A Reflection Paper on Corporate America and Ethics
There are several different ideas concerning the use of ethics in the realm of corporate America. There are also concerns about the responsibilities of these businesses to the society within which they operate. Before undertaking this survey, I could not appreciate the place of ethics in business, although I have heard people debate the levels of social responsibility businesses have to their consumers before. This research has been so important to me. I have come to realize that the role played by ethics in corporate America cannot be under-rated. In fact, I now understand that observance of ethical practices in a business enterprise determines the profitability of the enterprise. It is highly important for a company to be ethical in corporate America. Moreover, the research we conducted has helped learn that ethical business practices enhance customer loyalty. It also increases the commitment of employees to their work as well as improves reputation. In addition, it helps to decrease vulnerability and reduce potential costly fines.
In this survey, we aimed at studying ethics in relation to large corporation. The corporation we chose was the Target business. Prior to our research, we had realized that large corporations managed their way around ethics to make profits. The survey helped me to understand the reason why these corporations are likely to continue thriving despite paying little attention to ethics.
Use of questionnaires was the best method to obtain the information in this case. We prepared questionnaire with 14 multiple-choice questions. We structured our questions in the best way possible to help us collect all the relevant information. The first three questions gave us information on the background information. We then twisted our questions to help us know whether the people we interviewed shopped at Target and the reasons behind their answers. We then asked question that helped us understand people’s views on Target’s profits and how it benefits the society. Our remaining questions were about ethics and in relation to Target business. I believe our questions were sufficient to gather all the necessary information for this research.
Our research tried all means to avoid biasness as far as the interviewed population was concerned. The questionnaire surveys a total number of 27 women and 34 men. In our interview, we selected a mix of students, parents, and friends. In addition to the survey research, we compared data about people’s knowledge about corporation practices and their views on ethics in relation to corporate responsibility. The responses differed due to high level of education differed greatly with majority being high school.
We were sensitive as far as the ages of the respondent were concerned. The ages of the respondents ranged from 16 to 65 years. The majority of the people surveyed belonged to the 16-25 age range. There were fifty people whose ages ranged between 16-25 years; 7 people in the 26-35 years age range; 1 person in the 36-45 years age range; 1 person in the 46-55 years age range; 1 person in the 56-65 years age range; and one person over the age of 65 years.
From our research, most of the people shop at Target shop because of location and price. Surprisingly enough, only 2 % of the respondents shop at Target because of the policies of the corporation. Similarly, only 2.2% of the respondents do not shop at Target because of the company’s business policies. We can interpret the results to mean that the public has inadequately information about Target’s corporate policies. Inadequate information breeds ignorance, which makes some members of the public to ignore ethical practices.
This research was very successful. We were able to achieve our aim despite the challenges involved. It helped me to understand adequately, the relationship between ethic and business in America.
a reflection paper on Corporate America and Ethics 2
Running head: a reflection paper on Corporate America and Ethics 1
Audit BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in Organizations
Abstract
The world is increasingly becoming IT-savvy with more people appreciating the integral role that IT is serving the world together with efficiency in carrying out daily activities is concerned. Contemporary organizations involved in various distinctive operations and productions have not been left out as they have relentlessly allowed technology to take control of most of their operations as a measure to increase efficiency. As such, organizations continue to embrace IT and acknowledging its significance in helping them to achieve their goals and objectives without wasting much of their resources. In the quest to attain employee contentment and high performance, organizations have learnt to use the most convenient ways to ensure this is made possible. IT on the other hand has made it easy for organizations to develop reliable strategies to mobilize their employees towards realizing their goals and objectives. Bring your own device (BYOD) is one such IT policy that organizations have embraced in a bid to empower employees and increase their productivity. This policy advocates for the use of a wide array of private portable gadgets to access an organization’s data at their own convenience. BYOD is progressively developing into a norm in almost every organization that is seeking to improve its productivity through employee empowerment. However, there are many mishaps associated with the use of BYOD in today’s organizations. This paper will analyze the policy of BYOD from an auditor’s perspective while explicating its benefits and shortcomings associated with the policy.
