Monopoly - economics Essay Example for Free

Monopoly economics Essay A monopoly exists when it has total control over a particular market and controls the supply and demand for that particular good or service. An oligopoly is a structure of a market in which only a few companies own or control the industry There are natural monopolies in the economy as well which are necessary to keep the economy progressing. Oligopolies exist because of the control over the supply of a good or service is in the hands of only a select few. They can influence the prices as well as the competition. The first monopolies began over discrepancies over natural resources. Before there was government regulation the resources that were once widely available to the population were controlled by the likes of elite, rich men. These conflicts over natural resources caused the government to regulate the resources by gathering and distributing them to the public. This regulation was put into place to reduce aggression between the company and the customers while balancing the supply and demand through different companies. Natural monopolies, on the other hand, do exist. These natural monopolies are those that have been in place for a long time and cannot be easily replaced. An example of these monopolies is a public utility such as water or electric service. It is much more costly to use multiple companies for a utility is much more costly as a whole than allowing the monopoly to continue. Waterlines and electrical towers that have been built and maintained for years would be difficult to destroy or remove from the land. In an oligopoly market, the companies set the prices and work together to control the markets to block new competitors from entering the market. The way these companies compete is through advertising and campaigns to get the most loyalty from the public. By using one another they can create supply and demand for their product or service. With government regulation these few powers can also be controlled like a monopoly would be. From a laissez faire view, monopolies and oligopolies will self-correct and be naturally eliminated. For instance, Microsoft Corporation controlled the operating system market since releasing in 1985. Microsoft’s operating systems, which once solely dominated the market, now compete with Apple’s MacOS. These two companies competing have now formed an oligopolistic market. In conclusion, it is in the best interest in the government to prevent monopolies from existing. When monopolies exist they decrease the incentive to for other companies to be successful in the market. Keeping the market competitive will drive companies to create new technology and use their inventiveness to improve the economy. Only under certain circumstances should a monopoly exist and that is of a natural monopoly, and when they do they ought to be regulated by the government. Even though the government can set laws and regulations for oligopolies, it still leaves plenty of room for monopolistic activities and uneven market share.

Leadership And Management In Nursing Nursing Essay

Leadership And Management In Nursing Nursing Essay Mergers illustrate the focus on organisational restructuring as the key lever for change as indicated by the ninety nine health care provider mergers in England between 1996 and 2001. (Fulop, Protsopsaltis, King, Allen, Hutchings, and Normand, 2004) However, in many cases, mergers have unexpected consequences and drawbacks including problems in integrating staff, services, systems and working practices, clashing organisational cultures and poor leadership capacity. This essay considers leadership and management in the context of a problematic merger of services from two hospitals onto one site. The essay focuses on the change management process within one department to highlight key leadership, team, and cultural issues that negatively affected the newly merged department. The microcosm of the department mirrors similar occurrences across the two merged hospitals. The essay concludes with a comment on the organisational consequences if a macro intervention is not implemented. Confidentiality has been preserved by anonymising the identity of the hospitals and departments concerned. BACKGROUND This essay explores a recent change process involving the creation of a psychiatric liaison team based in a NHS hospital Accident and Emergency Department. (A E) in January 2004. The change occurred because of the merger of two hospitals that resulted in a number of structural changes, including the amalgamation of a traditionally split emergency service into a one site A E department. The liaison team replaced the existing deliberate self-harm service which had operated in the one hospital for two decades. The new liaison team consisted of eight newly appointed G-grade mental health nurses, a team leader, and a consultant psychiatrist who had both previously worked in the deliberate self-harm service. The hours of operation initially were 08:00 to 22:00 and there were two nurses on duty on early and late shifts. During a four week induction period, the team participated in team building and training exercises and developed into a cohesive, effective group. The team created clear key performance indicators specific to the psychiatric liaison team, established an action plan to achieve the set objectives, and planned to carry out six-monthly reviews. The team developed a shared vision to provide high quality, person centred care to the A E department without breaching governments four hour targets (DOH, 2001). The team leaders leadership style was democratic, and she fostered collaboration and involvement within the team (Walton, 1999). The team members considered her an expert in the field, and respected her for it. In July 2004, the service manager attended a monthly team meeting. At the meeting she was informed that a major change was expected to the hours of operation. The service would be extended to a 24-hour service starting in September 