Effectiveness of Treatment of Postnatal Depression

Effectiveness of Treatment of Postnatal Depression TREATMENT But there have been a recent number of studies that looked at the effectiveness of treatment of postnatal depression. From one of the most recent publications (Dennis, 2005) provides a meta-analysis of the factors which influence the outcome in the condition. The author concluded that the only strategy that was shown to have â€Å"a clear preventative effect† was intensive post-partum support from the healthcare professionals who are involved in the care of the mother. Surprisingly, this was found to be more effective than all the similar regimes which included an ante-natal component as well. A stable family life, a person experiences in the first years of life have profound effects on his or her mental health. On the other hand, talking about postnatal depression also have to concerns about the lives of the babies involved. A child from a stable home, looked after by affectionate, caring parents (or other adults), is likely to be mentally stable and able to resist everyday stresses than a child from a home where there is emotional strife, constant bickering or violence this child is more at risk of developing a personality disorder in later life. Although one in four of the population in the UK will suffer from a mental health problem at some point in their lives regardless of age, race, gender or social background. Anxiety and depression for an example in post-natal women is fairly common (Fowles, 1996). Postpartum depression is considered as a factor which can affect the development of a child in the early period of his or her life and partly determines the childs future. The morbidity associated with postnatal depression has a number of potential consequences not only for the mother, but also the child and the rest of the family as well (Oakley et al, 1996). Several recent studies have shown that healthcare professionals often fail to spot the signs of postnatal depression. Making the diagnosis is obviously the prerequisite of establishing a treatment regime so it is clearly vital for all healthcare professionals to be on their guard for warning signs – sleep disturbance, irritability, mood swings and irrationality (Ramsay et al, 1995). The importance of spoting the signs of postnatal depression is stressed in the National Institute of Clinical Excellence clinical management and service guidance on antenatal and postnatal mental health, which was released lately that it is applicable to healthcare professionals who care for women who are designing a pregnancy, are with child or throughout the postnatal period (the first year after giving birth) (NICE, 2007). According to NICE, it is approximated that as numerous as one in seven women experience a mental health disorder in the antenatal or postnatal period (Hagen et al, 2007). The guidance is the first of its kind to make exact recommendations on identification, treatment and management of all mental health disorders, encompassing disquiet, depression, consuming disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It should be read in conjunction with living NICE guidance on mental disorders. The guidance states that service users with a mental health disorder should be granted heritage perceptive data at each stage of evaluation, diagnosis, course and treatment about the influence of the disorder. This data should cover the appropriate use and probable side-effects of treatment (Harris,1994). This recommendation concerns to women with a living mental health disorder who are with a child or planning for a pregnancy, and those who evolve a mental health disorder throughout pregnancy or the postnatal period. Healthcare professionals should work to evolve a believing connection with the woman, and her partner(if they have one), imidiate family members and carers where appropriate and agreeable to the woman. In specific, they should be perceptive to the matters of stigma and disgrace in relative to mental illness (Harris, 1994). Stigma as defined by Abrams et al, (2005) is â€Å"a mark or sign of disgrace or discredit†. Stigma causes people to feel uncomfortable around an issue, or can also cause people to mock the issue in order to make it less threatening to them. Most people who feel uncomfortable is often refused to talk about mental illness therefore causing a silence around the subject. People usually tend to attach stigma to others that are different from them. Often, due to mistaken beliefs, the mentally ill are thought to be dangerous. The stigma attached to mental illness is the main obstacle to better mental health care and better quality of life for people who have the illness, for their families, for their communities and for health service staff that deal with psychiatric disorders (Abrams et al, 2005). Routine communication with doctors and healthcare professionals throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period presents an opening to recognise women who have, or are at risk of evolving, a mental health disorder. At a womans first communication with professionals in both antenatal and postnatal periods, doctors and healthcare professionals should enquire about: (Hagen et al, 2007). Past Previous treatment and medication by a psychiatrist or expert mental health group, encompassing inpatient care; A family history of perinatal mental illness. However, the guidance stresses that other exact predictors, for example poor connections with her colleague, should not be utilised for the usual proposition of the development of a mental health disorder (Gotlib et al, 1991). The following questions must be asked when a pregnant woman attend to a health care professional; During the past month, have you often been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless? During the past month, have you often been bothered by having little concern or delight in managing things? If the woman responses yes to both of these questions, a third enquiry should then be considered: Is this certain thing you seem you require or desire assistant with? The use of self-report assesses for example the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) or Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) may be advised as part of a later evaluation or for the usual supervising of outcomes (Harris, 1994). If a likely mental health disorder is recognised throughout pregnancy or the postnatal period, a further assessment will be needed: If the woman has or is supposed of having a critical mental sickness (for demonstration bipolar disorder or schizophrenia), she should be mentioned to a mental health care service, encompassing, if appropriate, an expert perinatal mental health service professional (Hagen et al, 2007). The womans GP should be acquainted in all situations even if no further evaluation or referral is made (Hoffman and Drotar, 1991). And in writing care plan covering the pregnancy, consignment and the postnatal period should be evolved for with child women with a present or past history of critical mental sickness, generally in the first trimester. This should be evolved in collaboration with the woman and her colleague, family and carers, and encompass expanded communication with mental health service professional (Fowles, 1996). The guidance suggests there should be apparently particular care pathways so that all applicable prime and lesser healthcare professionals understand how to get access to evaluation and treatment (Hoffman, 1991). NICE states that there is clues to support the use of aimed at psychosocial interventions for women who have symptoms of depression and/or disquiet that manage not rendezvous the threshold for a prescribed diagnosis. The guidance interprets that certain treatment or support for