Audit BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in Organizations
Introduction
A typical employee in a contemporary sophisticated world owns a couple of mobile devices that can serve almost all IT services anywhere and at any time. Organizations too have realized just how imperative this can serve to empower their employees to improve their productivity. Almost every employee owns a smartphone, laptop, and a tablet, which are easily portable. In acknowledgement and appreciation for this fact, organizations have developed an IT policy called Bring your own device (BYOD), which allows employees carry any of their portable devices to their place of work and use such devices to access confidential organizational data and applications. For years since its inception, BYOD continue to be an effective IT policy that has persistently contributed towards the success of many organizations in their endeavors. The implementation of BYOD policy in many organizations has had numerous benefits such as augmented asset management, increased efficiency, employee contentment, and cost saving advantages among others. This can be attributed to the heavy reliance on better and competent implementation policies, which seek to protect certain sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands that could lead an organization into more detrimental conditions. BYOD ensures that both employees and the organization in question are advantaged. However, as much as there may be many advantages accrued to the use of BYOD in today’s organization, the policy has certain setbacks that could endanger an organization. These risks include possible infection of malware hence data leakage, which could mean that sensitive information are compromised and negative media hype among others. This paper seeks to analyze BYOD from an auditor’s perspective unveiling and elucidating its advantages to both the organization and to employees and recommendation for its implementation.
Auditors Perspective on BYOD
It is not surprising that several organizations that have had a taste of BYOD experience have an inherent dislike of the policy due to the nasty scenes that it might have seen them go through. Indeed, security breach is a rather an enormous issue of great concern as far as the BYOD policy is concerned. Insufficient infrastructure or lack of enough resources is no longer the alibi for failure to implement and support BYOD policy that is being the issue of contention. Rather, the sensitivity of the data that the policy exposes to unreliable and untrustworthy employees has contributed significantly to organization’s fear of loss of huge amount of data, which is indeed risky. Organizational information would not only end up in the wrong hands and be compromised but also be lost completely, which could be a huge loss to such an organization. However, what can be done in a bid to ensure the effectiveness of BYOD in any organization? Firstly, there ought to be well-designed policies and procedures put forward in the implementation of the BYOD policy. Where there policies are well structured and implemented, they ensure that receptive data are well protected from possible leakage and promiscuity. Pinmuk (2008) reiterates that, if the networks to which BYOD gadgets connect are secured, the policy could work effectively without compromising with the stored data and still drive the organization towards realizing its objectives.
Additionally, in a bid to ensure reliability and effectiveness of the use of BYOD, there is need to sensitize employees on accountability and responsibility for their own devices and the data received. This would help to encourage proper use of the information received in a bid to benefit both the organization and the employees. The indisputably compelling benefits of BYOD to an organization make it a rather vital IT venture for the success of the business by ensuring that employees are satisfied, the work environment is encouraging, and that efficiency is achieved thus improving productivity. Therefore, there is need for auditors in the field of IT to customize the surrounding in which BYOD is to be implemented to ensure that its purpose is achieved in the long run. According to Hayes & Kotwica (2013), for successful implementation of the program, the company IT specialists should ensure that there are clear distinctions between personal and organizational information and applications in a bid to secure sensitive information, which are rather susceptible to loss or compromise.
Advantages of BYOD
As mentioned early on, BYOD has undeniably compelling advantages both to the organization and to employees as well. Allowing employees to use their own individual portable gadgets has inherent benefits to a company that embraces the policy and to the employees. A wide array of organizations have benefited significantly from BYOD policy through variety of ways. The policy continues to be a reliable program that enriches organizations with many resources while maximizing the potential of their employees to enhance productivity. According to Assing & Calé (2013), through BYOD, employee’s productivity can improve significantly because of the fact that it enables them to engage in their work while away from their respective working places.
While travelling away from the work environment, employees can carry their laptops or smartphones around conveniently and still have a rare opportunity to attend to their work with no problem per se. Even in instances of emergency where some organizational data may require quick editing, an employee can be accessed and asked to attend to any issue easily and conveniently. Therefore, it eliminates employee’s excuse of being held up encouraging them to work and thus empowering them to improve their productivity. It cuts the expenses, infrastructure, and other resources required for performance of an organization’s IT department. The fact that the policy requires employees to bring their own devices eliminates the organization’s need to incur huge costs and expenses in a bid to implement IT infrastructure within the enterprise. The organization does not buy the mobile gadgets for the employees, which helps the company to avoid such an expense that indeed has a significant impact to the organization.
