GMOs are doing the opposite of what was originally claimed. Instead of decreasing the use of herbicides it has Many health concerns accompany the production of GM foods. Genetic engineering can transfer allergens from foods people are allergic to, to foods they believe to be safe (). A case study by the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrates that when a Brazilian nut was engineered into soybeans people who were allergic to nuts had severe allergy reactions to the product (). If GMO labeling and regulations are not taken seriously people with food allergies have no way of eluding possibly harmful health consequences caused by consumption of GM foods containing concealed allergenic material (). GMOs could also be creating thousands of different

School Of Computing Maths Charles Sturt University-Free Samples

Questions: What's Going On? What Are The Facts? What Are The Issues (Non-Ethical)? Who Is Affected? What Are The Ethical Issues And Their Implications? What Can Be Done About It? What Are The Options? Which Option Is The Best And Why? Answers: 1.An IT personnel is confronted by his senior on the deployment of a newly implemented system. According to the senior officials, who speak on behalf the companys CEO, the system should be delivered the coming Monday, however, because the tester of the system is unavailable (she is sick) this objective will not be met. The supervisor to the IT personnel is not satisfied with the impending outcome and mandates that the initial deployment time must be met regardless of the prevailing conditions. Therefore, the supervisor does not consider the state of the tester, who is sick, nor does he account for the system itself. 2.The system cannot be tested effectively based on the current events because the person responsible is unavailable (she is sick). Moreover, based on the tight deadlines and the system itself, the company cannot be able to substitute the sick personnel in order to test the system. Therefore, regardless of the position taken, the system cannot be delivered by the requested date i.e. coming Monday. From this information, the request made by the supervisor requires the IT personnel to break his ethical conduct and deliver the said system in due time, an unethical outcome that could have been met by his predecessor (ACS, 2014). This unethical conduct i.e. delivering an untested system is the only way to guarantee the deadline is met. 3.First, the supervisor does not consider the state of one of his employees who is currently sick. However, far from this obvious ethical issue comes the dilemma faced by the IT personnel himself. On one hand, he can choose to ignore the request by the supervisor and thus wait until the system is tested for it to be presented but, this could cost him his job. On the other hand, he can present the system untested to the CEO and the clients having fudged or falsified the test. Therefore, one ethical issue in this circumstance is the behaviour of the leader i.e. a misleading leader who requires results regardless of the consequences. Secondly, the IT personnel must choose between his career and the common good (Hanson, 2014). 4.First and foremost, the IT personnel who is directly responsible for the outcome of the system. If he yields to the given request the untested system could fail which may result in unimaginable losses for both the client and the company itself. Secondly, we have the supervisor who led by the CEO requires results despite the cost. To him, the system must be delivered in due time (Monday). Thirdly, the CEO who although not directly involved could face many losses in the future if the untested system fails in its current state, which could include losing the trust of his clients (Hanson, 2014). Finally, the users of the system as they will operate with an untested system that may fail based on the nature of the development process. 5.A Misleading leader the supervisor bullies the IT personnel in order to force the deadline. This could affect the work of the personnel leading to more problems other than those related to the system. Furthermore, to meet the deadline, the developers will have to cut corners which would again affect the overall performance of the system (ACS, 2014). The implications? Professionalism is lost on behalf of the workers who from now on could occasionally break their ethical conduct because the organization seems to reward it. Furthermore, the untested system can develop faults/problems leading to losses for both the developing company and the users. The users will lose the resources they spent on the system and may have to develop an alternative or even source additional resources to fix. Moreover, if the system fails the trust and integrity developed with the clients is lost (Henson, 2014). 6.In this scenario, the choices to a large extent depend on the IT personnel as he holds the keys to the system. For one, he can stand his ground and present his case to the supervisor and CEO. This step would help maintain his integrity, trustworthiness and professionalism to both the organization as well as the client (ACS, 2014). In essence, this is the answer to the ethical dilemma of choosing between his career and the common good. Secondly, both the organization can develop an amicable solution with the clients on the steps to take based on the prevailing conditions i.e. a member of the developing team is unavailable. Therefore, the company must inform the client in advance in order to maintain a good working relationship, which further improves trust and their integrity. 7.From the IT personnel perspective: One, deploy the system having met the wishes of the supervisor, however, this breaks all ethical codes. Two, he stands his ground regardless of the consequences i.e. losing his job. Three, develop an amicable solution that could see the system deployed in due time even though it might fall short of the set deadline. The company: Deliver an untested system. Develop a solution for the prevailing situation by contacting the clients and developing an alternative that fits their timeline 8.From the previous section, the best option would be to develop an alternative solution that would see the system tested accordingly either by the sick employee (after recovery) or by another personnel holding the necessary credentials. Furthermore, since the set deadline cannot be met, the client must be contacted in advance to inform them of the impending outcome. This action may disappoint the clients however, it would help in maintaining the trust and integrity developed throughout the years. Moreover, it ensures the system maintain the utmost standards, a critical item for all modern digital systems that are faced with many operational parameters. References Australian Computer Society (ACS). (2014). ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards Board Australian Computer Society. Inspiring success. Retrieved 10 August, 2017, from: https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/ACS%20Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf ACS. (2014). Code of conduct. Retrieved 10 August, 2017, from: https://www.asc.com.au/assets/downloads/Code_of_Conduct.pdf Hanson. K. (2014). The Six Ethical Dilemmas Every Professional Faces. Verizon Visiting Professorship in Business Ethics. Retrieved 10 August, 2017, from: https://www.bentley.edu/sites/www.bentley.edu.centers/files/2014/10/22/Hanson%20VERIZON%20Monograph_2014-10%20Final%20%281%29.pdf Seach. G. (2009). An explanation of the Doing Ethics Technique. Retrieved 10 August, 2017, from: https://www.homeworkmarket.com/sites/default/files/qx/15/03/03/09/doing_ethics_technique_explanation_0.pdf

