Ethics in Counseling Essay

This paper analyses social, ethical and legal issues within a complaint initiated by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) against a psychologist, Steven Kreft (HCCC v Kreft, 2011). The HCCC investigated a complaint by a client of Kreft of personal and sexual disclosures, as well as unprofessional treatment in the solicitation of a photograph of the client in which the client was dressed in underwear. Kreft’s actions are assessed in light of professional and ethical standards as well as potential breaches of the law. Steven Kreft, was an experienced psychologist narrowly specialising in the treatment of men with anxiety conditions using cognitive-behavioural therapy (HCCC v Kreft, 2011). The client, a 19-year-old married woman, was referred to Kreft because of anxiety and possibly panic attacks, but during the initial stages of counselling, she raised relationship problems, her appearance and sexual needs and practices with him and these became the focus of their se ssions. Kreft conveyed to the client that he was not experienced or skilled in the treatment of relationship problems or sexual disorders, however, the client stated that she wished to continue working with him and he did not insist on referring her elsewhere. The client ultimately accused Kreft of failing to observe proper professional boundaries and engaging in inappropriate discussions of a personal nature in which he: Complimented her on her appearance referring to her petite size, short height and thin build, and likened her to his girlfriend; Commented on her wearing Bonds underwear like his girlfriend wore; Asked the client to comment on his physical appearance; Disclosed details of his personal life including the number of sexual partners he had had, that his girlfriend would share a bed with other girlfriends when they slept over, that he had been in love numerous times, and that he had thought about homosexuality during his youth (HCCC v Kreft, 2011). In addition, Kreft was accused of failing to follow or observe appropriate therapeutic practice and/or failing to observe proper professional boundaries when he asked the client for photographs for a study in which other people would rate the client’s appearance. One of these photographs pictured the client dressed in underwear. Kreft copied these photographs onto his own computer for later presentation to unnamed others. This exercise was not recorded in the client’s clinical notes (HCCC v Kreft, 2011). The HCCC investigated the client’s complaints and took disciplinary action against him. There are numerous social, ethical and legal issues in this case. Although Kreft was in fact a psychologist, for the purpose of this paper, his conduct will be assessed against the Australian Counselling Association’s Code of Ethics and Practice (2012). This paper will explore the power imbalance between Kreft and his client, the effect of his behaviour on the therapeutic relationship and whether Kreft’s behaviour might have breached sexual harassment laws. Ethical and legal guidelines exist to offer protection to people who may experience harm as a result of the actions of another person. According to Welfel (2013, p.3), professional ethics in counselling encompasses five dimensions of behaviour including having sufficient knowledge, skill and judgement; respecting the client’s h uman dignity and freedom; using a counsellor’s inherent power responsibly; and, acting to promote public confidence in the counselling profession. This provides a useful framework for assessing Kreft’s conduct in this case. Beginning with Kreft’s expertise, Kreft usually used a strict cognitive-behavioural protocol for the management of anxiety and panic disorders. Kreft is described by his own treating psychiatrist as a skilled practitioner in a narrow field, having been trained to think rationally and logically. Kreft’s practice â€Å"involved administering protocols, carrying out logic-based interventions and requires his patients to occupy a mindset where they share a common objective and commitment to the treatment and its proposed outcome† (HCCC v Kreft, 2011 at 227). Although referred to Kreft because of his relevant expertise, the treatment interaction became sexualised when the client began talking about her sexual experiences and practices. There was further exploration of her concerns about her personal appearance, low self-esteem, need for validation by men via her sexual activities and descriptions of her specific sexual behaviour. Here, Kreft was out of his professional depth. Specifically on this matter, the Australian Counselling Association’s (ACA) Code of Ethics and Practice states that counsellors must â€Å"endeavour to make suitable referral where competent service cannot be provided† (p.3) and â€Å"undertake regular supervision and debriefing to develop skills, monitor performance and sustain professional accountability† (p.3). Although Kreft recognised that  the client’s relationship and sexual issues were beyond his expertise and conveyed as much to the client, he could have insisted on referral, despite the client’s preference for continued sessions with him. The ACA further states that competence includes being able to recognise when it is appropriate to refer a client elsewhere (p.12). The rationale for this professional expectation is that counsellors are required to â€Å"take all reasonable steps to ensure that the client does not suffer physical, emotional or psychological harm during counselling sessions †(p.4). Sexualisation of the therapeutic relationship can be harmful to clients, and in this case, it is difficult to see how it served the client. According to the ACA Code of Ethics and Practice, â€Å"the helping relationship constitutes the effective and appropriate use of helper’s skills that are for the benefit and safety of the client in his or her circumstanc es† (2012, p.3), and â€Å"counsellors must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the client does not suffer physical, emotional or psychological harm during counselling sessions† (2012, p.4). In relation to the disclosures, for whose benefit where they? It is unclear what led Kreft to make sexualised self-disclosures and what purpose he thought they served. Perhaps it was a response to the client’s exploration of her relationships and sexual activities. Such client self-disclosure can sexualise the therapeutic relationship (Gurtheil & Brodsky, 2011, p. 183). Counsellor disclosures are inevitable and sometimes useful, but self-disclosure can become burdensome to the client and therefore detrimental. Gurtheil and Brodsky (2011) state that in cases of sexual misconduct, â€Å"a key turning point often occurs when the relationship shifts from a therapeutic exchange to one of sharing personal confidences and feelings† (p.114). They further state that even therapists whose practice deliberately includes open self-disclosure, it is rarely useful and usually burdensome for clients to hear details of the therapist’s emotional, sexual, personal or family life. â€Å"Such disclosures, especially when they involve sexual feelings, are nearly always considered boundary violations† (p.115). It seems that Kreft may have been meeting some personal need by making the disclosures. Without having observed the interaction, it is difficult to judge, however, perhaps in an attempt to normalise the client’s experience or keep her engaged, Kreft seems to also be almost boasting of his own sexual prowess. This amounts to an exploitation of the client for  his own needs. The APA states that, â€Å"counsellors must not exploit their clients financially, sexually, emotionally or in any other way (pp.4-5). If poorly handled, the power imbalance inherent in the therapeutic relationship can lead to exploitation of clients (Barnett, Lazarus, Vasquez, Moorehead-Slaughter & Johnson, 2007, p.402). A young female client, is less likely to challenge the appropriateness of such comments. In addition to the sexualised disclosures, Kreft devised an exercise based on his narrow focus on CBT, which he believed would help the client. He requested and obtained a photo of his client wearing a bra and underpants for the purpose of an exercise aimed at ‘challenging’ the client’s maladaptive or negative beliefs about her appearance. The photo was to be shown to a number of unnamed people in order for them to rate her appearance. Kreft claimed in his testimony that he created the exercise based on his expertise and training. He did not state that he researched current effective practice or discussed the client’s needs in supervision. It would seem prudent to educate oneself about an unfamiliar field of practice or client. In fact, the ACA’s ethical expectations include counsellors committing to ongoing personal and professional development, as well as undertake regular supervision and debriefing (p.3). A cursory investigation of recognised treatments for body image problems Butters and Cash (1987) research into effective cognitive-behavioural treatment of women with body-image dissatisfaction found that a combination of methods produced improved affective body image, reduced maladaptive body-image cognitions and enhanced social self-esteem about fitness and sexuality. The methods included providing clients with information about body-image dissatisfaction, having clients construct a personalised hierarchy of body areas, desensitisation to automatic thoughts and developing counterarguments for irrational thoughts. Butters and Cash (1987) did use observer ratings of client physical attractiveness as part of the series of exercises, but there is no suggestion that clients were to be barely dressed in the photographs used. Kreft seemed to exercise poor judgment in his selection of a photograph in which the client was so scantily clothed. Kreft seemed unaware of his power in the relationship. Power within the therapeutic relationship can take numerous forms. Proctor (2002, p.8) states that one basic form is societal power which is expressed in the imbalances between the genders and between the old and young. In this  case, Kreft was an older male with a teenage female client. According to testimony in his case, Kreft was accustomed to working with male clients, so he may have been unaccustomed to working with a young female. He may have been unaware of the subconscious power he held in the relationship simply by virtue of his stronger position in society. Pope and Vasquez (2007, pp41-42) describ e other forms of power that therapists have in relation to clients. These include the power of expectation–clients expects that the therapist’s interventions will be able to induce beneficial change. Related to this is the power to choose the approach to therapy. Kreft chose to make personal disclosures and chose the therapeutic exercise involving the client’s photograph. She complied with the activity, although she stated in her complaint that she was very uncomfortable about it. Kreft failed to recognise this in her delayed provision of the photo, but also failed to recognise that any young woman might be uncomfortable with such an exercise, yet reluctant to refuse. He did not make this psychologically safe for her. Under the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 2010, both the disclosures and the request for photographs could be deemed sexual harassment and therefore unlawful. A person sexually harasses another person if he or she engages in unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in relation to another person in circumstances in which a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would have anticipated that the other person would be offended, humiliated or intimi dated. Conduct of a sexual nature includes making orally, any remark or statement with sexual connotations to a person or about a person in his or her presence, and, making any comment of a sexual nature in a person’s presence (Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, 2013a, p.79). There are therefore three characteristics of behaviour that would have it constitute sexual harassment – being unwelcome; being conduct of a sexual nature; and being conduct that a reasonable person would consider likely to offend, humiliate or intimidate in the circumstances. There seems little doubt that Kreft’s disclosures about his sexual activities fit this definition of conduct of a sexual nature. In relation to whether the comments were unwelcome to the client, it certainly appears so, as she has complained of as much. For conduct to be unwelcome, it must be unsolicited or uninvited by the client, and regarded as undesirable or offensive by the client. Kreft does not suggest that the  client invited the comments. Even if a client does not speak up or complain at the time, the conduct might still be considered unwelcome (Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, 2013b, p.6). The client’s age is a factor recognised as causing someone to tolerate behaviour even if unwelcome. Numerous sexual harassment cases have recognised how a power imbalance between the parties can contribute to a person remaining silent about how unwelcome the behaviour is (VEOHRC, 2013a, p.85). The final element in sexual harassment is whether the conduct occurred in circumstances in which it could reasonably have been expected that the conduct would offend, humiliate or intimidate the person. Again, given the client’s age in relation to Kreft, and the highly sexual nature of the disclosures, within a relationship that should be focusing on the client’s concerns, it seems that this third criterion of sexual harassment would be met. In conclusion, it seems that Steven Kreft’s behaviour in this case fell far short of recognised ethical, legal and social expectations. He took on a client with issues outside his narrow expertise and attempted to work with her i n relation to the highly sexualised disclosures she made about her relationships with men. Kreft’s own highly sexualised personal disclosures were unethical according to professional guidelines and potentially unlawful, under sexual harassment laws. Kreft’s attempts to help the client change her negative beliefs about her body were devised without reference to existing knowledge in the treatment of such problems and again became sexualised when Kreft chose a photo of the client dressed only in underwear. Ultimately, Kreft was required to update his training, engage in regular supervision, and undergo a suspension of practice for six months. Kreft’s case provides a number of warnings for other practitioners about the dangers of a narrow knowledge and experience base, as well as the importance of understanding the various dimensions of therapeutic relationships. Counsellors would do well to have a sound understanding of ethical boundaries and how they might appropriately respond to a client’s disclosures of sexual behaviour. Having regular supervision is crucial for assisting counsellors in all of these areas. References Australian Counselling Association. (2012). Code of ethics and practice. QLD: Author. Barnett, J., Lazarus, A., Vasquez, M., Moorehead-Slaughter, O., & Johnson, W. (2007). Boundary issues and multiple relationships: Fantasy and reality. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38(4), 401–410. Butters, J. W. & Cash, T. F. (1987) Cognitive-behavioral treatment of women’s body-image dissatisfaction. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 6. Gurtheil, T. G. & Brodsky, A. (2011). Preventing boundary violations in clinical practice. London: Guilford Press. HCCC v Kreft (No. 1) (2011) NSWPST 2. HCCC v Kreft (No. 2) (2012) NSWPST 1. Pope, K. S. & Vasquez, M. J. (2011). Ethics in psychotherapy and counselling: A practical guide. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Proctor, G. (2002). The dynamics of power in counseling and psychotherapy: ethics, politics and practice. Ross-on-wye, Herefordshire: PCCS Books. Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. (2013a). Victorian discrimination law. Melbourne, Australia: Author. Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. (2013b). Guideline: Sexual harassment. Complying with the Equal Opportunity Act 2010. Melbourne, Australia: Author. Welfel, E. R. (2013). Ethics in counseling and psychotherapy. (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