a postnatal woman should be advised when symptoms manage not rendezvous diagnostic criteria but significantly hinder with personal and communal functioning (Hagen et al, 2007). For this assembly of women the following should be considered: Offering one-to-one, short psychological treatment (four to six sessions), for example interpersonal psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural treatment for mental health service users who have had a preceding episode of depression or anxiety; Offering communal support throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period (such as normal casual one-to-one or group-based support) for women who have not had a preceding episode of depression or anxiety (Fowles, 1996). However, it adds that psychosocial interventions conceived expressly to decrease the prospect of evolving a mental health disorder should not be part of usual antenatal and But it adds that treatment conclusions are perplexing by the occurrence of the evolving foetus, breastfeeding and the timescales enforced by pregnancy and birth (Hagen et al, 2007). As an outcome, it contends that the thresholds for non-drug treatments, especially psychological treatments, are probable to be smaller than those set in NICE clinical guidelines. It emphasises that women who require psychological treatments should be glimpsed for treatment commonly within one month of primary evaluation and no longer than three months afterwards (Goodman, 2004). The NICE guidance summaries the function doctors can play in noticing, stopping and nurturing for women with a mental health disorder when planning for a pregnancy, throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period. Mental health promotion becomes very important for the people who are plannning to have a child or those who are already pregnant or newly born mother. It should be mentioned that postnatal depression is possible to occour but they should be aware that it is treatable (Harris, 1994). When in a clinical setting dealing with a patient with a mental illness, it is good practice to communicate effectively and adjust the skills accordingly to the patient. For example speak clearly, slowly and ask open-ended questions. Observing any change in mood and behaviour at all times for safety reasons. REFERENCE Cox, J., Holden, J., Sagovsky, R. (1987) Detection of postnatal depression: Development of the 10 item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 782-786.

Equality :: essays research papers

Equality I have a vision, that all people be treated equally. Race, religion, sex, age, and other petty differences should not mater. Every one has a rite to me here, on Earth. Everyone has a rite to be heard. I hope that some day, when a person looks at another they won't judge them until they actually meet them. Race, religion, sex, and age doesn't make someone any less of a person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Age should not mater. Both young and old have a rite to be heard. As long as a person is educated about something, they have a rite to form an opinion about it. Children are no less of people because they are young.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sex should not mater. Both men and women are people, therefore, they should be treated with respect. Many men and women are harassed every day by the opposite sex. People should realize that without the opposite sex, it would mean the end of the human race. So both men and women are just as important as the other. Religion should not matter. A person is raised to believe something. No religion is wrong. Any person could argue that another religion is wrong. So if you tell someone that they are believing the wrong thing, they could same to you. No religion is wrong. Reverse discrimination is also wrong. It isn't a person's fault that people of their race and sex usually get a brake. Reverse discrimination is still discrimination, and all discrimination is wrong. All discrimination is the same. No one should discriminate against another ever. Especially if I it is to bring them self up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I hope that all people will learn to go about things in a peaceful way. So many people have died in the past because someone was trying to make a statement. None of these people should have died. In society today we kill and

How Osmosis Affects A Potato Chip Essay -- GCSE Biology Osmosis Course

How Osmosis Affects A Potato Aim: - To See How Osmosis Affects A Potato Preliminary work Prediction: -I predict that the weight of the potato in the sugar solution will decrease and the weight of water will increase. I predict that the weight of the potato in the sugar solution will decrease when it reaches 3:1 (salt: water). In put Variables: -Molarity -Size of potato -Mass of Water -Molarity of Sugar -Length of time in the solution -Temperature of water Out put variables: -Weight of potato Key variables: -Molarity of sugar. This is a key variable because it has the most effective outcome because osmosis only works when there are different molarities in and outside of the potato other wise the diffusion theory of osmosis wont work. We are going to keep a fair test by: - Keeping all the volume of water the same in each test tube - Keeping the starting weight of the potato the same to begin with - When removing the excess water of the potato make sure all excess water is removed but without squeezing any water out of the potato - Keeping the temperature of the water the same - Use the same type of potato (grown from the same potato) We will keep the experiment safe by making sure that all the test tube racks are in a suitable position so they wont easterly be knocked over. Preliminary results --------------------------------------------- Sugar Water Time left in 0.44g 0.44 Start 0.43g 0.44 5mins 0.42g 0.45 10mins 0.49g 0.46 15mins 0.38g 0.46 20mins --------------------------------------------- The table above shows the weight of the potato. Prediction I predict that the weight of the potato in the sugar solution will go down and the weight of the water will decrease because the water molecules in the sugar solution are small enough to diffuse through a semi-permeable membrane in the potato is the high concentration of water and water will only go through from a high concentration to a low concentration of water. Water goes into a potato sample because there is a higher concentration of water out side the potato than inside of the potato and water will go from a high concentration to a low concentration therefore the water will go into the potato and... ... to be sure to show a constant pattern. We didn't have any anomalous results maybe because we mad sure that we left each potato in the solution an equal amount of time. Also when we removed access water we were very careful not to squeeze any water out of the potato other wise it would of made it an unfair test. To improve reliability and accuracy next time in the prim nary plan I would make sure that my prediction was detailed so I would understand everything much clearer in order to get a better set of results. Also the preliminary experiment next time will be a lot more accurate in the way that we should take more care in time that the potato is left in the solution for how ever long of a time it should be left in. The main plan could be longer and in more detail so that it is more clear to read and understand. The amount of results that we got was just about enough to work out and see weather the prediction was correct. This means that next time we should do more sets of results to get a more accurate outcome. To help back up this experiment we could use more chats of graphs showing rate of osmosis in time and other ways of showing how osmosis affects a potato.