Storm on The Island by Seamus Heaney Essay Example

Storm on The Island by Seamus Heaney Paper Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols and Storm on The Island by Seamus Heaney Hurricane Hits England and Storm on the Island are poems addressing a similar event, that of a violent storm. However due to the contrast in the poets backgrounds, style and perception they present the event in different ways. The poets have been influenced greatly by their respective backgrounds. Seamus Heaney grew up in agricultural surroundings in rural Derry, inheriting a strong allegiance to farm life from his father. Inevitably much of his poetry stems and is primarily based on his experiences and feel for farm life. Many of Heaneys poems address nature, its beauty and its power. The strength of his poetry lies in his ability to create effective imagery to convey what is a common experience whether its picking blackberries or experiencing a violent storm. In contrast, Grace Nichols experienced very different surroundings growing up. She originally lived in the Caribbean but her career as a writer uprooted her to an unsettled and alienated life in England. She finds it very difficult to surrender her own history and culture and the storm acts as a reminder. This is reflected in the poem. Storm on the Island describes the destructive force that engulfs an island which subjects the inhabitants to constant caution and fear. The poem is written from the point of view of the inhabitants of a remote and exposed island, perhaps somewhere off the Irish coast or even Ireland itself. The islanders are prepared. Their houses are strongly built, low hugging the ground. The earth on the island is barren. There are no trees and when the storm blows full blast they have little protection. The earth is described as wizened or infertile and therefore unsuitable for growing crops. We will write a custom essay sample on Storm on The Island by Seamus Heaney specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Storm on The Island by Seamus Heaney specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Storm on The Island by Seamus Heaney specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Heaney seems initially to address this issue with regret but later acknowledges the practicality of this deficiency, there are no stacks or stooks that can be lost. Heaney quickly dispels any romantic notions the reader may entertain and exposes us to the dangerous reality the island dwellers frequently experience, allowing us to envisage the storm with a degree of empathy. Heaney involves the reader by using common conversational tags, as you see and you know what I mean, and again this allows us to experience similar emotions to the actual victims of the storm. The poem considers the ideas of isolation and living close to nature, but mainly it depicts the destructive powers of nature. It highlights our vulnerability in the face of nature and the fear of a huge nothing. Security contrasts with insecurity. The islanders do all they can to guard against nature. They believe they are safe in their solid stone houses but the storm attacks it brings them fear. They may seem to be part of a comfortable, perhaps beautiful, seascape but when the storm blows up this security is undermined and brings back their fears. Like his other poems Heaney likes to expose how nature can be frightening or ugly like a tame cat/Turned savage. He refers to three of the elements earth, water and air this wizened earth tragic chorus in a gale.. the flung spray. Heaney manages to convey how all of nature can turn against us. The structure of the poem is one stanza of nineteen lines, like the storm it is unbroken. However the iambic pentameter lends itself to reflective, thoughtful tone and provides the poem with a steady rhythm, the natural rhythm of speech, to contrast with the often violent and combative language used to describe the storm. The poem concludes with a couplet with the half rhymes air and fear. The couplet helps to round the poem off, to give it an air of finality. Heaney uses punctuation to enhance and to add effect to the description. Many lines are not end stopped, there is enjambment indicating the relentlessness of the storm. The word Blast is highlighted with the colon, a dash is used to provide the conversational tone you know what I mean leaves and branches. By using punctuation in this way Heaney draws us into the drama of the storm; it is as if we are observers like him. Heaney explores the theme of war and uses various military metaphors in relation to the storm, the wind dives and strafes, while space is a salvo and air is said to bombard. The opening words suggest a readiness for conflict -We are prepared. When nature attacks the salvo is loosed, the island is bombarded, the sea is exploding and the gale pummels the houses. The poem uses the language of war poetry and is reminiscent of the work of First World War poetry. The atmosphere of war achieved serves to intensify the power of the storm while also echoing the sounds present on battlefield. The use of combative and violent words further emphasises the noise of the storm, whether it is the crashing of the waves or the clash of thunder. He identifies the storm as the enemy and suggests that the island inhabitants should endure and remain resolute we just sit tight. Heaney loves to use sound patterns in his poetry and does this effectively to mirror the storm. Alliteration is used well alongside monosyllabic words to build the tension of the storm, Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate. Onomatopoeia echoes the sound of the storm in words like blast, flung spray and spits. This adds to the imagery created by metaphor and simile. A most evocative image is of the tragic chorus reminding us of death or of the Greek mythologies that Heaney later translates. The simile of the tame cat is also effective in again taking the commonplace and transforming it into something menacing and savage. The mood of the poem is reflective and begins as confident but becomes less so as the poem progresses. The final line of the poem is ambiguous. Heaney says that it is strange but the thing we fear is a huge nothing . It is as if the air and wind are nothing because we cannot see it just like our own intangible or unspeakable fears. This is what Heaney seems to be contemplating through the metaphor of the storm. Another possibility is that the storm is a metaphor of the troubles. Heaney has written frequently on the topic and it certainly impacted on his life in South Derry. Is the fear a fear of peace and of the unknown. We as islanders have always been good in preparing and protecting ourselves in war but not so good in securing peace. Although the poems were written in the modern era and address similar events, they contrast considerably due to the cultural perspectives of the poets. Nichols wishes to convey culture and tradition whereas Heaney wishes to convey nature in its rarest form. Grace Nichols adapts a personal response to the subject matter and also uses the storm as a metaphor. In a poem where we gain a vivid insight to her feelings in relation to the hurricane the hurricane evokes memories and allows the poet to recall her origins, it addresses the poets relationship with the Caribbean, while also identifying her failure to adapt to the unfamiliar surroundings of an English landscape. As the poem progresses Nichols finds the solace she seeks and seems to grow more attached to her environment through the message that she feels the hurricane conveys. In 1987, England experienced some unusually strong storms which reached hurricane force. Grace Nichols wrote, It seemed as though the voices of the gods were in the wind, within the Sussex wind. And for the first time, I felt close to the English landscape in a way that I hadnt earlier. It was if the Caribbean had come to England. Fundamentally, therefore the poems are very different. Heaney presents the storm as frightening and Nichols as welcoming. The poem is initially written in the third person but changes in the second stanza where Nichols refers to the first person, now speaking for herself. This is similar to Heaney as he uses first person plural to involve the audience, however Heaney seems to observe the storm and is distant of it. Nichols addresses her storm, wants it to talk to her and explain why it is there. In contrast to Heaney the poem does not adhere to a particular structure or conventional pattern but takes the form of free verse where there is no rhyme scheme and stanzas and lines both vary in length. This allows the poet to state the unpredictability of the hurricane. Nichols frequently moves from cultural contexts, developing and explaining her relationships with the two landscapes- Caribbean and England. This is quite different from Storm on an Island where only one place is focused on. Because of this I think Heaneys poem is more effective in portraying the storm. As an audience we are not distracted by the two cultures that Nichols presents to us. The range of vocabulary is different in Hurricane hits England. Nichols uses the putois form Huracan and names of the gods, Oya and Shngo, of the Yoruba tribe, who were taken as slaves to the Carribean. These are the gods of wind and thunder respectively- they are agents of destruction. The destruction was of course seen clearly in Hurricane Hattie which hit the Caribbean in 1961. this is the hurricane Nichols recalls most vividly from childhood. The inovocation of ancient Gods does lend dramatic effect to the storm just as Heaney uses military words to create drama. We also witness a link between Heaneys tragic chorus and Nichols talking Gods. They both lend a mysticism or spirituality to their storms. Just like Heaney, Nichols creates powerful imagery to convey the ferocity of the storm. She uses metaphors in comparing the wind to a ship, a howling ship that has followed her across the ocean. This metaphor relating to the ocean is sustained when she compares the felled trees to whales, what is the meaning of trees falling heavy as whales. So Nichols extends the metaphor just like Heaney sustains his battle imagery. Nichols continues to question the storm and uses contrasts or oxymorons to highlight the image, the blinding illumination into further darkness, its is reminiscent of Heaneys oxymoron exploding comfortably. The plunge into darkness is simply a power cut but could also reflect Nicholss feelings about her new environment. Nichols brings her poem to a climax by reconciling the two cultures. The warm winds break the frozen lake in me and she realises that the Caribbean and England are part of the same planet, that the earth, is the earth, is the earth. The storm has acted as a unifier and a channel of release for Nichols emotions. The storm in its entirety could be viewed as a symbol of the struggle she has had in adapting to her new culture. We must presume that Nichols is speaking for all Caribbean immigrants, just as Heaney speaks on behalf of the islanders. Nichols uses a very different format to Heaney. She employs consistent repetition, rhetorical questions and short lines designed to increase the intensive effect of the hurricane. Heaney relies more on the effect of language and imagery. Heaneys poem is more enigmatic and universal, it could interpreted on many levels by the audience. Nichols, however, confines her audience to those who can relate to the specific cultures. I feel that her optimistic ending is somewhat unrealistic, we just have to refer to the problem of racism in England for consolidation of my view. Heaney relates to us all who fear the huge nothing and because of this I feel he has been more successful in presenting the storm most vividly.

Assess The Contribution Of Control Theory To Our Understanding Of Crime And Criminality Essay Example