A Study Analysis on The Process of Information Technology

In the world of today, the process of information technology is a part of organizations due to the importance of information systems. These are the processes through which one derives solutions to the challenges faced in organizational and management problems. There is also a view among experts that the quantity of interaction between the IT department of the organization and other units are what determines the success of any organization. The entire process of IT can be used in a centralized or decentralized manner. The structure of IT in any organization should provide assistance in its strategy and must conduct the needed research for this purpose. (Centralized versus Decentralized Information Systems in Organizations) Today, several organizations in all sectors of industry, commerce and government are based on their information systems. In some industries like telecommunications, media, entertainment and financial services, the survival of the organization itself depends on how efficiently it applies to information technology — IT. A new system called e-commerce has now burst into the arenas of international trade, and that makes IT as a method of conducting modern business. This is now changing the attitudes of the business leaders and IT is no longer only a method of performing existing business, but should also be used for development as that is expected to provide advantages in competition. Thus many organizations today want to develop a more strategic approach to their use of IT, but more have probably arrived at their present situation due to their adoption of short-term ‘tactical' decisions with IT. The Evolving Role of Information Systems and Technology in Organizations: A Strategic Perspective) At the same time, many organizations would wish that it were possible to rethink their investments, or begin with a clean sheet, but that is impossible as they have a ‘legacy' system built up from their approach to IT in the past. It is not possible to start again as we can see that many banks and insurance companies still focus on systems that they had developed over 30 years back. It is also not required as IT is not the only determinant of success unless the ability and knowledge of the organization have increased radically. (The Evolving Role of Information Systems and Technology in Organizations: A Strategic Perspective) The important part of strategic management depends on learning from experience which means the successes and failures of the past. The results achieved through IT helps only through experiences and experimental analysis that it provides. Thus, it should not be viewed as an essential component for strategic decisions. The main advantage that IT provides to organizations is that IT helps in the processing of information much faster so that uncertainty can be lower. The uncertainty comes from lack of knowledge, or information, even though it may be possessed at power levels. The advantage with IT is that the information can be collected, gathered and processed in a faster manner. (Benbunan-Fich, 2002) Though most organizations are trying to use for quite some time to solve these problems, it is unlikely that any organization has been exposed to the entire range of experiences in IT. Still it is important to study the process of development of IT in large organizations as that may be of use in the general evaluation of development of IT in another organization. In general it is known that there are some important matters that result in the speed and effectiveness of IT in organizations. The importance of the different factors in the list changes over time, but it is still important to make a note of the list of the factors. (The Evolving Role of Information Systems and Technology in Organizations: A Strategic Perspective) Those are the capabilities of the organization, the economics of the technology that the organizations following, the applications that the organization is carrying out and their feasibility, the skills and availabilities that are available within the organization or from outside vendors, the capacity of the organization and it ability to use the applications and the overall pressures that exist on the organization or the entire industry to improve performances. What we are talking about here is Information Technology with the insistence on technology and that means hardware, software and telecommunication links. This form of technology has both items that one can see and feel, like servers, desktops and network cables; as also items that cannot be touched but only paid for, like software. At the same time, the world is moving to a digital era, and it is IT that helps in the collection, processing, storing, developing and sharing of all these items. At the same time, there are also differences in terms for referring to the entire process and what is called IT in the states is called Information and communication Technologies in the European Union. This is the item that we are referring to though at times in the past, the two were seen as clearly different areas. (The Evolving Role of Information Systems and Technology in Organizations: A Strategic Perspective) The next important question is to find out how this technology helps us. The first area of help is in business strategy and this helps by creating new opportunities for dynamic changes in products and services. There were some services in the past that had to be handled manually, but can now be handled over the network. The important advantages cone from re-sequencing which includes parallel processing of data bases; simultaneous delivery of data; time extension of data by making it available 24 hours a day and all 365 days in the year; portability or taking the service and product closer to the user; and re-usability or developing the capacity to use the data collected for one purpose to be used for other purposes. There are also changes to organizational culture and that is the second most important development. The Impact of IT on Organizations) This is through devices like electronic mail and group ware. Information can now flow much faster between organizations and their clients. The changes in organizational culture have also led to changes in organization structures, and this has happened due to the larger spans of control and greater use of group ware. A lot of this has happened due to business process re-engineering and also the requirement to cut costs due to high competition. There have been efforts to find out whether IT encourages increased concentration or increased decentralization has not given out any clear results, but it certainly permits the organizational structure to be more flexible and fluid, dispersed teams and even teams that can come and go with the requirement of changes in the organization. (The Impact of IT on Organizations) This is also leading to changes in management processes and that includes even routine business processes. IT has provided methods for collecting information from many sources, directly and collectively through the use of databases and the Internet. Yet, though it has tried, it cannot still replace certain decision making that has to take place in groups and in meeting rooms as there is certainly the need for a master facilitator who can take the group discussion to an end. At the same time it can be seen that the impact of IT is leading to changes in the methods of professional work today. Practically all offices of today use personal computers and the availability of ready information has made the job expectation also to involve greater levels of knowledge. This is in addition to the earlier required skills of organizing, thinking, writing, convincing, etc. Now, in addition to doing all that, the managers of today are combining the greater knowledge that they are collecting. All the changes in situations due to the use of IT have also come as it is now essential for most people to have direct access to it while they are working. At the same time, IT itself has to find out methods of controlling the flow of information so that all information does not reach everybody. (The Impact of IT on Organizations) At the same time, a situation has come where the organizations have to now determine whether IT should be a separate department, or become a part of all departments. The different systems suit different organizations. It should be remembered that IT itself has some goals and that may be said to be innovation and efficiency. Yet, innovation is necessarily cost conscious and the organization has to determine the levels of different goals. (Centralized versus Decentralized Information Systems in Organizations) The most interesting and probably intriguing part of development of IT has been concerning Internet, and a stage has now come through which this medium has started influencing the environment, which is the biggest concern of the world of today. In the recent trade talks also, it was seen that United States has decided to retain its control over it. Does it mean that we are about to find a new source of business?

Online Reservation for Catering Services Essay

The Apple II became an instant success when released in 1977 with its printed circuit motherboard, switching power supply, keyboard, case assembly, manual, game paddles, A/C powercord, and cassette tape with the computer game â€Å"Breakout.† When hooked up to a color television set, the Apple II produced brilliant color graphics. The Kenbak-1, the first personal computer, advertised for $750 in Scientific American. Designed by John V. Blankenbaker using standard medium-scale and small-scale integrated circuits, the Kenbak-1 relied on switches for input and lights for output from its 256-byte memory. In 1973, after selling only 40 machines, Kenbak Corp. closed its doors. The Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) — the first of several personal computers released in 1977 — came fully assembled and was straightforward to operate, with either 4 or 8 kilobytes of memory, two built-in cassette drives, and a membrane â€Å"chiclet† keyboard. The abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations. Its only value is that it aids the memory of the human performing the calculation. A skilled abacus operator can work on addition and subtraction problems at the speed of a person equipped with a hand calculator (multiplication and division are slower). The abacus is often wrongly attributed to China. In fact, the oldest surviving abacus was used in 300 B.C. by the Babylonians. The abacus is still in use today, principally in the far east. A modern abacus consists of rings that slide over rods, but the older one pictured below dates from the time when pebbles were used for counting (the word â€Å"calculus† comes from the Latin word for pebble).

