Animal Welfare Research Paper

Feeding a Pitbull It is suggested that pitbull owners feed their pets the foods that have what the breed requires in nutritional value. The dog food should contain nutrient sources that are similar to that found in their native lands that their ancestors ate. The requirements for a pitbull are a balance of protein, carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Many dogs are taken to the vet because of nutritional related problems. If the dog is not getting the proper nutrients that their diet requires they can suffer from dry/itchy/flaky skin, hot spots, yeast infections in the ears, or thyroid-liver-kidney problems.The best diet for the pitbull is one that the owner makes fresh, using quality ingredients, without preservatives. Preparing home cooked meals for a dog can be less expensive than buying the average all-breed or any-breed pet food. Native foods for this breed would have been yellow corn, soy meal, rice, venison and fish. Recommended foods for this breed would be food s that contain soy, corn, brown rice, beef and poultry. This breed needs a high fiber and low carbohydrate diet. Avoid feeding this breed foods with a high fat or high starch content.Do not feed this breed any supplemental vitamin C, such as ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, or ascorbal Palmitate because these can cause kidney and liver damage to the breed. The best food for your dog is real food, not people food, but food like real chicken, turkey, beef, bison, venison, lamb, fish, some fruits and vegetables, occasionally yogurt and eggs. Vitamins and best sources Vitamin A Palmitate Vitamin B-1 Thiamine Hcl & Yeast Vitamin B-2 Riboflavin & Yeast Vitamin B-6 Pyridoxine Hcl & Yeast Vitamin B-12 Cyanocobalamin & YeastVitamin D D-activated Sterol Vitamin E dl-alpha tocopherol acetate Niacinamide Biotin Folic Acid D-Calcium Pantothenate Para Amino Benzoic Acid Minerals and best sources Calcium Bone Meal Copper Gluconate Iodine Sea Kelp Iron Ferrour Fumerate Magnesium Magnesium- Gluconate Manganese Manganese-Gluconate Phosphorus Bone Meal Potassium Potassium-Gluconate Zinc Zinc-Gluconate Habitat There is no such thing as a natural habitat for domesticated dogs such as the terrier breeds, and it would be easier to describe the places where they couldn’t and would have a hard time surviving.Extremely cold places and extremely warm places with no shade can really do some harm to this breed. The basic cage size for an American pitbull terrier would be 36 inches long, 23 inches wide, and 25 inches high. The metal cages are preferred because they can be folded down and stored away when they are not in use. The metal cages also give the dog a 360-degree visual of their surroundings. The plastic cages are more for the puppies and for transporting the dogs. Health Care Hip dysplasia is a serious problem in pitbulls.There were x-rays done of 480 pitbulls and 22% were found to have hip dysplasia. Elbow dysplasia is another serious problem in pitbulls . There were over 100 pitbulls that were x-rayed and 14% were found to have elbow dysplasia. This is the 15th worst rate in 82 breeds. Other orthopedic diseases in pitbulls are luxating patella and osteochondritis. American pitbull terriers have the 4th highest rate for hypothyroidism in 140 breeds. Vets are seeing heart disease in an increasing number of dogs in this breed. Skin problems are very common in this breed and can range from allergies to demodectic mange.Tumors and cancer are also a serious concern with this breed. Eye disease is also very common and can include progressive retinal atrophy, cataracts, and entropion. Inherited deafness can occur within pitbull puppies that have a lot of white on their heads. Depending on the gender of your dog there are many pro’s and con’s to getting these dogs spayed or neutered. Female Pro’s * Spaying prevents the nuisance of heat periods * Spaying prevents uterine infections * Spaying prevents false pregnancies * Spaying prevents real pregnancies Spaying offers partial protection against breast cancer * Spaying prevents cancer of the uterus and ovaries * Spaying may mean lower licensing fees Female Con’s * Spaying doubles the risk of obesity * Spaying increases the risk of the deadly cancer called hemangiosarcoma * Spaying triples the risk of hypothyroidism * Spaying is a major surgery and requires general anesthesia * If done at the wrong age, spaying increases the risk of hip dysplasia, ligament rupture, osteosarcoma (bone cancer), and urinary incontinence Male Pro’s Neutering may mean lower licensing fees * Neutering reduces leg-lifting * Neutering reduces dominance and aggression * Neutering reduces the risk of your dog being attacked by other male dogs * Neutering helps re-focus your dogs’ attention from other dogs to YOU * Neutering reduces sexual behaviors * Neutering calms you dog around unspayed females * Neutering reduces the risk of prostate disorders * Neuter ing prevents testicular cancer * Neutering reduces the risk of perianal fistula Neutering helps prevent your dog from breeding Male Con’s * Neutering triples the risk of obesity * Neutering increases the risk of a deadly cancer called hemangiosarcoma * Neutering triples the risk of hypothyroidism * Neutering increases the risk of geriatric cognitive impairment * If done at the wrong age, neutering increases the risk of hip dysplasia, ligament rupture, and osteosarcoma (bone cancer) Restricted Use: The American Pitbull Terrier breed is one of the most mistreated and misunderstood breed of dog there is.Because of this misinterpretation of the breed many counties, even states, have banned this breed. This is why there are so many of them euthanized or put in kennels. Many people are afraid of this breed because of stories on the news about a dog attack and they automatically assume that it was a pitbull that did it but in reality it was either a golden retriever or a german shep herd that caused the attack. Pitbulls were not bred to be attack dogs, they were bred to be work dogs and then got bred to be family dogs and they are terrific family dogs.

Associate Nurse VS. Baccalaureate Nurse Essay

There has been much debate over the years about the differences in competenciesbetween Associates Degree nurses (ADN) versus Baccalaureate Degree (BSN) nurses. In thispaper I will discuss my findings and also give a patient care situation in which I describe hownursing care or approaches to decision-making may differ based upon the educationalpreparation of the nurse BSN versus a diploma or ADN degree. Besides the difference in time,credits and money studies are showing a significant difference in ADN nursing versus BSN.â€Å"Research has shown that lower mortality rates, fewer medication errors, and positive outcomesare all linked to nurses prepared at the baccalaureate and graduate degree levels.† (AACN, 2013) An ADN program is a two-year program in which students learn the basics of nursing such as care plans and performing every day nursing skills, they offer courses that are more affordable and accessible which in this day and age can be a blessing and in the end they produce competent bedside nurses  who can sit for the NCLEX. We can thank Mildred Montag for founding the ADN program back in 1956 due to a major nurse shortage after the war (Friberg, 2011, p. 87-88). But some downfalls are â€Å"when combined with practical nurses, the total number of technical nurse types being produced is excessive given current and future market demands (Benner et al, 2000). As for jobs they are limited to hospitals, skilled nursing, long-term care facilities, clinics and physicians offices. A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree is a four-year degree that is focused on theory and research. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) states that education â€Å"enhances both clinical competency and care delivery.† (Rosseter, 2013) Due to more formal education the BSN nurse is more of a critical thinker advancing in daily nursing tasks and avoiding deadly errors. They tend to look farther into the disease process and critical thinking behind it rather then just being a task oriented ADN. â€Å"Programs provide a solid liberal education and substantive upper division nursing major. Both components are combined in ways that prepare a nurse generalist who is able to provide professional nursing services in beginning leadership positions in a variety of settings† (Friberg, 2011, p. 87-88). Obtaining a BSN can open up more job opportunities for a person and in most cases makes you more desirable to employers. Many nurses get burnt out from being floor nurses so if you have your BSN you have the option to move into management or many other areas like insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, research jobs or even a clinical instructor. â€Å"Research shows they use evidence based practice for better patient outcomes.† (Moore, n.d.) â€Å" As also stated in the same article â€Å"numerous research studies have demonstrated that the ADN and BSN nurses are not different in skill competency when they graduate, but within a year, the BSN nurses show greater critical thinking skills better problem solving, and the development of clinical judgment; three skills of increasing importance for the increase in acuity of patients in hospitals and other health care settings.† (Moore, n.d.) In the February 2013 issue of the Journal of Nursing Administration, Mary  Blegen and colleagues published findings from a cross-sectional study of 21 University Healthsystem Consortium hospitals which found that hospitals with a higher percentage of RNs with baccalaureate or higher degrees had lower congestive heart failure mortality, decubitus ulcers, failure to rescue, and postoperative deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and shorter length of stay. By having the added knowledge from school, it shows in studies that BSN’s have better outcomes with less patient complications, which is good for everyone. PATIENT CARE SCENARIO A patient care scenario that comes to mind for me would be a patient in Labor and Delivery that has had slightly elevated blood pressures prior to the pregnancy, but with diet and exercise was able to avoid medication. But on admission an order for a blood pressure medication was ordered as a PRN in case it was needed. As the patient progresses into labor, her pressures start to rise slightly. The ADN nurse comes in see’s the reading looks at her orders and dispenses the medication, because that is what she is trained to do. Whereas the BSN nurse comes in to the patient’s room and see’s the same reading, notices the patient seems more uncomfortable and is a little upset. So as the BSN nurse I would ask if she was having increased pain and if she was offer her something for pain relief because that may help decrease the blood pressure. I would also ask her if something else was bothering her because she seemed agitated and the patient stated that her and her boyfr iend had just had a huge argument and she was upset over that. So with some pain relief and quiet environment the BSN nurse was able to avoid giving the patient an extra medication for her blood pressure. References Blegen, M.A., Goode, C.J., Park, S.H., Vaughn, T. & Spetz, J. (2013, February). Baccalaureate education in nursing and patient outcomes. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(2), 89-94. Creasia, Friberg, Joan L. Elizabeth E. Conceptual Foundations: The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practice. 5th Edition. Mosby, 2011. VitalBook file. Pageburst online. Pages 87-88. Moore, D.S. (February 2009). The Difference Between Associate Degree Nurses and the Baccalaureate Degree Nurses. West Coast University: Dean’s Corner. Retrieved from www.westcoastuniversity.net/deanscorner. Rosseter, R. J. (2013) American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Creating a More Highly Qualified Nursing. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/NursingWorkforce.pdf