Assess The Contribution Of Control Theory To Our Understanding Of Crime And Criminality Essay Example Assess The Contribution Of Control Theory To Our Understanding Of Crime And Criminality Paper Assess The Contribution Of Control Theory To Our Understanding Of Crime And Criminality Paper Essay Topic: Discipline and Punish the Birth Of the Prison Before evaluating the contribution of control theory, the understanding of crime and criminality needs to be explained. What is crime? Who commits crime? These are questions that we will address. Crime or unaccepted social behaviour stems back many years but it is the political element of introducing defined laws that has had a significant effect on the population. Criminality is the etiology of those that defy the laws and do not conform to social norms. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) were earlier influences from the eighteenth century and their thinking about crime gave birth to what is now known as the Classical School. The classical thought did not put any emphasis on the individual and took everybody as being equal in his or her decision to act criminally. Other theories developed from this period and looked more into the individual and social causes. This was known as the positivist approach. Biological and psychological theories of criminality tended to take this approach. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) developed one of the early sociological theories. We will look at this early approach to crime and how it has progressed into modern criminology. These disciplines are in the main trying to find the answer to the question, Why do people commit crime? Control theory asks the question, Why do people not commit crime? This is a parallel contrast to most other theories whereby the interest is on the causation of the offender. Control theory assumes that everyone is subject to temptations to engage in rewarding criminal behaviour, what needs to be understood is what stops most people, most of the time, from succumbing to such temptations. Some of the main voices of this field are Travis Hirschi, Michael Gottfredson, Walter Reckless, and Ivan Nye. We will look at their contributions in detail especially that of Gottfredson and Hirschi. Finally we will discuss the worth of control theory and evaluate what implications it has had on modern society along with whether it is regarded as being axiomatic. Crime and Criminality Prior to the seventeenth century the law was greatly influenced by that of monarchical and religious authorities. Crimes committed against the establishment and /or the church were dealt with by brutal and bloody punishments. The origins of the concept of crime are found in the classical tradition. A conception of crime presupposes a conception of human nature. (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990) These were represented by Hobbes, Bentham and Beccaria. Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure (Bentham 1970) Thomas Hobbes (1588- 1679) wrote the book Leviathan and described his laws of nature. He believed in the absence of social condition, every action we perform, no matter how charitable or benevolent, is done for reasons, which are ultimately self-serving. Hobbes believed that any account of human action, including morality, must be consistent with the fact that we are all self-serving. Hobbes speculates how selfish people would behave in a state of nature, prior to the formation of any government. He begins noting that humans are essentially equal, both mentally and physically, insofar as even the weakest person has the strength to kill the strongest. Classical criminology grew out of a reaction against the barbaric system of law, justice and punishment that was in existence before 1789. It sought an emphasis on free will and human rationality. The Classical School was not interested in studying criminals, but rather law-making and legal processing. Crime, they believed, was activity engaged in out of total free will and that individuals weighed the consequences of their actions. Punishment is made in order to deter people from committing crime and it should be greater than the pleasure of criminal gains. Classical theory emphasized a legal definition of crime rather than what defined criminal behaviour. Two famous writers during this classical period were Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) and Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), both led the movement to human rights and free will. Beccaria thought that crime could be traced to bad laws, not to bad people. A new modern criminal justice system would be needed to guarantee equal treatment of all people before the law. His famous book, On Crimes and Punishment presented a new design for the criminal justice system that served all people. His book dubbed him the father of modern criminology. It was the first attempt at presenting a systematic, consistent and logical penal system. Beccaria suggested that fixed punishments for all offences should be written into law and that the law must apply equally to all citizens and all who are guilty should suffer the same prescribed penalty. Prison sentences were held to be preferable, with prison work being both beneficial to both supply compensation to victims of crime and to deter potential offenders. Benthams concern was upon utilitarianism, which assumed the greatest happiness for the greatest number. He believed that individuals weigh the probabilities of present and future pleasures against those of present and future pain. Thus people acted as human calculators, he believed, and that they put all factors into a sort of mathematical equation to decide whether or not to commit an illegal act. He believed then that punishment should be just a bit in excess of the pleasures derived from an act and not any higher than that. The law exists to create happiness for all, thus since punishment creates unhappiness it can be justified if it prevents greater evil than it produces. Bentham described four general sources of pleasure and pain, or sanction systems: physical, political, moral and religious. Bentham used these four sanction elements to write a foundation for reforms of the criminal law and public crime control policy. Bentham eventually focused on the political sanctions and his work as well as that of the classical school came down to us as a political science rather than a behavioural science. The nineteenth century saw the development of the biological and medical sciences and the scientists clashed with the classical school of thought. The scientists argued that their fields of study and expertise could account for individual differences with regards to why crime was committed. They did not believe that everyone was the same and should be dealt with on a fixed punishment system. This lead to a more positivistic approach to the explanation of the causation of the offender rather than just concentrating on crime and the criminal justice system itself. In criminology the term positivism is often applied to approaches that tend to differentiate people or social groups from one another according to objective categories, which somehow determine their behaviour. Positivists, unlike the classical reformers, sought to explain the world around them. They saw behaviour as determined by biological, psychological, and social traits. They focused on a deterministic view of the world, on criminal behaviour instead of legal issues, and the prevention of crime through the reformation of offenders. The use of scientific techniques was important to the positivists. Data was collected in order to explain different types of individuals and social phenomena. Naturalists and anthropologists formed the theory of evolution, which was a very critical component to the study of human criminal behaviour by the positivists. The focus on positivism then is on systematic observations and the accumulation of evidence and objective fact within a deductive framework, thus moving from a general statement to a more specific one. The origins of scientific criminology are usually traced beck to the workings of Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909). Lombroso replaced the notion of free will and rationality with the notion of determinism. He developed the positivist school of criminology, which sought explanations for criminal behaviour through scientific research and experimentation. Lombroso believed in the criminal born man and woman. He believed they had physical features of ape like creatures that were not fully developed as humans were. Lombroso believed that criminality is a trait produced in humans as a consequence of a particular form of genetic inheritance. Lombroso`s work aimed to identify a difference between criminals and non criminals. It soon became clear that not all offenders would fit the initial theory. They were not homogeneous and differences occurred between them and the different crimes they committed. This led Lombroso to sub divide the criminal population into types of offender. These typologies varied and may be on frequency, seriousness, object and characteristics of the offender, thus leading onto other theories of a positivist persuasion. All too frequently the idea that acts have causes is translated via the research literature into the idea that specific acts have specific causes. For biological positivism, this leads to the search for a genetic component to account for variation in specific acts. (Gottfreddson 1990) This problem is not unique to the biological approach and both psychological and sociological sciences debate over the specific differences of the individual criminal acts. The psychological approach is apparently a study of behaviour and the individualistic causes of why a person commits crime. One such theory is that of social learning, that behaviour is learnt through the social group around the individual. Albert Bandura provided empirical studies on observational learning. Hans Eysenk is prominent in his research on conditioning and his personality trait theory. He believed that we are either capable of being conditioned and learning the behaviour acceptable in the social environment or that we have internal problems and are unable to reform. Eysenks suggests that those people who are not able to be conditioned have a problem with self control. The sociological approach looks at the environment surrounding the individual and what affects this has in relation to causation of crime. Peer groups and the family have a major role to play in this science. Several theories look to identify the social structure of the individual. Such theories look to establish pressures that are asserted on the individual that cause them to turn to crime in order to solve their problems. (Strain Theory and Robert Mertons Anomie Theory). Such pressures are placed on the individual by the class of society they live in, and goals that are set within the society which are unobtainable, unless through deviant means. (Albert Cohens Subculture Theory). One of the earliest applications of Control theory came from Ivan Nye in 1958. Nye attributed delinquency to the failure of personal and social controls. Nyes conception of social control involved four clusters of attitudes, behaviour patterns, and/or social contexts. First, there was direct control imposed from without by means of restriction and punishment. Second, there was internalised control exercised from within through ones conscience. Third, there was indirect control related to affectional identification with parents and other non-criminal persons. Fourth, was the availability of alternative means to goals and values. Nye emphasized that the most important source of controls were indirect, resulting from family relationships. As for direct control, this would include the monitoring behaviours of parents, teachers, and police officers (among other adults). That is, some adults tend to watch youth and when they become delinquent, punishment can be forthcoming. Internalised control, the second area, basically refers to ones conscience or belief in the prevailing morals of a society. For example, people who believe that shoplifting is wrong would probably feel guilty about doing it. They know that there is a social norm against that behaviour and they have internalised that norm. To violate ones conscience results in unpleasant feelings of guilt, shame, and remorse. The third area is control derived through affectional identification with ones parents (primarily). Since essentially all parents disapprove of delinquent behaviours, children run the risk of upsetting them by being deviant. Yet children vary in the extent to which they are attached to their parents and respect them. Children who are strongly attached to their parents tend to care about what they think and therefore avoid behaviours that would upset or offend them. On the other hand, children who are relatively unattached would be more likely to engage in delinquent acts because they tend not to care about what their parents think. The final area is the availability of alternative means to goals and values. Juveniles tend to share similar goals and values, but they vary in the extent to which they have the opportunity to achieve these goals. In 1961 sociologist Walter C. Reckless proposed Containment Theory, which explains delinquency as the interplay between two forms of control known as inner (internal) and outer (external) containments. Containment theory assumes that for every individual a containing external structure as well as a protective internal structure exist. Both buffer, protect, and insulate an individual against delinquency. Reckless wanted his theory to explain not only delinquency, but also conformity. Containment theory shows that society produces a series of pulls and pushes toward the phenomenon of delinquency. It suggests that these inner and outer containments help to buffer against ones potential deviation from legal and social norms and work to insulate a youth from the pressures, pulls, and pushes of deviant influences. Of the two, Reckless suggested that inner containments are more important. It is these inner containments, he argued, that form ones support system. The stronger ones inner containments, the least likely one would commit crime; the weaker ones inner containments, the more prone to crime one