The effects of healthy and unhealthy food Essay

The effects of healthy and unhealthy food - Essay Example In order to illustrate this, a local television company carried on an experiment in Moscow, Russia. There were two participants: one – who ate every day, starting with breakfast, the so-called â€Å"junk food†, and the second – a person who ate only healthy food. At the beginning of the experiment, both participants were examined by a doctor, who established their state of health. The â€Å"junk food† consumer was nervous, constantly tired, his blood analyses were bad, and his entire state of health was not very good. The second participant, a person who had an equilibrate nutrition, focusing on eating healthily, was in good shape and had no complaints regarding his health. The experiment consisted in switching the food habits between the two participants for one week: instead of eating junk food, the first person was going to adopt an equilibrate nutrition, and, vice versa, the person that was eating healthily, was going to consume only junk food. Beginni ng with the first day of the experiment, the second participant started to feel bad. He was constantly hungry, he felt tired although he did not have a rough day, and he felt his stomach heavy. After seven days, the doctor examined both participants again. To everybody’s surprise, the participant that at the beginning of the experiment had a state of health that could be envied by everybody, after having eaten for one week only unhealthy food, was feeling very bad at that moment and the results of the analyses confirmed it. Similar studies have been carried worldwide and all the results point out to a sole conclusion: unhealthy food can seriously affect our state of mind, health and almost every aspect of our lives. Therefore, it is worth pointing out the effects of unhealthy eating, which are multiple, and if somebody consumes it, he or she should be aware of the effects it has on his or her health. They call it â€Å"junk food† for a

Group Decision-making Techniques Recommended to Lieutenant Coleman J Case Study - 1

Group Decision-making Techniques Recommended to Lieutenant Coleman J. Karras - Case Study Example Brainstorming would be the perfect way to get things started for Mr. Karras with his group as he doesn’t have much idea about his new graphic arts department. It would be better if he complies strictly with Osborn’s method of brainstorming in an orthodox fashion.   Withholding criticism, combining and improving ideas, welcoming unusual ideas and focusing on quantity will be the most effective four principles that can be incorporated into this task. The situation demands to work in a group where Mr. Karras doesn’t have much idea about the bureau and what works and what doesn’t, therefore the only way for him to have a say is without anyone criticizing to his ideas on the spot because when that happens, it stops the flow of new ideas, bad ideas can be sifted out later on. And it is always a good plan to merge raw ideas and make them converge to form one big idea. As far as welcoming unusual ideas are concerned, that is much needed as much is expected of Mr. Karras if he wants to live up to his reputation. This bureau is a laughing stock for the police department and a lot of work needs to be done towards improvement, therefore without some unusual ideas that are both efficient and feasible, setting things right will take a lot of time and that can damage the name of Mr. Karras. Focusing on quantity will deliver quick measurable results. Mr. Karras just need to make sure that reviewing of group ideas should discard t he bad suggestions. The results will be achieved better by brainstorming than using any other group decision-making technique like the Nominal Group Technique and Delphi Technique as both require some form of expert reasoning in the initial stages and Mr. Karras is quite new to this department. Brainstorming will help get the graphics art bureau back on track. It is the fastest method to innovate something in an old department that had been abandoned due to lack of appropriate management techniques.  Ã‚  