Lord of the Flies †An Alternative Ending Essay

Ralph looked up. He knew he was imagining things, and that had to stop. He focused on the essential things in life. Pigs. Sharpening sticks. Killing. Ralph stood and, set with a determination to fuel his desires, he exited the cave. He had been living in the cave for the past month. There was nothing left on his body save for a loincloth and markings on his body. He had been different from the other people since discovering the power. The power to kill the remaining survivors. Ralph walked down to the beach. The palm trees and sandy beaches were once a haven to the boys. Once. Now they were just obstacles in a war for both sides. Since Simon had died, and Piggy had disappeared, the â€Å"hunters† were fighting a war against Ralph. But luckily, none of the boys had been brave enough to kill Ralph ever since that fateful night. Ralph closed his eyes and let his memories take over. ***** It was dark that night. The boys had given up trying to chase down Ralph. Ralph had retreated to a cave, but he was too impatient to wait till the morning. He wanted to try to persuade the Hunters to change their allegiances to him. He was walking towards the sandy beach towards the rocky outcrop, taking his time, anything to delay persuading the hunters. His new found conscience was urging him along. â€Å"Go, Ralph! You might never get another chance like this!† â€Å"No!† Ralph cried! The conscience retorted, â€Å"What happened if you were bullied by a boy? Would you go confront the boy, or run away like a coward?† â€Å"This is different! These are boys, humans, like me!† yelped Ralph. â€Å"Just do it. Get it over with.† The conscience insisted. Ralph considered, â€Å"5 minutes only.† When he reached the rocky outcrop, Ralph decided to climb up the steep and potentially hurtful rock in secret for fear that the hunters would see him and not allow Ralph up to discuss matters. As he climbed to the top, the rock he was reaching for suddenly came loose and gravity took hold. Ralph prayed that the rock that hit the bottom wouldn’t make a sound. Luckily, it hit the waves and was dragged out by the tide. As Ralph struggled over the top, he saw 5 spears pointed at him, like deadly stakes. â€Å"Why are you here?† spat a savage. â€Å"I need to talk †¦ to all of you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  gasped Ralph, tired from climbing up the rock. â€Å"Get lost†¦ We don’t need to talk to you. You and us have nothing to do with each other!† snarled a savage. Roger, Ralph guessed from the intensity of the words. â€Å"It concerns about being rescued.† Ralph said with the ferocity of being a leader. â€Å"How ’bout we just kill you?† â€Å"Because I want to speak with Jack!† Ralph said the last three words ferociously, hurling himself over the edge. â€Å"What do you want?† spoke a quiet, bored voice from the darkness. â€Å"I have come to offer a treaty† â€Å"Get out.† Ralph’s anger, hatred and bitter emotions flowed out of his body in a rush of fury. â€Å"No.† he spoke with hatred about Piggy. â€Å"Get out before I kill you!!† roared Jack. thump. thump. thump. â€Å"Ignore th-!† screamed the conscience. The savages jeered â€Å"We’ll just roast you on a spit, just like a pig!† thump. Thump. THUMP. â€Å"KILL THEM!!!† shrieked the conscience with a sheer overwhelming force of hatred and cunning. Suddenly, Roger lunged for Ralph. Without warning, Ralph’s hands came up †¦ and found them on Roger’s throat. Ralph could feel this reborn conscience taking over his body†¦ and his mind. He was powerless to do anything or stop his hands. He felt the conscience growing bigger, and making him weaker. Soon, he was the conscience, and vice versa. â€Å"STOP!!!† Ralph screeched, â€Å"You’re meant to be my conscience, not take it over!† The conscience laughed â€Å"Too late, Ralph. You missed your chance. What goes around, comes around.† With a growing sense of horror, Ralph was watching, through his own eyes, the terror that unfolded. He felt the conscience becoming more and more confident, and he closed his hand on the neck. Of course, Roger struggled, however, he was no match for somebody who was strangling him with two hands. After a few seconds, Roger stopped moving. Subsequently, everybody in the vicinity could hear a sharp snap. Suddenly, panic broke out. Everybody but Ralph and Roger started screaming, and all of them were in a frenzy trying to escape – from the monster that had become Ralph. The horror of killing something worse than just a pig, about killing Roger simply for absolutely no reason, or that Ralph was always the one to uphold justice but was practicing otherwise. Feeling the blood gushing down his hands, the screams of the littleuns and biguns, the feeling of a cold hard body in his hands. His heart beat faster and faster, and he screamed. His head spun and he dry heaved. He was becoming more and more nauseated as he plummeted into the abyss. Claws grabbed him from below and tried to rip his skin. Blood materialized in his vision, but it wasn’t Ralph’s – it was Roger’s blood. He felt a searing pain on his arms and his head hurt so much†¦ ***** Ralph painfully opened his eyes. He wasn’t used to the amount of sunlight on his face – not anymore. He climbed up the rock leading to the savages’ hideout, intent on inflicting pain onto them, not caring about being rescued, about the honor of the fire, or the conch. For he, had become the Beast.

Can the war on terror be undertood in terms of realism Essay

Can the war on terror be undertood in terms of realism - Essay Example This shouldn’t be startling as they all have a common origin and considering the complexity of the subject, it deserves this literary stretch. If Marxism and Christianity can have various interpretations, so can realism. John J. Mearsheimer, professor at the University of Chicago was once asked what realism says about terrorism, and his answer was, ‘Not a whole heck of a lot, Realism†¦..is really about relations among states, especially among the great powers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Realism doesn’t have much to say about the causes of terrorism’1. It would be better to take a look at various realism theories before going into the details of the war on terror. Realism is a ‘philosophical disposition’ in the words of Robert Gilpin; many commentators have considered it a general orientation and not a set of explicit rules. According to Ferguson and Mansbach, it is a set of normative emphases that shape the theory and an ‘attitude of mind’ with distinct and perceptible flavours in the words of Edward Garnett. Sandra Rosenthal considers realism a ‘loose framework’ while Colin Elman considers it a ‘big tent’ that has room to accommodate a number of theories and notions2. Realism is a methodology of understanding international relations and many scholars and thinkers have placed themselves in the growth of this method that is why it has been delimited in its projection and analysis. It is a little difficult to enclose terrorism or ‘war on terror’ in one definition of realism. Terrorism is a concept that has reached all corners of the earth. No place on this planet is oblivion of this concept, especially after the sad September 11 attacks on the twin towers of U.S. and the America’s ‘war on terror’. This phrase has redefined domestic conflicts and territorial skirmishes. Prior to 9/11 attacks and the alleged ‘war on terror’, terrorist groups were indigenous of their terrains but now just like international trade and

The Occupation of France through the eyes of Irne Nmirovsky in Suite Dissertation

The Occupation of France through the eyes of Irne Nmirovsky in Suite Franaise - Dissertation Example Irene Nemirovsky’s book, Suite francaise, written in two sections, ‘Storm in June’ and ‘Dolce,’ starts with an air raid siren going off in the early morning hours before sunrise, yet people are still not so anxious as of yet that they feel they must run away (Nemirovsky 3). (Indeed, many went back to sleep for just a bit longer once the sirens stopped.) Yet, in the distance, there was the sound of heavy guns firing, some of it coming closer and closer. Finally, the sun comes up and the shelling stops. There is a peaceful, yet uncertain pause in the craziness. Something is just waiting around the corner, yet to be seen (Nemirovsky 4). In this glimpse of the novel, we are made aware of the fact that people just barely understand what is happening to them and really cannot believe any rumours and reports they have been getting about the German forces moving their way or that things could be that bad (Nemirovsky 5). As is so often seen, when changes are m ade within a society coming from the outside, people do not want to believe that they are in danger. It is a case of pulling the night mask over one’s eyes so as to wake up and find that everything is alright again and back to normal. In fact, in the novel, this is the beginning of the end of whatever normal they had in their lives. It is a down-hill spiral from that point onwards. Suite francaise presents a number of people in all their diverse personalities, set in a time that will turn to a future of unimaginable horror. At the period of time that Irene writes this book, many of the horrors committed by the Nazis are still unknown definitively to most outside of the European theatre of war, but there had been rumours. Indeed, Irene may have suspected or heard through the rumour mill about what was truly happening to the Jews, of which she was one. Most, however, did not want to believe that such things were happening and it would not be until the end of WWII that the truth of the genocide of the Jewish people and other ‘undesirables’ would be fully revealed and even then, some would not believe it did take place. The background in the novel therefore provides a scenario which is perceived by the characters as they would have known their own world for that time when people did not know that much about what was happening, only that there was a war going on. In our current age of the Internet and social media of modern times, information and news travel around the world in a flash, within seconds or even milliseconds. At the beginning of WWII, however, information would have taken far more time to be dispersed to the general population in varying levels of electronic access by radio. Under the German occupation, much of that news would have been restricted and also turned to propaganda before being released to the general public. Therefore, her characters also react accordingly to what they know at that point in time of occurring history, n ot what we know in our perspective of that history many decades later. Regarding these two points of view, we see what is coming for these people but we can only shout silently to deaf ears of the characters in this story because they are not there yet in that level of knowledge. The time we know of through historical documentation, has not yet occurred for them or if it is occurring, they do not know of it yet, while we, who are in the future, already know where the story is headed, at least

Hw 3-2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hw 3-2 - Essay Example Management, however, in other organizations, deal with organization, planning, staffing, leading and controlling a company. Barton’s trip to the bookstore and late night studying expounded his knowledge on IT. The materials, though educative, were confusing Barton. He got to learn just how the IT world is complicated (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 48). Barton understood now why there were so many layers of OSI cables. After reading the book, he also understood why the cables were so complicated. Barton’s meeting did not go as plan due to various reasons. First and foremost, people at the meeting did not welcome Barton’s proposal of an off-site company meeting. He did not expect anybody to reject his proposal. He also expected a quick acceptance and then a session of planning for his event (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 36). However, Barton was wrong. His thoughts were all in vain. For instance, Fenton made it clear that he did not fancy incorporating people such as John Cho in the off-site meeting and Gordon also supported him (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 36). Barton also did not expect the members at the meeting to make the situation of the company more badly than it was, but since they did not agree on anything matter went the way he did not expect. IT organizational structure is set the way it is because the overall business model for an IT organization comprises of lots of sections due to the complexity of the business itself. This is to make sure that all technological elements are dealt with in the company (Austin, Nolan and O’Donnell 48). An IT organization is structured the way it is because this complex structure tends to offer exceptional synergy as it offers many means of achieving organizational goals. IT is also connected directly to finance. Therefore, a CIO is a direct report to a CFO in an IT

Dr. Martin Luther King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dr. Martin Luther King - Essay Example In 1957, a new organization was born. The southern Christian Leadership Conference whose aim was to achieve the civil rights of American and King was elected the chair. In the next 11 years, he led a massive campaign against segregation and racial discrimination. He traveled over six million miles, spoke over 2500 times in public events and wrote essays against racial discrimination. In 1963, Martin Luther King attracted the attention of all America by leading the Birmingham civil rights demonstrations in Alabama (Weider History 1). Consequently, the African American pressed for change. Martin Luther King Jr. through his historic speech stressed the need for Americans to live to the spirit of the Constitution. Additionally, in his dream King wanted the Americans to judge their character and not through their skin color (Bush 1). Consequently, King's dream has been achieved in his fight against social discrimination. Martin Luther King Jr. brought many achievements to the black people in the United States of America. He fought for many years in favor of civil rights in the United States. He and other civil rights activist led the famous bus boycott in Montgomery that led to change or equalization of all American citizens despite their races. If this kind of discrimination continued, then President Barack Obama could not be elected to office in the second term as the president of the United States. Additionally, the boycott prompted the government of the United States to make a legal change.