would become. Inner containments, simply put, are self components. They are the inner strength of ones personality. These include a good self-concept, strong ego, well developed conscience, high sense of responsibility, and high frustration tolerance. Outer containments refer to ones social environment. These are normative constraints in which society and groups use to control its members. Outer containments include belonging (identification with the group), effective supervision, cohesion among group members (togetherness), opportunities for achievement, reasonable limits and responsibilities, alternative ways and means of satisfaction, reinforcement of goals, norms values, and discipline. Internal pushes are personal factors, which include restlessness, discontent, rebellion, anxiety, and hostility. External pulls include deviant peers, membership in a deviant/criminal gang, and pornography. Finally, external pressures refer to the adverse living conditions which give rise to crime. These include relative deprivation, poverty, unemployment, insecurity, and inequality. The most influential version of control theory is that of Travis Hirschi presented in a book titled Causes of Delinquency. Hirschi theorized that conformity is the result of a bond or tie to four elements in conventional society. As the bond weakens, the probability of deviance increases. So the strength of the bond explains the probability of an individual becoming involved in delinquency. When the bond is stronger, delinquency would be less likely and visa versa. The first element of the bond is attachment to significant others. The extent to which a person is attached to others can be measured independently of his deviant behaviour. People are thought to internalise norms and values because they respect close friends and family members. If a person does not care about the wishes of other people, he will be free to deviate. So the extent to which a person has important relations with others will affect his or her level of deviance. Hirschi views parents, schools, and peers as important social institutions from which a person develops these attachments. The second element of the bond is commitment and it involves time, energy, and effort placed on conventional lines of action. This is the rational component in conformity. In other words, partaking in social activities ties an individual to the moral and ethical code of society. Hirschs control theory holds that people who build an investment in life, property, and reputation are less likely to engage in criminal acts, which will jeopardize their social position. A lack of commitment to such conventional values will free an individual to partake in delinquent or criminal acts. The third element is involvement. This addresses a preoccupation in activities that stress the conventional interests of society. Hirschi argues that an individual who is heavy involved in conventional activities does not have enough time to engage in delinquent or criminal acts. He believes that involvement in school, family, and recreation insulates a juvenile from potential delinquent behaviour that may be a result of idleness. The fourth and final element is belief and it deals with the individuals agreement with a societys value system. This entails respect for laws, and the people and institutions that enforce such laws. Control theory assumes that there is a common (shared) value system in any society. However, there is variation in the extent to which people believe they should obey the rules of a society. The less a person believes he or she should obey the rules, the more likely he or she is to violate them. If beliefs are weakened, or absent, one is more likely to engage in antisocial acts. Gottfredson and Hirschi wrote a General Theory of Crime in 1990. In this book they suggest a theory that self control is the general concept around which all of the known facts about crime can be organised. A General Theory of Crime purports that other theories pay insufficient attention to the facts about the nature of crime, which are that crimes are committed in pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain. As with Hirschi`s former theory of criminality, this one is a classical theory aswell. Classical theories on the whole, then, are today called control theories, theories emphasizing the prevention of crime through consequences painful to the individual. (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990) They define crime as acts of force or fraud undertaken in pursuit of self interest. Low self control is supposed to explain an individuals propensity to commit or refrain from committing crimes, just as high self control explains an individuals likelihood of conforming to social norms and laws. The main characteristics of low self control relevant to the commission of criminal acts are crimes that provide simple and immediate gratification, acts which offer excitement and risk, acts that require little skill or planning and acts that result in pain and discomfort for the victim. The theory allows for diversity in criminal acts and suggests that there are no exceptional criminals. According to the theory, crime involves the pursuit of immediate pleasure and people lacking in self control will also tend to pursue pleasures that are not criminal, they will tend to smoke, use drugs, gamble and engage in illicit sex. (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990). The theory describes certain traits of people who lack self control. These are impulsivity, insensitivity, low intelligence, physical aggression and being self-centred. People with low self control also enjoy risk taking, are short sighted and nonverbal, and they will tend to therefore engage in criminal and analogous acts. These traits are established early and persist through life. The major cause of low self control is that of ineffective child rearing and lack of appropriate punishment. low self control is not produced by training, tutelage, or socialisation. As a matter of fact, all of the characteristics associated with low self control tend to show themselves in the absence of nurturance, discipline, or training. (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990) The family environment plays an important role in ensuring the child adheres to social norms and non deviant acts. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi the minimum conditions for adequate child rearing are for someone to monitor the childs behaviour, recognise deviant behaviour when it occurs and to punish such behaviour. If any or all of these conditions are not carried out then the child can develop a low self control. The theory purports that parenting is the most important factor which will determine ones level of self control. Children whose parents care about them and supervise and punish their misconduct will develop the self control needed, through socialisation, to resist the easy temptations offered by crime. This in turn will help them in future school, work and relationships. The theory argues that a lack of self control is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for crime to occur, because other properties of the individual, or the situation may counteract ones likelihood of committing deviant acts. Self control theory applies itself to age, gender and race variations in crime, peer groups, schools, and the family, cross-cultural comparisons, white collar crime and organised crime. There are differences among racial and ethnic groups, as there are between the sexes, in levels of direct supervision by the family. Thus, there is a crime component to racial differences in crime rates, but, as with gender, differences in self control probably outweigh differences in supervision in accounting for racial or ethnic variations. (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990). Summary We began by discussing how crime and criminality became more political during the seventeenth century onwards and the influence of Hobbe`s. The works of Bentham and Beccaria towards establishing a better criminal justice system in the eighteenth century gave birth to the classical school of thinking. This then developed into other sciences looking into criminality and the concerns that society was not equal and that behaviour was affected by individual and environmental factors. This began the positive school of thinking. This was debated through the years in the professions of biology, psychology and sociology. Each science had its own specialists who in turn had their own interpretation of the etiology of criminality. The main emphasis of most of the theories was that behaviour was determined by traits associated by each discipline. We then concentrated on the social control theory and the contributions of Nye, Reckless, Hirschi and Gottfredson. This theory purports to ask the question, why do people not commit crime? They all suggest that an internal factor conscience/self control is the main causation for people to commit/not commit deviant acts. They all suggest that this is concerned with paternal relationships at an early age. Moving on through Nye, Reckless, Hirschi and Gottfredson the theory seems to become more evolved, although still tautological. The most recent theory being, that of Hirschi and Gottfredson and their General Theory of Crime, which relates to self control. Conclusion A large number of empirical studies generally support the social control theories, especially that of Hirschi and Gottfredson. The theory allows for diversity in crimes and suggests that most crimes are associated with opportunity and immediate gratification. The theory believes that there are no specialist criminals and that offenders will commit crimes of the same nature only because it involves little planning and the availability of targets. The theory is heavily paternistic and puts great emphasis on the relationship of the family. Its concerns are with the development of the child and that a traditional family environment with two parents and correct discipline would enable the child to develop a high self control and thus not commit deviant acts. The theory also encompasses the role of other guardians throughout the life of the child, these including teachers, police and the community itself. The theory has guided modern public policy reformations and it supports policies on parenting programmes and recreational programs for young children and teenagers. Critics of the theory believe that it does not adequately explain violent and ethnic crimes, and that it is tautological in explaining self control and criminality. Control theory seems to be regarded as an explanation for non serious offences and especially for those carried out by the age group, between the mid teens to early twenties, the delinquent years. Nye, Reckless and Hirschi concentrated on delinquent crime causation for their theories. Gottfredson and Hirschi developed these earlier theories and assessed other social and psychological theories to conclude with their general theory of crime, which evolves around self control. The theory is tautological in its explanation of criminality and self control and suggests that self control is criminality and vice versa. Self control is defined by certain traits, which many other theories apply to the causation of criminality, low intelligence, impulsivity and defective child rearing. The theory does not adequately explain the relevance of age, gender and race variations in crime. It tries to suggest that many theories use these variants to specifically explain the propensity to commit crime. It purports that there will always be variants in the age, gender and race debates and that self control is a constant factor throughout all of them. Other theories tend to offer a more suitable explanation to the maturation reform. David Matza wrote his drift theory and proposed that juvenile males drift out of deviant activity by the time they are in their early twenties. Gordon Tasler wrote about a situational theory that suggested that many young people strayed away from deviancy because of family commitments and employment opportunities of their own. Much data relates to there being an age period which results in high crime rates being committed and this is in the mid teens to early twenties and that this peak then decreases from that time. Statistics would suggest that age has a significant contribution to the cause of criminality. Many people who offend at this age still offend throughout their lives and others start up again several years later in life. One simple explanation for this age factor might be down to the more stringent punishments that are delivered to persons who are over eighteen years and that this alone brings halt to many offenders. On the gender issue, it is generally regarded that males commit more crime than females, especially that involving violence. If a female does commit crime it could be seen as being doubly deviant as her behaviour is also against that of social norms. Ann Lloyd. It would therefore suggest that a female would need to have lower self control than a male. Control theories purport that females tend to be more carefully watched over in their childhood years and that this allows there self control to be developed and thus not want to indulge in deviant acts. The race debate seems to be less able to be defined by control theory and suggests only that the self control element is the only invariant. Other sociological theories try to address the race debate with more explanation. (Anomie and Strain Theory). Overall the control theories offer a good assessment of the majority crimes and those who commit them, young males. In asking, why do we not commit crime, the theory purports that we are all capable of criminality, but that most of us have internalised controls to prevent non conformity. The theory does not offer adequate explanation for individual propensities and for violent crimes. The theory does propose an explanation for the causation of criminality, self control, this being at an early age and due to ineffective parenting. This is similar to other theorists (David Farrington) and somewhere that public policies should direct their attentions. If a young person can be guaranteed a stable and caring environment then there may be a diminution of criminals and a proliferation of socially accepted adults.