The concept of child abuse

The concept of child abuse The concept of child abuse is historically, socially and culturally bound. Critically discuss this statement with reference to the subject material and literature. Introduction This paper will look at child abuse, what that is in Australia today. Through reviewing literature on child abuse and child protection this paper aims to show that the concept of child abuse is dependent on social and cultural values. In order to discuss child abuse and its relationship to history and social and cultural values it is important to define the term child abuse in the child protection field in Australia today. Zuchowski (2009: 30) cites Fernandez as recognizing that the importance of agreed and unambiguous definitions is central to identifying maltreatment and appropriate interventions and that child abuse is a socially constructed concept defined by social, cultural and economic conditions. In Australian child protection work child abuse is defined in terms of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and in the more contentious area, child neglect. Physical and emotional abuses are defined as acts of commission or omission that cause harm or worse to children. Sexual abuse is defined as the child being used for the sexual gratification of the adult and involves the abuse of trust and power inherent in relationships between adults and children. Neglect is defined as a situation in which the parents/carers fail to provide for the basic essential needs that children require (Tilbury, Osmond, Wilson Clark 2007:5; Tomison, 2001:48). The term neglect is contentious and implies judgement; Feminism and Post-Modernist theories challenge workers to be critically reflective on the ways in which language contributes to the construction of social values (Healy, 2005:194). Applied to child protection work Feminist, Structuralist and Critical social work theories focus on social and economic resources and recognize the impact that structural disadvantages have on families capacities to provide for children (Tilbury et al, 2007:29). Neglect of children was not recognized prior to the industrial revolution and children as young as five were treated as slave labour in orphanages, workhouses and factories, where they were starved, beaten and often kept in leg irons (Tomison, 2001:48). These conditions are illegal in Australia today and would be considered as child abuse by current social values. History of Child Protection In the 19th century children were essentially seen as economic units, large families were an investment and childrens input was considered essential to family survival (Sanson Wise, 2001:5).By the turn of the 20th century changes in attitudes to child labour in Australia were reflected in laws such as the Factory Act of New South Wales and Victoria of 1896, compulsory education for all children in all Australian states by 1900 and the establishment of voluntary child rescue groups such as The Victorian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1894 which was concerned with child abuse and the effects of poverty and disadvantage on their living conditions (Sanson Wise, 2001:5; Tomison, 2001:50). However, widespread public concern regarding the maltreatment of children only emerged when child abuse was rediscovered by Dr H Kempe and his colleagues in the United States in the 1960s. They coined the term battered baby syndrome and their work created interest in child maltreatment around the world. (Tomison , 2001:50; Parton, 2002:5). At the time child abuse was seen as a socio-medical problem, a disease which could be cured and prevented whereas today child abuse is currently framed as a socio-legal problem with the emphasis on gathering and assessing forensic evidence (Parton, 2002:11; Tomison, 2001:52). The professionalization of child protection services during the 1970s and 1980s saw the development of risk-assessment tools ; aids to assist workers in making the right decision and to help ensure accountability. These developments saw the worker as the expert; whereas current theories used in social work in Australia such as strengths- based approaches and narrative therapie s emphasize a collaborative effort between families and child protection services (Kreuger, 2007:237; Tilbury et al, 2007:16). The influence of the child rescue movement in the late 19th century on child protection in Australia has been profound, particularly influencing the history of social intervention and removal of Indigenous children from their families (Sanson Wise, 2001:8.).Child protection in Australia was first provided by predominantly Christian church groups in the non-government sector and targeted abandoned, neglected children and those with families considered socially inadequate. Initially rescued children were boarded with approved families until later years when orphanages were established. In the early days of settlement the deprivation that children suffered in institutions was recognized, leading to foster care or boarding out being the preferred placement for neglected children (Tomison, 2001:49). Indigenous Child Protection From the first white settlement of Australia colonial values and approaches saw the land being regarded as Terra Nullius, Indigenous people being treated as free labour at best and subsequent laws, policies and practices that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families (HREOC, 1997:2). The Colonial response to the atrocities perpetrated on the Aboriginal people was to establish a protectorate system which would segregate and therefore supposedly protect Indigenous people. By 1911 most Australian states and territories had reserved land and assigned responsibility and therefore control of Aboriginal peoples lives to a Chief Protector or Protection Board. This power was used to remove Indigenous children from their families with a view to converting them to Christianity (HREOC, 1997). This policy approach would be considered racist by current social standards. Australia has been slow to recognize and respect the cultural values of the Indigenous people of Australia in ever y way, including child care and protection. As the population of mixed descent people grew government officials responded by removing children and housing them away from their families with the aim of absorbing and merging them into the non-Indigenous population. The forcible removal of Indigenous children continued in many guises up until the 1960s; those people affected by this practice are now known as The Stolen Generation. In New South Wales after 1940, Indigenous and non-Indigenous children came under general child welfare legislation. The inherent racism in policy and practice and lack of recognition of cultural differences ensured that Indigenous families were more readily found to be neglectful. Poverty was equated with neglect and Indigenous families, ineligible for unrestricted welfare support until after 1966, were judged as failing to provide adequately by non-Indigenous standards (HREOC, 1997). Attachment theory is based on the joint work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Attachment theory recognizes the importance of the early relationship between parent and child and