When personal devices are brought into the business, they discourage an organization form undertaking unnecessary expenses hence saving the cash for other purposes. Indeed, electronic gadgets are expensive and if an organization is committed to making any purchases, then it will have to dig deep into the pockets in a bid to make the purchase. According to Edelheit, Stuckey, Sage, Singh, & Cuneo (2012), several organizations work with a wide range of employees and sometimes, some are geographically dispersed and working in various branches. As such, it would be expensive trying to buy every employee a computer for use. Besides, employees own mobile devices of their own choice and suit their needs as well as preference. Hence, it becomes easy for them to work with the devices as they conveniently manipulate them into more reliable and desirable condition to improve efficiency and hence productivity. Moreover, further expenses will be incurred in order to provide training on the employees to make them become familiar with the gadgets. Therefore, allowing them to use their own mobile devices makes use of their full potential as most individuals are well acquainted with the operations and applications in their own devices because they use them on daily basis at any given point in time. It also does away with the possible costs and expenses needed to monitor the usage of company gadgets as individuals take responsibility and full accountability of their own private mobile devices.
Additionally, there is BYOD program leads to enhanced cooperation and mobility among employees. It also enhances effective communication among employees within an organization at little or no cost, as there is no need to manage and make payments for overhaul plans, independently administered calls, and data utility within the premises. On the other hand, BYOD program enhances employee potency to contribute towards quality work as well as personal life by allowing employees to communicate with their colleagues and supervisors irrespective of where they are. That is, employees do not need to rush to their working place to attend to any emergency as this can be done vial their computers or tablets with more ease and convenience. In addition, BYOD program encourages the absorption and retention of more reliable IT-savvy personnel within the enterprise by giving them an ample time to use their electronic devices both at work and at home.
Assing & Calé (2013) explains that, this encourages such employees to use their own reliable programs that can be beneficial to the organization as far as helping in the operations of the organizations is concerned. Besides, the fact that employees are allowed to use their own devices increases their morale towards work since they are not forced to use gadgets that they might not be well acquainted with. Always a cost comes with carrying around of office issued devices, which can be devastating. This burden is reduced when employees are allowed to use their own devices to carry out their office work irrespective of where they are. Therefore, this gives them the courage and confidence to attend to their duties and responsibilities by manipulating their own personal devices without fear or panic.
Disadvantages of BYOD
Despite the advantages associated with BYOD program, a number of negativity accrues to this policy. These challenges include information security, which means that critical organizational data could be lost or jeopardized with in the event of malware infection. Organizational data are significantly important assets that an organization owns and as such, an organization should always strive to secure them. BYOD devices used by employees make the company network susceptible to possible threats from viruses, which could lead to total loss of important information. Several organizations are not ready to embrace the BYOD program primarily due to fear of loss of their information. Additionally, some employees cannot be trusted with key organizational information and thus they prefer not to use BYOD program due to security risk.
Some employees are clumsy or even have a secret motive to access a company’s sensitive information. That is, they access the information and store them in their mobile devices they carelessly leave them with their friends where they can easily access such receptive information and expose to the public, which could lead to negative publicity. Assing & Calé (2013) reiterates that, some employees may take sensitive information outside the organization and expose them to an organization’s competitors. This can cause to serious damages to such an organization ass the competitor may use the information to topple the organization for their own benefit. In addition, users may be unwilling to take part in the execution of the program owing to concerns as regards to confidentiality and other possible excuses. It may also be difficult to carry out an identity management approach because of the fact that every employee within the organization could be having several gadgets that are connecting to the same enterprise network connection.