The state of Journalism in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The state of Journalism in America - Essay Example As America cities such as Boston, Washington, New York and Philadelphia grew so did journalism. The telegraph, larger printing presses, alongside other technological innovations provided for mass printing of newspapers, and boosted circulation of the newspaper thereby increasing revenues collected (Winfield, 2008). In large cities, some of the newspapers were politically independent. For smaller cities, most were closely tied to political parties, which were used to communicate and campaign. The editorials of such newspapers explained party position on current issues while damning the opposition. The press expanded rapidly as the major support element in the American party systems. By 1900 key newspapers had turned into profitable power houses of muckraking, sensationalism and advocacy, along with professional news gathering. In the late 19th Century much of United States Journalism were housed in large media conglomerates. The digital journalism was later introduced in the 21st Cent ury, with all newspaper facing business crisis as readers turned to internet as their major source of getting news with advertisers following them (Joyce, & Nip, 2006). The increasing growth of the impact of internet, particularly in after 2000, introduced â€Å"free† news. It also classified advertisements to audiences that could no longer care for paid subscriptions. Many dally newspapers had the business model undercut by the Internet. Bankruptcy loomed across America and even hit major papers such as the Chicago Tribune, the Loss Angeles Times, and the Rocky Mountain news among many others. Since then, journalism has never remained the same. This paper explores the state of journalism in America.... However, like other public service broadcasting corporations in which journalists operate, often derive some of their funding from the government. Some public service corporations derive their funding from the community or non-profit organizations. Other forms of funding include pledges from sponsors. The government directly discharges broadcasting services, albeit their limited number. Public broadcasting corporations often come with their programs. They also purchase the programs from distributing and producing companies such as APT, APM and NPR, among others. The funding of the public broadcasting corporations are channeled through the Public Broadcasting Corporation (Brad, 1994). The Public Broadcasting Television service receives support from the viewers, as well as commercial sponsors. It is this feature that has made them to be characterized as commercial broadcasting corporations. However, it is worth noting that the commercial advertisements are often limited, short and rela tively muted. Technologies have enabled the public to access the channels of television through the cable systems, which are funded by the franchise fees and television donations (Brad, 1994). The United States’ public broadcasting television channels have been widely criticized for leaning towards conservatism. Since 2012, erosion of news reporting resources has continued to converge with increasing opportunities for those on government agencies, politics, companies with others taking messages directly to the public (Fuller, 1999). In 2012, there were signs of shrinking in reporting power. The estimates for cutbacks in the newspaper newsroom in 2012 put media industry down 30 percent since 2000. It also put the industry below 40,000 employees who are on a full-time

Communitiies Of Practice (COP) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Communitiies Of Practice (COP) - Essay Example The CoP could also meet on a regular basis or depends on the common availability of the members. Likewise, due to the advancement of technology, the members could also utilize the computer and internet, i.e. group sites, web pages, e-mail, blogs, wikis, podcasting, and/or file sharing to keep connected and updated.2 The practice of CoP had long been existed throughout the society. In fact, it had been observed and practiced in the classical Greece wherein the Greeks were subdivided and lived according to their shared common interests and beliefs. The people who have the same crafts such as the metalworkers, potters, masons, etc. belonged to the same group because they work and learn together. Each group had their own business function in which they were responsible to share their skills and spread the innovation through training and coaching apprentices/novices. Whilst, each group had shared social purpose wherein they â€Å"worshipped the same god and goddesses and celebrated holid ays together.† 3The practice had been very common; however, the term was only coined recently by Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave. Originally, the term was used to name a group of traditional African tailors who couched and trained their apprentices. 4 Further, the two have concluded that learning could be a two-way process wherein the apprentices could learn from their masters/instructors and vice versa. Since then the two researchers have expanded the CoP concept and had been widely incorporated in organizations, government, businesses, teams, work groups, corporations and among others. Etienne Wenger and William Snyder have considered community of practice as an important instrument because it could improve organizational performance as long as it is implemented accordingly. The advantages of CoP have included its ability to drive strategy. Several organizations have proven this, i.e. the World Bank. Since, they had integrated in their management the concept of CoP; they become â€Å"knowledge bank†5 because they had provided their customers’ high-quality information as well as they gained know-how on economic development. Likewise, the CoP could also start new lines of businesses. An example of this was the one cited by Wegner and Snyder, wherein a group of consultants created a community and they decided to meet regularly at the airport after their engagement with their clients to discuss over their common interests. After a couple of years, this group had established a new line of business that offered financial services due to community of practice. The CoP could also used to solve problems quickly. The practical reason is that members of the CoP could share their problems and could ask the assistance of their co-members to find solution with their problems. In the same manner that their counterparts could extend their help because they knew the problem and they could identify the best solutions to common problems. For example, a man had asked from his CoP on how to improve his writing skills. Since, they share the same interest, many of his expert co-members have responded via net within 24 hours. Luckily, many of them have provided the best and easiest writing techniques. Further, it could also transfer best practices because they â€Å"do much more than work on specific problems. 6 In an organization or company, it was considered as the best and ideal venue for sharing and disseminating best practices and knowledge. One of the most successful examples of

Why Quit Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Why Quit Smoking - Essay Example Recent studies about tobacco smoking have revealed that it is a leading cause of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. For the record, these lung cancer and other respiratory diseases were virtually unknown up until the surge of cigarette sales during World War II. Now lung cancer is considered as one of the leading killer diseases of the 21st century, killing an estimate of 3 million people around the world annually. Millions of people still continue to smoke tobacco despite its harmful effects to their health. But there are some smokers who want to quit their ugly habit, these are those smokers who have suddenly realized the negative effects of smoking and have decided to lead on a healthier nicotine free life through the help of various quitting methods. These individuals themselves have decided not just to quit smoking for themselves but also for the welfare of other smokers who wishes to kick the bad habit out of their system. Discussed herein are the dangers of tobacco smoking along with the various ways in which a smoker can quit this ugly habit in exchange for a healthier and happier life. Cigars and cigarettes are the primary sources of carcinogenic (cancer-causing) smoke. What distinguishes the two is that cigars are typically made from a single tobacco leaf without any wrappings or filter added to it while cigarettes are smaller versions of cigars. A typical cigarette is made up of tobacco leaf shreds wrapped in a special paper attached to a filter on one end. While cigarettes are widely available, cigars are usually sold in specialty stores equipped with humidors to preserve those. Differences aside both are still major sources of carcinogens and other substances that pose major health threats for humans Smokers have given various reasons on why they smoke. Many smoke for the sake of smoking. Some smoke to alleviate their self-destructive while others smoke because they are addicted to nicotine. Other smokers are bit more casual, saying that they smoke because they want to lessen the stress they experience in their daily lives. Whatever the reason is, most smokers will stick on the habit for the rest of their lives while developing various smoking related symptoms and diseases. A significant number of smokers on the other hand, have realized the various negative health and environmental effects of smoking and thus decided to quit smoking. Cigarette smoke inhaled by the smokers themselves is called mainstream smoke and it is reported to increase the risk of many types of cancer, which includes lip cancer, oral cancer, cancer of the esophagus, cancer of the pancreas, cancer of the larynx , cancer of the lungs; uterine and cervix cancers, cancer of the urinary bladder; and kidney cancer. On the other hand, smoke inhaled by non-smokers is called second-hand smoke. The effects of second-hand smoke seems to be much worse than mainstream smoke, the U.S. Surgeon General has updated some evidences showing that second-hand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in adults while it also causes sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory problems in infants and children respectively. It also found out that there is no "risk-free" level of second hand that exists; even the briefest exposure to secondhand smoke is enough to increase that risk of acquiring cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in adults. The only solution to this

Kurt Vonnegut Essay Example for Free

Kurt Vonnegut Essay Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five appeared on the list of Time magazine’s 100 all time best English language novels since 1923. Written in 1969, this novel is considered a classic and is also known as one of his best works. Slaughterhouse -Five spans the different time periods of the life of Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist. Vonnegut witnessed the Bombing of Dresden in World War II, and this novel portrays the aftermath of the war. Vonnegut uses time travel as the plot device to portray human conditions from an unusual perspective. He was a prisoner in the Battle of Bulge in December 1944; in Dresden, Germany as a battalion scout. In all likelihood, the bombing of Dresden saved him from being sent to the Auschwitz gas chambers. Vonnegut was among the few survivors that were taken as prisoners to a slaughterhouse during the war and he worked in a meat-locker under this slaughterhouse, making diet supplements for pregnant women . The title refers to the slaughterhouse where Billy stayed as the prisoner of war. Vonnegut combines science fiction elements along with human conditions in the aftermath of the Dresden bombing, to drive the point. Slaughterhouse-Five is the story of a man Billy Pilgrim who has â€Å"come unstuck in time†. This term refers to his surviving a plane crash where he suffers a minor brain damage. Vonnegut has created a satire on fatalism. He believes that no matter how distressing the situation of a man is; he has the power to create his own reality through the sheer power of imagination. Billy Pilgrim experiences different time periods of his life especially his experiences of the World War II. The seemingly random happening of his life structures the thematic elements of the novel in an unraveling order. The novel examines many events in Billy’s life. This includes the death of his wife, his capture by the Nazis in World War II, and the unfortunate bombing of Dresden, which also became the inspiration of this book. The major theme comprises of the narrative that depicts Billy’s difficult times in Dresden, the secondary theme that runs through is his easy and affluent life as an optometrist in the city of Illium, New York, which is a fictional stand-in for Troy, New York, the city of Schenectady, New York. This is the place where Vonnegut has based most of his novels. The fiction runs parallel to the story of Vonnegut’s own transition from the depressing years of 1930’s, which was also the time period when ‘The Great Depression’ occurred, to a well to do existence that followed. The satirical essence of the novel is portrayed by the repetitive phrase, â€Å"so it goes† which Vonnegut uses to describe death and dying; whether it is of man, animal or the bubbles of champagne. He uses it to downplay the fact of ‘mortality’; making it sound humorous and routine. Some would say that his writings are creepy, but the fact is that he wrote beautiful, bizarre and horrifying novels replete with dark humor, and that set him apart as a unique writer. In Slaughterhouse –Five he uses words and phrases such as, â€Å"mustard gas† and â€Å"roses† to describe the rotting smell of a corpse, and the breath of an alcoholic. This novel explores the idea of fate, freewill and illogical nature of human beings. In the first chapter the narrator apologizes about the fact that the novel is so â€Å"short and jumbled and jangled† and then goes on to explain the fact that there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. The satirical tone and the dark humor is the alibi, which he uses to describe the horrific aftermath of bombings and war in general. There are three themes that he uses in Slaughterhouse –Five. The first and foremost theme is the- War. He writes about the contrasts of war; which is love, beauty, humanity, innocence, humor etc. In Slaughterhouse –Five just like his many previous novels, he says that war is bad for us and it is better to love one another and live in peace, than have wars. However, she doesn’t use love as the contrast of war, since Billy Pilgrim was not shown as a man who is madly in love with his wife. Yet he chose to depict it in a light yet effective manner. An interesting contrast Vonnegut uses in his novels are differences between the characteristics of men and women. Men are shown as cruel and ready to he engage in war any time, and the females are the shields, playing the shock absorber’s effect capably, as they are always engaged in trying to dissuade men from getting into wars. Women in Vonnegut’s novels are more humane, loving and have strong wills. The most compelling theme is that we as people are like bugs trapped in an amber and there are no â€Å"whys â€Å" to it. In a sequence in the novel, when Billy is trapped in Tralfamadorin Flying Saucer he asks, â€Å"Why me? † â€Å"†¦. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is . Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? † Billy was asked, and he recalls that he in fact had a paperweight in his office, which was a blob of polished amber with three ladybugs trapped inside it. Billy answers in affirmation and he is told: â€Å" Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why. † (ibid pg. 76-77). This extraterrestrial experience of Billy is symbolic of the fact that we are physically stuck in this world with no choice over our circumstances. In Vonnegut’s novels there are no set themes or plot that follows the story of heroes, heroines or villains. As Ernest W. Ranly says that all the characters in Vonnegut’s books are â€Å"comic, pathetic pieces, juggled about by some inexplicable faith, like puppets. † (Riley, 1974, pg. 54). Vonnegut himself says in his book Hocus Pocus that if there is no one to take the blame for the bad happenings in the book, it can only mean that the villain is God Himself; â€Å" or Herself or Itself or Whatever† (Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus, 1990). Another significant theme is that there is no soldier, only man. Being a soldier is a myth as a soldier is just a puppet of war used to do as the war demands. He doesn’t remain a human being anymore. Vonnegut expresses this thought most noticeably in this extract from the novel from the time when Billy was imprisoned in Dresden. When the three fools found the communal kitchen, whose main job was to make lunch for workers in the slaughterhouse, everybody had been waiting for them impatiently. She was a war widow. So it goes. She asked Gluck if he wasn’t awfully young to be in the army. He admitted he was. She asked Billy Pilgrim what he was supposed to be. Billy said he didn’t know. He was trying to keep warm. â€Å"All the real soldier are dead. † She said. It was true. So it goes. (Vonnegut 1969. Pg. 159). Another obvious theme is that death is inevitable. It also goes on to explain that life goes on, no matter what happens and who dies. The phrase â€Å"so it goes† occurs one hundred and six times throughout the novel; it happens every time someone dies, to take away the seriousness of death and impart a humorous quality to its inevitable graveness. This book has different meanings for different people, as everyone would be likely to interpret its subtle messages in their own way. The point that Vonnegut wanted to make was that no matter what happens , we should retain our humanity.