2004. In order for the liaison team to cover a 24-hour roster there was initially be a reduction in the number of nurses on duty, however, more staff would be recruited if necessary after a six month service review. An exact date for the review was not given. The change had not been communicated as part of the strategy for the greater merger. The Department of Health (DOH) modernisation agenda for the NHS, (DOH, 2002) sets out to modernise services in the NHS, and introduced a three star rating scale against which each NHS Trusts performance is compared against benchmark standards. Funding in turn is dependant on the star rating achieved. One such standard relates to delays in A E departments, and stipulates that mental health patients should have 24 hour access to services, and that patients should be assessed and treated within four hours of arrival. (DOH, 2001) The underlying rationale for the change was therefore that the psychiatric liaison service had to provide a 24-hour service in order for the hospital to comply with the benchmark. Management of the merged hospitals did not consider staff shortages or how the four hour target might affect the quality of service provision, particularly when staff are under constant pressure to discharge patients before they exceed the benchmark standard. (RCP, 2004) In the servic e described above, reaching the necessary 98 % four hour target proved impossible, because the staff numbers did not match the requirements of the service. The service was therefore to be expanded without additional staff, implying not only changes in hours and shifts, but also changes in work patterns. The team members reacted negatively to how the change process was introduced. Concerns were expressed about the reduction in staff numbers and questions were raised as to how the staff would be able to cope. The sense of security and continuity were put at risk. (Walton, 1999) The service manager was not available to address the concerns due to an increased scope of responsibility because of the merger that was beyond her normal remit. Lack of two way communication between the manager and the employees meant that the manager lost a valuable opportunity to resolve the negative reactions, and laid the foundation for resistance to change (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2005). Within a month of the announcement, the team leader had resigned. A new team leader was appointed and was tasked to lead the team through the change. The team started gradually becoming fragmented, staff sickness rates soared, and morale plummeted. The situation reached a crisis point by December 2005, by which time two more staff members had resigned. The majority of staff had taken sick leave, and the psychiatric liaison service was left uncovered for several days. A number of mental health patients in A E waited for hours, sometimes all night, to be seen by a mental health professional. The A E department laid a formal complaint about the liaison teams performance. In March 2005, following discussion with a union representative, the team took out a grievance against the team leader. The key issues of concern were the way the change process had been introduced, lack of two-way communication and the team leaders unsuitable task-oriented, directive leadership style. The team leader was suspended and the Trust commenced a lengthy investigation into the change process. The investigation continues to date. ANALYSIS Cameron and Green (2004) suggest McKinseys 7S model as a diagnostic tool to identify interconnected and related aspects of organisational change. The model is problem rather than solution focussed, and hence useful for pointing out retrospectively why change did not work. The weakness of the model is that it does not explicit identify drivers from the external environment and accordingly key forces have been described by way of explanation. According to Burke and Litwin (1992), the external environment is any outside condition or situation that influences the performance of the organisation. Systems, Staff and Strategy Systems refer to standardised policies and mechanisms that facilitate work, primarily manifested in the organisations reward systems, management information systems, and in such control systems as performance appraisal, goal and budget development, and human resource allocation. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) Systems are the mechanisms through which strategy is achieved. Strategy is how the organisation intends to achieve a purpose over an extended time scale. Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington (2005) link it directly to environment (industry structure), organisational structure, and corporate culture. Leaders are the executives and managers providing overall organisational direction and serving as behavioural role models for all employees. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) The systems that the service had in place to support the staff prior to the merger had functioned efficiently. The psychiatric liaison team had monthly team meetings, weekly ward rounds and supervision, and twice daily handovers to ensure high quality service. Teams in this context mean a group who share a common health goal and common objectives, determined by community needs, to the achievement of which each member of the team contributes, in accordance with his or her competencies and skill and in co-ordination with the functions of others. (WHO, 1984) Under the previous team leaders management, the team had achieved a mature and productive level of performance that fell within Tuckmans model of team development of a performing team. (Mullins, 2002) The leader demonstrated characteristics of an effective team leader (e.g. good communication) and ensured that the team members views were passed on to the management. (Marquis and Huston, 2003) The team also developed team specific performance indicators to fit the Trusts strategy, such as the goal to provide high quality care within four hours of service users presenting to the A E department. However, the new management of the merged hospitals did not take into account that the reduction in staff numbers would make it difficult for staff to find time to attend ward rounds and to supervise care. Lack of supervision had a negative impact on the quality of care provided, and staff shortages meant that the team did not reach the four-hour targets in A E department. The change process indicated a lack of sincere stakeholder consultation which would have alleviated the crisis in the department. (Iles and Sutherland, 2001) Structure and Style Structure is the arrangement of functions and people into specific areas and levels of responsibility, decision-making authority, communication, and relationships to assure effective implementation of the organisations mission and strategy. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) The NHS Leadership Qualities Framework (DOH, 2002, p34) suggests leading change through people with effective and strategic influencing is essential in a merger environment. This is supported by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) who suggest that strategic, transformational leadership is a key element within an organisation staffed by professionals and that a collaborative style is required to achieve transformational, lasting change. However, the new team leaders leadership style was autocratic and the team members were no longer consulted about matters concerning it, which was inappropriate in team nursing approach associated with collaborative patient centric care. Marquis and Huston (2003) suggest that a democratic leadership style works best with a mature experienced team with shared responsibility and accountability. The change in leadership style meant that the team felt disempowered and uninvolved in decision making which did not allow ownership of the change process to emerge. Furthermore, the flow of information to the team slowed down and the teams concerns about the change did not reach top management implying that communication channels in the new organisational structure were not functioning efficiently. Management style equally affects culture. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) state that culture is the taken for granted assumptions that are accepted by an organisation or team. These work routines are not explicit, but are essential for effective performance. Ignoring these as the new team leader did, reduces motivation and performance, and stiffens resistance to change. Skills Skills are the distinctive capabilities of key people. (Cameron and Green, 2003) The nature of the team membership implied a range of key skills interdependent on the other for effective performance. A problem area in the skills portfolio was information technology skills. The Trust managing the merged hospitals had introduced a Trust wide electronic patient record system in accordance with NHS requirements. (DOH, 2003) This was implemented simultaneously with the decision to extend the working hours. The change aimed to improve the service user experience by allowing staff a 24-hour access to service users care and crisis plans. (DOH, 2003) The staff shortage meant that team members did not receive appropriate training on the system and the use of the electronic patient record system became a source of frustration and confusion. Lack of computer skills contributed to staffs frustration and negative attitudes with the change process. Superordinate goals Superordinate goals are the longer term vision of the organisation and the shared values and guiding principles that that shape the future of the organisation and motivation achievement of strategy. (Cameron and Green, 2003) The teams superordinate goals were initially created during the four-week team building period and aligned with those of the larger organisation. The teams vision was to provide high quality, service user centred care. The team also considered change as a natural part of organisational development. However, the team became increasingly resistant to change when it felt that the organisation did not really care about its employees, their concerns, and the ultimate reason for the organisations purpose, being the patient. DISCUSSION OF CHANGE PROCESS Change management is art of influencing people and organisations in a desired direction to achieve an agreed future state to the benefit of that organisation and its stakeholders. (Cameron and Green, 2003) A number of models can be used to model a change management process. A popular model is Kurt Lewins forcefield analysis. A forcefield analysis is a useful tool to understand the driving and resisting forces in a change situation as a basis for change management. This technique identifies forces that might work for the change process, and forces that are against the change. Lewins model suggests that once these conflicting forces are identified, it becomes easier to build on forces that work for the change and reduce forces that are against the change (Cameron and Green, 2003). The difficulty is the assessment of strength or duration of a force, partlicularly when the human dimension is considered. The key resisting force in the change process was a lack of staff and poor leadership. The change process under discussion was largely motivated by external factors. However, due to poor project planning, Trust management failed to consider the internal factors that had a major impact on the change. In particular, the management failed to involve the necessary stakeholders at a local level to increase ownership of the change thus failed to consider the human dimension (Walton, 1999 and DOH, 2004). The new team leaders autocratic leadership style did not fit the requirements of the task, or the culture of the team and thus sowed the seeds of resistance to change. (Hogg and Vaughan, 2002). The poorly managed change process became costly to the Trust due to the loss of human resources, reduced staff