The supervision of performance and capacity is a hard work being that the information technology environment is highly unpredictable. Keyes (2013) explains that, the IT department cannot control the amount and run their errands, and since the number of personal gadgets used within the enterprise is not easily regulated by the organization, it is often intricate trying to model and foresee the system’s performance. Moreover, implementation of BYOD program could cause a company or organization to compromise with the rules and regulations, confidence, intellectual properties, and several other decisive business commitments. Furthermore, others will argue that BYOD policy has other extra costs that come with implementation of BYOD program as well as additional infrastructure and other relevant resources, which may be expensive. On the other hand, there is a high possibility that BYOD could encourage laxity and laziness among employees as others may stay glued to their computers and smartphones in the pretext that they are working yet they could be in the social media chatting with friends. This in turn could hamper performance and seriously reduce productivity.
Recommendation
BYOD program is undeniably a reliable means that an organization can utilize in a bid to improve productivity through employee empowerment. In a bid to harvest the ripe fruits of the policy, there need to be proper implementation of policies and guidelines to govern the use of personal portable devices within an organization’s premises. This will ensure that the devices brought into the business are primarily up to the task of empowering employees and mobilizing them to improve their performance and gradually lead to increased productivity. The cost and benefit analysis of the implementation of program would unveil that certainly, there are more benefits than costs and that proper utilization of personal devices is more than a resource to the business. Therefore, it would be crucially important to consider the significant contribution of BYOD program towards achieving organizations goals and objectives while at the same time ensuring the satisfaction of employees. To overcome the negativity associated with the use of BYOD program in organizations, it would be wise to ensure proper implementation of mobile device management.
A central mobile device management strategy would give room for development of reliable policies to control the use of the devices and achieve the desired goal. It would also be ideal for the implementation process to incorporate acceptable usage agreement in a bid to regulate who views what. Additionally, it will be prudent for an organization that is thinking about establishing the program into its system to classify both the user and the data clearly as well as divide protected network for BYOD devices. Moreover, it would be vitally important to protect the organization’s intellectual properties in a bid to discourage employees from engaging into any malpractices including selling out information belonging to an organization. An organization could also manipulate the system in such a manner that no information can be downloaded and stored in someone’s personal device. Besides, an organization should completely erase information belonging to the company from the individual-owned mobile devices upon termination of an employee’s contract or even theft of the device.
Conclusion
The foregoing discussion has presented an in-depth analysis of BYOD program in organization from the auditing perspective while explaining the benefits and shortcomings associated with the policy. The paper has defined and elucidated clearly about the program of BYOD as well as what it encompasses in the contemporary organizations. The paper explains the crucial role that BYOD plays in the success of many organizations as well as the benefits that accrue to this policy, which include increase in productivity, cost saving, employee satisfaction, and efficiency. Additionally, the paper has discussed the various disadvantages and challenges including information breach, negative publicity, and low productivity among others. The paper also summarizes with critical recommendation for improvement on the part of developing the program in a bid to ensure that there exist policies that provide rules and regulations for proper execution of the program and avoid the challenges associated with the policy. The paper recommends that there should be competent auditing and scrutiny of BYOD program to ensure its effectiveness in serving its purpose as far as accomplish its mission is concerned. Therefore, organizations should embrace BYOD program to empower and inspire employees to perk up their performance and hence high productivity.
References
Assing, D., & Calé, S. (2013). Mobile Access Safety: Beyond BYOD. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Edelheit, D., Stuckey, D., Sage, J., Singh, S., & Cuneo, M. (2012). Agility through consistent delivery. Bring your own device , 1-14.
Hayes, B., & Kotwica, K. (2013). Bring your own device (BYOD) to work: Trend report. New York: Newnes.
Keyes, J. (2013). Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) Survival Guide. Chicago: CRC Press.
Pinmuk, K. (2008). How to audit. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) , 1-21.
AUDIT BYOD (BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE) IN ORGANIZATIONS 2
AUDIT BYOD (BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE) IN ORGANIZATIONS 1
Introduction
Professional ethics is a term used to define individual, organizational, as well as commercial values that specialists in different field are expected to observe in the course of performing their duties. Professional Ethics help to control the extent to which specialized skills and knowledge should be applied to avoid exploitations and sabotages. It is obvious that people with specialized knowledge have a great influence on their clients who have to open up and share their problems to enable the professional understand the problem better which will enable him offer the best solution. This as a result puts the clients at a very vulnerable position that if there are no regulations could be used by the professional to attain their personal objectives.
