Huckleberry Finn Paper Essay

The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, by Mark Twain, is a book filled with satire, adventure, and much controversy. The book is written during the eighteen forties and takes place before abolition. In the story, a young boy named Huckleberry Fin escapes from his father and goes on an adventure in hopes of starting a new life. During this adventure, Huck witnesses many aspects of the real world and meets many new people as well. One of which is named Jim. Jim is a slave who ran away from his owner to try and become a free man. Huck befriends Jim and they start their adventure together. Mark Twain uses these characters to show how racism, in a society where racism is accepted, can be eliminated. I think his book improved race relations in the past and present. The book was published after slavery was abolished, but many people were still racist. His powerful themes and messages most definitely had an impact on many people and their thoughts on slavery and racism in the past and present. Some may have thought of this book as just a child’s book or may have thought nothing of it, but after reading this book I think otherwise. There are examples from the book to support this claim. After Huck befriends Jim, they go on an adventure and Huck experiences the real world and its racism. The society in which this book takes places accepts the idea of racism. They think that just because black people are a different skin color, they are inferior and are unequal. However, Huck breaks this race barrier while he is with Jim. Huck sees that Jim is a regular human being just like him, even though they are different skin colors. Jim is said to be somewhat of a fatherly figure and Huck accepts this. Jim is thought of this way because Huck says that he feels comfortable and safe around Jim and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Huck says, â€Å"Jim, this is nice,† I says. â€Å"I wouldn’t want to be nowhere else but here. Pass me along another hunk of fish and some hot corn-bread†(Twain 37). When Huck says this, it makes things seem like racism doesn’t exist and the racial barrier between blacks and whites no longer exists. Huck is joyous to be with Jim and wouldn’t give it up for the world. This quote becomes an important theme in the book as it reminds the reader over and over that a racial barrier does not demolish the friendship that Jim and Huck share. In the society that Huck grew up in, whites believed that all blacks were  thieves, liars, and were considered as property. This is very hypocritical because there are many of whites who fit the criteria of thieves and liars as well. Mark Twain made sure to add this hypocrisy into his book. He did this by involving two characters known as the Duke and the Dauphin. They are two men who travel from town to town stealing, scamming, and lying to people. It is completely ridiculous if whites judge another race by their skin color and then go do the same things they blame another race for doing. Now for an example to show what I mean. The Duke says, â€Å"Because Mary Jane will be in mourning from this out; and first you know the n***** that does up the rooms will get an order to box these duds up and put ’em away; and do you reckon a n***** can run across money and not borrow some of it?(Twain 134). The Duke and the Dauphin made a plan to pretend to be the brothers of a man name d Peter Wilks who had died. They would then take the money that was left behind from Mr.Wilks and run. The money left behind by Peter was intended for his real brothers and his family. The Duke and the Dauphin lie about who they are and then steal the money of a random man that they never knew. So it’s ok for whites to say that all black are thieves and liars, but when it comes to a white person it isn’t a big deal. I don’t think that is right at all and it is most definitely unfair. What the Duke and the Dauphin did was very enraging and should never be done. Later in the book the Dauphin sells Jim to a man named Mr.Phelps. Huck is very surprised and angry that the Dauphin did this. Huck then leaves the Duke and the Dauphin to rescue his best friend Jim. When Huck gets there, an old lady comes up to him and is very glad to see him. Huck later finds out that he is mistaken for Tom Sawyer and he uses this to his advantage. This mistake made by Mrs.Phelps helps Huck because it is now easier for him to find and rescue Jim. Huck says that he has to go get his bags from the boat that he came in and goes by himself. On the way, he finds Tom Sawyer on his way to Mrs.Phelps’ home. Tom is Mrs.Phelps’ nephew and she has mistaken Huck for Tom. Huck explains himself to Tom and this is where something very interesting happens. Huck says, â€Å"†¦And that is, there’s a n***** here that I’m a trying to steal out of slavery – and his name is Jim – old Miss Watson’s Jim†(Twain 170). Huck tells To m that he is trying to rescue Jim, but Tom’s response isn’t what someone might expect. Tom says, â€Å"I’ll help you steal him!†(Twain 170). This response said by Tom is very surprising, but it  shows that the racial barrier is broken and that there is a chance for people to not be racist. Tom was brought up in a society where racism was accepted and Tom was taught to be racist as well. However, Tom decides to help Huck and wants to rescue Jim. Mark Twain used important themes and issues that were present during his time in his book and blended them into the story very intelligently. It made people think about how racism isn’t right and that there is still hope for blacks and whites to be equal. I think that many people who read this book during the time it was published felt very strongly about racism being a problem. There are still many racist people today who would probably think nothing of this book; but those who aren’t racist would think this book has a powerful message and improves race relations.