its influence on childrens future ability to form healthy relationships. Bowlbys work on maternal deprivation, based on the premise that attachment to a caregiver is essential for survival, was not applied to Indigenous families in the 1950s and 60s in Australia (Bretherton, 1995:759; Osmond Darlington, 2002:1). This failure can be attributed to the same racist attitudes to Indigenous Australians that saw Australia declared an empty continent by the first settlers (HREOC, 1997). Looking through the lens of attachment theory at Australias history of forcible removal of Indigenous children, it is easy to see the legacy of intergenerational suffering and its ongoing impact on the wellbeing of Indigenous communities today (Sanson Wise, 2001:39). From todays perspective historic child protection practices impos ed on Indigenous Australians are seen as child abuse and maltreatment. Prime Minister Rudds apology, in February 2008, for the damage done to Indigenous Australians through past policies of removal, evidences the change in Australian social values which are reflected in policy. In the Bringing them Home Report (HREOC, 1997:19), Sir William Deane acknowledges the extent to which present disadvantage flows from past injustices and oppression. The report recognizes the permanent wounding caused to the Stolen Generation by forcible removal and institutional abuse. All states and territories in Australia have accepted the Indigenous Placement Principle as law or policy (SNAIC, 2002:66.)This policy recognizes the importance of retaining Indigenous Australian childrens connections to their community and culture(Ban, 2005:388). The Indigenous Placement Principle embeds Indigenous cultural values in social policy by seeking to place children within extended families and their communities. This principle is critical to addressing issues such as Indigenous children being six times more likely to be removed than any other Australian children and twenty times more likely to be in the juvenile justice system. This high rate of removal can be attributed to structural issues such as poverty, lack of adequate housing and the intergenerational effects of policies that forcibly and deliberately removed Indigenous children from culture and family (Zuchowski, 2009:76). In fifty years, approaches to indigenous child protection in Australia have radically changed; they now reflect recognition of past injustices, respect for cultural differences and values and a commitment to partnership and collaboration between governments, services and Indigenous Australians to build capacities and resilience in communities to keep families and children safe (Calma, 2007). Economic Impacts Thomson (2003) suggests that there is an institutional blindness to the role that poverty plays in putting children at risk of harm. The rise of economic rationalism as the dominant philosophy through the 1990s in Australian social policy has been twofold: under- resourcing of welfare services such as child protection and a user -pays approach which sees the poor and needy further disadvantaged. Economic rationalism is a potentially value laden approach where those who are socially and economically disadvantaged held responsible for their circumstances. As Tomison (2001:52) acknowledges the focus of economic rationalism on efficiency, effectiveness and accountability potentially conflicts with the ethical commitments made by social workers such as a commitment to achieving social justice (Tilbury et al 2007:10; AASW, 1999). Economic issues impact the reconciliation process with the Indigenous community as healing and reconciliation relies on redress of past wrongs (HREOC, 1997). Thor pe (2007) also notes that a disproportionate amount of resources in child protection are spent on investigation rather than care. Current Social Policy Approaches: Prevention and early intervention The current discourse on child protection, influenced by strength based and evidence based approaches, has shifted from talking about abuse to talking about harm (Zuchowski, 2009:33). Feminism and Post-modernism recognize language as a site which contributes to defining social value; these discourses have also contributed to the shift from talking about abuse to focussing on the harm done to children. Harm is defined in The Child Protection Act (1999) as any detrimental effect of a significant natureon the childs wellbeing. This term allows for family and child to contribute to the assessment of what is considered detrimental and significant (Tilbury et al, 2007:4). The focus since the mid 1990s in Australia has been on early intervention and prevention (Tomison, 2001:54-55). Resilience has been recognized as a key protective factor in children surviving maltreatment and high risk situations and achieving healthy and adaptive outcomes. The growing recognition that enhancing protective factors to prevent maltreatment of children is cost effective, and provides both social and economic benefits, has seen an increasing focus on the delivery of early intervention and prevention services in Australia. These services are mostly delivered through non-government agencies such as Family Centres in New South Wales. Government policies now focus on health and wellbeing through enhancing community, family and individual strengths. These current strengths-based family support approaches are a contrast to historic approaches that sought to place responsibility and blame solely with the parent. Childrens health and wellbeing is now seen as a community responsibility; the impact of the socio-economic environment in which the family lives is now taken into account (Tomiso n, 2002:7; 2001:55). Conclusion According to Tilbury et al the label child abuse changes according to social context and reflects public opinion and values as well as expert opinion and reflects the degree to which society supports families to care for their children(2007:6). Furthermore understandings of child abuse and neglect differ according to socio-economic status, culture and ethnic background (Bowes Watson, 2004), as cited in Tilbury et al. (2007:6). What constitutes child abuse is dependent on social and cultural values; this is clearly evidenced in the changes to the treatment and care of children throughout even the short history of Australia since white settlement. The increase in notification and substantiation of children at risk in the last decade is the outcome of a widening definition of what comprises child abuse (Scott, 2006, as cited in Thorpe, 2007:1). Australias history of forcible removal of Indigenous children, the disconnection of British migrant children from family, the abuse of children in institutional care and the ongoing social and mental damage that these practices caused is now well known (Thorpe, 2007:1). These historic practices are unacceptable and considered abuse and maltreatment in Australia today. When compared with Australias current collaborative and culturally sensitive approach to child protection it is clear that child abuse, and community perception and response to it, reflect the dominant cu ltural and social values of the day. 1 Catriona Robertson, Student No. 0718540740, Assignment 1, WS3027: Child and Family Welfare, 10th January 2010.