Professional ethics therefore regulates the professional-client relationship, working conditions while safeguarding the interests of both parties. Professional ethics equally refers to practices that are regarded as of great value by the members of the society that include openness, truthfulness, and responsibility. This enables the professionals to offer the best services to the clients and as such, the clients develop trust to the profession and the professionals. Equally, this offers professionals with good reputation of their profession that enables the clients to repeatedly seek their services. It also helps the professionals to practice their work without fear of sabotage from fellow professionals in the same profession as the code of conduct punishes those who offer shoddy services.
Professions ethics
Studies indicate that various professions create their own ethics that regulates the conduct of professionals in that profession in relation to themselves, clients, and other stakeholders. These ethics plays a very vital role in initiating, and executing order in the daily activities of the profession and respective professionals. It is evident that professions have set up various professional bodies that set up and regulates the activities and relationships in those professions. Competence is one of the key function of the ethics set up by various professional body as it aims at enhancing that the professionals offers standard services. This enables the clients to get quality services from the professionals and this enables them to get satisfying solutions to their problems. Conflict resolution is another benefit offered by the professional bodies that sets up ethics. This enables cordial relationships between the professionals and a fair resolution mechanism when the conflicts arise.
Confidentiality is also empowered by the ethics in various professions, which demand that the professionals handle their clients with utmost secrecy. This prevents exposure of client’s information, which would otherwise place the client at a vulnerable position. Standardization is also a function of ethics whereby the professionals are informed of the extent to which the quality of their work cannot fall. While enables the professionals to know their expectations in terms of service delivery it also enables the clients to know the expected standards of the solutions to their problems and as such clients are not liable to exploitation.
Violation of common morality
Morality violation refers to a series of actions, choices, and purposes which a person opts to carry on despite of them being perceived as wrong. Morality includes actions such as honesty, which are important while offering various services to people that will ensure proper handling of sensitive matters. It also involves avoiding actions that can expose people to harm and thereby ensuring people safety. Morality also encompasses actions that aim at honoring other people’s privacy that enhances their confidence, which if their privacy were revealed would be highly lowered.
Various professions violate the common morality as they offer their services to their clients. The profession of medicine is one that has seen numerous cases of violation of common morality due to its nature of dealing with personal issues of people. Professionals in this profession are posed with very challenging situations that in many ways force them to violate common morality to accomplish their duties. It is important for medical professionals to do all in their power and knowledge to preserve human lives but at times, they are posed with a challenging situation where a pregnant mother is in danger of losing her life and ultimately her child due to pregnancy complications. While this violates the unborn child the right to live, doctors performs abortion to save the mother. This has a desirable consequence whereby the mother’s life is saved and thereby giving her a chance to live and even offering her a chance to get another child in future.
Medical professionals are also engaged in hiding medical errors that occurs in the cause of the clients medication which if the clients get to know can threaten their lives due to fear and stress. Although this is done for the benefit of the patient, the medical professional violates the concept of honesty while dealing with the patient who is entitled to full disclosure of their health situation. This has undesirable consequences that may further endanger the life of the patient as the medical professionals engage in intensive cover up. This also violates the tenant that states that the medical professionals should avoid harming the health of the patients. This is evident because in the course of cover up the professional may increase the chances of putting the life of the patient at more risk. Medical professionals also violate confidentiality of the patients while carrying out their work when they expose client’s health concerns to the family members. This violates the confidentiality of the patient who has the right to keep their health status secret. This causes desirable consequences as revealing the health status of the patients to the family members offers the family the chance to assist the patient with the best care and support.
Justification of special roles
It is obvious that professionals are faced with the challenge of performing special roles, which in the nonprofessional understanding are not acceptable but may be relevant to people who are in extreme circumstances. Euthanasia is one of the special roles medical professionals perform to patients who are undergoing illness that causes unbearable pain. This aims at eliminating the stress that occurs due to the intensive pain that a patient goes through in the course of illness. Other people usually demand for euthanasia on their free will, as they perceive that they do not have a chance of surviving a terminal illness. The professional do not have a choice of refusing, as they have to accomplish the autonomous decision of the patients. Aborting a complicated pregnancy is another special role played by medical professional as they aim at rescuing the life of a mother from danger of further complications. This helps in saving the life of the mother who would otherwise face imminent death if the abortion option were to be ignored.