World war one BOOK REVIEW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

World war one BOOK REVIEW - Essay Example Despite the economic focus of the book, it is written in a surprisingly easy to read style, and offers a deep thoughtful insight into the economic underpinning of the peace established in the aftermath of World War I. The book consists of several chapters describing the situation in Europe before and after the war, the peace conference and the Treaty, reparations, and remedial actions suggested by the author. One of the key points emphasized by Keynes throughout the book is the need for a non-vindictive peace treaty. The essence of this suggestion is that the victorious Allied states should minimize the burden of reparations and repayments borne by Germany. Keynes believes that settlement of frontiers and confiscation of property owned by the German governments would be a better solution because huge reparations envisaged by the Peace Treaty would discourage German domestic production and entrepreneurship. The result would be production of only subsistence minimum and eventual economic failure of Germany and its inability to pay the imposed reparations. Keynes claims that the negotiating parties were predominantly concerned by the political aspects of future peace and had almost no vision of the economic outcomes of the peace. The Big Three leaders balanced between the long-term political benefits of their countries, varying interests of their partners, and the public opinions of their nations. Thus, French Prime Minister Clemenceau perceived Germany as a potential threat to stability and peace in Europe, and a threat to security of his country. Therefore, France tried to make economic conditions of the Treaty as harsh as possible for Germany arguing that light economic penalties would result in rapid recovering and further strengthening of Germany. Keynes' position can probably be explained by the interest of his own country that was extremely concerned with the revival and further development of international trade which constituted the cornerstone of the country's economic potency. Lloyd George understood that Germany ruined by excessively hard economic claims of France and other Allies would seriously undermine marketability of British goods in the European market. The British representatives also viewed Germany as a potential barrier against Russia and reasonably considered that only country with healthy economy tied by strongly trade-based relationships could effectively fulfil such mission. No wonder Keynes labels Versailles as 'the triumph of political passion over economic reason' (p.16). Bringing forth a number of serious arguments, Keynes also predicts impoverishment of Central Europe and growth of radical nationalism. He brilliantly predicted not only failure of Germany to pay the imposed reparations, but also the process of hyperinflation that occurred in Germany after the war and the political victory of reactionist parties in the country. The prediction made by the author relies on comprehensive analysis of Germany's exports, imports, and other aspects of economic life.On the other hand, the death of millions Germans from starvation also predicted by Keynes never occurred. The list of remedies suggest by Keynes to avoid or mitigate the negative

Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Reflection Paper - Essay Example Art is not something which stays stable but it evolves through time by being influence by everything. Technology is changing drastically over the years due to which art has successfully evolved into a whole new different vision. Now paintings are not just considered to be some creative and modernized images but are also created by the painters by taking the help of modern equipment and material. Though art has been there from the beginning as evidenced by the vestiges of the past but still the technology has made the use of new equipment possible and has provided it a whole new medium. The option of digital art allows people to work with images and colors and create masterpieces, without even having professional training. Other technological changes that have occurred in art during the last few decades include invention of colors spectrum, photography, computer manipulated photography, digital media, etc. (Souppouris, 2014). Graphic designing has become easier for the artists and can be carried out through Photoshop and illustrators, which has opened up a whole new realm for them for concentrating i.e. Web Design. It has also developed a great opportunity for the amateur designers as they do not have to learn much about manual typography and screen printing. Digital art such as ArtRage, Painter and Photoshop allows people to paint without even using an actual brush. In a way this technology improves the painting skills of the individual, as it is faster than working with oil, the painting can be easily discarded and this is much easier than using canvas (Pitt, 2012). American culture has always been the supporter of art even during the depression decade; the Washington State was seen as the home of the national art history, hosting some of the most creative and innovative musical, theatre and performing art (Zimmermann, 2013). For example it was during the darkest days of the great depression when

NewBoston Networks Company-RESEARCH SKILLS FOR HUMAN RESOURCE Essay

NewBoston Networks Company-RESEARCH SKILLS FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example ry to examine the organizational structure, strategic choices made by the management and company culture that had an impact on the performances of the employees. These issues need to be addressed because the company is not able to achieve its assigned goals and objectives, which are because apparently, the working environment of the company is in conducive. Hence, in order to improve the working conditions for the employees, a profound research will be conducted based on the quantitative method. The survey questionnaire as a means to take feedback from employees regarding the role of the managers and supervisors in aligning the duties of the subordinates, the extent to which they are being supportive of their individual tasks, providing good compensation packages, ability to delegate tasks and to have the role of making strategic decisions. The company operates in Ottawa, Canada, United States, EMEA and Asia Pacific, which shows that the company size is extensive and can expand globally. The total workforce consists of 2,165 individuals working in major departments of the company including Administration (including HR and Finance), Research & Development, Engineering, and Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing, Customer Services and Logistics. The organization form of the company is Sole proprietorship as Michael Millard founded it. The company consists of diverse workforce and employee distribution is uneven in all the countries. For instance, there is no Research Department in Canada, United States and Asia Pacific. In the same way, there is no engineering, sales or customer services present in Ottawa. Besides this, it is seen that their immediate supervisors affect most of the performances of the workforce. Some employees are happy with the management whereas others have issues with the organizational set up and blame Michael Millward for the communication gap with the management. According to Alvesson (2012), good organizational or corporate culture constitutes a

Eriksons stage of evelopemnt (Ego Integrity vs Despair) Article

Eriksons stage of evelopemnt (Ego Integrity vs Despair) - Article Example This psychosocial stage has specific characteristics that explain late adulthood behavior. According to Erickson’s theory, the ego integrity versus despair is a crisis that involves deepened mental engagements (Carducci, 2006). The individual in this stage reflects on the past. They consider the impacts of the decisions they made during the earlier stages of development. The ego of an individual develops when the individuals reflect of the choices they made earlier in their development (Newman, 2012). Ego integrity occurs when the individual reflects on the past decisions of earlier developmental stages as pleasant. In this case, the individual celebrates his/her life through the mentorships and developments they have accomplished to other people. Ego integrity is therefore pleasurable (Carducci, 2006). The individuals perceive their lives as complete. In the case of the deceased client, ego integrity is unattainable to him. Reflection of his life shows sadness and misfortune through the sicknesses within his family, and also his unfulfilled career. In despair, the individual reflects on the life they have lived and they experience a sense of incompleteness (Newman, 2012). The failures in achievement tend to dominate their thoughts and reflections during this stage of their life. They realize that time has lapsed and they lack control to many situations (Newman, 2012). Therefore, their thoughts are directed towards what cannot be modified and rectified in their old age. Consequently, the individual manifests feelings of anger and intense bitterness (Fry, 1989). The case client in the nursing home may be suffering from despair. He might not have the wisdom to negotiate through the crisis. This case client will undergo despair due to the incomplete feeling upon the reflection of his

Injury and Illness Prevention Program Term Paper

Injury and Illness Prevention Program - Term Paper Example The United States Department of Labor addressed this problem and created the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This act is geared towards the prevention of injuries and illnesses found during work by requiring employers to provide safe, working conditions that are free from dangers for their employees. The act also made the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that serves as the enforcers of the law, and it implements standards that describe methods that employers must utilize to protect their employees from hazards. Some of these standards include fall protection, prevention of infectious diseases, limiting exposure to harmful substances, provision of safety equipment, and giving training for dangerous jobs. It is the workers’ right to be protected on the job (OSHA, n.d.). In 2011, almost three million nonfatal workplace injuries were reported to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). 94.8% of these consisted of injuries in the workplace while 5.2% accounted for illnesses. Among the 94.8% of injuries, there are 7 ‘compensable’ claims, which are serious injuries that really hurt the employees to the extent that they could not work, or are disabled. The seven compensable claims are: Other health hazards available in the workplace that can cause illness are non-communicable and communicable diseases. The common non-communicable diseases common in the adult working class are Heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes. These non-communicable diseases are a burden on the global workforce. According to the World Health Organization (2008), in 2005, Non-communicable diseases made up 60% of all deaths worldwide. Aside from affecting the workers and their families, these diseases can also affect the economy. One example is that the WHO estimates that China can lose around 558 Billion International dollars from 2005-2015 due to