Catch a Fire Essay

The book â€Å"Catch a Fire† is a beautiful description of the Jamaican culture, the Rastafarian faith, the growth and development of reggae music and how it all added up to make Bob Marley’s life. All of those elements of what made Bob Marley â€Å"human† will be talked about and explained in this paper. The best artists are the ones who have passed but there work still lives on and Bob Marley left an unforgettable mark on modern music, both as a reggae creator and as a cultural icon. His beliefs and values helped him become a part of the Rastafarian faith and grow into a great musician whose music is still listened to today. The author, Timothy White, did an amazing job describing Bob’s background giving his readers a much greater appreciation for Marley and his music. Jamaicans are often stereotyped as carefree and fun loving. While most Jamaicans do value a sense of humor, as well as music and dance, they also have a tradition of hard work and a strong respect for education. Bob Marley, the son of a black teenage mother and much older white father, was born in Jamaica in the village known as Nine Miles. Born early in 1945, Bob was raised by his mother and relatives and was always surrounded by tales of mysticism and spiritual beings of the Jamaican culture that influenced his daily life. Around the time Bob was born, in 1944, Jamaicans gained the right to vote because of the new constitution. (1) During this time the population grew and there weren’t much job opportunities, leading to an expanding slum population. Class, color, and ethnicity were a big deal in Jamaica and would play a huge role of where you would fit in, work, or even shop. Bob once said, â€Å"I don’t stand for black man’s side, I don’t stand for white man’s side, I stand for God’s side. †(2) The Jamaican history has not been a peaceful one, but its struggles have created one of the strongest cultures. The Rastafarian faith was one of the biggest influences of why Bob’s music and the way he lived was the way it was. It all started with Marcus Garvey, who was responsible for bringing Rastafarianism to the islands. Garvey was famous for the saying â€Å"Look to Africa†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"Catch a Fire† pg. 8) This statement set the stage for what will be the making of Rastafarianism. Rastafarianism got so popular that when Haile Selassie came to Jamaica in 1966 over 100,000 Rastas surrounded his plane. The late 1960’s is when Bob truly began to find himself and accept his religion and put its beliefs into his songs like â€Å"Rastaman Vibration† and â€Å"Jah Live. † Not only did the Rastafarian faith help Bob with his music, it helped him find who he really was and grow as a person. He finally started to see the beauty in life. Marley started making music in ska and Rock Steady then eventually moved towards reggae as his music evolved. Much of Marley’s early work was produced by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One then he signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records label in 1971. Marley’s music was one of the main reasons reggae was accepted outside of Jamaica. Although Bob couldn’t escape all the troubles of the ghetto, without music, he would have been right there in Kingston with those rude boys and bad men causing trouble. Music brought out the best in Bob and showed him the true values of life. The â€Å"King of Reggae†, Bob Marley made such an impact on the music industry with his creativity and passion he put into his music and performances. As you can see, Bob would have never made it happen without his Jamaican cultural background, his Rastafarian faith or his love for music. His thinking and beliefs were always voiced in his songs speaking of love, peace, equality and his spirituality. And, after almost three decades since his death, his music is still listened to by millions of people around the world.

Punishment or Treatment: What are our prisons for? Essay

INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today, we always hear news about crimes being committed by many people. Moreover, those people who commit crimes tend to offend again their previous criminal acts.   The repeating of doing such criminal act is known as recidivism. Specifically, recidivism is the term used when someone, who after receiving a punishment or negative consequences of the criminal behavior, repeat his or her criminal behavior. Due to the alarming increase in recidivism cases, policy makers in a given country try to find out what will be the best option or solution that will help in decreasing the number of criminal cases and one of their options is the implementation of punishment or what they call deterrence and the other method is rehabilitation. Deterrence had been a hot issue regarding on its ethical background and most especially its effectiveness in counterattacking recidivism. Many said that it is not effective in its sole purpose. They added that there are other ways to prevent an individual in committing crime again other than forcing those individual to be punished by law. But there were studies that concluded deterrence to be an effective tool in decreasing crime rate among crime violators whether the deterrence is specific or general. The most popular form of deterrence is imprisonment. Imprisonment brings fright to those possible committers. And this limits them to do crime again because deterrence brings bad experience to those who were found to have committed crime. OBJECTIVE The main audiences of this paper are the policy makers that are concerned on recidivism issues. Lawmakers will make certain policy that will guide these offenders and will treat them offenders. The said audience is not limited only to policy makers but also to those people like parole and rehabilitation officers who assess and guides these criminal committers in their probation program. This paper will try to analyze recidivism occurrence. This paper will have a deep analysis on the reasons why people tend to commit again their previous criminal behavior given that they were already given the right treatment and appropriate consequences to extinguish that behavior. The paper will not only tackle recidivism but also take a look on the current situation on the policies and actions given to those people who commit criminal acts again. Potential intervention to reduce the risk of recidivism will be one of the focuses of this paper. The effectiveness of the current actions will be emphasized as it will serve as a guide to the people who handle this kind of issue. The paper will compare deterrence and rehabilitation as the two most popular solutions and actions when dealing with recidivism. Is longer deterrence and rehabilitation will lead to minimize recidivism or will just increase the repeating of undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior? The paper will try to answer all these questions to enlighten and give knowledge to the proposed reader of this paper. III. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Recidivism and Deterrence In legal terms, deterrence and recidivism are two common terms used. These two terms have many meaning and it depends on the field that the two terms were utilized. Recidivism is the act of returning to the offense that was previously committed. It is the repetition or habitual committing on crimes. The word originated from the Latin word recidÄ «vus which means recurring. The said term is usually used in criminology. An example of recidivism case is when a sexual offender person who after release from prison does again sexual harassment. Recidivism does not only include sexual harassment but also other form of criminal acts. Recidivism rate has been a major problem of different countries and solution to the increasing rate on recidivism is being done (Maltz, 2007). Recidivism Theories After discussing recidivism, the next topic to talk about is the theories behind recidivism. The theories that will explain the occurrence of recidivism are: Anomie, Differential Association Theory, Deviance theory, Labeling theory, Rational Choice theory, Social Control theory, Strain theory, Subcultural theory and Symbolic Interactionism (Clarke & Felson, 1993). Anomie pertains to the condition malaise or depression of an individual. Depression is the result of minimal guidance set by the governing and ruling body of a country. It is the lack of rules and regulation, standards and values that hinder criminal behavior. When the term anomie is applied in a government, it means social unrest or turmoil. The term anomie is synonymous on normlessness. It means that a person in a society will react against from the social norms which are guided by the set of rules and standards of a given society. Anomie focuses on the social issues rather than on the individual reason why there are such incidences of recidivism. This theory emphasize that the society has big responsibility in molding and guiding every citizen in the right path. On the other hand, Differential Association theory is almost synonymous to anomie. The said theory was developed by Edwin Sutherland. According to Sutherland, differential association can be seen when a person is being affected by the people around him. That person learns the values of the values, attitudes and behavior of the people around him to do criminal behavior. Thus the society around an individual has big impact on the possible recidivism (Clarke & Felson, 1993). Deviant behavior is also a possible answer why people tend to engage in repeating criminal acts. When a person displays deviant behavior, he is more likely to commit crimes. He does not know nor follow rules in a given society (Clarke & Felson, 1993). Labeling theory is another aspect to look in understanding recidivism. In this theory, the person’s deviant behavior is being affected by the people around him because these people try to categorize or label him as a person with abnormal behavior. The society dictates and classifies a person which can include the deviant behavior (Clarke & Felson, 1993). Looking on the psychological aspect of a person with recidivism case, he or she may have some problem that cannot be resolved easily. Thus, his brain may not function well. That person will try to commit undesirable acts like crime. This is the main point of rational choice theory, in which the person weighs means and ends and makes rational decisions (Clarke & Felson, 1993). Another theory that has relation to deviant behavior is the Social Control theory. The theory hypothesizes that deviant behavior if a person is a result of the dissatisfaction in a society. The person will break laws as a sign of grief. On the other hand, the Subcultural theory states that within a society, there is a group of person that has natural deviant behavior. If these people meet together, then they will find comfort with each other because they have the same feeling when doing deviant acts (Clarke & Felson, 1993). And the last theory will be the Strain theory. In criminology, the strain theory states that social structures within society may encourage citizens to commit crime. When the structure of the society inhibits the needs of a person, there is a big possibility that this person will commit unnecessary behavior like crimes (Clarke & Felson, 1993).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For the past few years, the recidivism rate in the United States had a significant increase. Given the figure below, we can see that between 3 years, the number of recidivism in the country in 1994 within the 15 states had increased to 70% which is higher than the year 1983 which had a record of 60%.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the Office of Justice Program, OPJ of the United Stares, 67.5% of prisoners released in 1994 were rearrested within 3 years, an increase over the 62.5% found for those released in 1983. The figure also shows that, all the crime categories had a relevant increase from 1983 to 1994. The property offenders, drug offenders and public-order offenders had increased from 68.1% to 73.8%, 50.4% to 66.7% and 54.6% to 62.2% respectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, OPJ emphasized that in the year 1994, recidivism rate within 3 years was estimated to be 51.8% of prisoners released during the year were back in prison for the reason of a committing fresh crime for which they received another prison sentence, or because they were not able to follow the regulations of their parole. Figure 1. Recidivism rate in 1983 and 1994 Deterrence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For this paper, two topics regarding on the correctional methods will be focused and these are deterrence and parole and probation. These two methods differ with each other in terms of the process and principle being employed. The former believes that correctional means can be attained and achieved when punishment or negative consequence is applied in the crime committer while the former consider the rehabilitation and education of prisoners. Another term which has relation on recidivism is deterrence. Deterrence is the act of providing necessary punishment on those who commit crime. The degree of the punishment depends also on the degree of the crime that was committed (Maltz, 2007). There are two forms of deterrence, the specific and the general. The former describes deterrence as punishment given only to the individual who committed the crime while the latter describe deterrence as punishment on the general audience. Specific deterrence is also known as individual deterrence. The general deterrence focuses on general prevention of crime by making examples of specific deviants. The individual actor is not the focus of the attempt at behavioral change, but rather receives punishment in public view in order to deter other individuals from deviance in the future. Deterrence as a major tool in lessening recidivism rate gained many criticisms about its effectiveness. Many said that deterrence, whether it is specific or general, is not effective in decreasing the crime rate in the country. Some studies regarding on the effectiveness of deterrence found that violators are not afraid on the punishment, but rather they are more afraid on the act of caught. Usually, the offenders are the drug and alcohol abusers. This result was supported on the findings on areas where surveillance cameras were introduced. Possible violators were afraid to be caught from the surveillance cameras thus lowering the rate of crime cases. General deterrence has also been heavily criticized for relying on publicity of heavy punishments; it has been described as â€Å"the least effective and least fair principle of sentencing†. Other countries like the Great Britain believe on rehabilitation procedure rather than deterrence. Deterrence Theory But why deterrence is still being implemented in many criminal procedures? To answer this question, it is better to examine the principle behind the use of punishment to eradicate crimes. In behavioral psychology, deterrence is theory on introducing punishment for those who violated the law. Today, United States is adopting and implementing this practice in their criminal justice procedure. The principle behind the use of an iron hand for those who committed crime is that, the violator will be afraid when introduced to punishment and will refrain from doing it again. Deterrence: Effective or not? This paper will try to analyze the effectiveness if deterrence in minimizing the crime rate or the recidivism among countries. Also, the two types of deterrence, specific and general will be examined. There were many studies were conducted to address