Battle of Resaca de la Palma - Mexican-American War

Battle of Resaca de la Palma - Mexican-American War Battle of Resaca de la Palma - Dates Conflict: The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was fought May 9, 1846, during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Armies Commanders Americans Brigadier General Zachary Taylor2,222 menMexicansGeneral Mariano Aristaapprox. 4,000-6,000 men Battle of Resaca de la Palma - Background: Having been defeated at the Battle of Palo Alto on May 8, 1846, Mexican General Mariano Arista elected to withdraw from the battlefield early the next morning. Retreating down the Point Isabel-Matamoras road, he sought to prevent Brigadier General Zachary Taylor from advancing to relieve Fort Texas on the Rio Grande. In looking for a position to make a stand, Arista sought terrain which would negate Taylors advantage in light, mobile artillery which had played a critical role in the previous days fighting. Falling back five miles, he formed a new line at Resaca de la Palma (Resaca de la Guerrero) (Map). Here the road was hemmed in by thick chaparral and trees on either side which would negate the American artillery while providing cover for his infantry. In addition, where the road cut through the Mexican lines, it passed through a ten-foot deep, 200-foot wide ravine (the resaca). Deploying his infantry into the chaparral on either side of the resaca, Arista placed a four-gun artillery battery across the road, while holding his cavalry in reserve. Confident in the disposition of his men, he retired to his headquarters in the rear leaving Brigadier General RÃ ³mulo DÃ ­az de la Vega to oversee the line. Battle of Resaca del Palma - The Americans Advance: As the Mexicans departed Palo Alto, Taylor made no immediate effort to pursue them. Still recovering from the May 8 fight, he also hoped that additional reinforcements would join him. Later in the day, he elected to push forward but decided to leave his wagon train and heavy artillery at Palo Alto to facilitate more rapid movement. Advancing along the road, the lead elements of Taylors column encountered the Mexicans at Resaca de la Palma around 3:00 PM. Surveying the enemy line, Taylor immediately ordered his men forward to storm the Mexican position (Map). Battle of Resaca de la Palma - The Armies Meet: In an attempt to repeat the success of Palo Alto, Taylor ordered Captain Randolph Ridgely to move forward with the artillery. Advancing with skirmishers in support, Ridgelys gunners found it slow going due to the terrain. Opening fire, they had difficulty spotting targets in the heavy brush and were nearly overrun by a column of Mexican cavalry. Seeing the threat, they switched to canister and drove off the enemy lancers. As the infantry advanced through the chaparral in support, command and control became difficult and the fighting quickly degenerated into a series of close-quarter, squad-sized actions. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Taylor ordered Captain Charles A. May to charge the Mexican battery with a squadron from the 2nd US Dragoons. As Mays horsemen moved forward, the 4th US Infantry began probing Aristas left flank. Surging down the road, Mays men succeeded in overrunning the Mexican guns and inflicted losses among their crews. Unfortunately, the momentum of the charge carried the Americans a quarter mile further south allowing the supporting Mexican infantry to recover. Charging back north, Mays men were able to return to their own lines, but failed to retrieve the guns. Though the guns had not been seized, Mays troopers succeeded capturing Vega and several of his officers. With the Mexican line leaderless, Taylor promptly ordered the 5th and 8th US Infantry to complete the task. Advancing towards the resaca, they launched into a determined fight to take the battery. As they began to drive back the Mexicans, the 4th Infantry succeeded in finding a path around Aristas left. Lacking leadership, under heavy pressure on their front, and with American troops pouring into their rear, the Mexicans began to collapse and retreat. Not believing that Taylor would attack so soon, Arista spent most of the battle in his headquarters. When learning of the 4th Infantrys approach, he raced north and personally led counterattacks to halt their advance. These were repulsed and the Arista was forced to join the general retreat south. Fleeing the battle, many Mexicans were captured while the remainder re-crossed the Rio Grande. Battle of Resaca de la Palma - Aftermath: The fighting for the resaca cost Taylor 45 killed and 98 wounded, while Mexican losses totaled around 160 killed, 228 wounded, and 8 guns lost. Following the defeat, Mexican forces re-crossed the Rio Grande, ending the siege of Fort Texas. Advancing to the river, Taylor paused until crossing to capture Matamoras on May 18. Having secured the disputed territory between the Nueces and Rio Grande, Taylor halted to await further reinforcements before invading Mexico. He would resume his campaign that September when he moved against the city of Monterrey. Selected Sources Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park: Resaca de la PalmaHandbook of Texas: Battle of Resaca de la PalmaUS Army Center for Military History: Guns Along the Rio GrandeTrudeau, Noah Andre. A Band of Demons Fights for Texas. Military History Quarterly Spring 2010: 84-93.

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 42

Philosophy - Essay Example Searching for knowledge is just like trying to get bigger and bigger squares than the one we have started with. Actually, the basis of most of Plato’s philosophical ideas was mathematics. He was fond of mathematics because of its idealized abstractions and its separation from the merely material. According to Plato, the mathematician could well consider himself as dealing only with the purest form of thought and as having nothing to do with the imperfect everyday world. The eagerness to be enlightened and greediness to be experienced are the real cause of man’s destruction and suffering, according to Plato in the Meno. In fact, the continuous search for knowledge about the unknown is an aspect that has been characterizing human beings since their early existence on earth. In that sense, an important characteristic of human nature in general is the easiness with which man can commit a sin, despite the fact that he clearly knows the good. This is what is referred to as "Menos paradox" in Platos Meno. Plato, in this play, sends an important message about the nature of man, saying that, in many cases, man can clearly differentiate between what is good and what is evil and still can fail to do the good. Consequently, Plato had his own philosophy of ethics. His ethical theory rests on the assumption that virtue is knowledge and can be taught, which has to be understood in terms of his theory of Forms. The highest Form for Plato is the Form of the Good, and knowledge of this Form is the source of guidance in moral decision making. Accordingly, Plato argued that to know the good is to do the good. The epitome of this is that anyone who behaves immorally does so out of ignorance. This assumption is derived from Platos conviction that the moral person is the t ruly satisfied person, and because individuals always desire their own happiness, they always desire to do that which is moral. Therefore, it can be said that Plato’s

Criminal Justice- Ethics Policy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criminal Justice- Ethics Policy - Term Paper Example The ethical policy of the criminal justice system is to be based on the values where the members of the Academy should respect the dignity, worth and rights of every individual – even though they are criminal. This should be the basis of the ethical policy that is to be established for the criminal justice agency. It is necessary to inculcate the actual meaning of ethics in the minds of the members of the agency in order to truly and ethically establish the ethical policies in the agency (Pollock 1998). It is highly necessary to first educate the members of the agency about the importance of ethics in criminal justice. I, as the Head of the criminal justice agency, will first educate my members of the agency about values and importance of ethics in criminal justice system before establishing the same. At the same time the local community and neighborhood watch program should also be considered. The best way is to involve the members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), which has over 14000 members in 68 countries. The reason for utilizing them for drafting the document is that they make the most universally representative police association. The IACP always emphasizes the needs and importance of ethics training in law enforcement agencies. Hence there cannot anything better than them to draft the document. They are the most experienced and right people for this job (Souryal, 2010). There will at least a few members of this universal body be available who can take the lead in drafting the document. One aspect that is worth mentioning is incorporation of code of ethics outlining standards of professional conduct in the IACP rule making them the choice of drafting the document. As mentioned earlier the ethical code of conduct outlining the standards of professional in the IACP rule would be the biggest reference for drafting the ethical code document for the