How Immigration Influences the Economic Issues Essay

How Immigration Influences the Economic Issues - Essay Example However, I personally believe that immigrants are proving beneficial for improving the economies of the developed countries. Stand Essay Apart from increase in the rate of crimes and drug trafficking because of some immigrants, there are also some very beneficial aspects of immigrations. People should not think negative of all immigrants because nature and activities of every person are not the same. It is only a small number of immigrants who are actually involved in criminal activities. Some news reports and researches say that 12 to 15 percent of immigrants are actually involved in illegal activities. The major part of the immigrants is very peaceful and does not take any step against the laws of the country. Such immigrants are very much concerned about their own image in the society as well as the image of their home nations. To maintain a good image, they follow the laws of the country and respect every individual they meet. Most of the immigrants are hardworking and careful in dividuals who obey the social, political, and labor laws and regulations of the foreign countries. Immigrants also help the countries improve their economies by helping them increase their GDPs. In the United States, news reports confirm that U.S. GDP increase by 0.75 percent annually due to large-scale immigrations. Immigrants work with full dedication and commitment wherever employed. They are very productive for the companies, which hire them because they have constant desire to earn money by working effectively and efficiently for they companies. Some of the immigrants include highly experienced surgeons, engineers, and professors who come to the United States to provide their high quality services to the local people. Researches prove that immigrant doctors and teachers play a valuable role in providing proper healthcare and educational needs to the local people and overcoming the labor shortage present in these professions. My personal experiences with immigrants have always b een good. A small group of Asian immigrants lives in my neighborhood. They have always helped me whenever and wherever my family and I needed it. For example, one day my younger brother was playing with his friends on the street next to my house. While they were playing, a motorcyclist appeared on the street. He was driving his motorcycle at a very a high speed. Suddenly my brother came in range of the motorcyclist who was just going to hit my brother. In the meantime, one of the immigrants rushed towards him and dragged him away of the motorcyclist’s range. That was the moment I realized that immigrants are very kind and supportive people. Opposition Essay In this part of the paper, we will see immigration to the United States from opposition’s point of view. It is a fact that a major part of the illegal immigrants living in the United States is originally from Mexico. Researches prove that approximately 13.2 million illegal immigrants living in the United States are Mexican-Americans. Increase in the number of crimes and drug trafficking are two of the most significant problems caused by the immigrants in the United States of America. Increase is the number of crimes is one of the major drawbacks associated with immigrations. Some percentage of the immigrants

Group therapy orination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Group therapy orination - Essay Example The American military in World War II also used group methods to treat large numbers of psychiatric causalities. Behavioral theory or behavior modification is the treatment of human behavioral disorders through reinforcement of the desired behaviors and suppression of undesirable behavior. This therapy has its roots with Pavlov but became a developed technique in the United States by B. F. Skinner. He used positive or negative re-enforcers to encourage desirable behavior and punishments to deter undesirable behavior. Originally, behavioral therapy groups worked with anger management and addiction (Ockrnik 2003). One of the specific types of Behavioral group therapy that came out in the 1960s was originally written by Marsha Linehan. This may be the most well known kind of behavioral therapy today. Originally, she developed a program, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), for patients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. In the beginning, it appeared to be quite effective and it was adapted to many other type of diagnosis. This writer will look at how effective this therapy turned out to be over the long term as well as the effectiveness of several other new innovations in group therapy. Behavior therapy in groups can be recognized by its emphasis on specifying problems and goals in concrete behavioral terms and in using principles of learning to facilitate behavioral change. Since it is generally assumed that therapy is a learning process, then there are some advantages in group therapy. Much of our learning comes through imitation also there are others to imitate. It is also known that learning takes place more quickly when the individual has something in common with the people around him/her. A group of peers would then be ideal for that purpose. Also adaptive behavior is strengthened when reinforced by peers. Finally, the stimulus situation is closer to natural social

Cuban Missile Crisis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cuban Missile Crisis - Assignment Example This essay will investigate this important aspect of the Cold War in terms of the causes, effects, and resolution to understand it better. In 1956, the Cuban Revolution began as an offensive rebellion against the US’s influence and control of the island nation. Under President Batista, whom the majority of Cuban nationals considered an American puppet; Cuba’s per capita income was greater than other comparative countries. However, the United States controlled most of the nation’s primary infrastructure. American companies controlled more than 90% of the island’s power and telecommunications infrastructure. Additionally, they owned half of Cuba’s railway assets and facilities, as well as control of over 40% of Cuba’s sugar production and export industry. Additionally, the country’s agricultural policy dictated the cultivation of sugar by the populace mandatory. By the time Batista was ousted from power, Cuba had the highest American investments in the Latin American region. Unfortunately, the distribution of these resources and any attached wealth was not equal. The pover ty gap was at an all-time high, which was ironical for a country with such high per capita scores. These were the beginnings of a dissent from the American influence over Cuba. In the years that followed 1956, Fidel Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, and Castro younger brother Raul, orchestrated a series of guerilla attacks on the government’s forces in Mount Sierra Maestra. Immediately after defeating the government’s forces with the assistance of local farmers, Fidel Castro set up a shadow government that consisted of the former government’s ministerial figures. However, this shadow government did not last long as he dismissed them due to disagreements over his reform policies. Shortly after, he declared himself Prime Minister and assumed full control of Cuba. After taking over the Cuban leadership, Fidel Castro traveled to the United States to

Business Model of Amazon Essay Example for Free

Business Model of Amazon Essay Amazon.com is the pioneering bookstore on the Internet that first opened in July 1995 by Jeff Bezos. The firm offers online shopping services and partnership opportunities such as online search for books, music and video items. The products that they sell include an array of audio, video and book titles. Amazon has one of the widest selections and employs international shipping to virtually every corner of the globe in just a few days. Amazon’s focus is having the biggest selection of free-electronic greeting cards, online auction and millions of books, CDs, videos, DVDs, toys and electronics. They have expanded to different areas of the world, such as Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de, to service consumers outside of the United States. They aim to be a Cost leader in which their firm has lower costs than the competitors. They have employed different Amazon branches in different parts of the world to lower costs. This allows Amazon to ship their products at a lower price from each point of shipment to the consumer. In recent years, Amazon.com has expanded from being just an online bookstore to an all around online shopping experience. They have coined the tag line Earth’s biggest selection. Amazon has diversified into different websites. These are the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), LiveBid.com, amazon.livebid.com, drugstore.com (an online retail and information about health and wellness), gear.com (online sporting goods company), homegrocer.com (online grocery shopping and delivery), pets.com (largest pet supply online shopping site), ashford.com (online luxury and premium shopping) and eZiba.com (online retailer of handcrafted products). Five Forces Model for Industry Analysis New Entrants The online bookstore industry that Amazon.com has pioneered in was, at first, very hard to penetrate. There were different barriers such as distributing capabilities and the variety of the selection offered that are supposed to be hurdled. Amazon successfully solved the tricky parameters as being the first one to get into the whole idea of online retail. With being the first, they had the luxury to set what were the norms for the industry. Factors that may lower these barrier tactics would be a wider selection and the  ability to go to an actual bookstore to exchange or return books or other products. This network of actual retail spaces makes it easier for the consumer to return or exchange the products they were not satisfied with. These handicaps of Amazon were the basis for the emergence of book retail giants Barnes and Noble and Borders in the online shopping industry. Industry Competitors The major competitors of Amazon are Barnes and Noble and Borders. Barnes and Noble is a retail giant offering books and CDs both in their outlets all over the country. It opened their online industry in 1997 and has become the fourth largest e-commerce sites today. Focused largely on the sale of books, music, software, magazines, prints, posters, and related products, the company has capitalized on the recognized brand value of the Barnes Noble name to become the second largest, and one of the fastest growing, online distributors of books. Their advantage to Amazon is the brand name and the availability of actual retail outlets in which consumers could go in to exchange or return products easily. They also have an established book selection based in their retail operations. Borders is another multi-media retail store found in major cities around the country. Started out as a small bookshop in the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, it has since expanded into one of the finest bookstores. In 1992, Borders was bought by the Kmart group which further flourished the company into a Multi Media Giant with a wide selection of Audio, Video and Books found throughout the United States. The Online Bookstore industry have become a fierce business which involves discounts, varied selections and fast delivery in which all three companies are challenging each other. Buyers The consumers of this industry can be found in every corner of the population. These are mostly people who have had some form of higher education and have access to the Internet and computers. The segment of online shoppers has increased dramatically in recent years due to the convenience of shopping in the comforts of the home and the accessibility of the Internet. These developments have made it easier for consumers to log on and buy on the Internet. Consumers also tend to compare prices among the retail leaders such that buyers are able to buy products with very big  discounts compared to ones bought in actual retail outlets. The bargaining power of the consumer is based on the competitive strategies of each active firm in the industry. Thus, consumers can challenge one firm for charging more than the other one such that the firm will beat the price of the competing firm. Suppliers Amazon’s suppliers range from the publishing and media houses to electronics’ manufacturers. Amazon buys all their books, videos and audio CDs from the multi media houses and publishing giants such as Time Warner, Doubleday etc. Amazon also has alliances with other bookstores to cover orders that they cannot serve. Substitutes The substitutes for Amazon and other online bookstores are the actual book retailers and music stores such as Barnes and Nobles, Virgin Megastore, Tower Records, Sam Goody and other small mom-and-pop outlets. With the rise of online retail, there will be little impact from these substitutes. One impact would be some consumers who would like to hold or listen to their purchases prior to buying and those who are into the whole shopping experience. Barnes and Nobles have jumped into online retail and have succeeded into diversifying into the new e-commerce industry. Industrial Organization Model Degree of Competition Due to the shift of focus for Amazon, it has become the Earth’s biggest anything store. Its competitors have expanded from just online book retailers Barnes and Nobles and Borders to top audio retailers CDNOW.com and online auction house EBAY.com. Amazon has an overall lead of 40% market share against the other online retail firms. Their international business has more than doubled over the past 2 years and this growth increased Amazon’s share in the online business market. Life Cycle Amazon, in it’s first years, had negative income but the rise of e-commerce sites and being the pioneer made the succeeding years led to boom time for them. Their growth period was during 1994 to 1995 when they were the first of its kind in the world. They incurred very high costs in terms of  distributions to customers. Still with a negative income, Amazon went public in 1997 and had one of the biggest IPOs of the time. With investors banking on future positive cash flow for this company, Amazon’s market value soared. Many people caught on with the idea of online shopping, thus, Amazon’s success. Amazon’s success as an online retailer prompted bricks-and-mortar rivals Barnes and Noble and Borders to join in. Competition decreased Amazon’s profitability so in the past couple of years, Amazon has expanded to more than books, audio and video to electronics and other retail concepts. Social Relevance Amazon’s products are marketed for every consumer possible. Books, audio, video and electronics are appreciated by majority of the population especially those who have access to the Internet. Amazon is active in pursuing literacy programs for young children by collaborating with the makers of the Dr. Seuss books. They have actively participated in the Dr. Seuss shops, story telling sessions and Dr. Seuss days. Degree of Globalization Amazon’s strength internationally lies within its networks in major ports and cities around the Globe. Amazon first started out in Seattle but as soon as they have established a niche market, they have opened shop all over the nation and in cities such as London, Berlin, The Hague, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and many more. These branches overseas improves their delivery service to a wide consumer base. Extent of Government Control There has not been many government regulations regarding online retailing. A group of CEOs whose firms that are engaged in such practices have formed an organization called Global Business Dialogue. This GBD group supports the development of a seamless global system that delivers the broadest array of goods and services to the largest number of consumers at the most competitive prices. This work effort will: offer recommendations to the WTO, including making the moratorium on online tariffs permanent; and collaborate with governments to target and eliminate discriminations against, or other non-tariff barriers to global trade in, electronic commerce. This working group will also provide an avenue for the GBDs to consider and promote the  growth of the electronic marketplace in an environment unencumbered by detrimental taxation. Degree of Vertical Integration Amazon’s primary value chain includes purchasing/sourcing, marketing, distribution and after-sales services, which includes returns and exchanges from unsatisfied customers. Their main focus is in the purchasing/sourcing and in the distribution of the products to the consumers. Their investments are therefore, geared towards warehouses in key points of high consumer demand areas and an efficient delivery and distributing system to service all its consumers. Thus, Amazon controls most of its distributing system that spans across borders. Inter Organization of Network Economics Amazon in its efforts to sustain its market leadership in the online retailing industry has tied up with various online organizations. Netscape Navigator and Amazon will offer members of Netscape Netcenter a co-branded storefront where Earths Biggest Bookstore will be easily accessed through Netscape Netcenter (home.netscape.com). In addition, Amazon.com has multi-year exclusive and premier bookseller relationships with 5 of the top 6 sites on the World Wide Web: AOL.com, Yahoo!, Netscape, GeoCities, and Excite. These partnerships widen Amazon’s presence in the World Wide Web. Sensitivity to Business Cycles The Online retailing business has a very quick cyclical growth. Amazon being one of the firsts to venture in this type of commerce are all ready in what seems to be in their decline stage where market share is declining. Therefore, Amazon is expanding to different industries within online retailing. Amazon and other online retailing firms are very sensitive to business cycles due to the speed of technology involved in the services they offer. Dynamics of New Knowledge Generation Online retailing relies on the work of an excellent distribution system. Amazon has invested their money into expanding their network of distribution centers around the globe. They also have investments in creating better technology for tracking orders and giving efficient delivery systems for their customers. Amazon.com has remained on top of the online retailing  business despite the entrance of giants such as Barnes and Nobles and Borders. Their success is attributed to two factors; timing and continuing to invest heavily into the inventory and distribution systems. Amazon, by being the first of its kind, has a big lead over the nearest competitors due to their experience and its reputation as the first movers. Their thrust remains on improving efficient delivery systems across borders and to build name recognition as the number one retailing firm in the Internet. They have also ventured into different retail options to keep that lead. Marketing, Innovative inventory and distribution systems, and name recall have helped Amazon build a sustainable competitive advantage. In order for any online retail company to remain prosperous and income generating, they must invest a lot of time and money into research and development of more efficient operations and distributions systems. This proved to be key for the Market Leader in online retailing, Amazon.Com. Mary Grace Velasco,College of Business Administration,Senior, Fordham University,Fall 2000