Communication in Social Work Practice Essay

1 Social Work Theory & Practice. The Importance of Communication Skills in Social Work Practice. Introduction. Social work is a professional activity. Implicit in its practice are ethical principles, which prescribe the professional responsibility of the social worker. The primary objective of the code of ethics is to make implicit principles explicit for the protection of clients. (BASW, 1976). According to Thompson (2000) Social work involves working with some of the most disadvantaged sections of the community and with people who, for a variety of reasons, are experiencing major problems and distress, often with unmet needs and other difficulties that may at times seem intractable. Lishman (1994) purports a broader definition of Social Work, which involves entering into the lives of people who are in distress, conflict or 2 trouble. To do this requires not only technical competence but also qualities of integrity, genuineness and self-awareness. The Central Council for Education and Training in Social work (United Kingdom) has also set out core skills and characteristics for Social work outlined as follows; The importance of being able to communicate and engage, To be able to promote and enable, To achieve success in planning and accessing information, Intervening appropriately and providing services when necessary, Working competently with other organisations, Developing overall professional competence. So not only do social works need to adhere to ethics and values, they must also look inside themselves as people and seek out the skills necessary to work with various client groups and organisations. As mentioned, communication skills are vitally important, along with listening and analytical skills. Look more:  social process theories essay But it is also very important that the social worker be aware of him/herself, of 3 handing feelings or emotions that may arise through this line of work. Reflection is an important aspect, as well as creativity, sensitivity and humility. A major step forward in contemporary practice was the development of a Code of Ethics (1995), which further defined social work as: „ The primary focus of social work is working with individuals, families, and groups within their social context. Through the training, knowledge and skills which support a high standard of professionalism, the social work task is to facilitate and enable clients to identify options and make decisions for themselves so that they may develop strategies to effect improvement in the quality of their lives. Social work also focuses on issues of social policy, social administration and social justice and the betterment of society as a whole‟ (IASW, 1995: 1). Effective social work requires a multitude of interconnecting knowledge and skills backed up by the values, which underpin 4 good social work practice. To be able to provide a good service the social worker needs to be able to refer to, or call upon a wide body of knowledge. This knowledge base is quite extensive and detailed, as Thompson (2000,p73) points out, â€Å"practitioners are not realistically expected to know all of this knowledge base.† However a certain level of knowledge is essential, for example knowledge of the basics, things such as relevant legislation, theories and techniques involved in a particular case. Knowledge of society and the social processes and institutions is also crucial to the role of a social worker, as these are the very fabric of the profession. No amount of knowledge, on its own, at least, can be effective without the possession of skills to act upon it. Thompson (2000,p82) defines a skill as â€Å"the ability to carry out a particular activity effectively and consistently over a period of time.† The skills with which a social worker is armed must be used in conjunction with the knowledge base to reflect the values, principles, and beliefs associated with the profession. There is a wide range of skills involved in high quality social work from basic communication skills to analytical, presentational, and management skills. Because of the often-sensitive nature of 5 situations social workers can find themselves in, the ability to be patient and understanding is important. Working with children and families is one of the largest areas covered by social work. Insofar as a social worker may be dealing with an individual client, that client’s place in the family can be of critical importance to any assessment. When working with families it is important not to try to mirror one’s ideas of how a family functions. The challenge for the social worker when working with a family is not to generalise but to try to understand â€Å"how does this family work?† Coulshed et al (1998,p171). When dealing with a family it is very important to remain impartial, to take the time to listen to everyone’s point of view. This approach is more likely to â€Å"encourage discussion and sharing in which the worker is free to engage and disengage when the need arises,† Coulshed et al (1998,p175). Another area which social workers are involved is with groups. This is somewhat different to the family situation. It also shares things in common with community work. The role of a social worker as a facilitator or leader of a group has many levels. At different stages the worker has to be â€Å"central, pivotal, peripheral, 6 and central once again,† Coulshed et al (1998,p198). The various stages of group development and the content of the stages outlined by Tuchman and Jensen, in Coulshed et al (1998,p198) names these stages as â€Å"forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.† The role and tasks of the social worker are to help get group members involved and to encourage the development of a group bond. In the process of doing this s/he must be alert to isolated members, dominant members and conflict within the group, to develop positively the dynamics of the group and achieve a desired outcome, while meeting the needs of all the group members impartially and without bias. Community social work requires the social worker to develop a more flexible approach requiring such skills as recognising and validating skills and interventions. Traditional social work skills may need to be adapted to fit into the community context. Network building can also be a part of the process for a social worker, for example, to bring a group of people together who have similar concerns but are not in a position to facilitate this formation themselves. 7 In each of the above scenarios, the social worker must adapt to the different settings and the number of individuals that may be present and therefore use the most effective form of communication and tools necessary to communicate at different levels, whether that involves one person, several people or a large group. Effective Communication. Effective communication is an essential component of traditional social work activities e.g. providing basic care, giving advice, making assessments, counselling, writing reports and acting as client’s advocates. It is equally necessary for social workers to have effective communication skills if they are to promote self-help and empowerment. Verbal communication is what we say and includes questioning, reflection, focusing, summarising, challenging and confrontation. Verbal communication involves the use of language. The skills involved in engaging, listening, negotiating and challenging are equally relevant to communication in work groups and multi-disciplinary teams. Any commitment to the empowerment of social work clients is meaningless if their 8 views are neither sought nor taken into account. Silverman (1969) emphasises the importance of a non-judgemental approach. There are three main areas of knowledge and experience were valued by clients are outlined by Rees and Wallace (1982), cited in Lishman (1994) Client’s valued workers who had enough experience of life to listen non-judgementally to what they had to say, Client’s valued workers who had enough life experience to understand client’s problems from their own experience, Clients appreciated specialised knowledge and training. Kinds of Communication. Symbolic communication. Symbolic communication involves behaviour, actions or communications, which represent or denote something else. As social workers we need to be aware of the potential meaning of 9 our representation, actions and aspects of our working environment. For example, punctuality, dress and layout of the consultation room are all important aspects of symbolic communication. Proximity needs to be considered in relation to orientation. Sommer and Cook (1968) explored different seating positions and found evidence which suggested that sitting alongside a person implies cooperation, opposite a person competition and at right angles to each other equality of status. Thus sitting behind a des, directly opposite a client, has distancing and power implications but also may be confrontational. Although, There are no fixed rules about posture; being too relaxed may convey power and inattentiveness, being too rigid, tension, anxiety and authority. As social workers we need to be aware of such subliminal reinforcement and to use it discriminatingly. Non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication outlined by Sutton (1979) suggests that while spoken communication is concerned mainly with 10 information giving, non-verbal communication is the ‘music behind the words’ conveying feelings or attitudes. Understanding people or social perception is concerned with the way in which people form impressions of others and make inferences about the causes of their behaviour to enable them to predict and control their own social reality, understanding the causes and motives behind behaviour is Nonverbal Communication or NVB. Nonverbal communication NVB is the way in which people communicate intentionally or unintentionally without the use of words. Expressions, gestures, posture, touch, personal space, eye contact and tone of voice are used to express emotions, convey attitudes, regulate and control speech and communicate personal characteristics. NVB are examined in two ways: Information processing – how do people interpret nonverbal cues? What kinds of inferences do we make about people’s intentions based on these cues, Impression management. Michael Argyle (1988) suggested that NVB is important for: Expressing emotion, Conveying attitudes, 11 Communicating one’s personality traits, Facilitating verbal communications. Patterson (1983) suggests that NVB serve a number of particular functions in social interactions including: Expressing intimacy, Regulating the course of interactions, Exercising social control and dominance. Druckman (1982) outlined five principal uses to which NVB is usually put: To communicate pre-articulated feelings, feelings that cannot be put into words, To provide cues to information processing enabling us to guess at what another person is thinking or feeling, To serve as emphases in persuasive appeals to enhance our success at persuading others, To facilitate deception, To convey subtle messages. 12 The characteristics of NVB were outlined by Dittman (1984). There are users and sources of NVB, nonverbal behaviours are sent by encoders and received by decoders through a variety of different channels. Channels of nonverbal communication include facial expression, eye contact, gestures, touch, paralanguage or nonverbal elements of speech and spatial behaviour. A number of channels are used simultaneously to send a particular emotional message. Behaviours sent are intentionally controlled while behaviours may be received with different levels of awareness. Some messages are received in full awareness and as intended by the sender, whereas other messages are deliberately kept out of full awareness and may distort the intention of the sender. A number of different categories of NVB exist according to Ekman and Friesen (1969): – Emblems – these are movements that are communicative substitutes for words i.e. Handshaking. – Illustrators – these are movements that accompany speech and accent i.e. rapping a table. – Regulators – these are movements that maintain or signal a change in the speaker/ listener roles i.e. Head nods. 13 – Affect displays – these are facial expressions that are used to convey emotions – Adapters – these are self and object manipulations, which relate to an individual emotional, need or state. Mehrabian (1972) suggested that NVB’s were important for indicating a person’s social orientation. Social orientation can be summarised in terms of dimensions; each dimension reveals some aspect of a person’s intention and motivation for interacting. According to Cook (1968) NVB are used to gain fuller descriptions of individuals when little information is available which we use to fill in the missing information about people, and guide our behaviour while interacting. One further way of determining what people think and feel is to try to provide explanations for why they behave in particular ways to reveal the motives and intentions behind their actions. This process is referred to as ‘Casual Attribution’ and is concerned with understanding the reasons behind the behaviour of others. NVB are intended to provide us with clues to how a person feels, enabling us to predict and control our interactions with them. When information is missing implicit personality theories are used to fill in the gaps in our knowledge about a person. 14 Verbal communication. Language consists of symbols that convey meaning, rules for combining those symbols that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages. People use spoken sound and written words to represent objects, actions, events and ideas, and can be combined in an infinite variety of ways to generate an endless array of novel messages. Written reports and records. According to Lishman (1994) skilled are learned in action, with practise and feedback, written reports and concise record keeping enable the aforementioned to happen. Hargie (1986) acknowledges criticism that social work records and reports are often ‘lengthy, rambling and anecdotal’ and suggests ‘written reports should be clear, concise and concentrate’ on the important features of the case. O’Hagan (1986) calls recording ‘a crucial learning tool’. He argues that after a crisis, detailed scrutiny is 15 essential. Such recoding facilitates learning and self-awareness by a review of the behaviour, feelings, and interactions of all participants including the worker. Doel and Lawson (1986) found that once workers had developed ‘an interactive recording style, using interview time to record the work, the quantity of written material was reduced because it becomes more focused. The South Eastern Health Board (1988) suggest that record keeping and good recording techniques are of vital importance in maintaining good housekeeping practice, facilitating accountability and maintaining the utmost confidentiality. Under the Freedom of Information Act 1997 asserts that the client can request to access to view/ copy their records at a later date. Therefore it is vitally important that all written records be update and regularly reviewed. However there are exemptions to the above, which are also included in the FOI Act provisions. According to the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health visiting (1993) the purpose of written records is to: To provide an accurate, current, comprehensive and concise information on the client from the initial assessment onwards, 16 including a record of any factors (physical, psychological or social) that appear to affect the client, To facilitate continuity, To provide a record of any problems that may arise and the response taken, To provide evidence of continuing assessments, To record the chronology of events and the reasons for any decisions may, To provide a baseline record against which improvement can be judged, To improve communication between all members of the healthcare team. Lishman (1994) suggests that statements made by the client during interview and subsequent assessments should include the client’s statements. There is also a legal obligation by social workers to maintain written records, the onus being on good practice by practitioners. The role of communication. 