the problem in the rise of recidivism. Part of the studies was the implementation of punishment among the violators. The studies analyze procedure on the implementation as well the effectiveness of the said procedures. According to the study that was made by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, punishment among violators on individuals who are apprehended for driving under the alcohol influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated (DWI), or related offenses such as driving after suspension for a DUI and violation of zero tolerance laws found that giving them a sanction is effective in doing the said crimes again. As a matter of fact, many policy makers use punishment to control the rise of crimes on their countries. They developed laws that will hinder in doing offense or any unlawful act. People are afraid on the punishment like going to jail. The principle behind the use of any kind of punishment is the inculcation or realization of the bad experiences from punishment (Henry, 2003). Specific deterrence has a positive effect on the decrease in the rate of crime cases. An individual will think again if he or she will do the crime again after the individual had a bad experience of the punishment he or she received earlier. This will make the potential offender afraid on the possible sanction he may incur and will also produce doubt in doing the crime again (Martin & Ellis, 1998). General deterrence also produce a positive effect in relation to the lessening the crime rate in a given place. People will have an idea on the proposed sentence or penalty. The most popular example of general deterrence is going to jail. The media will broadcast the bad condition of a person in a jail. According to studies, jail imprisonment is more effective as a general deterrent, but it appears to be no more effective as a specific deterrent for reducing DUI recidivism than other sanctions, and it is far more costly (Martin & Ellis, 1998). Another form of deterrence is the administrative license suspension or any other criminal records that will be a problem is any job employment. When a person committed a crime, he or she will have criminal record and when this person will apply for a job, the company he or she is applying will need a criminal clearance, if in United States, an FBI clearance. When the person applying for the job had a criminal record, the company will hesitate to employ the said individual. This form of deterrence had created an impact in the reduction of recidivism (Martin & Ellis, 1998). To strengthen the argument on the effectiveness of deterrence when it comes to the elimination of recidivism, another study was conducted to determine the effect of the length of imprisonment to the number of law violations.   According to Weinrath and Gartrell (2001), they concluded that sentence length exerted consistent deterrent effects on repeat drunk driving, even for chronic offenders. While in a shorter jail imprisonment, the offenders that will be imprisoned at shorter time were more likely to repeat their habitual crime commitment. This finding will strengthen the evidence on the argument that deterrence is an effective tool in lessening the crime rate in a given place ( Weinrath and Gartrell, 2001). Moreover, longer deterrence has positive impact in lessening recidivism rate. Another classification of deterrence is the severity and strictness. According to Henry (2003), mild punishment tends to have positive effects on decreasing recidivism while those severe consequences produce negative effects. Psychological research on punishment in has shown that mild punishment can be effective in changing behavior and is dependent on the frequency, immediacy application and with positive reinforcement of pro-social behavior. On the other hand, severe punishment will only lead to avoidance or escape, alienation of those punished, and aggressiveness. Parole and Rehabilitation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many possible causes why recidivism is present in our society. One is the problem in their family. When the parents of the family are not around in their home or a broken family, these are possible factors. The most prone to commit recidivism that is results on the minimal parental guidance are the youth or juvenile. The juveniles are not being monitored on their activities. This kind of family structure is not good for a child because juveniles has a low self control especially when encountering serious problem like family problems, they tend to break and to escape to the problem, they break the laws and norms of the society. In this period, they are engage in drinking alcohol and drug abusing. There will come a time when they will repeat the crime they had committed before.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Problems in their schooling are other factors that contribute to the increase in juvenile recidivism cases. If a child experience failing grades or does not do well in class, the child will find a way to escape on their problems and this may lead to juvenile delinquency activities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another major cause of recidivism among is the social factor. This can be explained when a person experienced racial discrimination, sexual harassment, abandonment, physical abuse and neglect. The society may dictate what an innocent person can do. If a person is surrounded by criminal incidences, that person may be influenced by these wrong doings. This is somewhat related to peer to peer relation. If group of people has engaged in wrong doing like alcohol drinking, drug abusing, the innocent person may be influenced. (Roberts, 2000)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Because of the alarming news and impact of recidivism in the society, the government of United States made a program to lessen the impacts and cases of reoffending of criminal acts in the society. Lawmakers made a response to these issues. They made laws and policies that will eliminate recidivism cases in the society. Children who commits the case were been rehabilitate in a rehabilitation center to put in to realization the crime they had committed and how to escape from the disorder of their behaviors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parole and probation are both part of the rehabilitation program made by lawmakers. Dressler (1959) defined parole as the release of the delinquent outside the rehabilitation center under supervision of a parole officer. The offender had undergone rehabilitation in a correctional center. The word parole was in the French language is defined as promise and in dictionary context it is word of honor. The release is conditional and the behavior of the delinquent is being monitored. While probation is the release of the delinquent to the community in which he can rehabilitate his behavior better. Like parole, the offender’s behavior is being monitored by the probation officer. The word probation comes from the Latin language meaning a period of supervision and guidance. Probation in church term means the period were a person is seeking in the entrance to the church.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a rehabilitation center, probation is a treatment where the offender will have the chance to have socialized in a community. Probation and parole programs are being handled by the court members.