The Major Environmental Issues In Bhutan Environmental Sciences Essay

The Major Environmental Issues In Bhutan Environmental Sciences Essay Bhutan is developing very rapidly and has experienced enormous transformation with these positive transformations, Bhutan face numerous challenges amongst which environmental issues are one of the major. Environmental issue includes waste management issue, pollution, population growth and deforestation. As an environmental student, it is important to know environmental issues and the way to tackle these issues. In this assignment, I have mentioned the major environmental issues and different ways in which these issues can be tackled. I would like to request our lecturer to kindly correct me and as are student myself, I admit there will be numerous mistakes. With great enthusiasm I did assignment and have learned a lot from this assignment. Some of major environmental issues in Bhutan Waste Management: Although the majority of Bhutanese people are being aware of waste management ¿Ã‚ ½s as they use the waste properly by dumping in the pit or in proper places. The main problem of waste management arises or took places in remote places and especially in labour camps, where waste is thrown carelessly. Thus there is a need to carry out waste management campaigns on a regular basis for different target groups. In order to help environmental conservation target specific problem areas, remote places and data has been further analyzed into gewogs wise. The remote gewogs were having highest waste management problems as they are uneducated, illiterate and they never think for their future sustainable. Waste management problem was reported as highest by students, followed by farmers, teachers and travelers as when travelers are going for tour they throw waste out of the car or buses. Thus waste management camping need to be organized on a regular basis targeting also transp ort owners and travelers as well. On the waste disposal practice 88 percent disposed there waste in proper places followed by one person each who dispose waste in the river, forest and also buried the waste and 9 percent did not respond. Although majority of the target groups seems to dump their waste in the pit but it is also a concern that some do not dump their waste improperly. thus there is need to train people and educate on proper waste management methods based on the three principles of reduce, reuse and recycle is possible and also to segregate waste into degradable and non -biodegradable and train people make fertilizer out of degradable or organic waste. Pollution is contamination of the environment by a chemical other agent such as noise or heat that is harmful to human health and survival. Polluting chemicals can affect the environment directly such as from volcanic eruptions or through human activities such as burning coals and gases. Dumping of chemical into river and other ocean will also lead to polluting the environment negatively. Pollution can be categorized as water, soil, noise, thermal and nuclear pollution. This is all due to short-term economic gain made by human. So it can be solved by charging external cost high on those goods which have high pollution on environment. According to the census of 2003 the population of Bhutan is 6,34,982 and its growth rate is 2 percent per year.(CAPSED,BHSEC XII text) When the population is growing at a rapid rate it will lead to affect on environment as they need more land for cultivation and even for construction of houses for survival. When there is more population it leads to the usage of more resources, even for their own benefits and as a result there will be no proper sustainable developing for future and even poor people they can start doing fishing, attacking animals and species for their survival and it will lead to development of a countries economy as if there is more people there will be more labor force and country will achieve more trading it is very harmful to the environment as there is chances of wasting resources and no proper sustainable in the country. But when a country is going high on economic growth it will help in making the proper use of the resources and they will use high skilled labor force to utilize properly and think for the future purpose. Precious plant and trees are becoming extinct as a result of clearing of the forest. The requirement of land for big open cast projects or plans is quite large. Many of the forest areas, many a times, are converted to fields. There for large forest areas are deforested to make a way for large open cast factories or industries. For that reason we have to organize some methods to preserve our environment such as planting trees in prone areas, practice of aforestation methods. Consumer is the one who have right to stop worldwide deforestation. Being a part of consumer we have right to charge high on those companies who have high environmental effect. By buying recycled or certified wood products, only supporting brands with zero deforestation policies, and getting others to do the same by sending a message to companies to embrace zero deforestation policies. So many trees are cut down and burned in rural areas. The only reason to do so is to practice temporary agriculture such as Tseri culture or shifting cultivation. Those lands are used till its productivity declines. As the productively, people has the tendency to select new plot of land and produce the same method. Such agricultural methods have resulted in environmental problem. Environment conservation policy and strategy of Bhutan Environmental conservation is not a new concept to Bhutanese. It has always been at the center of national development thinking and policy making. Over a year government set up a strong conservation policies and law has evolved to ensure protection, management and sustainable use of biodiversity resources. Bhutan conservation policies and laws are contributing to the overarching national development objective of GNH. This is based on sustainable development as one of its four pillars. According to the constitution of the kingdom of Bhutan, which enshrines environmental conservation as a constitutional mandate.(Consituation,2008) Renewable natural Resources sector policy. The RNR sector policy give importance on attaining greater national food security, conserving and managing natural resources, enhancing rural income, and generating farm based employment opportunities. Objectives: To encourage economic development that has respect for long term sustainable development on the countrys resources, comparative advantages, and community based self help institutions. To pursue balance and equitable development of the country renewable natural resources, distributions of benefits among their society and regions. To be sensitive and responsive to the rich culture heritage of the country and its preservation. Community forest management It was introduced in the country in the 1980s. Its main objective was to improve local forest conditions through community management Enhancing socio-economic benefits to the local communities in terms of increased access to forest products such as timber, fuel wood, fodder and non-wood forest products. It is responsible for all the communities ¿Ã‚ ½ member such as chair person. Resub which means responsible for taking care of forest and looking after the person whether they are doing harm on forest or not. Not only the community member but it is also responsible for all the citizen of Bhutan to take care of our rich environment. Until 2001, there was only one community forest unit, which was established with the community of Dozam village in Dramatis gewog, Mongar in 1997. Since 2001, a total of 117 community forest units collectively covering 15,489 ha of forest land have been established across the country and lastly landmark year for the community forest management program were in 2008. (UNDP, MOA, DOF, 2009). Environmental Protection Act, 2007: Bhutan has a long tradition of living in harmony with nature, which is firmly by the resolution of the parliament to maintain a minimum of sixty percent of countrys land under forest cover in perpetuity.( Environmental Protection Act, 2007.)Objectives: This act organizes mainly to provide for the establishment of an effective system to conserve and protect environment through the National Environment Commission or its successor, designation of competent authorities and constitution of other advisor competitive, so as to independently regulate and promote sustainable development in an equitable manner and also the people and government in succession shall consider and adopt it developmental policies, plans and programs in harmony with the environment principles. (Environmental act, 2008) MINES AND MINERALS MANGEMENT ACT, 1995: The mineral management and mines Act was introduced in 1995. Its main objectives are preservation, protection, sitting of environmental standards and conservation of natural resources constant with the provision of the Act and other environmental legislation as a critical feature of mining practice. It is responsible for both business firm and government sector to restoration of areas that are mined is carried out in a proper manner with the objective of creating sustainable and acceptable environment as approved by the national environment commission. In exercise of the powers conferred by article 50 of the mines and minerals management Act of 1995, the ministry of trade, industry mines and minerals management regulations 2002. They kept records of mining operation including environmental protection quality standards adopted by the national environment commission. (MINES AND MINERALS MANGEMENT ACT, 1995) ENVIRONMENTAL CONESRVATION POLICY IN BHUTAN: Bhutans development philosophy is most well enunciates in the statement of His Majesty the King Jigme Singye Wangchuk said that, Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.(Majhi, 2005 p228) From the concept of GNH it changed the mind of Bhutanese people and they are having concern to our rich biodiversity and environment in accordance with international standards may have unwillingly contributed to a hardening of traditional attitudes and values. And also Bhutanese people are organizing some organization which is related to environment preserve and promote environment for sustainable development. They realizes that main source of their income is from environment and gained some sense of respect to environment and doing work on reforestation. For example, if they are cutting down if two trees for construction purpose, in return they are planting doubled environment. They are giving more important to rules and regulations passed by the government which is r elated to environment. The success of environmental conservation is community forest management as government is giving full responsible to each and every gewogs in Bhutan for the conservation purpose and it is responsible for all the gewog chairpersons to take care of it. And chairperson has full power of royalties. He/she has to submit records to government agency as how many trees are lost in previous year and for what purpose. For the shortcoming natural disaster, it is responsible for all the Bhutanese people to plant trees in prone areas. The chairperson is responsible to report to government about any consequences on environment. They are responsible to take care of the forest and protect the forest. The budgets generated are divided among members charging small rate of interest. Members are allowed to enjoy the products of the forest legally. In this industrialized world where technologies have the revolution of human worlds environmental disasters are very much prompt and delicate. Modern technologist has far reaching affects such as air pollution, water pollution, and even the eco-system is disturbed. Human habitation with implementation of advanced technologies has caused immense destruction to the environment and perhaps this would eventually lead to unbalancing in eco-system. As every nation in the world faces unavoidable environmental issues, Bhutan too shares its own severe consequences. However, with the emerged of National Environmental Commission and other agencies, Bhutan particularly adopted and implements different environmental policies and strategies to minimize the destruction causes to the environment. In spite of the effort from the government, environment issues are still irresistible. REERECNCE Bharuch,E.(2005).Text book of Environmental studies for under graduate courses.University press. India. Gyeltshen.k (2008),Evaluation report on environmental education program in Thimshingla national park. kuensel corporation limited, Thimphu. Gurung.T(2009), Biodiversity action plan 2009.KMT printing press, Thimphu. Majhi,C.P.(2005), Economics class 12 BHSEC .Megah publication, Thimphu By: Dawa Penjor E.no: 101308 Eco and Evs