Literature and Social Reality Essay Example for Free

Literature and Social Reality Essay In this paper I will discuss and analyze the social forces of immigration and industrialization that shape literature during the period of 1865 to 1912. I will describe the major literary movements of the period. Additionally I will explain how Realism and Naturalism influenced the literature of the period, how immigration and industrialization contributed to the influences. I will illustrate using examples from some of the greatest authors of the period. Immigration and Industrialization The United States’ population grew quickly in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Baym (2008) et al. write that there were 38. million people in 1870 and had grown to 92 million in 1910. This growth resulted mostly from immigration. People came from countries all over the world but predominantly from European and Asian nations. Immigration was also the major cause for urbanization in the United States according to Baym et al. (2008) with a dramatic proportional shift from a mostly rural population to a larger city population. Simultaneously with this mass immigration industrialization was happening creating an abundance of factory jobs and building immense wealth for some while also creating dramatic divides in society. Baym et al. (2008) describe the situation: â€Å"Long-settled white Americans faced newly arrived white people across divides of power, income, and privilege – worker against owner, farm against city, immigrant against native-born, leading to suspicion and social turbulence on a scale that the nation had not seen† (p. 3). The consequences were labor struggles resulting from terrible working conditions. Immigration brought an abundance of workers resulting in low wages as well as â€Å"inhumane and dangerous working conditions† (Baym et al. 2008, p. ). Conflict also arose from farmers being pushed off their land by the railroads and competition between native-born citizens and immigrants. There was also increased suspicion and resentment between the social classes likely based on fear of losing their â€Å"part of the cake† for the upper and middle classes, whereas the lower class was resentful because of how they were treated. Major Literary Movements The major literary movements during this period were realism and naturalism emerging after a long period of idealism and romanticism. Realism shifted literature to a way of describe life as it actually is instead of trying to present an idealized or romantic image. It was an objective style that offered detached perspectives on the everyday lives of the middle-class, working-class and the poor. This style worked well for describing the struggles of the period. Baym et al. (2008) describe W. D. Howells as the â€Å"chief American advocate† of realism (p. 6). Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, and others also joined in this movement as well as some distinguished African American writers such as W. E.  B Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett (Baym et al. , 2008). The nature of Naturalism has been debated as being the opposite of realism or as â€Å"extension or intensification of realism† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 7). Naturalism usually describes more extreme settings and circumstances than realism and focuses on harsher conditions and poorer characters. Baym et al. (2008) suggest that while characters in realistic works often overcome difficulties, in naturalistic pieces the characters never stand a chance. It is a much more pessimistic literary style than realism. Crane, Dreiser, London, and Norris are described by Baym et al. (2008) as the leading American naturalistic writers of the period. How Realism and Naturalism Influenced Literature Realism had an immense influence on the literature during this period. Mark Twain was one of the major authors and his â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† is an excellent example of his style, which became regarded as a leading piece for the â€Å"American style† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 6). Twain used colloquial speech and his writing style puts the reader in the position of participant, almost as if in a dialogue with Huck. It is a very intimate and informal way of writing. Huckleberry Finn is uneducated and sees the world through the lens of his own experience as well as the social circumstances and mores of the time. In chapter 23 of â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† Huck ponders about Jim, his African American companion on his adventure: â€Å"He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life; and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks do for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it is so† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 204). This passage realistically illustrates the view of a young boy at the time who only knows the world through the social context of his time and place, which included slavery and a very derogatory view of African Americans. Twain was very critical and pessimistic about humankind and his writing often reflected this. However with Huck Finn he appears to be attempting to show that even an uneducated young boy in the 1840s could be open-minded and open-hearted enough to see that people are equals. Henry James writes about â€Å"Daisy Miller,† a young American woman who is a new kind of modern girl. She does not appear to care about the established rules and mores of the time and is both bold and naive in her demeanor. Baym et al. (2008) write that James shows his nature as â€Å"a true cosmopolitan concerned with exploring American national character as it is tested by cultural displacement† (p. 317). James is painting a picture of the old and established strict rules of social class and position and how they become a hindrance in forming true connection between people. The established upper- and middle-class look down on the lower class and the up-and-comers. The result is miscommunication, suspicion, and conflict. Jack London was one of the leading naturalist writers of his time. In his essay â€Å"What Life Means to me† he describes his own experience as a working class youngster who toiled in a variety of jobs until finally he had enough of heavy labor and became a vagrant for a while (Baym et al. , 2008). He describes how he found himself at the bottom of society and how in that place â€Å"life offered nothing but sordidness and wretchedness, both of the flesh and the spirit; for here flesh and spirit were alike starved and tormented† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 582). He was keenly aware of the inequalities and injustice that industrialization had brought for the working class. He writes that he realizes that a laborer is finished and broken down at 45 or 50 while an intellectual, â€Å"a brain seller† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 584) comes into his prime at that age or later. He decides to ducate himself to make a difference both for himself and for the working class dear to his heart. London eventually encountered and the Socialist movement and describes in joyful terms finding â€Å"warm faith in then human, glowing idealism, sweetness of unselfishness, renunciation, and martyrdom – all the splendid, stinging things of the spirit† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 584). He was a masterful naturalist writer describing in exquisite detail and with a detached, scientific narrative how the man slowly succumbs to the cold and freezes to death in his short story â€Å"To Build a Fire. Clearly his own experiences in Alaska had provided him with great fodder for this kind of story. Conclusion In this paper I discussed and analyzed the social forces of immigration and industrialization that shaped literature during the period of 1865 to 1912. I described the major literary movements of the period. Additionally I explained how Realism and Naturalism influenced the literature of the period and illustrated with examples from some of the greatest writers of that time.

krista bradford :: essays research papers

People running around with underwear on their head, a fake suicide over the Niagara Falls, forest rangers who are positive they seen Bigfoot, and sheriffs who make x-rated videos on a rented video camera and forget to take the tape out. These are some of the wacky stories Krista Bradford experiences during her career as an anchor on tabloid television. She tries to convince the reader that TV tabloids are trashy in the article â€Å"The Big Sleaze published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1993.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bradford writes the article in a unique fashion. She writes it as a story. Everything in the article is an experience, which make this article more interesting and convincing. Her first an anchor job was at the age of 18, she was an intern for Joan Lunden at KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California. She lost that job 10 years later so she met with Peter Brennan, the producer of A Current Affair, and he gave Bradford a job as an anchor. 6 months later they wanted her to portray a bimbo rape victim in a reenactment. She refused and went on with her life. After she was done at A Current Affair, she worked at The Reporters. She ended her career with a show hosted by Geraldo Rivera named Now It Can Be Told. She worked in tabloid TV for five years and has a lot of experience with it and that helps to make this article convincing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bradford is very negative towards television tabloids. Her tone towards everything in the article is strong and negative. She uses profane and Informal language, like tits-and-ass raunchiness and rubbernecking at the oddities of American life. Her language has a lot of trashiness to it. She also says TV tabloids do not mature the mind, they mutate it. In the article, Bradford doesn’t make the mistake on using too big of words. She uses words that everyone can understand, not just her colleagues. For instance, she uses the word â€Å"bigwigs,† basically everyone knows what that word means. She also uses the phrase â€Å"Joe six-pack.† A lot of what has to do with articles are the race of a person their attractive ness and their sexual orientation. The truth is TV tabloids discriminate against people of different race, gays, and unattractive women. They also use racial slurs and that will upset a lot of people. These are some of the negative points she uses against tabloid television.