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The delinquent under parole program had stayed in the rehabilitation center. Both parole and probation programs are made to change the behavioral problems of the offenders. They believe that rehabilitation can be made better to the offenders if they stay in a community than staying in prison. In the parole program, offenders are given the second chance to change their behaviors, as well in the probation program. The offenders tend to learn their lesson after they undergone in this two programs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Torbet (1996) said that probation or parole program on recidivism cases has been overwhelming dispositional decision of court judges. Almost half of the recidivism cases were made to probation or parole program. Torbet said also that probation is the roughest sanction that the offender can received. At the end of 80’s decade, Whitehead and Lab (1989) made a meta analysis on the effects of probation or parole treatment on the behavior of the juvenile delinquent and concluded that probation programs lessen the recidivism of the offender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1992, Lipsey released another meta analysis study regarding on probation or parole programs. The result also showed that recidivism was lessening on juvenile delinquent when probation is granted to them than those in comparison group. In 1998, Lipsey together with Wilson conducted another Meta analysis study on the effects of serious juvenile delinquent cases to probation program. The result also showed that probation lessens the cases in recidivism. The results also suggest that there are many variations on how the probation program is being worked.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some studies had been conducted to determine the effects of the duration of probation programs to recidivism. Wooldredge in 1998 found that the longer the time of probation the greater are the incidence of recidivism. Longer duration made the offenders to have impatience and disrespect on the probation officers. Wooldredge concluded that two years of supervision is the ideal duration for a probation program.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another study was conducted by Sontheimer and Goodstein (1993) to find out how intensive probation aftercare programs lessen the occurrence of offending using random assignment. And the result showed that it does not lessen the occurrence that the offender will commit again juvenile crime. Parole and Probation; Effective or not?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Effective response on recidivism cases is a key to minimize the occurrence of the said cases.   Effective intervention on the possible causes of recidivism cases and the proper management to the offenders is the first step in reducing the reoffending of crime cases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Studies show that effective intervention reduce the recidivism rate. The effective intervention has a significant effect on recidivism rate. It made a 6% reduction from the previous cases. (Lipsey, 1992)    References: Clarke, R. V. and M. Felson   (1993). Advances in Criminological Theory, Vol 5. New   Ã‚   Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books. Dressler, D. (1959). Practice and Theory of Probation and Parole. Henry, S. (2003). On the Effectiveness of Prison as Punishment [Electronic Version]. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from http://www.is.wayne.edu/stuarthenry/Effectiveness_of_Punishment.htm Lipsey, M. W. (1992). Juvenile delinquency treatment:Ameta-analytic inquiry into the ariabilityof effects.: New York: RussellSage Foundation. Maltz, M. D. Recidivism. (2007). [Electronic Version]. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/forr/pdf/crimjust/recidivism.pdf Martin, S. E., & Ellis, E. (1998). EFFECTIVENESS OF STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTING DUI RECIDIVISM [Electronic Version]. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAS-99-023.html Roberts, C. H. (2000). Juvenile Delinquency: Cause and Effect. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, II. Sontheimer, H., &Goodstein, L. (1993). An evaluation of juvenile intensive aftercare probation: Aftercare versus system response effects. Justice Quarterly,. Torbet, P. M. (1996). Juvenile probation: The workhorse of the juvenile justice system. Washington Weinrath, M., & Gartrell, J. (2001). Specific Deterrence and Sentence Length. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 17(2, 105-122 ). Whitehead, J. T., &Lab, S.P. (1989). Ameta-analysis of juvenile correctional treatment. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Wooldredge, J. D. (1988). Differentiating the effects of juvenile court sentences on eliminating recidivism. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.

General Motors Essay

A car for every purse and purpose† – Alfred P Sloan Jr, Former President & CEO General Motors. General Motors, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 205,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 157 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. Company History: General Motors was founded on Wednesday, September 16, 1908, in Flint, Michigan, as a holding company for Buick by William C. Durant. Durant started acquiring many companies like Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Cartercar, Elmore, Ewing, Pontiac etc. Durant lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, due to the large amount of debt (around $1 million) taken on in its acquisitions. Durant left the firm and co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Company in 1911 with Louis Chevrolet. After a brilliant stock buy back campaign, he returned to head GM in 1916. GM surpassed Ford Motor Company in sales in the late 1920s thanks to the leadership of Alfred P. Sloan. Sloan was inventing new ways of managing a complex worldwide organization, while paying special attention to consumer demands. Car buyers no longer wanted the cheapest and most basic model; they wanted style, power, and prestige, which GM offered them. During the 1920s and 1930s, General Motors assumed control of the Yellow Coach bus company, and helped create Greyhound bus lines. They replaced intercity train transport with buses. GM needs a sense of urgency regarding revising a strategic plan that incorporates the next generation of vehicles. In today’s global economy and highly competitive auto industry GM has no time to procrastinate. As stated, GM has just too much at risk in not becoming an industry leader in alternative fuel technology. Fuel-economy legislation is sparking the race. This is a critical time in auto industry with many threats, but opportunities as well. The next several years will redefine GM. Vision Statement The GM vision is as follows: GM’s vision is to be the world leader in transportation products and related services. GM will earn our customers’ enthusiasm through continuous improvement driven by the integrity, teamwork, and innovation of GM people. The proposed new vision for GM is as follows: For GM to become the automotive industry leader in alternative fueled vehicles and providing superior quality products that global consumers call to mind when they think of quality and innovation. My vision for GM is to be the industry leader in innovation, and where all other industry competition strives to imitate. Mission Statement The current GM mission statements are as follows: Drive improvements in market share, revenue, brands, people, responsiveness, and cost effectiveness through the implementation of global common metrics and best practice sharing. The new proposed mission statement will be as follows: GM will become an industry leader, not a follower. To regain lost market share that was lost to foreign competition, and once again be the auto industry leader in sales and market share in today’s global market. Values Statement The auto industry just like the global economy is going through tremendous change, due to rising fuel prices, and environmental worries, such as global warming. GM must use these threats as opportunities, and take advantage of changing consumer buying habits. GM needs to change