morale and lowered the credibility of the management. The change left the psychiatric liaison team feeling betrayed, and individual team members traumatised. As the change process progressed, it became evident that a thorough analysis of current resources and various dimensions of organisational change had not been carried out (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2005). The management had not prepared a clear plan for launching and executing the change at a local level. The NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders Guide (DOH, 2004) stresses the importance of taking into consideration the human aspect when planning a change project. Similarly, Walton (1999) argues that change initiatives should be thought through and planned as far as possible taking into account the psychological bonds that staff form with their work groups and their organisation as a whole. It follows then that no precautions had been taken to address resistance to change. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2005) state that there should be a clear communication plan to state how information about the change project will be communicated inside and outside the organisation. The team members were not given an opportunity to challenge and test the change proposal, or clarify what aspects of the change they could or could not influence. (Walton, 1995) Fulop, Protsopsaltis et al, (2004) suggest that change project should be presented as an opportunity to improve the quality of performance and that clinicians should should be involved on a consultative basis. Team members were aware of the consequences of extending the hours of operation without increasing the resources, however, there were no systems in place to communicate these views to the Trust management, a key aspect of the change process. The lack of key stakeholder involvement in the change meant that the management did not have access to the psychiatric liaison teams valuable experience on the immediate and wider implications of cutting down resources. (Henderson, 2002) The team members felt that their concerns about the lack of resources had not been taken seriously, and this inevitably led to a feeling that the Trust did not care about its employees or their views. Strong emotions such as anger and frustration were expressed by the team members. The lack of formal communication channels, meant that the team members took them out on each other. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2005) confirm that at times of change, rumours, gossip and storytelling increases in importance and that team members engage in countercommunication, thus unconsiously spreading distrust, suspicion and negativity which leads to lowered staff morale and job satisfaction. Although the rationale for change was clear to everyone, the change was executed at such short notice that the team members did not have time to develop strategies to deal with it. The NHS Improvement Leaders Guide to Managing the Human Dimension of Change (DOH, 2004) suggests that clinicians go through phases of shock, denial, anger, betrayal, conformance and understanding before they finally develop comitment to the change. The team members were left in a state of shock after the service managers initial announcement of the impending change in July 2004 and then moved into a state of denial. The general opinion was that the management would sooner or later realise that the change could not be executed without increasing the resources and accordingly delayed the change process until more staff would be employed. When there was no indication of this in the weeks that followed, the team members became demotivated. The team failed to move on to the next stages in their reactions to cha nge, and commitment to the change process did not develop. The team leaders task-oriented leadership style did not suit the context of the change process, and partly contributed to its failing. Cameron and Green (2003) suggest that leadership will be most effective when the leaders leadership style, the subordinates preferred leadership style and the requirements of the task fit together. A directive leadership style therefore is ineffective if the subordinates preferred leadership style is democratic, even though the task is well defined within tight parameters. In addition, Hogg and Vaughan (2002) argued that the most effective leaders are those who are able to combine task and socio-emotional leadership styles, and organise team members to work towards achieving goals at the same time promoting harmonious relationships. The new team leader paid no attention to the team culture and failed to communicate to management about the impending issue. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) suggest that power is a key element in a change process. Power is the ability of individuals to persuade or coerce others into following a course of action. The new team leaders source of power was based on his hierarchal position in the Trust rather than on expertise or knowledge as shown by the previous team leader. The team members did not consider that the new team leader possessed appropriate expertise or personal characteristics. The team leader exercised coercion which was met with resistance by the team and for this reason the team members lacked respect for him. He was seen as an executor of decisions made by the management. The new team leader appeared to be more concerned about a successful completion of the change, was target driven and lacked sensitivity to employees feelings and concerns. The team leader used his positional power in a negative way, filtered information and gave the management a distorted view of how the staff were coping with the change process. The relationship between the team leader and the staff members eventually deteriorated to a point where communication broke down. Two staff members went on a long term sick leave, and two other staff members resigned. Following a meeting with a union representative