School Uniforms Solving the Problem Essay -- essays papers

School Uniforms Solving the Problem Over the past couple of years, school uniform policies have been enforced as the most efficient method for â€Å"solving† problems such as crime and attendance ratings in our public schools. Many schools state that it is quite true that uniforms are lowering such mentioned rates of crime tremendously, but can this really be proven? Currently, there have only been informal studies that try to actually see if uniforms are helping, no long term studies. Technically speaking then, mandating uniforms in our school systems is not the key to fixing problems with the youth. For example, California’s Long Beach school district says that ever since the year of 1994, when uniforms in their schools were put into place, the crime there has dropped by seventy-six percent and attendance ratings have never been higher. This of course sounds lovely and all but the fact is that it just has not been proven that the uniforms themselves have helped make these problems better. Even if it had been proven that the uniforms are helping over anything else, they still have been creating other problems. â€Å"Clothes are a source of expression for children, and as kids gets older, they become increasingly resentful of uniforms,† said Dr. Alan Hilfer who later added that uniform policies take way our children’s individualities. Other education experts see the uniforms as a violation to the rights of the students to their freedom of expression a...

Lytton Strachey’s excerpt on Florence Nightingale Essay

Lytton Strachey’s excerpt depicts the popular misconceptions and the actual reality of who Florence Nightingale was. Strachey’s euphemism of calling Nightingale â€Å"the Lady with the Lamp† as opposed to the â€Å"agitations of her soul† portrays the idea that her reality was much more different than her false perceptions. Though he admires Nightingale with awe, he conveys his opinion by using dark and tainted diction – â€Å"morbid†, â€Å"Demon possessed her†. Though this might suggest into the thinking that Nightingale was evil and beyond human capabilities, it manifests that she was an extraordinary human with suffrages that make her a stronger individual. Strachey’s syntactical style enables the reader to dilute a clear view of Nightingale’s life. His creative tone in using rhetorical questions eradicates Nightingale’s courageous endeavor and capabilities. From lines 20 to 22, Strachey exhibits the truth that even when her sister had shown a â€Å"healthy pleasure† in tearing up her dolls, she should a â€Å"morbid one† sewing them back up. This idea seems particularly demonic and malevolent (the feeling she expresses while sewing her dolls) because she feels a sense of guilty enjoyment in fixing something that is not perfect. Her gratification is that of healing and â€Å"herself as matron moving about among the beds†. Continuously, these rhetorical questions delineate a fact and expound it further enhancing the reader to fully understand the structure of Nightingale’s motivations and drive. Another strategy that Strachey uses is the use of long and ornate sentences that are broken off by telegraphic ones. This technique enables the audience to feel an utmost sincere admiration for Nightingale (line 2 through 12). With the reader’s emotions at a peak, Strachey quickly halts your train of thought and hits you with a complete opposite idea. This makes the reader more vulnerable to what the author has to say because it catches them at their weakest moment (overflowing with sentiment). Strachey further commends in making Nightingale look like a legendary women who has undergone apotheosis causing the story to become an epic one. By living in the era of the Victorian age, Florence Nightingale’s story is an even more honorable one. This period came with the discrimination of women and their societal roles which intervened with Nightingale’s bourgeoisie  life. Opposing all the luxuries and dealing with the struggle pushed upon her makes her an immense figure in time. She fought for what she wanted: she opposed her family, the elite society, and the status quo that women didn’t work. With this, she possessed the energy to collect knowledge and achieve what she had â€Å"determined she would do in the end†: – gain her independence. Unlike the myths that casted Nightingale to a simple life, she â€Å"was not as facile fancy painted her†. She was a courageous woman who fought for what she believed in, even if it was morbid. In the last paragraph, Strachey defies a quote that her mother gives about Miss Nightingale. In this, she mockingly states that â€Å"We are ducks†¦ who have hatched a wild swan†. This quote, though given by Mrs. Nightingale, represents Florence Nightingale’s perception of her family (taken from the mother viewpoint). In reality she is blind that the idea that Florence has a different path to follow which involves helping the ill-fated humans. It is as if Mrs. Nightingale is embarrassed that she has done something with her life. In reality, Miss Nightingale is â€Å"an eagle†. She casts a brave, bold and independent shadow that wants to soar above the limitations of her family and social class. Florence Nightingale’s strive is marked with accomplishments and greatness because she surpassed all her obstacles, â€Å"held firm, and fought her way to victory†. This suffrage has made her stronger which is one of the reasons Strachey admires her. She did not get her life job on a silver platter; she worked for it, and passed through much hardship, making the prize the more rewarding. His via from the popular perceptions to reality permits the reader to comprehend the illusion and see that the reality was even superior and audacious; â€Å"in the real Miss Nightingale there was more than was interesting than in the legendary one†. Even his melancholic tone and diction towards Nightingale renders the stance that she was an amazing woman and worked her way out of the â€Å"tortures of regret and remorse† that were compelled deep inside her mind.