17 Communication is a crucial aspect of organising; each and every interaction between the people who constitute the organisation is communication. Communication will be more likely to be good if it has been worked at constantly and not only in emergencies. McKenna (1991) suggests that communication is not simply a matter of sending messages to and from between individuals and groups. It involves being aware of and understanding the experience of other people. This means knowing about the work they do and their perception of their situation. According to McKenna (1991) good horizontal communication between managers and vertical communication between managers and their work force are essential if role and job conflicts is to be avoided. It therefore appears that while managers at top and line management levels sees themselves as doing a good job in communicating with their immediate subordinates, those subordinates do not feel this is the case. Effective communication must be two-way. It must run from top to bottom and bottom to top – vertical communication, and it must flow to and from between people at the same level within the organisation – horizontal communication. The so-called ordinary members control much of what happens to horizontal 18 communication. This is communication between people on the same hierarchical level in an organisation and involves communication between colleague such has team leaders, or team members. Dutfield and Eling (1990) note that effective communication between people involves skills in: Eliciting information, Presenting information, Managing the emotional content of the encounters. Skills in eliciting information: Questions are the most obvious way of eliciting information in any situation but they may be formulated in a number of ways: Open questions – give the other person an opportunity to put forward their point of view without constraints, Closed questions are more focused and usually allow a simple yes or no type answers, Specific questions – focus on facts. The second step in effective presentation of information involves checking that the information has been received and understood, 19 an opportunity is given to ask questions, having a discussion, feedback and asking questions. Dutfield and Eling suggest that managing the emotional reactions of people in formal or informal interviews and at meetings. Emotions enter in when the person gets personally involved. This means that the core part of our self-concept appears to be under attack. We react defensively. Emotional reactions are themselves information and as such they take up part of our information processing capacity. For these reasons the skilful handling of the emotional content of communication is important in order to ensure that conflict and ill will does not result through misunderstandings. The main skills in managing the emotional content of face-to-face meetings are; Preparing well in advance for interviews, Being aware of one’s opinions and prejudices, Clarifying the nature of the problem in behavioural terms – this involves separating fact from opinion, Setting up a suitable place and sufficient time for the interview, 20 Using skills in eliciting information to get the other person’s views, Acknowledge the other person’s emotional investment in the situation, Stay task focused, Decide a plan of action for the future with the person once the emotional content has been dealt with, Follow up the meeting with a memo summarising the agreement reached, Arrange a follow up meeting to review the situation. Managing negotiation by Rackham and Carlisle (1978): Because people perceive situations differently their realities differ, the need to negotiate is a constant part of social life. The approaches to negotiation are as follows: Distributive bargaining – a win/lose position. Underlying this approach is the idea that resources are finite and that each side tries to maximise the gains for itself leaving the other side to settle for less. Win/lose strategies may give short-term gains but are usually less effective in the long term; 21 parties involved in the negotiation are usually involved in a long-term relationship with each other. Integrative bargaining – win/win approaches aims to solve problems in such a way that both sides gain something that they want. Win/win approaches to negotiating are recommended when the parties concerned will have to live and work together over the long term. Lose/lose bargaining – in this situation conflict between the parties is likely to be personalised, parties would rather paralyse or destroy the organisation rather than reach an agreement. Approaches to negotiation make the following assumptions about human psychology: People are rational decision-makers at all times, People have unlimited information processing capacity which allows them to take into account all possible alternatives and all possible outcomes, People possess and understand all relevant information. Thus it is an important part of the process of negotiating successfully to: 22 Supply all relevant information, Ensure that its implications are clear to all concerned, Give time for the information to be considered, Be open to a reconsideration of the information in the light of other points of view, Be willing to raise disagreements in a constructive and non-combatitive manner. Rackham and Carlisle (1978) defined the skilled negotiator as a person who as the ability to achieve an outcome with which participants were satisfied. Skilled negotiators: Use their social networks to get their message through to the other side through different people, Repeat their main theme so that it becomes clear and people can consider its implications, Label their actions themselves so that they cannot be mislabelled by others, Test their understanding of what others are saying to them by summarizing and restating the content back to the other side, 23 Show that they are attending and listening to the other side by asking questions about their proposals, Do not disagree outright but probe the implications, Avoid making a proposal at a time when it will be rejected, When a proposal is on the table from the other side, it should be examined and allowed to wind down before an alternative is put forward, Know that a counter proposal has the best chance of being accepted as a way out of a problem acknowledged by both sides, Don’t waste time, Never personalize difficulties in the process, Are not afraid to disagree, but avoid provocation when doing so. Building and maintaining client-worker relationship. In order for it to be possible to engage with a client, the worker needs to show warmth, empathy, active listening and a non- 24 judgemental approach. Lishman (1994) outlines other core conditions or characteristics found necessary to build and maintain a client-worker relationship. Genuineness is one of the core conditions or characteristics found to be necessary for a counsellor or therapist to help clients effectively – Truax and Carkhuff (1957). They define genuineness as involving the worker in ‘direct personal encounter with the client, meeting him/ her on a person-to –person basis. Warmth/ non-possessive warmth also termed unconditional positive regard is another attribute found by Rogers and the client-centred school 1957 to be a core condition for helping. Warmth is linked with acceptance and conveys respect. It involves the worker accepting the clients experience as part of that person, and can be thought of as a physical way of showing caring and understanding, and is mainly expressed non-verbally. Mehrabian (1972) uses the term to describe a group on non-verbal behaviours conveying, warmth, affiliation and liking. Mehrabian includes physical proximity, leaning and turning towards the client, sitting in a relaxed position, maintaining eye contact and smiling. 25 Acceptance and a non-judgemental approach. Lishman (1994) sees acceptance as a preparedness to try to understand a client’s subjective world, without conveying rejection or disapproval. Encouragement and approval – in the social learning theory terms, conveying approval is giving positive reinforcement, defined by Sutton (1979) as encouraging the repetition of good behaviour. Positive reinforcements include tangible rewards, such as thanks, praise or appreciation. At the same time traditional social work values proposed by Biestek (1965) of acceptance and non-judgemental attitudes, have been interpreted to mean not only that workers should refrain from conveying their disapproval to clients, but also their approval. Empathy – is another core condition or characteristic found to be necessary for a counsellor or therapist to help their clients effectively Truax and Carkhuff (1957). Empathic responses can help a client to make sense of what may feel a jumble of thoughts and feelings. The client may be reassured that there is some meaning in what as felt incoherent and irrational. Empathic responses can help to validate and confirm client’s perceptions, which previously 26 have been ignored, disqualified or disconfirmed. While this cannot heal or solve the past hurt it may reduce its power in the present by helping the client to recognise the hurt and live with it, and perhaps ‘lay it to rest’ and move on. Responsiveness and sensitivity – according to Mehrabian (1972) responsiveness can be conveyed non-verbally and verbally. He found that it was communicated non-verbally by movement; head nods, leg and foot movements, by facial expressions; through pleasantness and changes in expression. Conclusion. The final requirement according to Lishman (1994) for effective communication is the worker’s self-awareness. Communication, verbal, non-verbal or symbolic, is about our use of self. In order to communicate effectively we have to be aware of what we are doing, why we are doing it, how we are presenting ourselves to our clients and, on the basis of this self-knowledge or awareness, what changes in our communication are needed if we are to be more effective. Skilled and effective communication is not a static state. 27 It will always involve change and development and consolidation, learning from our past behaviour and from our mistakes. Writers such as Sheldon (1977) and Fischer (1978) argue that social workers should concern themselves with the evaluation of the effectiveness of their intervention. They stress the importance of, thinking about the ends of work, not just the means of goals and outcomes; setting specific goals to avoid a double agenda, diffusion of goals, inactivity and lack of change, and failure to offer what the client wanted; developing and definiting intervention skills for problem-solving and change. The skills involved in attending and listening, engaging and relating, giving and getting information, negotiating agreements or contracts and helping people to make changes in their attitudes, beliefs or behaviour are relevant to social work in all contexts. Each context will influence the way in which communication occurs, both enhancing and encouraging the use of some skills and constraining or limiting the use of others. Lishman (1994) also suggests that attending – being punctual is an indication to our clients of attentiveness. Listening and an 28 empathic response are important components in enabling the client to feel that such emotions can be accepted, expressed and lived with and do not have to be hidden or feared. Such acceptance may be the staring-point for a client to learn to live with and manage previously disabling emotions. Social workers have to begin from a value base, which entails basic respect for all human beings. Social work as to start from humanistic principles or values about the worth and dignity of each individual. Bibliography. Argyle, M. 1988 Bodily Communication (2nd ed) London: Methuen. Biestek, F.P. 1965 The Casework Relationship, London, Unwin University Books. Coulshed, V. & Orme, J. (1998) Social Work (An Introduction) 3thed. Macmillan. 29 Cook, M. 1968 Studies of Orientation and Proximity, Oxford, Institute of Experimental Psychology. Doel, M. and Lawson, B. 1986 ‘Open Records: The Clients Right to Partnership’ , British Journal of Social Work, vol.16. Pp. 407. Dittman, L. 1984 The infants we care for. Washington: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Druckman, D. 1982 Non Verbal Communication Survey, Theory and Research. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. Ekman, P. & Friesan, W.V. 1968 ‘Non-verbal Communication in Psychological Research’, in J.M. Schlien Research in Psychotherapy Washington: American Psychological Research. Fisher, J. 1978 Effective Casework: An Electric Approach, New York. McGraw-Hill. 30 Hargie, O. 1986 A Handbook of Communication Skil ls, London and Sydney, Croom Helm. Lishman, J. 1994 Communication in Social Work Macmillan Press: London. Patterson, M. 1983 Non Verbal Behaviour. New York: Springer. Mehrebian, A. 1972 Non-Verbal Communication, Alberta, Aldine. Mc Kenna, E.F. 1991 Managerial Leadership – emergent trends: University of East London. O’Hagan, K. 1986 Crisis Intervention in Social Services, Basingstoke, Macmillan. Silverman, P.R. 1969 ‘The Client Who Drops Out: A Study of Spoiled Helping Relationships’, Brandais University PHD Thesis. 31 Sheldon, B. 1977 ‘Do You Know Where You Are Going?’ , Community Care, 8th June 1977. Sommer, R. 1965 ‘Further Studies of Small Group Ecology’, Sociometry, vol.28, pp. 337. South Eastern Health Board, September 22nd 1998, Record keeping in the freedom of information environment. Sutton, C. 1979 Psychology for Social Workers and Counsellors, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, Library of Social Work. Thompson, N. (2000) Understanding Social Work. Palgrave. Traux, C.B. and Carkhuff, R.R. 1957 ‘Towards Effective Counselling and Psychotherapy’, Journal of Counselling Psychology, vol.28. Rackham, N. & Carlisle, J. 1978 The Effective Negotiator – Part 1. The behaviour of successful negotiators. Journal of European Industrial Training, 2. 32 United Kingdom Central council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, 1993 Standards for Records and Record Keeping, London UKCC. Wallace, A. and Rees, S. 1988 ‘The Priority of Client Evaluations’, in Lishman 1988. http://iasw.eire.org/ethics.htm http://www.arcaf.net/social_work_proceedings/ 33 Retrieved from â€Å"http://www.socialwork.ie/socialwork/wiki/index.php/Communication_in_Social_Work_Practice_-_Essay† Personal tools