consumer perception of the company, from a dull, poor quality, vehicles to innovative, quality, and environmentally friendly company. To do this GM must portray an image that states that GM values what the consumer wants and what the environment needs. Listen to what consumers are saying directly and indirectly about GM’s current products, and create innovative, green, vehicles that turn consumers into customers. At the same time provide GM stakeholders pride and financial incentives to remain with GM. Environmental Analysis GM and the entire auto industry are currently challenged with the perfect storm. The auto industry is being hit by a weak US and global economy, rising fuel prices, and social and political environmental concerns and issues. In order to overcome these potential threat, GM should consider mass producing a range of alternative fueled vehicles, i. e. fuel cell, electric, and hybrid. SWOT Analysis Strengths 1. Large Market Share Although GM’s market share in the US has dropped it is still very much competitive at 26 percent. They also have an increasing share in the Chinese market. With the right decisions there is no reason for GM to not become the automotive leader it once was. . Global Experience As explained above even with GM’s recent decline they still have the market share and the experience to bounce back. They have been a worldwide company for nearly a century now and have established themselves as the global leader for most of them. If you recall I mentioned above that a current opportunity for GM is to expand globally and as we can see they a lready have the experience to do so. It is just a matter of the correct planning and proper implementation of those plans that will decided whether or not GM’s goals are achieved. 3. Variety of Brand Names GM as I mentioned has been the automotive leader for the majority of the last century. A large reason for that is the wide variety of quality brand names that appeal to all target markets. The current GM brands include: Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Saab, Daewoo, Opel, and Holden. 4. GMAC Customer Financing Program Since its establishment in 1919 it has proven to be GM’s most reliable source of revenue. 5. OnStar Satellite Technology Developed in 1996 OnStar currently has over 3 million subscribers and is standard on all GM vehicles. This technology allows the vehicles to be tracked in the event of an emergency or theft. It also allows the driver and or passengers the ability to communicate with OnStar personnel at the click of a button. Weaknesses 1. Behind on Alternative Energy Movement This is GM’s biggest weakness. The alternative energy/hybrid trend has begun to take place in the automotive industry and GM has been one step behind the competition in terms of alternative energy vehicles. This has led to many problems including loss of market share and a decrease in company profit. In order for any automotive company to be successful from this point forward they must be Hybrid friendly and fuel efficient. 2. Poor Organizational Structure As we can see in exhibit 1 of the case GM’s organizational structure seems to be too vertically integrated. This causes a lack of communication between employees from top to bottom and may have played a part in GM falling behind on the alternative energy movement. 3. Stagnant Profitability Looking at GM’s profit we see that they are certainly struggling with respect to the size of their company. Their profit margin was about 1. 5% and the ROE has dramatically decreased over the recent years dropping to 10% in 2004. This is a situation that shareholders will not be pleased with. 4. Overly Dependent on US market GM has become too dependent on the US market and must take advantage of the opportunity to expand globally. The competition is becoming too strong to focus on just one country. 5. Overly Dependent on General Motors Acceptance Corporation(GMAC) Financing GM has become too dependent on its financing program. Granted it is a great strength for GM, however they once again cannot rely solely on financing in order to turn profit, especially if they want to compete with Honda and Toyota who are rapidly growing. 6. Poor Credit Status GM’s credit status has like everything else has been steadily declining. Their current ratio is just barely above 1 and their acid test is even lower. Although, I don’t see them getting denied based on their credit at this point, the seriousness of the matter is certainly apparent. Opportunities 1. Alternative Energy movement It is obvious that GM was behind its competition with regards to the research and development of hybrid vehicles. However hybrid technology is still very much new giving GM the opportunity to once again become the automotive industry’s leader in innovation and technology. 2. Continuing to Expand Globally. Recently GM saw an increase in the Chinese automotive market, which proves their needs to be more emphasis put on foreign markets. If GM can infiltrate these markets and successfully grow along with their continuing focus on the US market they will be headed in a positive direction. . Low Interest Rates With the right marketing strategy the low interest rates have the potential to generate an immediate increase in sales. 4. Develop New Vehicle Styles and Models This is an opportunity that will never be satisfied, meaning that GM should always be attempting to develop the automotive world’s most popular vehicles, and as we know, what is in today will be out tomorrow. Th reats 1. Rising Fuel Prices With GM being a large producer in both trucks and SUV’s, sales have drastically decreased due to the lack of fuel efficiency. The rise in fuel prices has played a significant role in creating the opportunity for development of both hybrid and more fuel efficient vehicles. As you will find with most threats, an equal opportunity will usually emerge as is the case here with GM’s opportunity mentioned above. 2. Growth of Competitors GM no longer has the luxury of being the known leader in the automotive industry and faces the reality that they are in serious trouble. As I mentioned earlier Toyota took the first step in the direction of hybrid echnology and has since drastically grown and become the questionable automotive frontrunner to start the 21st century. 3. Pension Payouts. Part of this threat is their own doing and the other is simply unavoidable. GM is responsible for providing generous pension benefits to its employees, which at the time seemed like a great idea, however they are now experiencing problems as more and more people begin to collect. 4. Increased Health Care Costs GM, like many lar ge companies with quality employee health care benefits, is experiencing a large financial hit that only gets worse as time continues. . Rising Supply Costs, i. e. Steel Once again this threat affects the entire automotive industry and forces each company to cut manufacturing and production costs as much as possible, without taking away from the quality of the product. Core Competence The core competence of General Motors is innovation. This is the driving force behind its $190 above turnover. General Motors has been utilizing innovation in service ad technology to secure itself a dominant position in the automobile industry, since 1908. In 1911, it conceptualized, engineered and commercialized the self-starter engine for the first time. Then in 1926, its product Cadillac was the pioneer in devising a nationwide service strategy. In 1996 General Motors introduced OnStar satellite technology which allows equipped vehicles to be tracked in case of an emergency or theft and allows the passengers to communicate with OnStar personnel. Other new car concepts include minicars such as Chevy Aveo. However in the case of hybrid vehicles, General Motors was unable to keep up to the pace of the market demand.