Men Are Aggressors And Women Are Victims

Men Are Aggressors And Women Are Victims Men are aggressors and women are victims is a very stereotypical view might be held by the majority of society and by some of the first criminologists; however criminology has evolved to try and understand how this stereotype has come to be seen as the norm within crime. They also try exploring whether this stereotype is in fact true or whether there are various differences. To understand the part of this stereotype that women are victims we must first look into the role of a victim. The role of a victim is essential in initiating the criminal justice process as the majority of offences which come to the attention of the police are reported to them by victims of these offences; their two roles within the criminal justice system are that of reporting the crime and providing evidenced that the crime has been committed. This role of the victim is different than in days gone by when the crime was controlled by individual and community self-regulation, as crimes were seen to be a private matter between offender and victim and so it was up to the victim and their family to decide if they went to court or not and would play the role of prosecutor rather than victim. Nils Christie (1986) explained how in the role of victim there is an ideal victim such as an elderly woman or a child, both seen as an ideal victim as they are seen as weak and deserving of help and care, on the other hand young men are seen as not as deserving of help and sympathetically and so are not as likely to be seen as true victims. This shows that the stereotype of only women as victims and men as aggressors is not true as it may just be that men are not seen as much of victims of an offence than a woman might be. There are many social variables which determine a persons likelihood to be a victim, one of which is gender. It has been shown from crime surveys that men are in actual fact more likely to be victims of violent attacks but that women are more likely to be victimised in the home. This shows how men can be victims and not just the aggressors who commit the acts, but it also shows how women can also still be victims and that perhaps different genders are victims of different types of attacks. For example men aged between 17 and 32 make up 7 per cent of the population but 25 per cent of all murder victims (Dorling, 2012) this is a greater percentage than women between these ages that are murdered proving how men can be more likely to be a victim than a women in certain crimes. This is true also by the fact that women are more likely to be the victim of reported and unreported sexual offences and are more likely to experience repeated unwanted attention such as stalking than men. However when it comes to a whole number of crimes it can be difficult to make judgements as to whether men or women are more likely to be victims as there are many forms on gendered crime such as forced prostitution and sex trafficking which are more likely to have female victims. A study conducted by the NSPCC in 2009 on people aged between 13-18 found that a third of girls and only 16% of boys had experienced sexual violence (Barter et al., 2009) This shows how girls are more likely to be a victim of this type of crime; although this statistics may not be entirely accurate because some people especially boys may not want to admit to being raped as it is more humiliating because of their gender. The study also showed how 12% of boys and only 3% of girls reported committing sexual violence against their partners (Barter et al., 2009); so this could be used to show how men are more likely to be aggressors; however these statistics are related to specific crimes and not all reported crimes and so are not proof of the men are aggressors and women are victims stereotype. Men as victims challenges the victim stereotype about who can be a victim, the lack of understanding of potential impacts on men this lack of perceived victimhood can have points to the lack of large-scale surveys on male victimisation, although these surveys may not be answered correctly as men could perceive being known as a victim as a threat to their masculinity. This means men may not answer surveys correctly as they do not want to be seen as a victim or they do not see themselves as a victim such as in cases of domestic abuse as if they were attacked by their female partner they may not see it as a real crime as no actual damage was done to themselves. There has been a sort of gender myopia within criminology in which early criminologists did not look into crimes committed by women, Heidensohn (1968) how this exclusion of women from criminology excluded half of society in understanding deviance and that other aspects of women and their lives are of interest to social sciences and that as gender differences are well reported in crime such as men committing more crime on the whole then women why then where they not well investigated. When criminologists did look into female offending they did not go as in depth with male criminology. Cesare Lombroso was an early positivist criminologist who used physiognomy to explain why some people commit crimes creating and anthropological criminology in which crime was thought to be inherited and that criminals could be identified from their physical features and that all criminals had certain physical features in common such as a small or weak chin and long arms. Lombroso penned a book with Guglielmo Ferrero in 1895, The Female Offender in this they tried to explain female criminals. They stated how when a woman does turn to crime how she is a monster and that her wickedness must have been enormous before it could triumph over so many obstacles. They also held the belief like many of their time that women ranked lower on the evolutionary scale than men, so were more primitive and so they suggested that female criminals would not be as visible as male criminals and would show fewer signs of degeneracy than males. So Lombroso and Ferrero stated how female criminality was down to their biology and a female criminal is an abnormal woman but also as they were like a man often more ferocious (Ferrero and Lombroso, 1895). So although early criminologists were aware of female offenders they put this down to the abnormality of a women being manlier and ferocious therefore it is not just a man who can be an aggressor. Further exploration into any other causes of female criminality bar abnormality and masculine traits were not much looked into until the next century after The Female Offender was published. The absence of qualitative research also meant that women were neglected from criminology, they are also seen and represented as helpmates rather than instigators of serious crime such as Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the 1960s; he was seen as the instigator and she as a manipulated helper in killing and hiding the murders of several children. Some criminological theories attempted to explain female offending such as the learning theories which explain it by the fact male crime was glamorised in the media and encouraged women to commit crime. Because of this lack of thought into female offenders they were often seen as abnormal to other females as a criminal cannot be neutral when the norm is taken to be male and so women are measured to the degree to which they deviated from this norm and if they did offend and thus would be institutionalised for their own protection. Because of this previous treatment many think this leniency has carried on into the current criminal justice system causing the chivalry debate (Pollak, 1950) where a female offender might not be treated or judged as harshly as a male counterpart by a for instance a male judge who is sentencing her for a crime. This thinking of female offenders being abnormal from the rest of women reinforced the women as victims not as the aggressors stereotype and Pollak (1950) talks about this behaviour from certain women meaning them being seen as devious women. Female criminals are seen as twice as deviant as they have gone against the law and also against their prescr ibed gender role; this double deviance has reinforced the stereotype of women as victims so therefore they have not been twice as deviant even though in committing the same acts a man would only be seen as being deviant by going against the law and that his gender role is played along with as deviance is seen as a more male trait and thus males are seen to be more likely an aggressor than a victim. This silence of female offending in criminology could be explained by social gender inequalities, a low public profile as female crime could be seen as the wrong sort of crime, and it could also be difficult to accommodate gender perspectives in traditional criminological theories, the traditional feminisation of victimhood and masculinisation of aggression. There have been several theories and perspectives as to why women are perhaps committing more crimes such as Simon (1993) womens greater opportunities and skills increased participation in labor force and years of schooling, have increased their propensity to commit criminal acts, especially property and white-collar offenses. Adler (1975) explains how women seem to be becoming more violent and aggressive and that perhaps this is why they are committing more crimes. Because of this lack of research into female offenders, feminist criminology emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, as it could not be doubted that female criminals existed and seem to be on the rise as does female delinquency although this could be due to the media sensationalising female offenders there has been a veritable siege of news stories with essentially the same theme girls are in gangs and their behaviour in these gangs does not fit the stereotypical and traditional stereotype (Chesney-Lind, 1997). There are many different sub-sects of feminist theory each dealt with specific problems such as liberal feminism which deals with discrimination. This rise of research into female criminality lead in turn to more exploration and a deeper understanding of male crime and masculinity within crime and the differences between men and women and offending; showing that masculinity although perceived as a male criminal factor could also be apparent in women and that masculinity is not static and can be effected by context. There is also no clear notion of masculine identity meaning that although aggression is seen as a masculine trait that it can be apparent in both sexes and thus the stereotype that only men can be aggressors is false. Feminist criminologys concern is the marginalisation of women as subject matters in other criminological theories, because of the lack of theorising female offenders and then the lack of empirical investigations into the topic. The feminist critique also includes the lack of research into female victimisation and male violence against women and they argued that the majority of attention on how the criminal justice system affects male offenders and not female offenders. They argued that criminology in general held a rather uncritical attitude towards gender stereotypes, leading to the doubly-deviant debate (Llyod, 1995). Works such as Dobash and Dobashs (1992) Women, Violence and Social Change challenged the mainstream ideas around vicitimology and made the various forms and extent of female victims more visible. Feminist critique explores the gender gap apparent within the criminal justice system which went beyond early criminologists views such as Pollaks (1950) chivalry thesis whic h plays upon the existing stereotypical gender roles and patriarchal values to develop a more sophisticated gender analysis. As masculinity is seen in criminology as a male criminal contributor, the feminist criminology critique has allowed for the revealing of the power that underpins masculinity and its effect on the genders such as how males are obliged to live up to their gender role and so any criminal or deviant behaviour could be linked to them trying to fulfil their male role. The feminist approach shows a new side that builds on gender role theory and so helps criminology to move away from strict biological explanations such as those by Ferrero and Lombroso. So masculinity is viewed as an expression of difference from feminism behaviours but masculinity becomes representative of heterosexual power in this way and is normative and valued. So the feminist critique helps to explore gender template roles. Although the feminist critique shows how deviant acts committed by males are an example of men trying to fulfil their male role, this approach also points to a hierarchy of masculine types. This masc ulinity is not only confined to males but masculinity can change meaning over time and so there is no single masculinity. The feminist understanding of masculinity seeks to move past the simplistic stereotype of men as aggressors and women as victims and instead suggests that male identities are all different and that there is diversity this way in both genders. This leads to a questioning of previous positivist biological approaches such as Ferrero and Lombrosos work and other positivist works which try to use on universal explanation for female crime and the idea of crime is maleness as a beginning point. Feminist theory has allowed for the deconstruction of the stereotypical view of men as aggressors or criminals and women as vulnerable and conforming to a victim role. However the most consistent and dramatic findings from Lombroso not postmodern criminology is not that criminals are working classà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but that most criminals are, and always have been, men (Cain, 1989). So men in general do commit more crimes then women but this does not confirm the stereotype of men are aggressors and women are victims as there is still room for women to be aggressors and men to be victims. Table 1 http://crimlinks.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/population-in-prison-by-gender.png?w=490h=79 This table shows the population in prisons by gender 30 June 2007 (MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, 2012). Each year it shows how there is a vast gap between numbers of women and men, however this may not necessarily mean men commit more crimes than women but that maybe they are more likely to commit more violent crimes and thus end up in prison as it is a harsher sentence and women may just commit as many crimes but of a different sort such as stealing and not go to prison and be sentenced to community service. Graph 1 This graph (Office for National Statistics, 2013) shows the incidents of intimate violence in the last year among adults of both genders aged 16 to 59, in 2011/12. These figures help to prove the stereotype that women are the victims are not always true as more men (2% more) interviewed reported being victims of violence than women. However 2% more women reported themselves as being victims of initiate violence than men. Literature on female violence usually has two central themes. The first is that even women are just as violent as men this is hidden in some sort of conspiracy as women should be seen as passive and men as the violent gender stereotype a small percentage of violent crime has always been committed by women (Pollock and Davis, 2005). This theory has been quashed by many writers such as Pearson (1997) who provides evidence of women who have killed their own children, helped killers and who killed their husbands and many other examples to show how women are violent and she argues they have always been as violent and predatory as men. This disproves the women as victims and not aggressors stereotype. There are also statistics which back up the women as the aggressors and committers of crime and not just men theory women commit the majority of child homicides in the United States (Pollock and Davis, 2005). However Jones (2009) argues that the women crime waves that seem to be apparent actu ally correlates with womens liberation movements and so women may receive different reactions from law enforcement then previous leading to increases of arrests and thus women crime waves. She also argues that the reason the women as victims and men as aggressors stereotype is still prevalent is due to men fearing powerful women, however her description ignores that women are less likely to murder than men; so the stereotype of men being more likely to be aggressors and so commit crime is true, even though women can too be aggressors. Even though women for some reason, they kill, rob, and assault much less often than men (Pollock and Davis, 2005); this makes it difficult for feminist criminology to figure out why women are less likely to be aggressors than men as no clear unanimous reasons seem to exist. The second theme is that more women are becoming violent than ever before and that numbers of violent and criminal acts committed by women are increasing; said to be due to womens liberation movements changing socialisation. This idea is based on percentage increases in women committing and being convicted of crime however as the numbers of women who commit these crimes are so small it wont take many to seem as though there has been a large increase Schaffner (1999) is one writer who discusses a rise in violent crime among young females uses these percentage increases. But she notes that the percentage increases can be influenced by small numbers; she infers that the rise may be due to females witnessing violence in their own home and on the streets but these factors may not be any different to times gone by when women in the 19th century witnessed these same factors yet were less likely to commit crime. Although men are aggressors and women are victims is a rather stereotypical viewpoint it can be the case given that more men commit crimes and are in jail and thus are aggressors and that women are more likely to be a victim of certain crimes such as rape. However feminist criminologists amongst others have shown how women can also be aggressors and commit crimes, although the reasons for this is not as well known or researched as it is for men. It is also clear from crime figures that men are more likely to be victims than women of certain crimes such as murder. So men are more likely to be aggressors overall but women can be aggressors too and men can be more likely to be victims of certain crimes. So the stereotype of men are aggressors and women are victims does hold some merit when taken as a sweeping statement for all crime but there are certain errors in this statement when we look closer into gender and crime.