Vrio of Adidas

Company Wildberries – it is a large online store of fashion apparel, shoes and accessories, which has existed for more than 7 years. I chose this site because I had previously used the services of this website. Products in this online store are divided into categories. To view products by brands (brands), go to the tab â€Å"brand†. All products are sorted by price, color, size, popularity rating (rated buyers) and the date of receipt to the store. When viewing products by categories is also sorted by brands, but when viewing a product brand can be sorted by category.To view a product that you like, click the mouse on the image or name of the product. Select your desired color and size and click â€Å"Add to cart†. For convenience, the size and color of goods available for express delivery, handed back to the top. To return to a page with a showcase, click â€Å"return to the store† or â€Å"Close† button, if the card product opened in a separate wi ndow. If you want to move to another section, use the top or left-hand menu. To quickly find specific things you use the search form at the top of the page.To make a purchase, click on â€Å"Shopping Cart† in the upper right corner. There's always shows the number and value of items in your shopping cart. On the page with a basket, you can edit your order – change the number of products to remove unwanted or move the selected item to your list of pending items. Defer goods can only registered users. If you view the basket, not registered, you will be offered to login to register or place your order without registration. Order is shipped, If you are reading the inscription: Thank you for your purchase!Your order is accepted. In the near future you will contact our operator to refine the order and conditions of delivery. Methods of payment:Bank transfer Bank transfer from any bank operating in Russia, you can pay: The handling fee is required for the activation order Pre payment required for the activation order Debt The remainder value of the order, the service of EMS or other express company, has no collection services The cost of the entire order is partially or completely Approximate date of transfer of money between banks is no more than 2-3 working days.When paying by bank transfer will be charged the fee for bank transfer of funds, which is an average of 3% of the order value. Crediting funds occurs within one working day after they are received in our bank account. Receipt suitable for payment at any bank operating in Russia, the manager sends to the specified customer e-mail or by fax, after discussing all the options and confirm the order or after approval of the method of delivery. A receipt will be sent duly filled, indicating the amount of the payment, your data and details of the company. You can also print a receipt from your personal account.WARNING! When filling out receipts by hand, be sure to check the spelling of the name of our company and contact details, otherwise the money will be credited to the bank to â€Å"unclarified Accounts† and in case you do not have time to send in proof of payment, the funds will be credited back. Allowed to write in the payment â€Å"for the order number †¦ â€Å". Payments from businesses will not be accepted and will be credited back. Bank card You can pay by credit card: The handling fee is required for the activation order Prepayment required for the activation order DebtThe remainder value of the order, the service of EMS or other express company, has no collection services The cost of the entire order is partially or completely Also, you can pay by credit card in Moscow paragraphs ex works. Credit cards can only be through the Internet, through e-payment system ASSIST. Login to the payment terminal is in your personal account. Pay only orders made with registration. The minimum payment is 150 rubles. The maximum payment amount is 10 000 rubles. I like thi s site because the orders are delivered on time and the quality of things rather high.

Protein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Protein - Essay Example The enzyme which is required for these processes to occur is alanine amino transferase. Proteins have various functions. They are broken down to amino acids which then provide energy to the body. Thus they serve as an energy source. They also form various enzymes, blood transporters and plasma proteins that perform the function of transport and help to control water balance. Proteins are also an integral part of clotting factors. Muscle proteins are also very important as they bring about contractions. Hormones such as insulin and glucagon are also made of proteins. Elastin and collagen which are integral parts of connective tissues are also made up of proteins. Compared to the digestion and absorption of other nutrients, the digestion and absorption of proteins is complex as various enzymes are involved in manufacturing of the end-products of proteins. Stomach is the major part of the gastrointestinal tract where protein digestion occurs. Acidity of the stomach allows activation of pepsin and denaturing of proteins which involves uncoiling. Further digestion occurs in the small intestine in the presence of proteolytic enzymes which form amino acids. Absorbed form of proteins are amino acids. The main harmful effect of amino acid supplementation is that it may hinder and decrease the absorption of other amino acids which may lead to an amino acid imbalance. This defect may occur because amino acids share absorption transport systems. Hence, it is advised that individual amino acid supplements should be avoided. Nitrogen balance is a standard which has been set to understand the excess or deficiency of proteins in the diet. The nitrogen balance keeps the amount of protein consumed and lost in balance. If the balance is disturbed, the person is said to have lost nitrogen equilibrium. Nitrogen balance is necessary to understand if the body is growing properly or not. Protein under-nutrition is also referred to as protein-energy malnutrition. Two most

Labour relations or employment relations issue in workplace Essay

Labour relations or employment relations issue in workplace - Essay Example . According to Mithra (2009), binding arbitration is a case whereby a party is asked to make an agreement which provides that if they have a dispute with the contracting partner then they opt to be heard by private arbitrator rather than normal litigation through courts. The contracting parties are bound totally by the decision of the arbitrator hence their case can not be appealed in a court of law. The arbitrator is usually a third party and has the authority to make final decision in accordance to prior arrangements of contracting parties. It can not be stated with certainty when formal processes of arbitration were established in the world but it is known that arbitration as method of resolution of disputes is far much older than courts litigation. Arbitration use can be traced far back from ancient civilizations e.g. Greece, Roman and Egypt. The arbitration act of 1697 was the first English law on arbitration, though arbitration was in common use even before the law came to be. Arbitrations before this law was usually never strong this was mainly due to the parties to arbitration terminating the arbitrators authority if the deemed things were not going well with their expectations on the arbitration Arbitration is a resolution of a dispute by a non partisan third party who gives the final word on the settlement which is final to the parties in arbitration. Arbitration is distinct to mediation, determination by experts, alternative dispute resolution and judicial proceedings. In practice some cases of disputes are not able to be subjected to arbitration this is usually depending on the content of the case that involve arbitration. Examples of procedures that can not be subjected to arbitration include; Where the resolution of the dispute does not require the parties to the dispute to enter any form of agreement e.g., court processes that bind all members of the public or institutions or a dispute that involves public interest, this can be

ABC ImmigrationImmigration Legal Services and Counseling Research Paper

ABC ImmigrationImmigration Legal Services and Counseling - Research Paper Example Management Summary 7. Financial Plan 1.0 Executive Summary The purpose of this brief business plan is to present the reader with the pursuit and stated intention of ABC Legal with reference to its goal of entering the market for legal counsel with regards to immigration counseling. Similarly, the piece will seek to detail the goals, targets, and developments that ABC Immigration would like to experience over the next two years of time. All of this is done with the intention of providing a discernible yet flexible framework by which the shareholders can consider the strengths and weaknesses that ABC Immigration provides as well as helping the firm to avert and/or minimize risk and maximize its key assets and/or strengths. 1.1 OBJECTIVES This particular business plan has a two-fold objective which is listed below: 1. Firstly, the business plan will act as a guide by which the shareholders of the firm will be able to manage and direct the growth and activities that will take place. As s uch, the guidance and framework which will be put forward, as well as time sensitive goals and metrics, will assist the aforementioned shareholders in developing a comprehensive business plan suited to addressing many of the needs that will doubtless present themselves to the business. 2. By providing such descriptive metrics, the business plan will guide the growth and development of the firm in a way that an abstract and non-measurable idea, or set of ideas, could not. Similarly, the objectives of ABC Immigration have been detailed below: As with any business, the overarching objective of ABC Immigration is to provide a wide and diverse array of legal and counseling services that will serve the client base with the peculiar needs that any and all immigration related questions and concerns would likely generate. Furthermore, the eventual goal will be to become something of a market leader within the geographic region with regards to immigration issues. 1. Profit: As with any firm, the primary motivator is to provide a profit to the shareholders by a means of sufficient growth and development of the firm and the services that are offered. In this way, the profit objective fits in with the following objectives as the ultimate end towards which the others work. 2. Growth: As a means to differentiate the business, add services, and provide a higher quality of services to the customer as well as providing a higher profit margin through differentiation of services, the growth of the firm is a secondary objective. 3. Market dominance: As a way to realize the two previous elements of listed objectives, the firm will attempt to obtain market dominance within the field. 1.2 MISSION As with many service industries, the mission of the firm is straightforward and relatively simple: Purpose: The purpose of the firm exists to provide professional, helpful, affordable, and timely legal counseling to the customers that seek such services. In this manner, the company exists fo r the sole purpose of providing the aforementioned services to the individuals companies that avail themselves of the services that ABC Immigration offers. Vision: The firm envisions itself as successful only by providing the highest quality of services to its customers. By providing such a high level of quality and at market leading prices, ABC Immigration aims to satisfy the needs of those it serves by providing both high quality, individualized access, and affordable rates to the clients who have honored the firm with their patronage. Mission: The mission can be summed up in two parts. Firstly, the firm has a short-term mission objective which will see the company constitute itself in a farily rapid manner; all the while