Academic Skills Plus Essay Example for Free

Academic Skills Plus Essay Atwood writes: â€Å"What I mean by ‘science fiction’ is those books that descend from H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, which treats of an invasion by tentacled, blood-sucking Martians shot to Earth in metal canisters – things that could not possibly happen – whereas, for me, â€Å"speculative fiction† means plots that descend from Jules Verne’s books about submarines and balloon travel and such – things that really could happen but just hadn’t completely happened when the authors wrote the books. I would place my own books in this second category: no Martians.† (From In other worlds, p.6) With these remarks in mind, is it useful to distinguish between science fiction and speculative fiction? In answering this question you might consider Le Guin’s suggestion that people who refer to their works as ‘speculative fiction’ rather than ‘science fiction’ are simply trying to protect themselves from some of the negative connotations associated with science fiction (see In other worlds)? Discuss in relation to at least two works. ‘Science fiction’ is often defined as a wide literary genre related to fictional stories. It contains many subgenres, such as space opera, cyberpunk, utopia, dystopia, alternative histories and speculative fiction. Although there are an extensive number of subgenres, some writers, as Margaret Atwood, have been trying to differentiate ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’. Maybe this wideness of subgenres existing under the genre ‘science fiction’ is exactly the reason why Atwood found interesting to present this differentiation. When we consider science fiction stories, many different things can came up to our mind, such as aliens, intergalactic travel, artificial intelligence and utopian (or dystopian) societies. Considering that, as we can notice in these examples, these topics can differ a lot from each other and it might be understandable that Atwood  wanted to differentiate (more than just defining different subgenres) the kind of fiction related to more ‘plausible’ things (things that could really happen, as she says). Definitely, ‘speculative fiction’ books have a completely different scenario from cyberpunk, aliens or space opera works and this could awake a desire to disconnect them in a more significantly manner. However, it is possible to affirm that this distinction between ‘science’ and ‘speculative fiction’ is not useful and that there is no reason for making it, especially considering that speculative fiction is just one more subgenre of science fiction. This thesis will be supported by a number of points presented throughout this essay. Firstly, it will be argued that the subgenre ‘speculative fiction’ fits perfectly into the definitions and requisites related to ‘science fiction’. Secondly, it will be discussed that Atwood’s definition of ‘speculative fiction’ is vague and can change according to interpretation, and also that it can be used to define as speculative fiction other books that she clearly had classified as belonging to ‘science fiction’. Thereby, her definition can be seen as not clear, which makes it not useful at all. Finally, it will be presented that Atwood seems to reinforce this division specially because distinguishing ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’ is convenient for her. There are some evidences for that, for example, Le Guin once said Atwood was trying to protect herself from negative connotations associated with ‘science fiction’. This is even noticeable considering that many of her attempts to define the genre contained irony and clichà ©s. Firstly, it will be discussed that ‘speculative fiction’ fits perfectly into the definitions and requisites related to the ‘science fiction’ subgenres, which makes unnecessary and not useful the distinction between them. It was stated before that ‘science fiction’ has a big number of subgenres and it is clear that they differ considerably from each other. However, despite their singularities, all of them have one kind of cohesive element in common, which brings each subgenre to be defined as part of the genre ‘science fiction’. To define this common element noticed in all the science fiction subgenres, it is useful to consider two Suvin’s definitions about science fiction: SF is, then, a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition,  and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the authors empirical environment (Suvin 1979, p. 7) and â€Å"Science Fiction is distinguished by the narrative dominance or hegemony of a fictional novum (novelty, innovation) validated by cognitive logic† (Suvin 1979, p. 63). Considering these two definitions, it is possible to affirm then that the necessary and sufficient conditions to identify one science fiction work are: the presence of a ‘novum’ and the presence of a ‘cognitive logic’, the logical consistency which makes the ‘novum’ become part of our knowledge about real things. With this in mind, we can analyse the book The Handmaid’s Tale from Atwood. She clearly have classified this book as not being ‘science fiction’, however, it is easy to identify the ‘novum’ and also the ‘cognitive logic’ in her book. The ‘novum’ is represented by the whole system of political organization in the Republic of Gilead described on the book and the ‘cognitive logic’ is given by some similarities that can be noticed between our society and the society described on the book. In the same way, for the book of H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, we can also identify the ‘novum’, which is given by the Martians and their technology; and the ‘cognitive logic’, given by the similarities existing between both societies. Thus, it can be affirmed that both books The Handmaid’s Tale and The War of the World belongs to the genre ‘science fiction’, contradicting Atwood’s previous proposition. This proves that although Atwood’s book can be classified as ‘speculative fiction’, it truly belongs to ‘science fiction’, leading us to verify again that ‘speculative fiction’ is just one more subgenre of ‘science fiction’. It makes clear then that the division between ‘science’ and ‘speculative’ fiction is not useful and not justifiable. Secondly, it will be presented that Atwood’s definition of ‘speculative fiction’ is imprecise and also can be used to define as speculative fiction other books that were categorized as ‘science fiction’ by her. In order to illustrate these points, we will analyse Atwood (2011) definition about ‘speculative fiction’ as â€Å"things that really could happen but just hadn’t completely happened when the authors wrote the books.† This is a vague and inaccurate idea. It could encompass different definitions because the range of things that could really happen is highly dependent of each person’s  beliefs and ideas, what makes this definition extremely subjective. Also, with just a few exceptions, it is not possible to say for sure what is and what is not going to happen. Besides, Atwood even gives us another definition: Oryx and Crake is not science fiction. Science fiction is when you have chemicals and rockets. (Watts 2003, p. 3). Considering both definitions given by her, it could be understood that she considers rockets and chemicals as things that really could not happen, as they belong to science fiction. However, it is known that rockets and chemicals are not things impossible to happen, especially because nowadays we can see some examples of them. Both definitions become contradictory then. Considering her first definition, books about this theme would be classified as speculative fiction; however, she decided to use these two themes to exemplify ‘science fiction’. Atwood’s definitions about ‘speculative fiction’ are imprecise, therefore, what is the purpose in using an imprecise and cloudy definition? It is simply not useful to distinguish ‘science’ from ‘speculative fiction’ then. Thirdly, it will be presented that Atwood seems to reinforce this division specially because distinguishing ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’ is convenient for her. Le Guin (2009) states that Atwood was trying to protect herself from negative connotations associated with science fiction and also â€Å"from being relegated to a genre still shunned by hidebound readers, reviewers and prize-awarders†. Considering Le Guin’s remarks, it is possible to observe that ‘science fiction’ was not a literary genre with considerable prestige in the intellectual audience. This could reduce her reputation on the high literary society. One possible reason for ‘science fiction’ being underestimated is that science fiction could be related to some works produced for mass audience like Star Trek and Dr Who and intellectuals would associate her books to these works. Then it would be interesting for her to dissociate the connecti on between her books and the genre ‘science fiction’ once it was not so appreciated by the intellectual audience. And this is also noticed by considering that some of her remarks about ‘science fiction’ contains irony, as she frequently uses clichà ©s to refer about it, such as ‘rockets’, ‘chemicals’, ‘blood-sucking Martians’, ‘talking squids in outer space’, and ‘skin-tight clothing’. Thus, it is possible to verify why Atwood reinforces the division between ‘speculative’ and ‘science’ fiction. And  considering her reasons we can see that they are not justifiable and strong enough to make the distinction between ‘speculative’ and ‘science fiction’ useful. Finally, this essay discussed a number of points in order to support the thesis that the distinction between ‘speculative’ and ‘science’ fiction is not useful. Firstly, it was stated that although it may be hard to define some literary genres it is noticeable that ‘speculative ficti on’ fits perfectly in most of definitions of science fiction, making it a subgenre only. Secondly, it was presented that Atwood’s definition about ‘speculative fiction’ is vague and could classify as ‘speculative fiction’ some books that she clearly classified as ‘science fiction’. Thirdly, it was discussed that is convenient for her to separate ‘speculative fiction’ from ‘science fiction’ since the genre of ‘science fiction’ was not so appreciated by reviewers and prize awarders and was associated to some mass audience works. She does not want to be linked to this image so she tries to put her works under a different literary classification. This point shows us clearly that there is no consistent and general reason for her to do the distinction. In conclusion, this essay illustrated that is not useful to distinguish between ‘science fiction’ and ‘speculative fiction’ and the reason for this was explained by all of the arguments stated previously. References Atwood, M 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale, Anchor Books, New York. Atwood, M 2011, In Other Worlds SF and the Human Imagination, Doubleday. Le Guin, U 2009, ‘The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood’, The Guardian, 29 August. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/aug/29/margaret-atwood-year-of-flood Suvin, D 1979, Metamorphoses Of Science Fiction, Yale University Press, New Haven Watts, P 2003, ‘Margaret Atwood and the Hierarchy of Contempt’, On Spec, vol. 15, no. 2, summer, pp. 3-5. Wells, H 1898, The War of the World, New York Review Books, New York.