in March 2005 the team members, including those who had resigned, made a decision to take grievance out against the teamleader. The key issues brought up in the meeting were the way the change had been introduced, poor project management and the team leaders autocratic management style (Walton, 1999). Back to: Essay Examples CONCLUSION In conclusion, lack of stakeholder involvement, poor project planning and the teamleaders unsuitable leadership style lead to the psychiatric liaison team becomimg fragmented, and resistant to change. No systems were put in place to ensure two-way communication with the employees. Lack of communication reduced the staffs commitment to, and ownership of the change, and lead to a lower quality service provision and increased long waits in A E. The poorly managed change process became costly to the Trust due to loss of trained human resources, staff morale and credibility of the management. Similar incidents occurred in other areas of the hospital indicating that the change processes associated with the merger had created organisational wide problems that were indicative of failure at a top management and strategic level. Strategic leadership is a key element of the change process. A successful merger will only be achieved with consistent communication and the establishment of a vision that percolates throughout an organisation as a basis for effective change to realise the stated benefits of all stakeholders. References Brooks, I. (2002) The Role of Ritualistic Ceremonial in Removing Barriers between Subcultures in the NHS. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Volume 38, 4. Burke, W. W. and Litwin, G H. (1992) A Causal Model of Organisational Performance and Change. Journal of Management. Volume 18, 3. Cameron, E. and Green, M. (2004) Making Sense of Change Management. Kogan Page. Carr, D. K., Hard, K. J. and Trahant, W. J. (1996) Managing The Change Process: A Field Book For Change Agents, Consultants, Team Members And Re-Engineering Managers. McGraw-Hill. Crawford D., Rutter M. Thelwall, S. (2003) User Involvement In Change Management: A Review Of The Literature. National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation. Davies H. T. O., Nutley, S. M. and Mannion, R. (2000.) Organisational Culture and Quality of Health Care. Quality in Health Care. Volume 9. DOH (1998) A First Class Service: Quality in the New NHS. Department of Health. The Stationery Office DOH (2000) The NHS Plan. Department of Health. The Stationery Office DOH (2001) National Service Framework for Mental Health. Department of Health. The Stationery Office. DOH (2002) NHS Leadership Qualities Framework. www.nhsleadershipqualities.nhs.uk Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2002) Star Ratings System for Hospital Performance Has Improved Services For Patients. NHS Modernisation Agency. www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2003) National Programme for IT Announces Further Contracts to Run NHS Care Record Services. www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2004) NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders Guide. www.modern.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. ESHT. (2000) Safeguarding Hospitals in East Sussex: Consultation Document. www.esht.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. ESHT. (2002) Merger of Hastings and Rother NHS Trust and Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust. www.esht.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. Fulop, N., Protopsaltis, G. King, A. Allen, P. Hutchings, A. and Normand, C. (2002) Process and Impact of Mergers of NHS Trusts: Multicentre Case Study and Management Cost Analysis. British Medical Journal. Volume 325. Fulop, N., Protopsaltis, G. King, A. Allen, P. Hutchings, A. and Normand, C. (2004) Changing Organisations: Study of the context and Processes of Mergers of Healthcare Providers in England. Elsevier Ltd. Garside P. (1999) Evidence Based Mergers? British Medical Journal. Volume 318. Henderson, E. (2002) Communication and Managerial Effectiveness. Nursing Management. Volume 9, 9. Higgs, M. and Rowland, D. (2000) Building Change Leadership Capability: The Quest for Change Competence. Journal of Change Management. Volume 1 Number 2. Heron, J. (1999) The Complete Facilitators Handbook. Kogan Page Limited. Hogg, M. and Vaughan, G. (2002) Social Psychology. Prentice Hall. Iles, V. and Sutherland, K. (2001) Managing Change in the NHS: Organisational Change. NHS Service Delivery and Organisation. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy. Text and Cases. Seventh Edition. Prentice Hall. Marquis, B. L. and Huston, C. J. (2003) Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. Miller, D. (2002) Successful Change Leaders: What Makes Them? What Do They Do That Is Different? Journal of Change Management. Volume 2, 4. Mullins, L. J. (2002) Management and Organisational Behaviour. Pitman Publishing. Stock, J. (2002) Case Study: Hastings and Rother NHS Trust. NHS Modernisation Agency. www.modern.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. RCP. (2004) Psychiatric Services To Accident And Emergency Departments. Royal College of Psychiatrists Council Report CR118. London. Stroebe, W. and Diehl, M. (1994) Why Groups Are Less Effective Than Their Members: On Productivity Losses In Idea-Generating Groups. European Review of Social Psychology, Volume 5. Studin, I. (1995) Strategic Healthcare Management. Irwin Professional Publishing. Thomas, N. (2004) The John Adair Handbook of Leadership and Management. Thorogood Publishing. UHCW. (2005). Coventry City Centre AE Department is Being Relocated to Walsgrave Hospital from Saturday 15th Jan. www.uhcw.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. Walton, M. (1995) Managing Yourself On and Off the Ward. Blackwell Science Ltd. Webster, R. (2001) An Assessment of the Substance Misuse Treatment Needs of WHO (1984) Glossary of Terms Used in the Health for All. World Health Organisation Series No. 1 8.