An Analysis of Intercultural Negotiations between the East and West Essay

Executive Summary: This report provides an analysis and evaluation of an intercultural negotiation between USA’s Brown Casual Shoes and China’s Chung Sun Manufacturing, provides a literature review of a prominent theory from the field and suggests recommendation to improve the process of intercultural communication between these two countries and companies. As the Case Study was identified as subpar negotiation, all issues from the Case Study were allocated into Intercultural, Verbal and Nonverbal. Following this, Hofstede’s Cultural Model was introduced in the literature review and critically analysed. This model included five dimensions: 1. Uncertainty Avoidance 2. Power Distance 3. Masculinity vs. Femininity 4. Individualism vs. Collectivism 5. Short Term vs. Long Term Some strengths of the model included a large sample size, indexes for all nations and easily formulated hypotheses. Alternatively, some limitations were an alleged sample misrepresentation, not adequately analysing people on an individual level and a time lapse since dimension formulation. Major issues from the negotiations were then further investigated and included: Rushing the negotiations and failing to form an adequate relationship Causing offence by giving a gift to the Chinese representative Not respecting the hierarchy of the Chinse culture Failing to hire an interpreter for the negotiations Touching the Chinese associates inappropriately Recommendations suggested preventing further intercultural issues and fixing current issues as noted above included: Hiring an interpreter and cultural adviser Translating all written materials into Chinese Creating transparency within the negotiations process by asking for a joint strategy 1 Introduction Intercultural communication is becoming increasingly important within a global context for businesses. In one study within China – the country being analyzed, all respondents to a survey agreed that it is critical to the success of the organization (73.9 strongly & 26.1 moderately) (Goodman & Wang, 2007). In the following report, the success of an intercultural negotiation between China and USA will be assessed to ascertain all issues occurring across intercultural, verbal and nonverbal and how they can be fixed. This will be done by providing recommendations based on current literature in the field. Additionally, The issues of the case will be identified and analysed and a literature view will be undertaken of a relevant prominent theory in the field. 2 Identification of Problems/Issues Within the negotiations between Brown Casual Shoes and Chung Sun Manufacturing, there were several intercultural communication issues that offended the Chinese through what appeared to be a blatant disregard for their cultural barriers. These issues have been partitioned into three sections general, verbal and nonverbal. 1 Intercultural Issues The first error in their intercultural interaction was the letter given by Mr  Brown to Mr Deng. In addition to gift giving in the Chinese business culture being unacceptable due to it being seen as bribery (UONI, 2011), it is especially offensive for a gift to be wrapped in white paper – as red is the norm (Kwintessential, 2013). The fact that Mr. Deng refused the gift three times before opening it aligns with the fact that Chinese may refuse a gift three times before opening it – but not a fourth (Kwintessential, 2013). Another contributing factor is the point that Chinese don’t like to say no, and will often say yes just to save face (World Business Culture, 2013). The following mistake made by Mr. Brown was offering the first toast of the evening. In Chinese cultulre, it should always be the host who makes the first toast of the evening (Kwintessential, 2013). Additionally, Mr Brown’s lack of knowledge on who should leave the meeting first may have caused offence. As per Chinese culture, the foreigner should always leave first when a meeting is finished (UONI, 2011). Mr Browns misunderstanding of this could have caused discomfort for the Chinese. Mr Brown’s perception that the initial meetings with the Chinese would have resulted in a negotiation early was a fundamental misunderstanding – as he failed to realise that the Chinese often forge relationships with individuals before partaking in business (Goodman, 2013). 2 Intercultural Verbal Communication Issue Although Mr Brown and his team participated in lots of small talk with Mr Deng, further small talk could be encouraged to avoid causing offence and giving the impression that the negotiators only care about time – and not forging a lasting relationship (UONI, 2011). An additional verbal error made by Mr. Brown was his failure to hire a interpreter. In China, this is often viewed as a sign of disrespect for their culture (Fang & Faure, 2010). This lack of an interpreter and an overall lack of comprehension of English could have been the reason for the large amount of questions rather than the impression formulated by Mr. Brown that they were not serious about the business (World Business Culture, 2013). Furthermore, the fact that Mr Brown and his team didn’t make the effort to learn any Chinese at all for the negotiation might give off the impression that they are ethnocentric about their culture (Goodman, 2013). 3 Intercultural Nonverbal Verbal Communication Issues Although there were not many nonverbal communication errors, one fundamental nonverbal communication error made by Mr. Brown was his touching of the arm of Mr. Deng. Culturally, Chinese dislike being touched by strangers (Gao et al, 1996). As they were only just meeting and not yet properly acquainted, this may have been perceived as offensive. 3 Literature Review Hofstede’s model has been used as it was utilized a starting point for many additional cultural models. Below, figure one shows the convergence of this model with other notable ones from the field of cultural communication studies. It can be deduced from this that Hofstede’s model is the most diverse and complete framework as it encompasses all factors of other relevant models and shows evidence for the theoretical relevance. Figure 2: Comparison of Hofstede’s cultural framework with other models Source: Soares, Farhangmehr & Shoham, 2007, p. 281 One assumption of this model is defining identity through nation. Many scholars (Steenkamn et al, 1999l Hofstede, 1984; Parker, 1994; Hoover et al., 1978) support this approach. 1 Literature Review Hofstede’s cultural dimension is a model crafted to identify the key differences across different cultural workplace values. Gert Hofstede formulated this model through complex statistical analysis on more than 100,000 IBM employees across the world. The results of this suggested that five dimension anchors could be used to describe most important differences among cultures worldwide. These anchors provide points of comparison for each culture and allow different nations cultures to be contrasted and their disposition measured based on key traits (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2011). These anchor points are: Individualism/Collectivism, Power Distance, Masculinity/Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance and Short Term/Long Term. Figure 1 below shows how this is commonly measured. Figure 1: Source: Hofstede, 2001 The first dimension of the model is Power Distance. Power distance reflects the attitude a society holds on power inequality and authority relations in society. This anchor can influence hierarchy, dependence relationships and organizational context (Soares et al, 2007). A low score is indicative of a society with little respect for unequally distributed power and decisions are often spread through the organisation with feedback to bosses appropriate. Alternatively, a high score shows that the society depends highly on hierarchical structures and may concentrate decision making at the top (Hofstede, 1980). Uncertainty avoidance is the second dimension of this framework. This dictates the extent to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and due to this avoid situations that may cause these feelings to occur (Hofstede, 1991). People with high uncertainty avoidance often have well defined rules for prescribed behaviours (Soares et al, 2007) and if these are not in pla ce for new situations, they will strive to immediately move towards establishing them. Alternatively, those with low scores on this anchor will be less affected by situations that may be ambiguous (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2011). The next dimension – individualism vs. collectivism, describes the relationships people have in each culture (Soares et al, 2007). In individualistic societies, people tend to act independently and look after only themselves and their direct families. In collectivist societies, members of the society hold a large degree of interdependence (Hofstede, 1980) and take care of their group in exchange for loyalty. Masculinity vs. Feminity is the scale anchor that differentiates societies where achievement and success is paramount (high – masculine) and those where caring for others and quality of life is more important (low – feminine) (Hofstede, 1994). Feminine societies are ones where quality of life is often more desirable than standing out from the crowd (Hofstede, 2014). Lastly, Long-term vs. Short Term is the dimension, which shows countries preference towards future rewards and perseverance or towards  short-term gain and fulfilling past or present traditions (Hofstede and Bond, 1988). 2 Strengths Some strengths of Hofstede’s model is the thoroughness and time points of his research – which includes 116,000 empirical questionnaires from over 60,000 respondents across seventy countries in various decades (Hofstede, 1984; Hofstede, 1991; Hofstede, 2001). This is the most robust model in terms of sample size and variety (Smith et al., 1996). He links his dimensions with various external and internal factors, such as demographic, geographic, economic and political, and assigns indexes to every nation – a feature unmatched by other frameworks (Kale & Barnes, 1992). In addition, the framework is highly useful in formulating easy hypothesises across a range of purposes and it continues to be the norm used in international marketing, psychology, management and sociology studies (Engel, Blackwell & Miniard, 1995; Sondergaard, 1994). 3 Weaknesses Although some critique Hofstede’s research due to its alleged sample bias and its lack of inclusivity of the richness of cultures due to its sample size being based only on those working at IBM (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2011), they fail to take into account further revisions of the model by Hofstede. At the International Institute for Management Development Hofstede administered the test to international managers from over 30 countries from a variety of both private and public organisations. The results yielded in these proved significantly similar to those in his original sample – solidifying his original hypothesis (Geert, 2008). Another prominent critique is the fact that in both of these cases, there was a disproportionate level of males, members of the middle class were over represented and education levels were much higher than average (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2011), Additionally, some argue that in the model nation differences only account for 2 to 4 percent of variance in individual values, leaving at least 96 percent- if not more, unexplained. One scholar from the Academy of Management suggested that the model was incongruent with his own knowledge on psychological phenomena and suggests that an  alternative methodology be drafted (Ailon, 2008) to account for this 96 percent. Some academics claim that Hofstede’s culture dimensions are flawed due to their categorizations of people into national stereotypes rather than individual character. This is especially applicable for people living in ethnically diverse countries. (Venaik & Brewer, 2013). Lenartowicz and Roth (1999), however, contend that no single methodology across any model is able to address the inclusive set of criteria relevant to cultural assessment in business studies. Lastly, it could be suggested that due to the time that the initial dimensions were formulated was so long ago they may be out-dated and no longer relevant. Others argue that the change in cultures occurs so slow that significant changes would not likely affect the model for a long perio d (Sivakumar and Nakata, 2001) – perhaps until 2100 (Hofstede, 2001). 4 Case Analysis Five issues have been chosen out of the initial ones identified and have been linked up with their relevant theories. 1 Issue 1 The first issue is Mr Brown’s rush to finalise the negotiation and his final comment suggesting impatience with the negotiations. As China’s culture is predominantly long-term orientated (87 vs USA’s 26) the Chinese representatives may take longer to finalise the negotiations due to having a disposition towards long term relationships (Zhang & Toomey, 2009). In addition to this, Chinese negotiators often need to form a relationship due to their low temperament to individualism – 20 vs USA’s 91 (Hofstede, 2014). This haste showed great disrespect for the Chinese’s efforts to form a long-term relationship with the company, an aspect commonly necessary for business arrangements to succeed in China (Fang & Faure, 2010). 2 Issue 2 As China is a highly particular culture on Trompenaars seven dimensions of culture model (Luthans & Doh, 2009), meaning that deciding on what is right and wrong or acceptable and unacceptable is highly dependant on the exact situation and relationships involved (Trompenaars, 1997) it was a grave issue not to hire a translator to help overcome this barrier. Hofstede provides support for this theory by ranking China very low on the uncertainty avoidance scale (30), meaning that their rules may be very flexible and unique culturally (Hofstede, 2014). 3 Issue 3 As China is a high context society (Hall, 1985), the failed gift-giving incident could correspond with a clash of this high context. Hall notes that within a high context culture messages are often covert and implicit, there is much non-verbal communication and the expression of reaction is frequently reserved and inward. The message that Mr. Deng did not want to accept the gift was most certainly covert and non-verbal and his reaction to the incident stayed reserved and inward – most likely to save face (Goodman, 2013). 4 Issue 4 Hall’s theory additionally links to an important issue within the negotiation process. As Mr. Brown continually touched Mr. Deng’s arm during negotiations, this may have been perceived as breach of Space (Hall, 1985). The proxemics of the Chinese culture dictates that touching is rarely acceptable (Communication Studies, 2014). 5 Issue 5 Another issue arising from the negotiations is both Mr. Brown toasting first at the dinner and him not leaving the dinner first. What he failed to consider when doing this was China’s high power distance (80 vs USA’s 40) (Hofstede, 2014). This suggests that China strongly values hierarchical institutions. Toasting first and disrespecting the Chinese cultural norm of the guests leaving dinner first could be perceive as disrespectful to the order of the Chinese leadership and their subsequent authority. 5 Recommendations Three recommendations have been suggested to improve Brown’s Casual Shoe’s negotiation with China in analysis of the Case Study 1 Recommendation 1 The first and most important recommendation for Mr. Brown would be to hire a corporate communicator or interpreter. Although it would not be wise to hire a complete agent – as it may detract from the personal relationship needing to be crafted between both parties for successful business undertakings, USA negotiators should hire an interpreter at the least or a cultural adviser at best to cut through the high context culture of the Chinese, show the  Chinese that they care about their culture and to offer priceless advice on the negotiation process to ensure an optimal outcome for both parties (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2011). 2 Recommendation 2 The USA negotiators should in future hire a translator to succinctly translate all of their written material including business cards, marketing presentations, business proposals, company history, product information and anything else relevant to the trip to Chinese using simplified characters (Fang & Faure, 2010, p. 138). This takes away room for misinterpretation on any element of business and eliminates any concept of ethnocentricity that could have been perceived as well as showing respect for their culture and language (Kwintessential, 2013). 3 Recommendation 3 The final recommendation is to identify whether either parties or both parties will adjust their style of negotiation to the other parties cultural style. Confusion can sometimes arise when both parties are trying to adjust to the others negotiation style (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2011, p. 245). A simple affirmation of whether this will be done can save much confusion and create an air of transparency. In many cases a secure middle ground (sometimes called joint strategy) can be agreed upon. This could be asked through an email or letter prior to negotiation commencement, or if this is not appropriate, they could ask to speak privately with the highest authority of the Chinese party to respect their hierarchical institutions. To do this, you could simply stay around after a meeting and ask personally to speak with the leader to help him save face (Goodman, 2013, p. 177). 6 References Ailon, G. (2008). Mirror, mirror on the wall: culture’s consequences in a value test of it’s own design. The Academy of Management Review, 33(4), 885-904. Communication Studies (2014). Proxemics. Retrieved from http://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/proxemics Dawar, N., & Parker, P. (1994). Marketing universals: consumers’ use of brand, name, price, physical appearance and retailer reputation as signals of product quality. J Mark, 58(April), 81-95. Engel, J., Blackwell, R., & Miniard, P. (1995). Consumer Behaviour. n.p.: The Dryden Press. Fang, T., & Faure, G. O. (2011). Chinese communication characteristics: A Yin Yang perspective. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(3), 320-333. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.06.005. Gao, G., Toomey, T. S., Gudykunst, W. B., & Bond, M. H. (1996). The Handbook of Chinese Psychology – Chinese communication processes. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Goodman, M. B. (2013). Intercultural Communication for Managers. New York, NY: Business expert press. Goodman, M. B., & Wang, J. (2007). Tradition and innovation: the china business communication study. The Journal of Business Strategy, 28(3), 34-41. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02756660710746256 Hall, E. T. (1985). Hidden Differences: Studies in International Communication. Hamburg, GE: Grunder and Jahr. Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage P ublications. Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations – software of the mind. New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill. Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions & Organizations Across Nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Hofstede, G. (2014). China. Retrieved from http://geert-hofstede.com/china.html Hofstede, G. (2014). Geert. Retrieved from http://www.geerthofstede.com/geert.aspx Hofstede, G. (2014). United States. Retrieved from http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html Hoover, R., Green, R., & Saegert, J. (1978). A cross-national study of perceived risk. J Mark, (July), 102-108. Kale, S., & Barnes, J. (1992). Understanding the domain of cross-national buyer-seller instructions. Journal of International Business Studies, 23(1), 101-109. Kwintessential. (2013). China – language, culture, customs and etiquette. Retrieved from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/china-country-profile.html. Lewicki, R. J., Saun ders, D. M., & Barry, B. (2011). Essentials of negotiation (5th ed). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill. Luthans, F., & Doh, J. (2009). International Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Rubin, J. Z., & Sander, F. E. A. (1991). Culture, Negotiation and the Eye of the Beholder. Negotiation Journal, 7(1), 249-254. 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Education and Sustainable Development