Microfinance Institutions in Mediterranean Countries

Microfinance Institutions in Mediterranean Countries This paper examines empirically the relation between governance mechanisms and the performance of Euro-Mediterranean microfinance institutions (MFIs) in terms of outreach and sustainability. Specifically, we found that performance-based compensation of managers is not associated with better performance of MFIs. The results identify tradeoffs between MFIs outreach and sustainability depending on larger boards size, and on higher proportion of unaffiliated directors. Moreover, the study shows that the more women there are on a board the better the performance, and reveals that external governance mechanisms help MFIs to achieve better financial performance. This study also allows us to distinguish other factors leading to a better sustainability such as Regulation, the use of individual lending methodology. However, the MFIs active as NGOs seem to be more consistent with their social mission than with their financial performance. 1. Introduction Microfinance is the provision of financial and non financial services to the poor who are excluded from financial/credit markets because they are considered unbankable. Indeed, microfinance institutions has evolved primarily as a consequence of the efforts individuals and assistance agencies committed to the idea of ensuring that the poor people has access to some form of credit. The majority of MFIs claims having a dual mission of reaching poor borrowers (outreach), and being financially sustainable (sustainability). While the social goals of reaching the poorest and poverty alleviation are valid, financial sustainability has emerged as one of the core management and governance issues. The shrinking resources base for donor funds to support the increasing demand for grants and soft loans implies that MFIs will eventually have to support themselves (Ledgerwood, 2000). However, their sustainability will focus on governance structures within the industry. Indeed, as M Labie (2000) observes, in the last decade corporate governance principles have imposed themselves as the basic rules for any well Run Company to follow. The trend has however transcended from traditional business companies but is now part of the globalization process often seen as a tool for standardizing the controlling vision for any major organization in the world. The drive towards Governance has been propelled by a number of factors particularly the collapses of some of the major players in the Industry, the influx of private Equi ty and fall in donor funding. Governance is about achieving corporate goals. The fundamental purpose of MFIs is to contribute to a country development. This involves reaching out to more clients especially the poor (Helms, 2006; Johnson et al., 2006). Not least but now growing in importance especially among donors is the requirement that MFIs achieve financial sustainability. Microfinance practitioners assert that good governance is the key to a successful MFI (Campion, 1998; Rock, Otero Saltzman, 1998; Labie, 2001; CGAP, 2006; Helms, 2006; UN, 2006). In spite of these observations, only few studies have focused on governance and the examination of the linkage of various governance mechanisms and performance (McGuire, 1999). It seems relevant to examine closely the role of various governance mechanisms since MFIs managers control significant resources. Except the study of Hartarska (2005), and those of Mersland, Roy and Strà ¸m, Reidar Øystein (2007), and Cull et al., (2007), no more study attempt to shed light on the link between governance and performance especially in the Euro-Mediterranean countries although it is a very active zone with a microfinance industry quite diverse (NGO, NBFI, Bank) where actors should simultaneously pursue the most effective way of realizing their social objective while achieving superior levels of profitability. While exploiting recently conducted survey by the authors in order to study the efficiency of MFIs in Mediterranean countries, the annual financial reports of the microfinance institutions and other relevant information collected from Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), this paper aim to investigate the link between governance and Euro-Mediterranean MFIs performance in terms of outreach and sustainability since governance guides an institution in fulfilling its corporate mission and protects the institutions assets over time. As Rock, R, Otero, M Saltzman, S (1998) notes it is a key in guiding management in strategic issues and in carrying out the agreed upon strategic plans. The empirical model explores the joint and individual effect of management compensation, board diversity, and external governance mechanisms on both MFI sustainability, and the depth and breath of outreach while controlling for individual characteristics and, as well as country specific factors. The result s show that performance-based compensation does not improve performance. MFIs with larger boards seem to do better. More independent boards are more effective however. Board diversity (Higher proportion of women) seems to ameliorate outreach. External governance mechanisms especially auditing and regulation improve the financial sustainability. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 deals with the research context. Section 3 briefly reviews the few related studies. Section 4 presents the conceptual framework as well as working hypothesis. Section 5 looks at data description and methodology. Section 6 discusses the empirical findings, and Section 7 draws conclusions emanating from the findings. 2. Microfinance in Mediterranean Experience throughout the world has proven that microfinance help the poor to increase income, built their business, and secure their future by reducing their vulnerability to external shocks. Furthermore, microfinance is often a powerful tool for empowering the poor especially women, to take charge of their economic well-being and those of their families. The Euro-Mediterranean region consists of 21 countries. The microfinance industry in this zone is young with high growth potential. Currently, it is estimated that there are over sixty microfinance institutions (MFIs NGOs), and a potential of numerous other producing credit to poor microentrepreneurs (Ben Soltane, 2008). The majority of these programs are south of the Mediterranean (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Syria). Programs also exist in Spain, France, Italy, Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia, and Croatia (Figure 1). Morocco AMSSF, FMBC, KARAMA, AL AMANA, ZAKOURA Turkey MAYA Bosnia Bossel, EKI, MI-Bospo, MIKRA, Women For Women Palestine FATEN, UNRWA Italy FRD, 10 Talenti Fond S.M.Soccorso Fond S.G.Moscati Tunisia ENDA, BTS Spain CODESPA, WWB Spain Egypt ESED, Lead foundation, DBACD, Al Tadamun France CSDL Albania PSHM, USCA Croatia DEMOS Lebanon Al Majmoua, Ameen, CHF-AM Jordan MFW, AMC, JMCC,DEF Kosovo P4, Meshtekna, Grameen Trust Figure1  [1]  : MFIs delivering microcredit in the Mediterranean. Euro-Mediterranean MFIs aim to provide financial services to low income households, even the extremely poor in a participatory and non-paternalistic development approach to the great interest of the donor community, policy makers, development researcher and practitioners. According to the so-called win-win proposition MFIs should combine the socials goals, such as poverty alleviation and reaching poor households (outreach) with operational and financial self-sufficiency (sustainability) based on access to international financial markets independently from international development agencies. Therefore, MFIs should simultaneously pursue the most effective way of realizing their social objective while achieving superior levels of profitability. The regions top MFIs are openly committed to best practice microfinance. In terms of depth of outreach, the sector has generally moved towards serving more and more of the poor clients. According to the FEMIP and Sanabel study, the Mediterranean represents a potential market for the microfinance with nearly 40 million customers, whereas currently only 9 million people profit from the financial assistance of the companies operating in this sector. The number of borrowers increased of more than 43 % per annum between 2004 and 2006, against 20% on a worldwide scale, an indication that the sector as a whole is reaching more of the marginalized in the society. The regions top MFIs have proven also to have excellent leadership abilities, impressive outreach and growth, as well as a commitment to best practice microfinance. Furthermore, it is estimated that around 85% of the regions active clients are served by sustainable MFIs. 3. Literature review Governance in microfinance has been recognized to be an important issue. However, the biggest problem to microfinance practitioners has been balancing the dual mission of outreach and sustainability. The changing of microfinance environment has shown a move towards sustainability ultimately leading to governance issues as donors funds shrink and equity inflows increase in the microfinance sector. Microfinance institutions have therefore embraced boards and adopted principles of corporate governance to ensure their survival. Investigating the link between good governance and the performance of MFIs in terms of outreach and sustainability is crucial since governance guides an institution in fulfilling its corporate mission and protects the institution assets over the time. However, there is a limited academic studies dealing with this subject, partly due to the lack of data. While using three surveys of rated and unrated east European MFIs from three random samples in the period 1998 to 2002, Hartarska (2005), investigates the relation between governance mechanisms and financial performance. Financial performance and outreach constitute dependant variable dimensions and governance mechanisms include board characteristics, managerial compensation, and external governance mechanisms such as rating, financial statements audited, and supervision. The author finds that performance-based compensation of managers is not associated with better performing MFIs; lower wages suggested for mission-driven organization worsen outreach. She identify also that a more independent board has better ROA, but a board with employee directors gives lower financial performance and lower outreach. Finally, the author concludes that external governance mechanism seems to have a limited role in the study region. In a recent study, Mersland, Roy and Strà ¸m, Reidar Øystein (2007), use a self constructed global data set on MFIs spanning 57 countries collected from third-partly rating agencies. The authors study the effect of board characteristics, ownership type, competition and regulation on the MFIs outreach to poor clients and its financial performance. They found that split roles of CEO Chairman, a female CEO, and competition are important explanation. Moreover, the authors found that larger board size decrease the average loan size, while individual guaranteed loan increase it. Finally, they conclude that there is no difference between nonprofits organizations and shareholder firms in financial performance and outreach. A third study conducted by Cull et al., (2007) looking at MFIs financial performance and outreach as well, with a focus on lending methodology  [2]  , controlling for capital and labour cost as well as institutional features. While using data from 124 rated MFIs, the authors found that MFIs that focus on providing loans to individuals perform better in terms of profitability. Yet, the fraction of poor borrowers and female borrowers in the loan portfolio of these MFIs is lower than for MFIs that focus on lending to groups. The study suggests also that individual-based MFIs, especially if they grow larger, focus increasingly on wealthier clients, a phenomenon termed as mission drift. This mission drift does not occur as strongly for the group-based MFIs. However, no governance variables, such as board characteristics or ownership type are taken into consideration. The limited academic investigation into the link between governance mechanisms and performance of MFIs in terms of outreach and sustainability, and the fact that other governance mechanisms such as the proportion of women in the board remain unexplored justify the importance of a similar study in the Euro-Mediterranean zone, characterized by a very active and quite diverse microfinance industry, that complete formers studies. 4. Conceptual framework and working hypothesis While focusing on the microfinance field, the governance can be defined as the process of guiding an institution to achieve its objectives while protecting its assets. It refer to the mechanisms though which donors, equity, investors, and other providers of funds ensure themselves that their funds will be used according to the intended purposes (Hatarska, 2005). The presence of these control mechanisms is crucial either to align the interests of managers and providers of funds since they may have diverting preferences and objectives, or to monitor the performance of managers to insure that they use their delegated power to generate the highest possible returns for the providers of funds. This notion comes from the agency perspective. It found its origins in the work of M. C. Jensen and W. H. Meckling, 1976 who assimilate the firm to a node of contracts. The explanatory model of the structures of financing and shareholding is founded on the assumption of asymmetry of information and c onflicts of interests between managers and providers of funds. According to M. C. Jenson and W. H. Meckling, agency relationship is a contract under which one or more persons (principal) engage another person (agent) to perform some service on their behalf, which involves delegating some decision-making authority to the agent  [3]  . In this case the relation of agency will relate the principal (owner) and his agent (manager), this last being engaged to serve the interest of the first. From these relations emanates the concept of agency costs, costs which result from the potentially opportunist character of the actors (moral hazard) and information asymmetry between the contracting ones (adverse selection). These agency costs represent the loss in value compared to an ideal situation where there is no information asymmetry and conflict of interests. According to the theorist of agency an organisation is considered efficient if it minimise the agency costs. This purpose can be in tended though an effective governance mechanism. According to Keasey et al., 1997, the most important features of an effective governance framework are ownership structure (including institutional and managerial ownership), CEO (manager) and director (board member) remuneration, board structure (size and composition), auditing, information disclosure, and the market for corporate control. Usually, research literature related to this field use partial measures. In other words, governance studies treat separately the impact of each variable such as compensation, board size, independence and diversity, and external market forces on firm performance. However, since latest studies (Hermalin Weisbach, 2003) identify the complementarities, and the correlation between these mechanisms, this study will investigate the impact of the majority of these mechanisms excluding ownership due to lack of data on ownership structure. The most important attribute that distinguishes microfinance institutions from other is what has come to be called its dual mission of balancing a social agenda or social impact with its financial objectives. The MFI combine a social development mission (provision of financial services to the lowest income population possible), with a financial objectives that drives the institution to achieve self-sufficiency and thereby accomplish sustained service delivery without dependence on subsidies. These dual objectives (social: outreach, and financial: sustainability) make difficult the study of governance of MFIs, especially with their different types: Non profit, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), For-profit Microfinance Institutions, Credit Unions. This challenge is surmounted by formulating and testing hypothesis based on insights from the literature on corporate governance, formers studies, governance in banks and in non profit organizations, and by estimating the impact of the go vernance mechanisms on both sustainability and outreach. 