The market mechanism is the only effective way to allocate resources Essay

The market mechanism is the only effective way to allocate resources. Discuss - Essay Example 8). This essay looks into the various aspects of the competitive market economy and analyses the fact that the resources can be allocated most efficiently if the economy operates in a competitive framework. Discussion and Analysis In a free market economy the price and the quantity of the product demanded is determined by the market forces of demand and supply. According to the theory of demand as the price of a product increases the quantity demanded for the product gets reduced. On the other hand, other things remaining constant as the price of a product decreases the demand for the product increases. The inverse relationship between the price and the demand for a commodity gives rise to a downward sloping demand curve. The supply curve for a commodity is however upward rising curve. The equilibrium price and quantity is determined by the interaction of the demand and the supply curves (Samuelson and ?Nordhaus, 2010, p. 57). This market mechanism has been explained with the help of the following diagram. Figure 1: Interaction of Demand and Supply Source: Besanko and Braeutigam, 2010, p. 36 In the figure it is seen that the initial demand curve id D1 and the initial supply curve is S. Now the market will reach equilibrium at the point A where the quantity demanded for the product would match the quantity supplied. At this point the quantity demanded would be Q1 and the quantity supplied would also be Q1. The price at which the market equilibrium would be reached is P1. This price is neither determined by the buyers or the sellers but the combined forces of the demand and supply existing in the market. Now suppose the market demand for the product increases from D1 to D2, with the same level of market supply the price of the product will increase to P1 and the quantity demanded of the product would increase from Q1 to Q2. Hence the new market equilibrium would be changed to B. At the point B the quantity demanded would match the market supply. The demand curve would shift to the right due to a variety of reasons. When the income of the individuals increase the disposable income of the people would increase and it would lead to a rise in the demand for a particular product. Similarly the supply of products may also decrease due to a variety of reasons. When the price of the raw materials increases the firms are not able to supply the product at the same cost. Thus the supply decreases. As a result the equilibrium price and quantity would undergo change. Figure 2: Shifts in the Supply Curve Source: Besanko and Braeutigam, 2010, p. 36 In this figure the reduction in the supply of the commodity pushes the supply curve to the left. The quantity supply reduces from Q1 to Q2 but the price increases from P1 to P2. Therefore at the same level of market demand the new equilibrium is formed at the point B. The demand and supply forces would act naturally in a free market where there are no restrictions by the government. This is true for the perfect ly competitive markets where none of the buyers or the sellers has the power to control the price in the market. Therefore a competitive market is one in which there would be large number of buyers and sellers (Petri, 2004, p. 77). The sellers would have their aim to maximise the profit of

Advanced Financial Accounting Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Advanced Financial Accounting Coursework - Essay Example financial statements of 2007, prepared under historical costs convention, in comparison with financial statements of 2006 also prepared under historical cost convention. On the other hand Part B covers the analysis of financial statements of 2007, prepared under current costs convention, in comparison with financial statements for the year 2007 prepared under historical costs convention. Gross profit margin is defined as the difference between net sales and cost of goods sold. Gross profit margin ratio shows the margin left after meeting manufacturing and/ or trading costs. It measures the efficiency of production as well as pricing. The company has performed exceptionally well in 2007 as its gross profit has risen from 39.8% in 2006 to 71.6% in 2007. It is true that turnover of the company has also increased from $38250000 to $42500000 but the real contributory factor for such rise in gross profit margin ratio is huge decline in cost of sales. Cost of sales has come down from 60.9% in 2006 to mere 28.4% in 2007. Such a fall in cost of sales reflects that either there are changes in products being dealt in by the company in 2007 as compared to those dealt in by the company in 2006; or there may be effects of some technological changes in production of products resulting in such a huge decline in costs of sales. Net profit margin measures the overall efficiency of production, administration, selling, financing, pricing, and tax management. Net profits have increased from 16.59% in 2006 to 40% in 2007. This increase in net profits is the result of huge increase in gross profit margin resulting from decline in cost of sales. There is also a marginal contrition from decline in distribution and administrative costs from 10.64% in 2006 to 9.6% in 2007. Jointly considered, the gross and net profit margin ratios provide a valuable understanding of the cost and profit structure of Economica Plc and enable to identify the source of company’s business efficiency. As

Is female genital mutilation a religious requirementbelief in Islam Research Proposal

Is female genital mutilation a religious requirementbelief in Islam - Research Proposal Example Women who did not undergo the procedure may have a hard time looking for a partner. This implies that women who failed to meet the expectation of men will have to suffer perpetual wretchedness. FGM was practiced in some African nations where it had originated and soon adapted by other followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The concoction of these religions who believe in this procedure raised a question on other ardent followers why had these been enjoined in their faith which is very superfluous when basing it in the Holy Book everyone is adhering to. Neither there is a clear substantial basis why this mutilating process occurred. Male circumcision is long been practiced since the time of Abraham. It is to promote cleanliness among male individuals. However, there was no established rationale whatsoever that circumcision binds men to God although Christ himself was also circumcised and several notable apostles have undergone the same. In the contemporary life, this practiced is warranted since it has to do with hygienic condition. Male circumcision is widely accepted and is never being questioned. ... Female circumcision was practiced prior to the birth of Islam which precisely implies that it was not stated therein in the book of Qur'an that circumcision is also through with females. However some FGM advocates quoted this weak proposition: "Um Atiyyat al-Ansariyyah said: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (pbuh) said to her: Do not cut too severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband".1. It is in this text lies the foundation of FGM wherein it is deem important in Sunnah or Tradition of the Prophet to follow the custom of women's circumcision. Several sayings from the prophet Muhammad also surface concurring the FGM practice. However there was no clear statement to confirm the situation as it only states the correct derivation of pleasure. It was on the interpretation surmise the event of female circumcision. Thus there was no authenticity to validate such practice. Part of those who practice female circumcision are Muslims but some religions practice the same. It is part of their tradition to conduct this act without any luminous reason. Cultural reasons dominate over religious traditions although some fervent believers are most likely to adhere on the tradition; it is still an immense question as to what is the point behind the unrelenting practice that until now millions of women are mutilated. Several indicators include: "That female circumcision is rampant in Christian nations such as Kenya and Ethiopia". "That forced female circumcisions are true in all faiths abovementioned. It is a common practice in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone and Sudan". "That FGM was once practiced by Ethiopian Jews known as that Falashas. However

E-Procurement Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

E-Procurement - Literature review Example Usual methods of procurement have lots of paper work processing, which requires a huge amount of money and time. E-procurement has reduced this work largely. E-procurement is a chief element of B2B ecommerce and it can be used in markets and industries in wide range. Business organizations buy many products of diverse varieties, ranging from paper clips to computer systems and from steel to equipments. They buy raw material inputs, which directly go in manufacturing process and the raw materials that need some repairing and maintenance before going into manufacturing process. There are thousands of other items purchased by an organization and keeping their receipts in record is very necessary for organizations to maintain professionalism. The main driver of e-procurement is cost-reduction attained from competencies resulting in less staff time spent in looking for and ordering products and integrating deliveries with invoices. Savings also take place with automatic corroboration of p re approved expenditure budgets for individuals or organizations leading to less time necessary for processing each order (Turban, pp.251-252, 2010). Automatic ordering, delivery, confirmations, payment, and inventory information diminish paper work, costs of paper-based ordering forms, storage space for credentials, records, and better information management. Indirect benefits of e-procurement include a shorter cycle time between order and use of supplies, greater suppleness in ordering products from different suppliers, amplified buyer productivity, and lower prices through product standardization and union of buyers (Havaldar, pp.379-382, 2010). Benefits to buyers of e-procurement include gain from improved pricing of goods and services, cost savings in the running of procurement processes, merger of buyer's sub entities into a single buying unit, and minimized costs through purchasing aggregation for some items. Other intangible benefits include enhancement in operations support , employee efficiency, evident purchasing behavior of business partners and supplier performance. Decline in procurement-to-pay cycle time and costs associated with outsourcing procurement and it helps maintaining smooth procurement operations. It also causes huge savings in invoice, finance, goods insurance, and delivery (Gay, Charlesworth & Esen, pp.474-475, 2007). Conversely, suppliers benefit from lower managerial costs, use of standard online catalogues that can be quickly updated with new product information, more effectual targeting, and access to a wider range of buyers (Babin & Weiss, pp.89-91, 2009). Additionally, lower inventory and warehousing costs are also the advantages of suppliers. Other opportunities contain lesser advertising, selling and service costs, extended product and service offerings, enhanced cash flow through better inventory returns and accounts receivables, a more thorough anticipation about a buyer's purchasing needs, and immediate responsiveness to a buyer's needs (N, pp.28-29, 2004). Nevertheless, for each e-marketplace contributor, the benefits will differ according to the contributor’s position. As buyers go for e- procurement, suppliers may not have any other option rather than joining in. The majority of suppliers are also buyers; therefore, net result is an increased involvement in e-procurement. E-procurement offers benefits in many

Animal captivity Essay Example for Free

Animal captivity Essay TI am a lifelong fan of good zoos (note the adjective) and have visited dozens of zoos, safari parks and aquaria around the world. I also spent a number of years working as a volunteer keeper at two zoos in the U.K. and my own interests now span to the history of zoological collections and their design, architecture and research so it is probably fair to say I’m firmly in the pro-zoo camp. However, I am perfectly willing to recognise that there are bad zoos and bad individual exhibits. Not all animals are kept perfectly, much as I wish it were otherwise, and even in the best examples, there is still be room for improvement. But just as the fact that some police are corrupt does not mean we should not have people to enforce the law, although bad zoos or exhibits persist does not mean they are not worthwhile institutes. It merely means we need to pay more attention to the bad and improve them or close them. In either case, zoos (at least in the U.K. and most of the western world) are generally a poor target for criticism in terms of animal welfare – they have to keep the public onside or go bust and they have to stand up to rigorous inspections or be closed down. While a bad collection should not be ignored, if you are worried the care and treatment of animals in captivity I can point to a great many farms, breeders, dealers and private owners who are in far greater need or inspection, improvement or both.