Environmental education is a process of learning and teaching of environmental concepts and practices which increases people’s awareness about the environment. It mainly focuses on creation of knowledge and understanding of the environment and its challenges. It also focuses on creation of skills to mitigate environmental problems which are arising day by day and provides a forum for existing environmental knowledge to be exercised. Its objectives are creation of awareness and helping people to develop a positive attitude towards environmental education.Status of environmental education in Kenya In Kenya today, environmental education has enabled learners to play a big role in environmental conservation measures. An example is the Green Belt Movement which has over 600 community networks across Kenya which along with other networks have participated in planting more than 30 million trees on private and public land, protected reserves, sites with cultural significance and urban centers.This has resulted in the transformation of many landscapes (forests, sleep slopes and other degraded areas) and protection and restoration of habitats for local biodiversity (plants and animals). Many communities work with the Green Belt Movement to conserve and harvest water more effectively through construction of dams made of sand. That harvested water is used for household needs, food crops and tree nurseries. A related program with the Green Belt Movement Kenya improves food security i. e. he capacity of families to feed themselves, by promoting planting of fruit trees and indigenous foods including yams, cassava and arrowroots. In Kenya today, many groundbreaking initiatives including environmental education have been launched so that people could identify the sources of their problems including poor use and management of their environment and poor governance at local and national levels. They then identify solutions to those problems hence helping in maintaining a st able environmental state.Environmental education has been a reliable advocate for environmental and human rights by challenging abusive or ill-conceived actions by the previous Kenyan governments and rallying Kenyans to the cause. Through its advocacy and civic education campaigns, environmental education has been instrumental in bringing environmental issues to the Kenyan policy makers’ attention and has enjoyed significant success most notably the protection from wanton destruction of Uhuru Park and Karura Forest, both in Nairobi. This has been achieved through the Green Belt Movement.Environmental education should examine major issues locally and internationally. Currently in Kenya, a certain aspect of environmental education, The Green Belt Movement, has opened the Lang’ata Learning Center in Nairobi which continues to offer environmental education through exchange programs that expose participating groups to community biodiversity issues through discussions with l ocal leaders and excursions to selected areas around the country. Through its Pan African Green Belt Network, the Green Belt Movement has trained representatives from 15 African countries.As a result, several tree planting initiatives have been established in East and Central Africa and in the west. Environmental education in Kenya today has promoted cooperation among very many people. Different people come together in joint initiatives to plant trees or build dams. They also partake in attending and holding seminars and workshops to discuss diverse environmental issues. In this way, people are able to listen to each other’s ideas and suggestions hence enabling exchange of knowledge and skills. They also get a chance to inspire and help each other as they offer a listening ear.Today, environmental education is increasingly becoming a continuous process with so many environmental conservation measures been born and exercised. There thus arises the need to educate people on car rying out these practices. It is also being made continuous by the increasing environmental degradation in our society. People are cutting down trees carelessly and polluting the environment at a very fast rate. As a result, environmental education is being carried out continuously to combat these ill habits. This is being done through initiatives such as the Green Belt Movement.Environmental education has taken a big consideration in development and government plans in Kenya today. The government has planned to build many industries, medical facilities, petroleum refineries and electronic manufacturers. All these will generate hazardous wastes to the environment. Various movements to conserve the environment have recently sensitized the government on the need to institute both incentives and command and control measures to ensure that industries that generate hazardous waste dispose them off responsibly. Opportunities of environmental educationSince environmental education should e nable learners to actively play a role in environmental conservation, it should have a hand in encouraging research and propagation of drought-resistant crops such as cassava, millet and sorghum in order to assure food security. This is particularly important given that climate change is likely to occasion an increasingly higher incidence of crop failure. Environmental education should also have an emphasis on encouraging propagation of indigenous tree species. Although these enrich tree species and are better able to withstand environmental shocks, they are considerably under-utilized in agroforestry.It should discourage illegal logging of trees to meet timber and charcoal needs. This will be done by encouraging the formation of Community Forest Associations (CFAs) in line with the stipulations of the Forests Act and empower them to engage in sustainable forest management. CFAs should be representative of the communities that live adjacent to the forests and include women and margi nalized communities and have strict rules and procedures that prevent their appropriation by the local dominant groups. Environmental education should consider environmental aspects in major development and government plans.It therefore has the opportunity to sensitize the initiation of a range of energy sector reforms that will impel investment in clean and affordable sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind and biogas and therein eases the enormous pressure exerted on the country’s diminishing forests and woodlands for wood fuel. Challenges of environmental education Environmental education has suffered from the lack of participation among social groups and individuals. Studies have shown that most people formally educated make little efforts in ensuring that they take responsibility of the environment.This leads to knowledge gained from environmental education being stifled and may not get implemented and spread to other persons. Groups may find it unnecessary due t o lack of incentives to participate in environmental education. The lack of comprehensive strategies is another challenge facing environmental education in Kenya. Kenya has not focused much on inter-linkages between the environment and sustainable development. The environment has been mostly viewed in a great detail from the biophysical view but with less emphasis on the economic and social perspective.This has led to less participatory approaches to environmental education hence hindering its development. There exists a negative attitude among some individuals towards environmental education. Some people are suspicious about environmental education as they fear it may affect their day to day living by e. g. preventing them from logging, use of chemicals on crops e. t. c. This brings a bad image on environmental education especially on less educated individuals. The relevant government authorities are mostly underfunded in their attempts to bring environmental education to the foref ront.The government allocates more funds to other ministries and departments that are seen to bring instant returns to the economy such as agriculture and tourism and thus undermines ministries such as environment. This makes it unable to fund sensitization projects based on environmental education. There is lack of enough manpower to undertake projects concerning environmental education. People mostly in rural areas may end up not getting the relevant information concerning their environment whereas they are the people directly in contact with natural resources such as rivers, forests e. . c. This greatly undermines the spread of environmental education in the country and is a huge challenge. In certain cases, there might be inadequate information on the threats that the environment faces to the people. Theoretical teachings may not be sufficient to convince individuals on why they need to undertake certain measures to prevent environmental degradation and promote sustainable devel opment. Practical case studies may have to be carried out to convince learners adequately on threats on the environment.