4.1. Internal Governance mechanism The incentives of top management have been characterized as an important mechanism of corporate governance as it ensures the alignment of the management and the shareholders interest (John et al., 2004). In other words, it serves as a mechanism for resolving the conflict of interest among the managers and shareholders. Brick, Palmon and Wald (2006) highlighted that director compensation should also affect performance of a firm. With regards to banking institutions, higher-powered incentives may encourage managers to take higher risks at the expense of depositors, who would suffer if the institution fails; thus low pay-performance sensitivity is suggested (John John, 1993). In fact, it is proved by Adams Mehran, 2003; Houston James, 1995; John Qian, 2003, that pay-performance sensitivity in banking in lower than other industries. Since in non-profit firm there is a growing problem of informational asymmetry between clients and managers (i.e., managers possess many crucial information about the product), it seems that the fixed management salaries is the best choice for mission-driven organizations (Easley OHara, 1998). With the fixes salaries, the managers, indifferent between telling the truth or lying, will find it in his benefit to tell the truth. Therefore, if the client and donors find the information provided by non-profit managers more credible, the firm will be better-funded and better-performed. Hypothesis 1. MFIs whose manager receives a fixed salary will not perform worse than MFIs whose managers receive performance based remuneration. Most guidelines recognize that the board of directors is the focal point corporate governance. The composition and structure of the board have a direct bearing on corporate governance. Board of directors is designate for the purpose of ensuring the alignment of the firm activities and its specified objectives. The board has the duty for making sure that the top managers are behaving in a way that will provide the optimal value for shareholders (Coles et al., 2001). There is a view that larger boards are better for corporate performance because they have a range of expertise to help make better decisions, and are harder for a powerful CEO to dominate. However, recent thinking has leaned towards smaller boards. Jensen (1993) and Lipton Lorsch (1992) argue that large boards are less effective and are easier for a CEO to control. When a board gets too big, it becomes difficult to co-ordinate and process problems. Smaller boards also reduce the possibility of free riding by individual directors, and increase their decision taking processes. Empirical research supports this. For example, Yermack (1996) documents that for large U.S. industrial corporations, the market values firms with smaller boards more highly. Eisenberg et al. (1998) also find negative correlation between board size and profitability when using sample of small and midsize Finnish firms. In Ghana, it has been identified that small board sizes enhances the performance of MFIs (Kyere boah-Coleman and Biekpe, 2005). Mak and Yuanto (2003) echo the above findings in firms listed in Singapore and Malaysia when they found that firm valuation is highest when board has five directors, a number considered relatively small in those markets. In a Nigerian study, Sanda et al (2003) found that, firm performance is positively related with small, as opposed to large boards. Hypothesis 2. Board size should have an inverse correlation with MFIs performance A third common monitoring mechanism advocated by the agency perspective is a board composed of a majority of independent directors. These non-executive or outside directors are believed to provide superior benefits to the firm as a result of their independence from firm management. Under this organizational design, conflicts of interest can be avoided and executive leaders can be evaluated more objectively. The literature suggested that increases in the proportion of outside directors on the board should increase firm performance as they are more effective monitors of managers (Adams and Mehran, 2003). The proportions of the outside directors can be measured in terms of the ratio of outside directors to board size. The positive aspect of having board independence was evidenced in a study by Byrd et al (2001) that highlighted the survival of firms in the thrift crisis due greater proportion of independent directors in the board. Kyereboah-Coleman and Biekpe (2005) found also a positive relationship between proportion of outside board members and performance of MFIs in Ghana. Hypothesis 3. MFIs performance will be affected positively by the proportion of non-affiliated outsiders on the board. Corporate governance literature argues that board diversity in terms of women and minority representation is potentially positively related to firm performance. Board diversity promotes a better understanding for the market place, increases creativity and innovation, produces mores effective problem solving, enhances the effectiveness of corporate leadership, and promotes effective global relationships (Robinson and Dechant, 1997). Fondas and Sassalos, 2000 argue that diversity in board composition via greater female representation will lead to improved board governance and top management control. In microfinance, the study of Coleman, 2006 show that having women in CEOs on MFI boards enhance performance and also the more the women there are on a board, the better the performance. Furthermore, having a high fraction of women in the board would help the MFI understand its customers better so as to separate the good risk from the bad (Mersland R. et Oystein Strom R. 2007). Hypothesis 4. Board diversification and the presence of women and minority will lead to a better performance of MFI. Another principle of effective bank supervision is effective internal audit. Internal audit helps to identify problem areas and to avoid major collapse. The internal board auditor provides independent, objective assessments on the appropriateness of the organizations internal governance structure and the operating effectiveness of specific governance activities. Reporting of all internal audit reports in an accurate and timely manner is essential for evaluation of the institutions status and need for any change in strategy. Policy papers for MFIs stress the importance of internal audit and recommend that the internal auditor reports directly to the MFI board (Steinwand, 2000). Hypothesis 5. MFI allowing their internal auditors to report directly to the board should show higher financial performance. 4.2. External Governance Mechanisms The external governance mechanism can be implemented as a result of the failure or the weakness of internal governance mechanisms. In the microfinance industry donors and creditors are increasingly relying on information from audited financial statement and rating agencies (Hartarska, 2005). These external governance mechanisms are an important mechanism that provides depositors, creditors and shareholders with credible assurances that they will refrain from fraudulent activities. In other words it reduces informational asymmetries between the different stakeholders and the firm (Healy Palepu, 2001). Audited financial statements are an important tool for the assessment of MFIs by regulators and capital markets. They form an important part of the effective corporate governance. The auditors role is to provide a disinterested an objective view of the financial statements of the MFI in the line with generally accepted accounting standards. It is a mean to ensure potential investors and donors that an MFI complies with the accounting practices and managers do not misrepresent financial information. Hypothesis 6. MFIs with financial statement audited achieve better performance than MFIs without financial statement audited. According to Hartarska (2005), in the absence of developed equity and debt market, donors and investors rely on independent evaluation of MFIs performance. A MFIs rating reflects a rating agencys opinion of entitys overall creditworthiness and its capacity to satisfy its financial obligations. The raters evaluate objectively and independently the corporate governance in MFI and rank it on a relative rating scale that would facilitate comparison. Unlike typical rating agencies that rate the riskiness of issued debt, microfinance rating agencies rate the overall performance of the MFI in terms of outreach and sustainability. Hypothesis 7. Rating helps MFIs to achieve better results Many MFIs around the world operating as NGOs have increased their assets, reorganized, and transformed into regulated entities that can capture savings deposits. A regulated MFI has more chance to earn customer trust, and by the way to have a higher financial performance. Hence, regulation is crucial for microfinance sector development since it affect MFI performance by changing the internal rule of the organization. It implies the access to an important and low-cost funding source through the right to mobilise savings. Due to this effect, the MFI win the opportunity to increase the number of clients, but also to increase average loan amounts for existing borrowers. Moreover, if demands to fulfill regulatory requirements divert attention away from serving the poor, and hold back innovation in lending technology that has been the driving force behind MFIsability to serve even poorer borrowers, regulatory involvement will lead to mission-drift (Hartarska, 2007). Therefore, the effects upon depth and breadth in outreach may be uncertain as well, either upon depth or breadth, or a combination of the two (Mersland R. Oystein Strom R. 2007). Hypothesis 8. Regulation may guide the MFIs to fulfill better sustainability, but not to achieve better outreach. 5. Data and methodological issues Data for this study are issued from various sources. The major part comes from a survey conducted by the author in 2006 in order to test the efficiency of microfinance institution in Mediterranean (Ben Soltane, 2008). The performance variables and some governance variables are also obtained from the annual financial reports of the microfinance institutions collected from Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX); a non governmental organization whose object is to promote the exchange of information on the microfinance sector around the world  [4]  . All these information are updated and completed by a questionnaire dealing fundamentally with detailed question on governance addressed to the MFIs in the region. The response rate was 58% with 40 institutions. A special questionnaire was also addressed to the Mediterranean microfinance institutions that dont figure in the MIX MARKET data base. The response rate for these MFIs was weak and near 20%, with four institutions. Due to missed data, only two institutions are taken into account. The final sample comprises 42 institutions working in 20 countries. Our sample is quite representative of the Mediterranean microfinance industry as well as of the governance mechanisms and the performance of MFIs in the region. Following Hartarska (2005) works, our empirical model used to test the hypothesis include five major potential groups of determinants and is on the form: Where is a performance variable for MFI i in country j at time t; are MFI specific variables; are management specific variables; are board-specific variables, are external governance mechanisms; and are the country-specific macroeconomic variables. It is crucial to mention at this level that our choice of a single-equation model is supported by the hypothesis that various governance mechanisms are endogenously determined is not always supported by empirical evidence  [5]  . Since MFIs are special institutions having a dual mission, their performance is measured in terms of outreach and sustainability. Outreach is measured in breath and depth. Breach of outreach (NAB) is the logarithm of active borrowers, depth of outreach (DEPTH  [6]  ), is the average loan size on GDP per capita. Sustainability is measured by return on assets (ROA) which is a standard finance literature measure of performance, and by operational self-sufficiency (OSS). This variable measures how well the MFI can cover its costs through operating revenues. Table 1. Definitions of dependent variables used in analyses Variable Explanation Social Performance: Outreach NAB Logarithm of the number of current borrowers DEPTH The average loan size on GDP per capita Financial Performance: Sustainability ROA Return On Assets OSS Operational Self-Sufficiency MFI specific variables () are MFI size measured by the logarithm of total assets, MFI age measured in years sine commencement, and MFI type measured by three dummies (NGO, Nonbank Financial Institution, and bank). Since further studies (Navagas, Conning, Gonzalez-vega, 2003) show that the type of lending methodology used influences the success of these organization, our study include a variable Individual which is a dummy that takes the value of one if the MFI used individual lending technology. Variables built-in are Fixed-wage, which is a dummy for pay not based on performance, Experience is used to proxy for a mangers quality and is measured by the years of work experience. The board-specific variables contains Board-size, measured by the number of board members; Employees measured as the proportion of MFI employees who are voting board members; Independent measured as the proportion of non-affiliated board members; Women measured as the proportion of women in the board; Internal Board Auditor is a dummy variable that takes the value of one if there was an internal auditor with direct access to the board. The variables included in are Regulation, which is a dummy that takes the value of one if the MFI was supervised by the central bank or other bank supervisory agency; Rated is a variable that indicates whether the MFI was subject to independent evaluation or rating by an outside organization; Audited is a dummy that take also the value of one if there was an audited financial statement in the year t-1. Since MFI are issued from north and south of the Mediterranean, the dissimilarity in economic conditions across countries are controlled by the size of the economy (Economy size), measured by the logarithm of a countrys GDP, and by the average inflation rate (Inflation), measured by the average consumer price index. These variables are issued from the World Bank Development Indicators. We wanted also to build a variable that take account of the institutional differences between countries but we did not find an adequate measure. Table 2. Definitions of independent variables used in analyses Variable Explanation Fixed-wage<