Conclusion
It is apparent that professional ethics are core to responsible performance of duty by various professionals, which govern their conduct in relation to other professionals in the same field, clients, as well as other stakeholders. This ethics enables the various professionals to have a fair working relationship with their peer, offer their clients quality services, as well as act as a point of reference concerning conflict resolutions. Various bodies have been set up by various professions to safeguard various ethics in respective professions. This body enhances the adherence of the professional ethics by professionals that enhances the reputation of various professions in the eyes of their clients. Despite of well stipulated professional ethics, professionals are faced with unique situations which include cases of complicated pregnancy, medical errors as well as need to reveal health status of patients to the members of their family. Professionals violate this ethics to save lives as well as enable patients to get better care from their close relatives. It is also obvious that special roles by professionals, which include Euthanasia and aborting a complicated pregnancy, may be important in saving the lives of some people while also enabling others to get relieve from their painful experiences.
Child Labor
An Overview of Child Labor
Introduction
Child labor is absolutely not a new term to most of us. This term has become the order of the day in the recent. In fact, in documented history, the practice dates as back as early 1900s. This was the period when industrialization was introduced (The History Place, 2012). At that time, most employers preferred to hire child laborers. This was seen to be cheaper since they could easily manipulate them as compared to their adult counterparts. It was easier to pay children using smaller and cheaper tokens such as peanuts for their services. Apart from remuneration, the conditions in which these children worked were quite demanding. In most cases, these children worked under hazardous environments. In fact, they even suffered fatal injuries and death while working in factories or mining sites. In other instances, children were forced to work to bear the debts incurred by their parents. Moreover, they were enslaved and forced to work for very long hours.
Photo from The History Place (2012). Child Labor in America 1908-1912. Photographs of Lewis W. Hine. Retrieved from http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
The picture above, for instance, depicts child laborers who worked at a fish-cutting factory in Maine. Most of them sustained injuries involving cut fingers while laboring at the factory. It was also absurd that these children would work from as early as seven o’clock in the morning, and stay as late as midnight only to earn a dollar a day. This obviously was harmful to the physical and mental state of these children. This is because these children were not given enough time to rest; something that was not healthy. Moreover, they never had time to attend to school. It is even sadder to know that this was just but a part of the real situation. There were already thousands of such children working in various industries, institutions, and even homes.
This problem has been affecting our children since then until now. In fact, the number of children affected by child labor has been rising each year. It is feared that the number could even be greater in the near future especially in North America. Although there is consensus across the board that child labor is unacceptable in North America, there is still rampant practice of child labor across the globe. However, some of the measures taken to alleviate this trend appear to be bearing favorable results (Jaffe, Mills, Rosen & Shepard, 1997).
Definition of Child Labor
The definition of child labor has been riddled with controversy and there is no single definition that exhaustively represents the intricate nature of child labor. Generally, child labor can be defined as any paid work-related activity; that involves children under the age of 15 years, which prevents them from being children as well as attending school (Sukritha, 2013). Veerman (1997) adds on this definition by presenting eight issues that must be considered while defining child labor in a holistic and exhaustive manner. He focuses on right, duty, privilege, power, liability, immunity, disability and legality. His definition is based on both a philosophical and scholarly approach. He defines child labor as a violation of the rights of a child. This is through economic engagements at the expense of his basic needs such as education, security, and enough rest (Veerman, 1997). Whereas there is still no consensus on child labor, considering the two definitions, it is important to note that child labor basically involves unfair engagement of children in any form of labor in a manner that denies them the right to live and enjoy a normal childhood lifestyle.
Categories of Child Labor
Almost all the countries of the world, including the US, have laws aimed at stopping child labor. However, child labor continues to be practiced unabated by these laws. With no proper and stringent laws to put child labor in check, the practice has taken different forms depending on the demand. According to UNICEF (1997),child work can be classified into thre broad categories. These include children working within the family, those who work outside the family, and those that work within the family, but not in the home. The largest category involve those working outside the family. The most rampant forms of child labor practiced in the 21st century involve children who are employed in the agricultural and fishing sectors. There are also numerous children employed in the commercial industries and others remain child slaves.