Death of a Loved One Essay Example for Free

Death of a Loved One Essay Devastating occurrences have the ability to completely alter the ways in which you live your life. When these certain situations occur, you have two choices: You can let them destroy you, or you can let them strengthen you. My outlook on life was completely changed when my kind hearted grandmother passed away when I was just a child. I was struck with the realization that life can be taken away in an instant and I need to cherish every moment I have left I this world. In early November of 2006, I was sitting in my choir class listening to my teacher describe the scene a horrific car accident she witnessed the day before. As she was explaining the details of the accident, I was feeling little pangs of sorrow for the victims who were unable to walk away injury free. As we carried on with our class, I couldn’t help but think about how miserable their family and friends must be feeling at that exact moment, they didn’t even see it coming. I soon shook the thoughts from my head and made my way to my next class. While walking down the hallway, I feel my newly purchased flip phone vibrate in my purse and the text I receive from my mother was rather unsettling: Honey, I have some bad news. Â  I reply back asking her what she was talking about, and although I was a little nervous, I didn’t try to dwell on it too much. I only assumed that she wasn’t going to buy me a new pair of Buckle jeans that I was eyeing at the time, so I swallowed my disappointment, and carried on with my morning. Thoughts of not owning those beautiful pair jean were going through my head as my phone vibrates with another text that made me stop dead in my tracks: Grandma was in an accident today. She’s in the hospital with severe injuries and they think she has brain damage. A wave of emotions washed over me and my mind couldn’t stop racing. I always heard about this sort of thing happening to people I didn’t know, people I didn’t care about. Never in a million years did I imagine that my own grandmother would be put in this situation. For once in my life, I was completely speechless. Over the next couple weeks, my grandma’s progress was a roller coaster. Some days she was barely able to open her eyes and move her fingers, and other days she was motionless. One day the swelling in her brain would worsen and the next day it would decrease. There weren’t any clear answers explaining if she was going to be okay or not. We were all holding on dearly to a sense of hope that was keeping us together. Towards the last couple days of her life, my grandma’s progress seemed to have gotten better. The swelling in her brain had decreased a great amount and I was told that it was very possible that she would be able to recover. A wave of a relief washed over me and the grasp I had on hope tightened. I truly believed that she would recover and we would have our caring, loving grandma with us again. The thoughts of her recovery were clogging my mind and I completely forgot that even though there was indeed the possibility of her recovery, the possibility of her death was still apparent. On November 28th, I was woken up by my mother and father informing me that my grandma had passed away that morning. Initially, I didn’t feel any sort of emotion. I was stuck in a daze that I couldn’t get out of. Part of me even believed that this was all a dream, and that I was going to wake up with her smiling face still in this world. Throughout the day, the numb feeling went away, and was replaced with sadness and sorrow. I replayed every memory I had with her in my head while hot, salty tears ran down my cheeks. In that moment, I would have given anything to have her alive and well, baking Christmas cookies with me like we did every year. She didn’t deserve to die and we didn’t deserve to feel this pain. Deep down I knew she was in a better place, a place where she wouldn’t have to feel the pain she felt in this world before she passed. This thought alone helped me and many others get over the fact that we lost our dear grandma. They always say that you need to live your life the fullest; you never know when your time is up. My grandma was the perfect example of a barely 60 year old woman who’s last years of her life were cut short. She made sure that she lived every day to its full potential, and she cherished every moment. Ever since the morning that she died, I made a promise to myself to never let a day go by where I don’t appreciate and love the life I live. Although life is difficult, it is still so very beautiful.