The Awakening - Movie :: essays research papers

Throughout the movie The Awakening, Robin Williams demonstrates his knowledge of the scientific method. The scientific method is a procedure of steps that is used to prove problems. In the movie it is used to show that patients suffering from an un-named disorder do have a slight opportunity to return to their normal state of being. The scientific method is a list of steps to prove something and make into a law or theory based on your final product and findings. It is composed of several steps, it starts with observations. Observations are where a person collects known data concerning what you are going to test on. Next they formulate a hypothesis based on their observations. After they have a hypothesis they perform several experiments to prove or disprove it. After this, they then form a theory and experiment based on their hypothesis. More observations and experiments follow this, until they finally come to a conclusion which is called a law. Throughout the movie The Awakening, Robin Williams uses the observation, hypotheses and experimenting steps in the scientific method. Observations included, noticing the lifeless behavior shown by the patients, their reflexes to moving objects, and the fact that they all had cases of encephalitis before. After he did all the research he formed several hypotheses and experimented to prove them. Robin Williams used strobe lights, talked to them, measured their brain patterns, and used games such as a Ouija board to prove some of his hypotheses. After he formed several hypotheses and experimented with them, he came across an article that explained how the use of a certain type of medicine which was used to treat a disease related to the one that he was investigating. He tried administrating the medicine to one of his patients, and observed the results. The patient demonstrated normal, human conditions and seemed to have no side effects. He then made a law that stated the medicine helped his patient, and gave it to all the patients in the ward. However, his observations were incorrect and the side effects were devastating. This is how Robin Williams demonstrated the steps of the scientific method

Alfred Hitchcock :: Film Movie Movies Directors Essays

Alfred Hitchcock is among the few directors to combine a strong reputation for high-art film-making with great audience popularity. Throughout his career he gave his audiences more pleasure than could be asked for. The consistency of quality plot-lines and technical ingenuity earned him the recognition of being one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His films earned him the reputation of being the "master of suspense", and after viewing two of his more popular films, Psycho and The Birds, it is evident why. There is a distinction between surprise, which lasts only a few seconds, and suspense which captivates one's attention the entire length of a film. This is something that Hitchcock realized early on, and applied into his movies. He is one of the few directors whose name on a marquee is as important, if not more so, than any actor who appears in the film itself. Both his style of directing, and that of the movies that he has directed are very unique, making him stand out in the film industry. He pioneered the art of cinematography and special effects, which along with his cameos, are what he is most often associated with. Hitchcock led a long and prosperous life in the movie industry, starting as a teenager and making movies up until his death in 1980, while working on the 54th of his career (Sterrit 3). Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1889 in London, England. As a child his parents were very strict with him and they imposed severe and unusual punishments upon him, as what they considered to be discipline. One of these incidents scarred him for life. As punishment for arriving home late one night, young Alfred's father had a policeman friend lock the boy up in a cell for five minutes, "in order to teach him where naughty little boys who come home after 9 o'clock would eventually end up." (Phillips 27). Throughout his career he used the innocent man being arrested and imprisoned in his films, and claimed that forever after he had a fear of the police (Spoto 16). Fear was also a big part of his childhood, which later was evident in many of his movies. "Fear? It has influenced my life and my career." (18) explains Hitchcock, he also had a fear of being alone and of darkness which once again appeared in many of his movies. "...fear you see is an emotion that people like to feel when they know they are safe." (39).