Anthropology :: Anthropological Culture Essays

Anthropology Works Cited Missing Anthropology is a discipline studying flux and change in human communities and definitions of identity, mirroring the dynamic play of modernist reconceptualizations of meaning. As an academic discipline, anthropology demands a realization of the interconnectedness between human groups, a heightened abstraction of vocabulary and tools with which to articulate these connections, and self reflexive sensitivity to its history. In this same vein, modernism, as a movement of avant-garde ideas and art forms, draws community to study of itself, demands its own vocabulary of critique, and harkens back to the history of events that prompted the movement. Perhaps the clearest reflection of modernity in anthropology is found in dynamic cities and the birth of â€Å"industrial mass societies† (Rodrigues and Garratt 94). Just as modernist ideas were stimulated by rivers â€Å"of images and sounds jostling for attention† in the city, so to did this urban growth invigorate modern anthropology (33). Pursuing new forms of recording field work and transcending common modes of thought, modern anthropologists enjoy a veritable playground of new anthropological themes and circumstances. Evolving consumer items, fashions and entertainment demand an exponential reconfiguration of vocabulary to fit new inventions of community and individual identity. Methods of describing human beings through enhancing quantitative data and statistical information create more distinct categories of people, and provoke internal deconstructions of purpose and intention in field work. Reconfigurations of self within city communities blooms with exposure to different systems of living and thinking. In these reconfigurations, anthropology confronts the â€Å"glaring blind spots† of gender and race representations within the discipline, as modernity did through post-modernism (128). Today, women and minorities are anthropologists vital to the field, and anthropologists embrace a fuller reconceptualizing of their own identity in political-economic and socially roles. Self-reflexive, anthropologists reinterpret their motives within new communities again and again, just as modernist artists challenge audiences to reinterpret assumptions and motives of art, music and literature.

Until All The Men Are Back :: essays research papers

Until All The Men Are Back 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and goes after the lost sheep until he finds it? 'And, when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and goes home. 'Then he calls [everyone] and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep''; (Jesus Christ: Luke 15:4-6).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For some thirty years, two thousand four hundred thirteen (2,413) souls have been crying out for freedom, but they are waiting as lost sheep for their shepherd to find. The title, whether Prisoner Of War, Missing In Action, or Killed In Action b.n.r. (body not recovered) matters not. There is terrible wrong that continues to be allowed to perpetrate the halls of the United States Congress and the office of the President. The United States government considers these men and women more easily pronounced dead than becoming stuck within the quagmire of Vietnam investigations again. The majority attitude is to remember them in a past tense manner, a manner of 'out of sight, out of mind.';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The POW/MIA personnel took an oath upon entry into the armed forces, which the United States government needs to reciprocate. Within the context of this oath are phrases such as 'I am prepared to give my life in [my country's] defense.'; There are sworn words such as 'I will never forget that I am an American and dedicated to the principles which made my country free.'; The men and women falling under the aforementioned titles of POW, MIA or KIA (b.n.r.) need the same commitment shown them as the sheep in the scriptural quote above. The shepherd, the people of the United States, should commit to finding the lost and bring them back to the flock. This must be our mutual oath to the ones sitting day and night, year after year in the dejection and despondency of a prison.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As written by Dennis Johnson in his poem 'Missing in Action,'; he speaks in the first person tense of one missing: I am an MIA still waiting here today. In a war that no one wanted I was lost and left behind. I did nothing to dishonor yet you still dishonor me. How can you disremember when my soul is not yet free? I am here because you left me. It's so simple, don't you see?