Introduction to social work

Introduction to social work Compare, contrast and critically evaluate Crisis Intervention and Task-Centred Practice. Debate what you see as their effectiveness by outlining potential advantages and disadvantages and with reference to research regarding their effectiveness. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Code of Ethics (2002:1) states that; The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environment. In order to promote such social change and provide high quality professional practice, social workers utilise various theoretical frameworks and apply them appropriately in order to help service users in the best way they can. The intention of this essay is to discus the key features of the task-centred practice and crisis intervention approaches, both of which are widely used methods of social work practice. With reference to research, the effectiveness and limitations of these approaches will be analyzed by outlining potential advantages and disadvantages, and by demonstrating that although these approaches have different origins, they do have some common features. McColgan (2009:60) states that task-centred practice is; a popular method of intervention in social work practice. It does not depend on any complex theory, is down to earth, makes sense and is easy to understand in its application. Coulshed Orme (2006:156) believe that the task-centred approach, also known as brief therapy, short term or contract work is probably one of the most researched and commonly used approaches to problem solving in social work practice. Task-centred practice was developed out of research into effective social work practice by Reid and Shyne in 1969, who found that planned, short term intervention, was equally as or more effective than long term treatment. Task-centred practice originates within social work itself, rather than being borrowed from disciplines outside of social work, such as psychology and sociology. Indeed, Reid (1992) states that; task-centred casework rejects any specific psychological or sociological base for its methods and seeks to be eclectic and integrative (cited in Payne, 1997:97). At the time task-centred practice challenged the long-term psychodynamic theory behind social work which, according to Woods and Hollis (1990, cited in Cree and Myers 2008:90) expected problems to be deep rooted and to require intensive and long-term specialist input to address these difficulties, however Reid and Shyne disputed this approach in favour of proposed time-limited, structured and focused interventions to solve problems, which was a direct challenge to the models that encouraged those with problems to move at their own pace. Reid and Epstein (1972) suggest that the task-centred approach is beneficial for a variety of problems, including interpersonal, social relationship, organisational, role performance, decision making, resource based, emotional and psychological. Doel and Marsh (1992) and Reid and Epstein (1972) suggest that in order to apply effective task-centred practice to such problems, a framework should be adopted, which should firstly look at problem exploration. Doel (2002) states that the first phase should consist of problem scanning and identification in order to establish the services users perspective of the seriousness of the issues. The user should then be guided to prioritise the target problems and clarify their significance and define their desired outcomes or goals. Marsh and Doel (2005:72) suggest that the use of I want or we will is a guarantee of a statement which results in a goal being achieved, rather than using verbs such as need. Epstein and Brown (2002:155) recommend that a maximum of three problems should be worked with at any one time as Doel and Marsh (1992:31) point out too many selected problems will probably lead to confusion and dissipated effort. The selection of targeted problems should be governed by feasibility of achievement and in accordance with the partnership of the worker (Cree and Myers 2008:93). Doel and Marsh (1992) identify that making an agreement and agreeing a goal should be a written statement of what the user wants, based on how to directly alleviate the problem. The benefits of a written agreement could include that it is in the service users own words and can be referred to at a later date. However, Epstein and Brown (2002) argue that whilst this may be more necessary with mandated service users, a verbal agreement may be sufficient. It is important to remember that the communication skills of users must be taken into account, and that appropriate media must be used in accordance with the users abilities and skills. Addit ionally, a verbal agreement may be less frightening for the service user, or they may not be literate, so possibly a tape recording could be used. Healy (2005:121) suggests that the agreement should document the practicalities of the intervention, such as the duration, frequency and location of meetings in order for both the service user and the worker to be held accountable. Cree and Myers (2008:94) state that once the practicalities of the agreement have been established, identification of how to address the problems can begin via agreeing to a series of tasks that will contribute towards achieving the goals set out, that is, alleviation of the problem. Dole and Marsh (2005:36) outline that goals ideally should follow the SMART principle; specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Additionally, goals and tasks should be detailed and clarify who will do what, when, where and how and the service user should have a major influence in deciding on and carrying out the goal s and tasks (Cree and Myers 2008:94). In short, the goal should be the clients goal, agreed after detailed discussion with the worker about why it is desirable, how it can be achieved and how it is evident that it has been reached. The goal should be as clear as possible, within the capacity of the client to achieve and ethically acceptable to the practitioner. (Doel and Marsh, 1992:51) Task implementation addresses the methods for achieving the task(s), which should be negotiated with the service user, and according to Ford and Postle, (2000:55) should be; designed to enhance the problem solving skills of participantsit is important that tasks undertaken by clients involve elements of decision making and self-directionif the work goes well then they will progressively exercise more control over the implementation of tasks, ultimately enhancing their ability to resolve problems independently. According to Doel (2002:195) tasks should be carefully negotiated steps from the present problem to the future goal. Once tasks are set, it is important to review the problems as the intervention progresses in order to reassess that the tasks are still relevant to achieving the goals. Cree and Myers (2008:95) suggest that as circumstances can change, situations may be superseded by new problems. The workers role should be primarily to support the user in order to achieve their tasks and goals which may include providing information and resources, education and role-playing in order to handle difficult situations (ibid:95). The exit stage of the intervention should have been anticipated at the initial phase, in that the contract or agreement will have been explicit about the length of the intervention, and both the service user and worker will be aware of the timescale in which to complete their tasks. A time limit is important as it guards against drift, allows time for a review and encourages accountability. It also acts as an indicator of progress (Adams, Dominelli and Payne, 2002). According to Cree and Myers (2008:96); the last session needs to review what has been achieved; how the tasks have been completed; to what extent the goals have been met; and what the service user has learned from the process that can be usefully taken into their future lives. Wilson et al (2008) suggest that the final phase should involve the service user and the worker revisiting the initial problems and comparing them to how the situation is now, along with what the underlying achievements were, and what has been learnt in the process. Additionally, the service user is encouraged to explore how to use the skills learnt for the future, and how the intervention will now end, for example, possible new contracts for further work or referral to another agency. In contrast, the conceptual origins of crisis intervention come from varied sources, primarily from mental health and have a long history of development (Roberts 2005 cited in Parker 2007:116) Caplan (1961) and Roberts (1990) (cited in Parker 2007:115) state that crisis is; a time limited period of psychological distress resulting from exposure to or interpretation of particular situations or longer term stress that individuals cannot deal with using tried and tested or novel means of coping. The theoretical basis of crisis intervention has developed in sophistication, namely through the work of Gerald Caplan, an American clinician, following Dr Erich Lindemanns study of grief reactions after a night-club fire in Coconut Grove, Boston, USA in 1943 in which almost 500 people died. Lindemann interviewed some survivors and the relatives of those who died and concluded that when faced with sudden crisis, the human capacity to deal with problems faltered. An individuals usual coping mechanisms are no longer adequate to take on board the experiences involved following a crisis and these experiences consequently challenge ones normal equilibrium, or homeostasis. Furthermore, during the Korean war in the early 1950s, it was discovered that psychiatric first-aid given immediately to front-line soldiers, often quickly restored them back to duty, whereas those who were sent home for protracted institutional treatment responded slower to intensive therapy, which could suggest that in stitutionalization confirmed there was a serious underlying problem (Fell 2009). The experience and resolution of crises could be said to be a normal process which is inevitable at some point during a persons life, however, defining exactly which events or situations constitute crises is more troublesome, as they are construed as crises due to individual perception or reaction to an event, not the actual event itself (OHagan 1986, cited in Parker 2007:117). The concept of crisis theory provides workers with a theoretical framework of the adaptation processes of the individual following such events that are seemingly overtly stressful and unmanageable. Crisis intervention takes the concept of this theory and applies it to the understanding of the individuals experience, and suggests certain steps to take in order to help those who are experiencing crisis (Wilson et al 2008:361). Coulshed (1991:68) believes that one of the most significant features of crisis intervention is that crisis does not always indicate an emergency or dramatic event. The crisis instead, may be developmental and the result of a new experience such as starting school, adolescence, leaving home, going to university, getting married, or the anticipated death of a relative or friend, or indeed oneself. Similarly, an existential crisis refers to inner anxieties in relation to ones purpose, responsibility and autonomy, for example, a middle life crisis. In both cases adjustment fails because the situation is new to us, or it has not been anticipated, or a series of events has become too overwhelming (ibid). For many people, these challenges will not constitute a crisis, although they may feel stressful, but it could be recommended that, in practice, the worker remembers the subjective nature of crisis, in order not to dismiss a service users experience, which would suggest that there are sta ndard reactions to events, as Hoff (1990) states; what is a crisis for me may not be a crisis for you. Alternatively, a situational crisis could be said to be an event that happens which is out of ones control, or out of the realms of normal, everyday experience, for example natural disasters, sudden illness or death, sexual assault, abortion, domestic violence, redundancy or relationship breakups (Aguilera 1990). Murgatroyd and Woolfe (1985) however, believe that the threshold level of how an individual deals with such events is not the same for everyone, which leads one to assume that it is how someone comes to terms with the event rather than the event itself, in agreement with OHagans earlier statement. Likewise, an individual may be a particularly resilient person, or has previous experience of such situations, or they may have a strong support network of family and friends. Indeed, given an example such as a terminal illness, preparation work may be underway before the inevitable occurs and therefore not develop into a crisis situation (Wilson et al 2008). Caplan (1964) suggests that crises are time-limited, usually lasting no longer than six weeks, and that an individuals capacity to cope with problems and return to a steady state is based upon a persons internal psychological strengths and weaknesses, the nature of the problem and the help being given. Caplan (1964) also describes the stages of crisis whereby an emotionally hazardous situation presents uncomfortable feelings and signals change in homeostasis, in turn motivating actions to return to normal through employing usual coping mechanisms, which in most cases, are successful in a short period of time. Alternatively, in the case of an emotional crisis, the usual coping strategies are ineffective and the discomfort and unpleasant feelings intensify, cognitive disorganisation increases and novel coping methods and problem-solving techniques are employed to reduce the crisis. The individual then seeks help and support from others and employs an adaptive crisis resolution which de als successfully with affective and cognitive issues and new problem-solving and coping behaviours are developed. Conflicts raised by the crisis are identified and work to resolve them is begun, upset is subsequently reduced and there is a return to the pre-crisis level of functionality. However, maladaptive crisis resolution sees the individual implement novel problem-solving and coping and adequate help is not sought. Underlying issues remain unresolved and sources of help are not fully utilised. Although the disquiet is reduced the individual functions at a less adaptive level than before the crisis. In an adaptive post-crisis resolution, the individual becomes less vulnerable in similar situations due to past resolved conflict, inferring that the novel and adaptive coping skills and problem solving behaviours have been learned and applied. Therefore, individual functioning may have improved, personal growth taken place, and the likelihood of future emotionally hazardous situatio ns of a similar nature developing into a crisis is reduced. Finally, Caplan (1969) describes the maladaptive post-crisis resolution whereby the individual is more vulnerable than before because of a failure to deal effectively with underlying conflicts. The individual has learned maladaptive strategies to cope with emotionally hazardous situations, such as drinking or problem avoidance, and in general their functioning may be less adaptive than in the pre-crisis state, potentially resulting in further emotionally hazardous situations developing into a crisis. In order to implement effective practice for successful crisis intervention Roberts (2000) recommends practitioners should follow a seven stage model beginning with risk assessment, in order to establish if the person needs immediate medical attention, are they considering suicide as a solution, are they likely to injure themselves, if they are a victim of violence, is the perpetrator still present or likely to return, if there are children involved are they at risk, does the victim need transport to a place of safety, has the individual sought emergency treatment of this sort before and if so what was the outcome? It is essential to establish rapport with service users who are experiencing an episode of acute crisis, to include offering of information regarding help and support, and genuine respectfulness and acceptance of the person in line with the anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice, therefore adhering to the GSCC Code of Practice. The worker then needs to establish the nature of the problems that have led to the crisis reaction and encourage an exploration of feelings. Roberts (2000) believes this is a key element of the model, whereby service users should be encouraged to express their feelings in a safe and understanding environment within the context of an empathic therapeutic relationship with the worker. The worker should consider alternative responses to the crisis through active listening and encourage the service user to think about what alternative options there are available and what they feel they can bring to this new situation that they find themselves in. Roberts (2000) concludes that an action plan should be developed and implemented which involves the identification of a particular course of action in order to move beyond the crisis state successfully. The service user needs to establish a full understanding as to what happened, why and what the result was, to understand the cognitive and emotional significance of the event, an d to develop a future plan based on real situations and beliefs rather than irrationality. Finally, a follow-up plan and agreement can be drawn up between both service user and worker if any further help is needed and by whom. It is evident that there are various advantages and limitations as well as some common features between both of these methods of practice. In fact Reid (1992) believes that crisis intervention has been influential to the development of task-centred practice. A major advantage for task-centred practice is that it offers an optimistic approach that moves focus away from the person as the problem, to practical and positive ways of dealing with problems. Coulshed Orme (1998) suggest that task-centred practice does not assume that the problem resides only in the service user and therefore attention is paid to external factors such as housing and welfare and the strengths of individuals and their networks. However, Gambrill (1994 cited in Payne 1997) argues that neither model deals with social change and may not take account of structural oppression such as poverty, poor health, unemployment or racial or gender discrimination or where the problem may not be easy to overcome without politi cal or social change; the failure of political will to respond realistically to deep-seated problems of poverty and social inequality and its effectiveness in dealing with presenting problems may result in society avoiding longer-term and more deeply seated responses to social oppressions (Payne, 1997:113). In addition, Wilson et al (2008) argue that the crisis intervention model does not take into account cultural differences regarding traditions when coping with acute distress and the loss of a loved one for example. The criticism is that crisis intervention theory is based on a very western philosophy, which patches up as quickly as possible. It could be suggested therefore, that if workers carry out a thorough and sensitive assessment before intervention, this should be avoided. On the other hand, Coulshed Orme (1998:55) believes that the task-centred approach is more generic, in that it is considered to be ethnic sensitive and can be applied to many situations with different user groups; the task-centred approach is the one most favoured by those who are trying to devise models for ethnic-centred practice because its method is applicable to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Therefore in keeping with anti-discriminatory practice which is integral to social work ethic and the GSCC Code of Practice. It could be argued that the success of these two approaches within social work comes from the fact they are brief and time efficient and therefore economical interventions, both for service user and from the care-management perspective. In addition, both approaches involve the service user in examining and defining their own problems and finding ways in which they can work on them using their own resources and strengths. This enables them to regain control of their lives and promote empowerment either by success in problem solving in order to build confidence as in the task centred approach, or helping people become emotionally stronger through learned experience, as with crisis intervention, rather than understanding the origins of present problems in past experience. This in turn helps the service users ability to cope in the near and distant future and become more capable of solving subsequent problems without help (Payne 1997). Equally, the fact that short-term interventions shou ld curtail the service users dependency on the worker, further enhances empowerment. As Ford and Postle (2000:53) state; The dangers of social work effectiveness becoming dependent on the worker/ client relationship, which may or not work out, are minimised in the short-term. The tasks and goals established in task-centred practice are chosen because they are achievable, that is the mutual and specific agreement or contract set up between the service user and the worker ensures that the success of the intervention relies upon the acceptability and participation of the tasks (Wilson et al 2008). As a result of the mutuality of the partnership, anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice and empowerment are at the core of the task-centred approach, all which are key to the GSCC Code of Practice. However, Rojek and Collins (1987:211) point out that as that as task-centred practice is based on contractual intervention, this could set up an unequal power relationship between the worker and the service-user; As long as social workers have access to the economic and legal powers of the state and clients contact social work agencies as isolated individuals with problems, then there is the basis for inequality. Contract work does not get round these points by affecting an open and flexible attitude. Similarly regarding power base, Trevithick (2005) believes that the crisis intervention approach can be a highly intrusive method which is too direct and can raise a number of ethical issues such as making decisions on behalf of the service user if they are too distressed to do so themselves, which in turn may offer potential for oppressive practice on behalf of the worker. However Kessler (1966) believes that during the disequilibrium of crisis, a person has more susceptibility to influence by others than during periods of stable functioning which provides a unique opportunity to effect constructive change. This point could be argued in that the susceptibility to influence others that Kessler describes is in itself oppressive, although Golan (1978); Baldwin (1979); Aguilera and Messick (1990); Olsen (1984) (cited in Parker 2007:116) maintain that this time of disquiet motivates willingness to change, and this is when the practical application of crisis theory is effective. However, it could be suggested that that this is similar to the bargaining stage that Kubler-Ross (1970) describes in the five stages of grief, whereby an individual becomes so desperate to resolve a situation, that they are willing to try anything, even if it means striking a deal with God. Accordingly, Coulshed and Orme (2006 cited in Parker 2007:117) see its value in working with people at points of loss and bereavement, which they believe has resonance with the use of this intervention. This poses the question as to whether crisis intervention is more of a situation specific intervention. However, Poindexter (1997) believes that crisis intervention is suited to individuals who have experienced a hazardous event, have a high level of anxiety or emotional pain, and display evidence of a recent acute breakdown in problem-solving abilities, therefore implying that this approach could be applied to a range of situations or problematic events. Both interventions can be seen as time-limited approaches that superficially fit well with care-management (Ford and Postle, 2000:59) which implies that they are only used because they fit into the routine and schedule driven aspects of care management rather than for their effectiveness. It could therefore be suggested that due to the general pressures of time, the worker may try to fit either intervention around their workload, rather than around the service users needs, which in turn may restrict the development of empowerment within the service user, and ultimately not address any underlying problems. Although this is a rather bureaucratic outlook, it could be said to be a sign of the times that most things are increasingly driven by targets and financial considerations. Whilst both approaches seem to satisfy agency requirements as well as maintaining professional practice, Reid and Epstein (1972) believe that the task-centred approach is more structured compared to crisis interv ention (cited in Payne 1997:97). It could be suggested in which case, that task-centred practice is more beneficial for the less experienced worker as it follows more defined framework. In addition, it could be fair to say that this method of intervention could be useful for reflective practice due to it following such a framework; the worker, as well as the service user, has to be committed to a series of planned work, therefore could be a valuable tool for future guidance in a professional capacity. Further to the constraints of short term interventions Reid and Epstein (1972) suggest that these approaches may not allow sufficient time to attend to all the problems that the service user may want help with and that clients whose achievement was either minimal or partial thought that further help of some kind may be of use in accomplishing their goals. Task-centred practice is an approach which depends on a certain level of cognitive functioning. Doel and Marsh (1992) suggest that the service user must be of rational thought and be capable of cognition in order for the intervention to be effective, therefore may not be suitable for those with on-going psychological difficulties or debilitations; where reasoning in seriously impaired, such as some forms of mental illness, people with considerable learning difficulties or a great degree of confusion, task-centre work is often not possible in direct work with that person. It is evident that both the task-centred and crisis intervention approaches are popular and generally successful models of social work practice and can both be used in a variety of situations.   Both approaches are based on the establishment of a relationship between the worker and the client and can address significant social, emotional and practical difficulties (Coulshed Orme 2006). They are both structured interventions, so action is planned and fits a predetermined pattern. They also use specific contracts between worker and service user and both aim to improve the individuals capacity to deal with their problems in a clear and more focused approach than other long term non directive methods of practice (Payne 1991). Despite their different origins and emphasis, both of these approaches have a place in social work practice through promoting empowerment of the service user and validating their worth. Although there are certain limitations to both of the approaches, they do pro vide important frameworks which social workers can utilise in order to implement best practice. References Coulshed, V. and Orme, J. (2006) Social work practice . 4th ed. Basingstoke, Palgrave. Macmillan. Doel, M. and Marsh, P. (1992). Task-centred Social Work. Aldershot, Ashgate. Healy, K (2005) Social work theories in context : creating frameworks for practice. Basingstoke:Palgrave Poindexter, C. C. (1997) Work in the aftermath: Serial Crisis Intervention for People with HIV Health Social,May, 22, (2), 1-3. Adams, Dominelli and Payne (2002) Social Work: Themes, Issues and Critical Debate   (2nd edn) Palgrave Coulshed, V. (1991) Social Work Practice: An Introduction, Basingstoke: Macmillan/BASW Ford and Postle (2000) Task-centred Practice and Care Management, in Stepney and Ford Social Work Models, Methods and Theories   Russell House Payne, M (1997) Modern Social Work Theory   (2nd edn) Macmillan Reid and Epstein (1972) Task-centred casework   Columbia University Press Reid, W. J. (1992) Task Strategies New York:   Columbia University Press Trevithick, P (2005) 2nd Edition, Social Work Skills: A Practice Handbook, Philadelphia: Open University Press Caplan, G. (1964). Principles of preventative psychiatry. New York: Basic Books Reid, W. J. (1992) Task Strategies: An Empirical Approach to Clinical Social Work, New York: Columbia University Press Reid, W. J. and Shyne, A. (1969) Brief and Extended Casework New York: Columbia University Press Aguilera, D. C.   (1990) Crisis Intervention: Theory and Methodology 6th edition St Louis:   Mosby and Co Parker, J.   (2007) Crisis Intervention: A Practice Model for People who have Dementia and their Carers, Practice 19 (2), 115-126 Marsh, P. and Doel, M. (2005) The Task Centred Book Aldershot:Ashgate Hoff, L. A. (1990) Battered Women as Survivors , London: Routledge Rojek, C and Collins, S. A. (1987) Contract or Con trick? British Journal of Social Work, 17, 199-211 Epstein, L. and Brown, L. (2002) Brief Treatment and a New Look at the Task Centred Approach, Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon Doel, M. (2002) Task-centred work, in R. Adams, L. Dominelli and M. Payne (eds) Social Work: Themes, Issues and Critical Debates (2nd edition), Basingstoke: Palgrave Reid, W. J. and Epstein, L. (1972) Task Centred Casework, New York: Columbia University Press Kubler-Ross, E. (1970) On Death and Dying, London: Tavistock Coulshed, V. and Orme, J. (1998) Social Work Practice: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Basingstoke: Macmillan/BASW Cree, V. and Myers, S. (2008) Social Work: Making a Difference, Bristol: The Policy Press Wilson, K, Ruch, G. Lymbery, M. Cooper, A. (2008), Social Work: An Introduction to Contemporary Practice, Essex: Pearson Education Limited Roberts, A. (2000), Crisis Intervention Handbook: Assessment, Treatment and Research, 2nd edition, Oxford: University Press Murgatroyd, S.J. and Woolfe, R. (1985), Helping Families in Distress: An Introduction to Family Focussed Helping, Michigan: Harper and Row Kessler, J. W. (1966), Psychopathology of Childhood, California: Prentice-Hall Fell, B. (2009) McColgan (2009) BASW (2002)