Juvenile Bootcamps Essay -- Teens History Boot Camp Essays

Boot camp is an alternative to incarceration. In this paper I will prove that Boot Camps for youthful offenders are effective. Boot camps started in the year 1888 by Warden Zebulon Brockway at the Elmira Reformatory located in Elmira, New York. The warden did this because he wanted to invoke a new way of disciplining and keeping the inmates active. The reasoning that this style of imprisonment worked was because there were virtually no prison guards which saved thousands of dollars. Another reason that it worked was because the men would work day and night producing quality goods that were much less then the competitors. Yates Law prohibited the inmates from competing in the open market which eventually lead to the end of the military like structure. Another reason for and end of this type of incarceration was due to World War I. Prior to the war local citizens were invited to the facility to witness the military like drills and ceremonies. As soon as the war ended the people didnâ €™t like the military which shut down the program.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The United States Army used basic training to rehabilitate soldiers who committed crimes. They used this system because prisons were overcrowded and very expensive. This way reduced the cost and allowed the return of 42,000 soldiers into active duty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1965 shock incarceration was developed in Ohio. This was an attempt to â€Å"shock† inmates by making them think twice about what they were going to do. The length the incarceration was on for 90-180 days. An analysis of the program in Ohio proved to be successful. There was a 130 percent less recidivism then those with prior records.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Kentucky they had the highest rates of rearrest, reconviction and the return to prison. There reincarceration rare was only 21.4 percent. This was consistent with the finking form other shock probation programs that were heralded as effective (Vito and Ellis).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The First Juvenile boot camp was established in 1985 in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. The kids who were accepted into boot camps were between the ages of 17-26 and the offence had to be one that was nonviolent or less then one first degree offense.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Boot camp incorporates military drill and ceremonies and physical training. After care is now one of the steps in a successful program. Most states now believe that group counseling are vital for the inmates succ... ... graduates of boot camps and the recidivism rate was at 21 percent but the prison rate is at 34 percent. This seems to be the key when wanting to help and lower the rate of recidivism. Proper aftercare and close monitoring will in fact help these troubled teens as you can tell by the number stated above.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The future of boot camps as well as shock incarceration will grow because of their success. My feeling is that if one troubled teen is helped then it is all worth while. Why stop trying to help if the majority is not willing to change but if that one will work hard and follow what they have learned in the boot camps then we should continue what were are doing. References   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anderson, J. , Burns, J. , & Dyson, L. , (1999). Boot Camps: An Intermediate Sanction. New York: University Press of America. Hebert, E. , & MacKenzie, D. , (Eds.). (1996). Correctional Boot Cmaps: A Tough Intermediate   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sanction. New York: Russel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vito, G. F. And Ellis, J. (1985). An offender-based tacking system study of three districts in the commonwealth of Kentucky Research Report Series: No. 4). Louisville, KY: University of Louisville, College of Urban And Public Affairs.

Why We Use Stereotypes

Why stereotypes? Why can’t we just be judged by our own individuality and not based on someone else’s? Stereotypes basically give people untrue â€Å"facts† about different ethnic groups and their certain characteristics and behaviors. So in this essay I’m going to have to set things straight. I’ll define what stereotypes are, why do people use stereotypes and who/how does it usually affect people. Stereotypes are exaggerated or distorted beliefs or images about a person or group of people. They assume that everyone in the group have the same characteristics leading them to believe that they are all alike.No one is born believing in stereotypes, they are usually learned from the media (TV, radio, etc), parents, peers, and etc. Even when a stereotype is positive it affects the mind so much that there is no room for a person to show their individuality or how different they can be. Many people use stereotypes because it’s hard for them to take in all this complicated information about other people in the world. People find it difficult to spend the necessary amount of time learning to understand why or what different ways people behave.So then due to that we start accepting stereotypes because their easier for us to understand. Stereotypes affect people all over the world. There isn’t one group of people that isn’t affected by stereotypes (due to the fact that everyone is basically different from us). The effect that stereotypes take is that it eliminates the challenges of us getting to know and understand people who are different from us. They don’t allow people to be considered different. They give us a general overview of whole groups of people so we know what to expect and how to act when they’re seen.Also when we have problems with someone of a different group, we usually identify the problem as it having to be associated the group rather than the specific person. So the do impact us on ho w we think, and feel. Stereotypes also make us very judgmental about others and unfortunately they frequently do. Stereotypes make us believe that someone (or that group of people) did something to us, rather than the problem, fear, or rigidity/closed thinking we have within ourselves. Stereotypes have left a big effect on us. We can’t be seen as different with them around so we must try to eliminate them.We need to actually take the time to get to know people instead of accepting stereotypes just because their easier. Everyone is different, so you can’t just look at someone and think this is how they act based on what’s said about the group in general. Get to understand people based on their individuality not what you hear. Though no one is born believe in stereotypes they are usually learned from the media (which usually impacts us anyways). So in conclusion stereotypes are not what’s best to be used and are basically false.