Economic freedom Essay

Does economic freedom help explain why the standard of living improves in some countries and declines in others? First of all we have to understand, what economic freedom is? Economic freedom according to William W. Beach and Tim Kane, PhD. â€Å" Economic freedom is that part of freedom that is concerned with the material autonomy of the individual in relation to the state and other organized groups. An individual is economically free who can fully control his or her labor and property.† (Taken from 2007 Index of economic freedom chapter no.3 by William W. Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). Or in simple words we can also say that everybody in his or her own country is said to be economically free, if their respective government protects their rights in every possible way and without any constraint. i.e. if an individual wants to learn anything, to do any kind of business or wants a job, then, he or she has a right to do that, while it is the responsibility of the government to make it convenient and possible for them. The first study of economic freedom was published in the year 1995, and it was improved over the years. There are about ten different types of economic freedoms, which are known as index of economic freedoms. The main purpose of defining these freedoms is to rank the countries in order to pave the way for foreign investment. Following is the list of ten economic freedoms: (taken from 2007 Index of economic freedom from chapter no.3 by William W Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). 1) Business freedom: To check the status of starting, operating and closing any business in how much time. 2) Trade freedom: To check the barriers and constraints in tariffs, import and export in the country. 3) Monetary freedom: To check the measure of price stability and how governments are controlling the prices, inflation etc. 4) Freedom from government: To check either state is providing public goods with minimum expenditure or not. 5) Fiscal freedom: To check the burden on the government with respect to revenue side. 6) Property rights: To check whether the public have keeping the private property rights, defined and secured by the laws, and are clearly defined by the government. 7) Investment freedom: To check whether the government deserves to have the foreign investment or not. 8) Financial freedom: To check the operation of financial institutions i.e. banking systems; are they out of government control or not. 9) Freedom from corruption: To check the status of corruption in the society, i.e. in the business system, judiciary, and administrative system in the country. 10) Labor freedom: To check the status of growth of labor and business either they are working without government interruption or not. (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.3 by William W Beach and Tim Kane, PhD). Each one of the ten freedoms is measured on a 0-100 percent scale, 100 as the maximum freedom while 0 is the least or minimum freedom. The study of economic freedom was conducted on about 157 countries of the world. To show how it works, I choose two countries that are North Korea and South Korea. North Korea has a communist form of government and is ranked at no.157 in the index of 157 countries, its economy is 3% free. It has exports of $1.3 billion, it exports: minerals, metallurgical products, manufacturing (including armaments), textiles, fishery products etc. and imports of   $2.3 billion, it imports: petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textile grains etc. In communist form of government every asset in the country belongs to the state, therefore there is no business freedom i.e. 0 % (in 0-100 % scale) in N. Korea. Also government controls all the imports and exports so trade freedom i.e. 0 % is also nil. No data on income or corporate taxes is available so fiscal freedom i.e. 0 % is also zeroed. Also government owns all the property including businesses therefore freedom from government i.e. 0% is also nil. No publicly record of inflation data therefore monetary freedom i.e. 0% is also zero. Also no private financial sector, therefore financial freedom i.e. 0% is also nil. Wages and incentives are also controlled by government therefore labor freedom i.e. 0% is also nil, also corruption is heavily present in the country so corruption freedom i.e. 10% is also negligible, but there is some investment freedom i.e. 10%, after the opening of foreign investment zone in the far remote area of rajin sonberg where basic facilities are also not provided till date. The government does not cover property rights i.e. 10%, so they are also negligible.   (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.5). While South Korea has democratic form of government and it is ranked at no.36 out of 157 in the index of economic freedom, and its economy is 68.6% free. S. Korea has export of $299.2 billion, it exports: semi conductors, wireless telecommunication, equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships and petrochemicals etc. It has imports of $269.8 billion, it imports: machinery, electronics, electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport, organic chemicals and plastics etc. As South Korea has democratic form of government, in that form, the government tries every possible effort to please its citizens, therefore starting, operating and closing the business in that country is relatively easy, there is a lot of business freedom i.e. 83.1% present in the country. S. Korea as compared to N. Korea has good trade freedom i.e. 64.2% present but there are some restrictions in its some activities like import, non-transparent regulations and standards etc. S. Korea has high income tax rate of about 38.5% and relatively low corporate tax of about 27.5%, so we can say that it has a good fiscal freedom i.e. 0-100 bracket it has about 81% free. After the foreign investment promotion act of Nov 1998 the government opens the doors to foreign investment in almost every sector except media, electric power and some agricultural sectors, and also residents and non residents can now holds foreign exchange accounts, so there is a lot of investment freedom i.e. about 70% free. The private property right i.e. 70% is secure by the government; corruption i.e. 50% is present at some extent in the country. The labor i.e. 57.7% market is working under restrictive employment regulations due to which employment and production growth rate is very low. Government interference in private sector is negligible, so freedom from government is 81.5%. The government regulates the prices in some sectors like agriculture, telecommunication and other utilities, which monetary freedom 79%, the government in retained some ownerships, second largest domestic bank is under them, which makes the financial freedom about 50% free. (Taken from 2007 index of economic freedom from chapter no.5).   In short economic freedom in South Korea is much superficial than North Korea, and it is mainly due to democratic and communism forms of governments, democratic people are enjoying the fruits of freedom while others do not.