The Use of Recombinant DNA :: Papers

The Use of Recombinant DNA I agree that recombinant DNA benefits humans only to a certain extent though. During the late 1960s and early 1970s a series of independent discoveries made in rapid succession yielded a new technology whereby humans have the capability to manipulate and direct the very evolution of life itself. This is accomplished through the process of gene splicing (Recombinant DNA). There are four essential elements of the process: a method of breaking and joining DNA molecules from different sources, a gene carrier that can replicate both itself and the foreign DNA, a means of introducing the foreign DNA into a functional bacteria cell, and a method of selecting from a large population the cells which carry the foreign DNA. Using procedures like recombinant DNA, many human genes have been cloned in E. coli or in yeast. This was made possible for the first time to produce unlimited amounts of human proteins. Cultured cells (E. coli, yeast, mammalian cells) transformed with the human gene are being used to manufacture: insulin for diabetics, human growth hormone (GH) GH from domestic mammals like cows and pigs does not work in humans. So for many years, the only source of GH for therapy was that taken out from the glands of human cadavers. But this supply was shut off when several patients died from a rare neurological disease attributed to contaminated glands. Now, thanks to recombinant DNA technology, recombinant human GH is available. While a great benefit to patients suffering form GH deficiency, there has also been pressure to use it to stimulate growth in youngsters who have no deficiency but whose parents want them to grow up tall, erythropoietin (EPO) People with failing kidneys can be kept alive by dialysis. But dialysis only cleanses the blood of wastes. Without a source of EPO, these patients suffer from anaemia. Now, thanks to recombinant DNA technology, recombinant human EPO is available to treat these patients, for treating anaemia, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) for dissolving blood clots, angiostatin and endostatin for trials as anti-cancer