Promoting good governance makes vigilance awareness Essay

Vigilance makes preparedness to be watchful always and sense the happening around oneself. People always have wrong approach towards vigilance as they perceive vigilance as enquiry, fixing responsibility etc. Vigilance is not investigation but it is prevention. To punish and not to prevent is like pumping the water through a pump without arresting the leakages which result in wastage of water, energy and time. Why do organizations need vigilance:- An organization protects itself from external dangers through creating security and posting manpower to guard against such threats. The role of vigilance is to protect organization from internal dangers which are more serious than external threats. Responsibility of Employees in Vigilance Matters: Vigilance officer should be own officer;All men are vigilance people-raising awareness level. Vigilance very essential ; All officers should work for the same target/goal. Vigilance is not confined to a particular individual or set up. All public servants should be honest. They also have a responsibility towards the nation to help the organization to discharge vigilance functions effectively by bringing to the notice of organization about the activities of dishonest employees. Need for Preventive Vigilance Preventive vigilance plays an important role in strengthening the vigilance set up of any organization. There has been a wide spread realization that punitive vigilance alone cannot be the foundation of an efficient vigilance machinery. In punitive vigilance, the vigilance wing reacts to complaints or information of specific instances of mala fide action, verifies such information and then proceeds against the erring officials. VIGILANCE AND E-GOVERNANCE Vigilance means watchfullness or to bring awareness. Vigilance came into existence mainly for the purpose of fighting corruption. Corruption involves misuse of power , money ,government property etc. Though corruption can’t be brought down to zero level, we can try to bring it as low as possible. This can be ensured by watchfulness, caution and vigilance. Or in other words it can be achieved by E-Governance. Corruption is anti national, anti poor and anti economic development. According to the UNDP Report on Human Development 1999 on South Asia, if the corruption level in India goes down to that of Scandinavian Countries, the GDP will grow by 1.5% and Foreign Direct Investment will go up by 12%. Corruption is anti poor because nearly 30% of the food grains and sugar meant for the public distribution system disappear in the black market. Corruption literally takes away the food from the mouths of the poor people for whom food security by way of the public distribution systems is devised by the government. Corruption is anti national as revealed by the Bombay blasts of 1993 when the customs officials who were bribed permitted the smuggling of the RDX which resulted in the death of 300 people. M/s Transparency International, a Berlin based non-government organisation has ranked India 73 out of 99 countries in the Corruption Perception Index. This refers to the perception of the degree of co rruption as seen by business people, risk analysts and the general public. It ranges from 10 (highly clean) to zero (highly corrupt). Denmark appears at the top of the list with a score of 10 and India figures at 73 with a score of 2.9. Fighting corruption is too important an activity to be left only to the Central Vigilance Commission. The Commission therefore proposes to launch a systematic campaign against corruption by involving all members of the civil society in fighting this social evil. The first step in this campaign is to educate the people about the dangers of corruption and sensitize them about the evil consequences of corruption. Participative Vigilance Definition Participative Vigilance refers to participation of everyone in curbing the corruption. At organization level it refers to participation of all internal and external stakeholders in curbing the corruption. Necessity In recent times many scams such as 2G, COLGATE, Procurement of Tatra Trucks and allocation of defence spectrum by ISRO has rocked the country. The spread and magnitude of the amount involved indicates that the corruption is deeply rooted in our democracy. Widespread corruption cannot be rooted out â€Å"just by 300 people sitting in the CVC but each and every citizen of the country must contribute towards building a TEAM India where T stands for technology and transparency, E for efficiency and empowerment, A for audit trail and accountability and M for metrics measurement and mutual cooperation,† After the move by the Civil Society led by Anna Hazare the awakened citizens might ask from themselves what is it that I can do to check corruption in my country instead of merely expecting that somebody else can do something to check corruption. CVC Approach First time on 31 October -2011 Participative Vigilance was the theme of Vigilance Awareness Week circulated by CVC. The practice of observing the Vigilance Awareness Week was initiated by the CVC in 2000. 31st October was chosen as the commencement date for the Vigilance Awareness Week, because that was the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who represented the best tradition of integrity in Indian politics. CVC has recently-launched â€Å"Vig-Eye†, a user-friendly platform for citizens to complain against corrupt officials by an SMS, was aimed at participative vigilance and would be able to reach 50 million people in the country. Tools in the hands of citizen to curb Corruption At the individual level, there are adequate resources available for any concerned citizen to play a role in checking corruption. 1. Right to Information Act 2005. 2. Lokpal bill E-Governance is the use of various modern information and communication technologies such as internet, local area networks, mobile phones,etc., by the government to promote democracy and minimize the corruption level. Simply e-governance is electronic management and electronic controllership. Therefore vigilance and e-governance are required for ensuring corruptionless functioning of any private, public or government organisation. In order to achieve this purpose, govenment has implemented various online services under national e-governance plan like property registration, railway reservation, pensions, passport, visa , company affairs, land records, e-courts, etc.Here we will discuss some of the examples and we will see how they are proven to be effective, not only for fighting against corruption but also for improving the efficiency, effectiveness and comfortness of public. Following are the examples of online service under National E-Governance Plan Income Tax A. Central Excise B. Passport/VISA C. Road Transport D. Property Registration E. Pensions F. Gram Panchayats (Rural) G. Agriculture H. Municipalities I. Employment Exchange J. Land Records K. Company Affairs L. Police M. Railway Reservation N. E-Courts Here we will discuss some examples and we will see how they are proven effective tools of vigilance for not only fighting against corruption but also improving effectiveness, efficiency and comfortness of public. Online Delivery of Land Titles in Karnataka, India Previously(i.e. Before the computerization of The Department of Revenue in Karnataka), farmers had to seek out the Village Accountant to get a copy of the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) — a document needed for many tasks such as obtaining bank loans. There were delays and harassment. Bribes had to be paid. Land owners find it difficult to access the Village Accountant, as his duties entail traveling. The time taken by Village Accountants to provide RTCs has ranged from 3 to 30 days depending upon the importance of the record for the farmer and the size of the bribe. A typical bribe for a certificate could range from Rs.100 to Rs.2000. If some details were to be written in an ambiguous fashion, out of selfish motives, the bribe could go up to Rs.10,000. Land records in the custody of Village Accountant were not open for public scrutiny. But Now (i.e. after the computerization of The Department of Revenue in Karnataka) for a fee of Rs.15, a printed copy of the RTC can be obtained online at computerized land record kiosks (Bhoomi centers) in 140 taluk offices. Without delaying and any bribe. The Bhoomi software incorporates the bio-logon metrics system, which authenticates all users of the software using their fingerprint. A log is maintained of all transactions in a session. This makes an officer accountable for his decisions and actions. The government also has plans to web-enable the database to make available to the farmer a copy of the land record locally through an Internet kiosk — although without signature such a copy will only have an informative value. This scheme also useful for preventing lands-scam Due to availability of all the data related to land is at a common server. Computerized Interstate Check Posts in Gujarat Gujarat has an extensive road network, which carries a large volume of commercial traffic. Major highway systems link Dehli to Mumbai and provide the principal link to the Kandla sea port on Gujarat’s west coast. Gujarat’s 10 check posts are positioned at the border with three neighboring Indian states. Nearly 25,000 transport vehicles enter daily through these check posts. Trucking companies want to maximize their earnings from each vehicle. Often this has prompted transporters to load their trucks beyond permissible axle load, creating a serious safety hazard. Previously (i.e. before the computerization), a suspect vehicle is flagged to a stop, and then weighed on a weigh bridge located away from traffic. The legal penalty for overload is Rs 2,000 per ton. However, any fine often has been (illegally) negotiated The problem of corruption was particularly difficult to attack as the corrupt were backed by politicians. In the absence of any systematic inspection of vehicles, the transport companies also adopted various illegal practices. Duplicate copies of a single registration book from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) have been used for many different vehicles, using fake license plates. In the computerized process, all the check posts are monitored at a central location using video cameras installed at every check post cabin. The video camera captures the registration number of all trucks approaching the check post. (There are flood-lights and traffic lights which make the check posts appear like a runway at night.) Software converts the video image of the registration number to a digital form and the details of the truck are accessed from a central data base. An electronic weigh bridge captures the weight and the computer issues a demand note for fine, automatically. Through the use of computers and other electronic devices at 10 remote interstate border check posts in Gujarat, India, a team of savvy public officials have reduced corruption and significantly increased the state’s tax revenue. Online Indian Railway Train Status and reservation System: Before the computerization system it was very difficult to know the availability of seat and getting reservation without paying additional money. Passenger has to pay additional money inside the train also. But after computerization availability of seat are known to all also passenger can himself book ticket online, it reduces the money handling (dealing) in other words we can say its reducing the corruption. Also auto up gradation of passenger tickets increases the revenue to Indian railways and decreases the additional income (bribe) to TTC. Work Progress Monitoring System: This software is intensively used in all type of industry to monitor the work progress of company/ section/ individual. This is not directly relate with money corruption but it is dealing with monitoring corruption which include delaying of projects/works which leads to increase hidden cost of company also leads to inefficient work. Conclusion: Now we can say vigilance and e governance are complementary to each other. To prevent or minimize the corruption we have to have transparent system which can be achieve by deploying E-governance in all sector and everywhere. But the biggest challenge of deploying e-governance is not technology but change management. Change management is important not only in terms of cultural change but also in terms of changing operations and processes workflow that the automated environment will introduce. â€Å"E-governance, however, is not really the use of IT in governance but as a tool to ensure good governance. E-governance does not mean proliferation of computers and accessories; it is basically a political decision which calls for discipline, attitudinal change in officers and employees, and massive government process re-engineering