History-failure of Italian Revolutionaries Essay

There were several factors affecting the failure of the Italian revolutionaries in the years 1820-49. Although the lack of popular support was a contributing factor, it is far less significant when compared to other aspects of the failure such as the intervention and military strength of Austria, the lack of unity between various revolutionary factions and the lack of outside help from other countries. One of the key factors of the revolutionary’s failures was due to the repeated involvement by Austria and its imposing army, who were a major force in Europe and the world at the time. Led by Metternich, the Austrian’s quashed revolution after revolution. For example, in 1821, where King Ferdinand had granted his state, Naples, a constitution out of ‘fear’, he appealed to Metternich for help, who duly obliged as he opposed the revolutionaries because they ‘disturbed the peace’ in the whole region. Therefore, in March 1821, Austrian troops marched into Naples and easily overran the rebel forces with a superior army in strength, training and weaponry. This made it almost impossible for any revolutionary group, whether united or separate, to outmatch the Austrians, whose military strength was far greater than the revolutionaries. This also occurred in 1848, when Charles Albert, revolutionary king of the most powerful state, Piedmont was twice devastated by the Austrian’s. First, in June, he was defeated in Custoza and forced to sign an armistice withdrawing from Lombardy and again in March 1849 where he was heavily defeated in Novaro. This was a theme throughout the entire time period of 1820-49, with Metternich crushing revolutions in Piedmont, Lombardy and Sicily among others, with this trend only declining when revolutions arose in Vienna, forcing Metternich to focus on events closer to home. Therefore Austrian military might was an overwhelmingly strong factor in the failure of every revolution in this time period. Another reason for the failures was a distinct lack of unity in almost all of the revolution, with the groups from different states and areas refusing to cooperate with each other as they were in the main more concerned with local affairs than the bigger picture of a united Italy. For example, in 1832, Modena appealed for help from the  revolutionary government of Bologna for no particular reason other than they didn’t want to communicate or cooperate with one another. Another example is the Sicilian revolutions. They started a revolution in their capital city of Palermo and had soon ousted the previous regime to replace it with a revolutionary provisional government. However, when revolutions spread to the mainland of Naples a few days later, they had no plans of assisting them; instead making their policies clear by breaking away from Naples and becoming an independent state. Instead of national or regional unity, they instead, from the entire period of 1820-1848, wanted a free and sovereign country of their own. The fact that the different groups didn’t cooperate with one another, and in some cases, such as this, had entirely dissimilar aims for having a revolution, meant that they could easily be overridden one by one because individually they were very weak. A lack of outside help from other countries that were meant to be enemies with Austria did not help the revolutionaries cause. At the beginning of the revolutions in 1820, fresh off the back of the establishment of the new republic in France after the French revolutions, there was the hope that they would support the Italian revolutionaries in overthrowing their reactionary rulers, just as the French had done to their own monarchs less than 30 years before. In 1831 as well, despite appeals for French help, their pleas were ignored and Austria swept the isolated revolutions aside. In fact, instead of assisting the revolutionaries, in 1848 they instead intervened seemingly on the other side of the revolutions in order to assist the Pope, but in doing so they overpowered the Roman Republic, a revolutionary area headed by Giuseppe Mazzini. The French military brought hardship upon the people of the Rome after defeating Mazzini, seemingly in a hypocritical way as they themselves had fought to rid themselves of an iron grip previously but were instead now the iron grip rulers. On the Popes return, the repressive regime present before the Roman Republic returned. This shows that the French were far more against the revolutions than for them. They would’ve been the natural protector of the revolutions due to their recent history and their hatred of Austria, but it wasn’t to be and this was a key reason in why the uprisings ultimately all failed. Despite these reasons, the lack of popular support was no doubt a contributing  factor into the revolutions failure. The fact that in most states, around 90% of the population were peasants, but were not included in any decisions or contributed to the fighting effort meant that there was never likely to be popular support, because peasants views were not heard so their living conditions wouldn’t necessarily change no matter who was in charge. They would most likely have very little idea of what was even happening in their state. For example, in 1831 the peasants were deliberately excluded from taking part in any form of the revolutions, except for in Sicily where peasants were involved. This was due to the fact that the middle class professionals believed that the poorly educated peasants would end up being detrimental to the cause and would spark their own revolution fighting for their rights and eventually leading to the rule of the mob. Overall, there were several key factors in the failure of the revolutions between 1820 and 1849, such as the might of Austria, the distinct lack of unity between revolutionary divisions and the lack of allies from the international community. Despite the importance of these factors, the lack of popular support cannot be ignored as a factor, but the middle classes had a steadfast fear that if they permitted peasant help, they would turn the cause into riots. This was seen in Sicily where peasant assistance was encouraged, but ended in the masses destroying property, freeing prisoners and burning tax collection papers, as they had the sole intention of causing anarchy. Therefore, the lack of popular support was not a crucial factor but merely a side point in the revolutions failures.