Prayer of a Black Boy Essay

In the poem The prayer of a Black Boy the writer wrote the poem in the point of view of a young black boy which is the speaker of the poem. who was a slave at this time. The poet tells us that the black boy doesn’t want to go to a white people school because he they are teaching him a new culture that he doesn’t like it he finds it boring because is a new culture and they do things that he doesn’t do at home, he also says that he doesn’t want to be a gentleman of the city because they have a sad life. The poet wrote this poem like a narrative story and he makes the poem very descriptive and he also makes his point across by using alliteration which will create a specific sounds or images stand out, he also uses metaphor to make images of what the slaves went throw. The writer shows us how desperate the and humiliated and tired the black people was. The writer uses metaphors for example when he reflects in the first line of the poem the word â€Å"tired† This is a metaphor often used by elderly people when they have lived through many events. They are not physically tired but mentally exhausted. This suggests that the young boy has witnessed many atrocities and culture changes inflicted on his race by the white culture. The poet also gives us to understand that for a black person to go to school was very difficult because of the way he was seen and mistreated and humiliated because of this. he pleads to god for not going to school â€Å"Lord, I don’t want to go to their school† please help me that I need to go again† the boy says it was to difficult because † the road to school is steep† By this he means that the school isn’t actually on top of a hill, but it is a mental ascent to have the courage to accept another culture teaching him western traits, most of which aren’t relative to the life he wants to leave and that he thought that he was going to loose he culture and way of learning which was by traditional dances and by story telling under the light of the moon â€Å"who do not know how to dance by the light of the moon†. The poet gives us to understand that the boy prefers to carry on with his own tradition † I want to follow father into the cool gorges† because he finds his culture more interesting we can see this when he writes a personification â€Å"when the night is hovering over magic forest† he uses a personification in here to create an image of the night floating over the trees which is obviously not true because the night is a natural thing which is everywhere, he also shows freedom and happiness of his ants esters by writing â€Å"Where spirits play before the dawn.† He shows freedom of how the spirits play o the night. By the writer using alliterations he makes an image of a ship throwing out like animals its crew â€Å"a ship on the sugarfields, Land and spits its crew† he also gives an image of black workers useless after they have finished their shift The writer writes again â€Å"Lord, I do not want to go to their school, Please help me that I need no to go again†, the writer repeats this phrase again to show how desperate and unhappy the boy is and to show that the boy doesn’t want to be the â€Å"gentleman of the city† or as the whites â€Å"call it a real gentleman† ,in here the writer gives us to understand that the boy doesn’t want learn the by the way that the whites learn by using books of other countries and learning things that they don’t now or seen before, we see this when he say â€Å"Why should we learn again from poreing