Relational Dialectics: A Research Report Essay -- Relationships Sociol

Relational Dialectics: A Research Report This research of Relational Dialectics Theory refers to the book titled A Handbook of Personal Relationships, edited by Steve Duck. The title "A Dialectical Perspective on Communication Strategies in Relationship Development," written by Lesile Baxter, presents the basic strategies for an ideal relationship . The theories in which Baxter discusses describe the communication actions that a coulpe must use to establish, maintain, and dissolve their personal relationships. Contradiction is the central concept of relational dialectics. It refers to the dynamic interplay between unified oppostions. By managing three basic cotradictions; which are Autonomy-Connection, Novelty-Prediction, and Openness-Closedness, a couple can maintain a stable and healthy relationship with each other and together, accomplish success. Baxter bases her dialectical theory on the three bipolar pairs that cause contradictions. The primary or principle contradiction is Autonomy-Connection. A web of secondary contradictions, Novelty- Prediction and Openness-Closedn...

Hostage Negotiation Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hostage and barricade incidents are amongst the most difficult, emotional, and sometimes potentially lethal situations that a negotiator can be involved in. Often, the hostage taker shows signs of mental illness, drug or alcohol intoxication, or personal disputes accompanied by a high level of emotion. (Feldmann) These contributing factors lead to impulsive and often unpredictable behavior on the part of the hostage taker. It is sometimes impossible for negotiators to anticipate possible outcomes and complications that could arise from these incidents. Negotiators use a wide variety of tools, information, and strategies to try and resolve whatever grievances and demands the perpetrator is exhibiting. The main focus on the part of the negotiator is to keep the hostage alive, then try to negotiate a surrender. There is a considerable risk to both the victims and law enforcement when dealing with a hostage situation. (Feldmann) This paper will ide ntify and distinguish several high risk factors that negotiators and law enforcement use to extinguish potentially lethal situations. The presence or absence of these factors can influence the outcome of a situation for the better or for the worst. Second, this paper will identify several motivations for hostage taking. Why and what would prompt an individual to take hostages? Several influential and background reasons will be examined. Finally, some successful and also failed negotiations will be explored, with possible reasons and explanations to what factors made them either a success or a failure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hostage negotiation is as much of an art as it is a science. The negotiator not only holds the lives of the victims in his hands, but the lives of law enforcement and the hostage taker as well. His persuasiveness and communication abilities have the power to protect and save lives. The Hostage Taker   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most common reasons for a hostage taking situation is desperation. The hostage taker feels desperate because of either what he has done or what he is doing. (DeFao) Taking a hostage is a split second decision usually made out of desperation. (DeFao) A person who is in the process of committing a crime, for instance a bank robber who has been surrounded or confron... ...he presence of high-risk factors, consider all other intelligence available, and combine this information with the assessments made by both the negotiation and tactical teams. This combined information will assist in differentiating between a genuine hostage situation, and a pseudo-hostage situation. The success or failure of the situation ultimately lies in the persuasive and communication abilities of the negotiator. Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Feldmann, Theodore : Hostage Negotiation Research. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences: University of Louisvillle school of Medicine: Jan.15, 2001 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  WWW. hostagenegotiationtraining.com 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry: Psychiatric consultation to police hostage negotiation teams: Volume 19, 1998, p.27-44 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  VanZandt, Clinton : Hostage/Barricade Situations: Special operations Unit Training Manual: FBI Academy 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DeFao, Janine: Hostage crisis calls for an artists touch: Sacramento Bee: Sunday, March 5, 1995: 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  WWW. rcmp-learning.org/docs/ecdd1216.htm

The Quest for the Good :: Essays Papers

The Quest for the Good Is the Good something concrete to be obtained, or is it a way of life unique to individuals? This question is asked most assuredly in a biased manner, directing us along a path to the answer. It raises many logical questions of how, exactly, the Good is framed, and what it means to live a good life. To do this, an understanding must be found of what exactly the Good is. The questions of how the Good is structured and what the Good is are intricately tied together, and as such both shall be explored. The most important step in terms of the Good is the quest, as shall be found, because it is only by actively seeking the Good that one can find any understanding of it. As such, the quest for the Good shall be explored in The Republic by Plato, Confessions by Saint Augustine, and Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. These works will help give a full understanding of what the quest for the Good is, and how it is difficult to define because it is so multiplicitous. Also, an outside framework will be explored, to be able to look at a world conception that includes many o f the themes explored by the authors, and the opposites which tend to be left out. Overall we will find the Good and the quest. To understand the breadth of the answer, the meanings of the question must be understood. The important questions are: can the Good be concrete? Can the Good be obtained? Is the Good a way of life? How is it unique? A concrete Good would be an immutable, unchanging Good. This would be a Good that exists in an abstract realm, something of a Platonic Form of the Good. If there were a less abstract Good, one more easily attained, we would all know it explicitly. Therefore, if there is an exact idea of what the Good is, it is hard enough to find that philosophers exist. The corollary to this question is, can the Good not be concrete? In other words, can the Good change or evolve, or is there always the same Good, forever? St. Augustine saw the Good as God, and saw God as non-physical and unchanging (Augustine, 4, ii(2)). As such, the Christian lifestyle, the Good life, would be a single path, the same throughout the ages.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved: The Effects of Slavery on Family Bonds

Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved analyzes the effects of slavery on the lives of the African Americans in a very original and profound way. Instead of telling a story about the violence of the white slave masters and about the sufferings of the black people, Morrison reviews the way in which slavery affects the sense of selfhood and identity in the African Americans. The enslaved self cannot relate to the world in the same way as the free self. The master and slave bond is reenacted in the family relationships of the former slaves.Thus, the text investigates the perpetuation of violence and possessiveness after the liberation of the African Americans has taken place. The climax of the novel is indeed an extremely violent moment- Sethe, a runaway slave from the Sweet Home plantation attempts to murder her own children in order to protect them from future slavery. She only has time to kill her baby daughter, Beloved, before the white men stop her. The black slave thus turns the vio lence that was done to her against her own children in two ways: first of all, Sethe kills her daughter because she thinks death would be better her than a life of slavery.However, this violent reaction of the mother has another meaning as well: she acts as if her children were her own possession, as if she were a white master herself. However, motherhood is not the only relationship that is affected by the dark past.Morrison’s novel exemplifies, through a number of relationships, the way in which slavery affects the unity of the traditional African family. In this respect, Beloved traces the reconstruction of African American identity and of the African family as a central structure of society, after the freedom has been obtained.Thus, Toni Morrison’s novel is a different type of slave narrative, told from the point of view of the African Americans, and focusing on the psychological effects of the slavery on selfhood, identity and love. First of all, the bond that is most investigated in the novel is that between the mothers and their children.Through this however, the author points at the destructive force that slavery has on the entire African American community, and especially on the family. Motherhood symbolizes creation and as such, it is the center of any human society.Morrison reveals the violence of white people indirectly, through the murder performed by the mother against her own child, which is obviously a remnant of master and slave relationship. The relationship between Sethe and her daughter Beloved, who haunts her first as a ghost and then as a nineteen old girl, is certainly the central one in the novel and the one that best represents the extent to which slavery can affect the human nature. The master/slave bond is essentially based on dependence, violence, transgression of boundaries.Selfhood for the black people was reduced to the definition of the white men, who took possession of them as if they were objects and not human be ings. The motive that the whites used to justify the slavery of the blacks was always the fact that the latter were savages.Morrison deftly inverses this statement, and points to the fact that the jungle was actually created by the white people, who annihilated the sense of selfhood and humanity in the slaves: â€Å"Whitepeople believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle.Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood. . . . But it wasn't the jungle blacks brought with them to this place from the other place. It was the jungle whitefolks planted in them. And it grew.It spread†¦. The screaming baboon lived under their own white skin; the red gums were their own. (Morrison, 198-199) The strong bond between Sethe and her children reflects this ownership of the slaves by their masters.The jungle that was planted by the white people in the blacks through slavery is mirrored in the Setheâ₠¬â„¢s violence. The murdering act of Sethe can thus be explained: she does not know herself and mistakes her own identity with the fate of her children.Unable to see herself as an independent person, Sethe clings to her role as a mother and becomes extremely possessive. She mistakes her own identity with her motherhood, and thus, in a way, reenacts the violence of the white masters against her.Sethe feels she has no power over her own self because the white people had crossed all the boundaries and not only taken everything she possessed physically, but everything she had dreamed as well: ‘†Those white things have taken all I had or dreamed,' she said, ‘and broke my heartstrings too.There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks. ‘†(Morrison, 89) It is obvious that the â€Å"whitefolks† are â€Å"bad luck†, that is, for the black slaves they were the instruments of destiny itself, trough the power have over their lives.Thus, when Sethe k ills her infant daughter, she obviously acts, although out of love, as a white master would. As Malmgren remarks, Sethe’s violent act against her own child is actually a perpetuation of the logic of slavery: â€Å"Sethe so identifies her Self with the well-being of her children that she denies their existence as autonomous Others, in so doing unconsciously perpetuating the logic of slavery. †(Malmgren, 103) Morrison’s novel thus reflects the violence of the white race against the black one indirectly, showing how weak the theory that the African American are less than human has proven over time.The white people are actually the ones who took their humanity by treating them as objects or animals. Beloved therefore reviews the manner in which the master/slave bond affects the selfhood of the former slaves, to the point that it is replicated in Sethe’s murder o her own daughter.Motherhood is exemplified in the novel not only in the relationship between Sethe and Beloved, but also in the relationships between Ma’ma and Sethe, or Baby Suggs and her own children. Infanticide seems to have been rather common among the former slaves, as a means of protecting their children.Although Sethe had barely known her mother, she is told that the latter also killed her children, all but herself since she was the only one begotten in love with a black man and not through the rape of a white master: â€Å"She told Sethe that her mother and Nan were together from the sea.Both were taken up many times by the crew. ‘She threw them all away but you. The one from the crew she threw away on the island. The others from more whites she also threw away. Without name she threw them. You she gave the name of the black man. She put her arms around him.The others she did not put her arms around. Never. Never. Telling you. I am telling you, small girl Sethe. ’†(Morrison, 98) As Demetrakopoulos points out, the slavery affected motherhood in such a way that it permitted the excessive and protective love to endeavor guard the child from the cruelty of life itself: â€Å"In this act, Morrison gives us the most searching portrait I know of the paradoxical polarities in motherhood. For Sethe the children are better off dead, their fantasy futures protected from the heinous reality of slavery.It is better, Sethe's act argues, to die in the cradle than to live out one's full life span soul-dead, a zombie/ puppet daily treading the process requirements of someone else's life and needs. The child as the adult's fantasy of the future is obviously central to Sethe's murder of Beloved. †( Demetrakopoulos, 53)In this way, motherhood crosses the normal limits of human love and seems to be reminiscent of the instinctual bonds between the animals and their babies: â€Å"Even her escape from slavery was not really for herself.Her swollen breasts and the baby kicking within pressed her onward to the baby waiting for her milk. B iological necessity made her create a life that would allow her children to grow up. Sethe carries Beloved on her conscience and in her heart. For the mother, the dead child is maternity in potentia, the mother truncated.( Demetrakopoulos, 54)The white domineering culture that enslaved the black is the main cause of this displacement of identity in all the characters in the novel.Although in the text the ghost and then the embodiment of Beloved appear as the main motives for the destabilization and deterioration of all the other family relationships, it is clear that the murdered child represents not only motherhood but also love itself. The possessive and narcissistic love that is exemplified in the relation between Sethe and Beloved replaces the normal emotions for the troubled self. This kind of love that ignores the boundaries of selfhood is obviously the result of the years of slavery and dependence.The liberated self does not know its own substance and limits: â€Å"Beloved/ You are my sister/ You are my daughter/ You are my face; you are me/ I have found you again; you have come back to me/ You are my Beloved/ You are mine/ You are mine/ You are mine. † (Morrison, 216)Paul D fears Sethe's love precisely because he realizes it is extremely powerful and fierce : â€Å"This here new Sethe didn't know where the world stopped and she began . . . more important than what Sethe had done was what she claimed.It scared him†(Morrison, 90) As Barbara Schapiro emphasizes in her study called The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison's Beloved, Morrison constructs in her novel precisely the kind of love that is based on possession, dependence and entrapment to show that the consequences of slavery affect the sense of self in the individuals: â€Å"Toni Morrison Beloved penetrates, perhaps more deeply than any historical or psychological study could, the unconscious emotional and psychic consequences of slavery.The novel reveals how the condition of enslavement in the external world, particularly the denial of one's status as a human subject, has deep repercussions in the individual's internal world. These internal resonances are so profound that even if one is eventually freed from external bondage, the self will still be trapped in an inner world that prevents a genuine experience of freedom. †(Iyasere, 155) Paul D calls this type of love that Sethe manifests for himself and for her children â€Å"too thick†, as if it were undiluted by the sense of identity.This type of love, that Sethe has shown in killing he baby daughter is afterwards perpetuated by her in her relationship with the ghost, with Beloved and with Paul D. Thus, the very opening of the novel plunges into Sethe’s world and briefly exposes the nature of the relationships in her family. The house itself is called â€Å"spiteful†, that is haunted by the dark past in the form of Beloved’s ghost. The two sons of Seth e have left and Baby Suggs is dead, all because of Beloved’s ghost.Slavery thus still haunts the lives of the liberated people, and not only in the form of guilt. The fact that the murdered daughter is named â€Å"Beloved† hints to the way in which emotions have been affected and altered: â€Å"124 was spiteful. Full of baby's venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children. For years, each put up with the spite in his own way, but by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims.The grandmother, Baby Suggs, was dead, and the sons, Howard and Buglar, had run away by the time they were thirteen years old — as soon as merely looking in the mirror shattered it (that was the signal for Buglar); as soon as two tiny handprints appeared in the cake (that was it for Howard).Neither boy waited to see more, another kettleful of chick peas smoking in a heap on the floor: soda crackers crumbled and strewn in a line next to the doorsill. Nor did the y wait for one of the relief periods: the weeks, months even, when nothing was disturbed.No. Each one fled at once — the moment the house committed what was for him the one insult not to be borne or witnessed a second time. † (Morrison, 3) Heller showed that Morrison’s novel is an attempt at reconstructing of the family relationships, which had been so much influenced and deteriorated by the slavery system: â€Å"As a study of the connection between the historical and the familial, Beloved is concerned with the healing of the black American family and the â€Å"reconstruction† of kinship structures.These structures had been violated by the cruel fact of family life under the slavery system: as enslaved Africans, women and men had no right to themselves, to one another, or to their children. †(Heller, 108) Love and family relationships are clearly affected by the question of identity.For the former slave identity is still undefined since he had been so long treated as an object which has a certain price but no value as a human being. In some of the plantations, the slaves were not allowed to have their own families, and the black women were often raped by their masters.In these conditions, it is obvious that the people had no sense of self and therefore could not relate to someone else. As Carl Malmgren comments in his study Mixed Genres and the Logic of Slavery, the novel points to the way in which love is affected by the loss of identity: â€Å"The novel thus meditates upon and mediates between the various forms that love takes. In this regard, its dominant theme is the problematic of love, particularly as regards the question of identity. †(Malmgren, 105)Denver, Sethe’s second daughter is also affected by Sethe’s love for her dead child. She intuitively feels that the relationship between Beloved and Sethe is wrong, and she lives with the anxiety that the mother could at any time repeat the murderous act and maybe kill her too: â€Å"All the time, I'm afraid the thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could happen again. I don't know what it is, I don't know who it is, but maybe there is something else terrible enough to make her do it again.I need to know what that thing might be, but I don't want to. Whatever it is, it comes from outside this house, outside the yard, and it can come right on in the yard if it wants to. So I never leave this house and I watch over the yard, so it can't happen again and my mother won't have to kill me too. † (Morrison, 205)Denver is actually the one that saves Sethe by deciding to go out of the house in search of food, and to break thus the mother’s total isolation. She makes therefore the first step to establish a relationship between herself and the outside world.She also evinces a much stronger sense of identity in her desire to listen to stories that only talked about her: â€Å"Denver hated the stories her mother told that did not concern herself, which is why Amy was all she ever asked about. The rest was a gleaming, powerful world made more so by Denver's absence from it.Not being in it, she hated it and wanted Beloved to hate it too, although there was no chance of that at all. â€Å"(Morrison, 62) Teresa N. Washington in The Mother- Daughter Aje Relationship in Toni Morrison’s’ Beloved’ shows that Beloved actually is a symbolic incarnation of the African American consciousness coming back to life:â€Å"But in having equated her best self with her children, making the decision to save that precious self, and summoning the self for a discussion, Sethe comes face to face with her spirit, her embodied conscience, and her own (and all her people’s past. )† (Washington, 184) Thus, it is the white culture that first took possession of the black people’s selves and identities, thus destabilizing the entire African American community: â€Å"Anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim you, but dirty you.Dirty you so bad you couldn't like yourself anymore†¦The best things she was, was her children.. â€Å"(Morrison, 251) The novel concludes with the hope of Sethe’s regaining of her lost self: â€Å"You your best thing, Sethe. You are. † â€Å"Me? Me? † (Morrison, 273).The master and slave relationship is also based on dependence, and this is why Sethe has no sense of her real, independent self. She does not even dare to â€Å"go ahead and feel† for example: â€Å"Would it be all right? Would it be all right to go ahead and feel? Go ahead and count on something? † (Morrison, 38).This re-appropriation of the self is a symbol for the reconstruction of the African American identity and culture, and an example of the way in which the past can be accepted. The sense selfhood and the consolidation of the family bonds repre sent the consolidation of the African American community.Works Cited: Demetrakopoulos, Stephanie A. â€Å"Maternal bonds as devourers of women's individuation in Toni Morrison's Beloved. † African American Review. 1992. Vol. 26(1): 51-60.Heller, Dana. †Reconstructing kin: Family, history, and narrative in Toni Morrison's Beloved. † College Literature. Vol. 21(2). 1994.Horvitz, Deborah. â€Å"Nameless Ghosts: Possession and Dispossession in Beloved,† in Studies in American Fiction, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1989, pp. 157-67.Iyasere, Marla and Solomon Iyasere. Understanding Toni Morrison's Beloved and Sula: Selected Essays and Criticisms of the Works by the Nobel Prize-Winning Author. Troy: Whitston Publishing, 2000.Malmgren, Carl. â€Å"Mixed Genres and the Logic of Slavery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. † Critique. 1995. Vol. 36(2).Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Knopf, 1987. Washington, Teresa. The Mother- Daughter Aje Relationship in Toni Morrisonâ₠¬â„¢s’ Beloved’.