Child slaves are usually either in bonded or forced labor. Those in bonded labor usually work for wealthier families in order to pay debts owed by their poor parents (Emerson & Portela 2011). In most cases, it is difficult to keep track of these children since their employers rarely give information concerning them to the relevant institutions of the government. Many employers prefer to engage children as laborers due to the enormous profits they are likely to make by cutting wage costs since they pay very little wages to child laborers (Sukritha, 2013). Other areas include children who are used as child soldiers especially in guerilla warfare, children working as prostitutes, and any other environment that exposes children to harm such as working in the mines (Vandenberg, 2007).
Some children are also usually sexually abused and exploited, and may suffer great psychological effects. There are statistics revealing that child labor, although having reduced drastically, is still being practiced in this era (Emerson & Portela, 2011). Further statistics reveal that approximately 215 million children all over the world are currently engaged in child labor. Approximately 114 million of these children work under very harsh and unfavorable conditions (Thomas, 2013). These statistics reveal that child labor is still practiced, and considering the unreported cases of child labor, many governments may not be fully abreast with the actual number of children involved in child labor.
However, there are those with contrary views as far as the statistics on child labor are concerned. Proponents of this school of thought are of the view that child labor may not be as widespread as the available statistics would like to make us believe. One such person is Edmonds (2007) who, for instance dispels the fears created by the 215 million child laborer statistics claiming that over half of these children actually engage in work that is not harmful to their health, and does not prevent them from attending school. However, the fact that there are many child laborers out there who are not yet accounted for in these statistics is worrying. In the real sense the number of child laborers may actually be much higher than those quoted in these statistics (UNICEF, 1997).
Causes of Child Labor
There are many reasons that are responsible for the thriving child labor. Nonetheless, the main cause of child labor seems to be poverty. In most cases, parents and other guardians never wish for their children to work as laborers under harsh conditions. However, more often than not abject poverty seems to be forcing many families to use their children as laborers in order to earn some income for supporting the family. Furthermore, due to high poverty levels, many parents may not be in a position to take their children to school and therefore opt that they assist in farm work or family business (International Rescue Committee, 2013). The rationale in the latter case is always that if they cannot go to school, then they are better off working to earn the family some additional income.
Health issues are another problem that usually compels children to be involved in working, the constitutional and human rights stipulations notwithstanding. In most communities found in the Sub-Saharan countries, for instance, most family breadwinners are bedridden to diseases such as HIV/Aids. Children therefore have to go and fend for themselves and their other siblings (Loretta, 2004). It is also worth noting that most people in Sub-Saharan Africa die not only of HIV/AIDS but also of other treatable diseases. This happens due to the lack of good medical facilities and personnel in the regions (Loretta, 2004). With this regard, poor health can be one of the factors that are funning child labor.
Another cause of child labor may be the expensive educational programs that most of the poor citizens cannot easily afford or access. Accordingly, many children, especially in the third world are often unable to go to school and therefore stay at home. Consequently, since these children are not enrolled into schools, they may opt to work and earn wages however much little instead of being idle, and/or their parents may opt to send them to the farms to work instead.
Finally, unscrupulous employers who may want to employ children in order to make exorbitant profits also fuel child labor and fight any move made by governments and Non-governmental organizations that work to stop child labor. These unscrupulous business men and women are opportunists who instead of doing something to help these poor children chose to use them to make more money instead.
Although many parents to child laborers are underemployed while others are unemployed, employers desire to use children as a cheap labor supply. Employers view children as easy to supervise since they are more acquiescent and less conscious of their rights compared to adults. The predilection of employers in using the cheapest and most susceptible workforce adds to low wages as well as adult unemployment. In fact, the huge numbers of working children reduce adults’ ability bargaining for fair wages. This in turn takes the jobs away from these adults. Whilst the employers are capable of hiring children cheaply, adults are cannot negotiate for improved wages.
Retrieved from Slavery in the 21st Century. http://slaveryinthe21stcentury.blogspot.com/2011/10/child-labor-harmful-but-necessary.html
The picture above is evidence enough that child labor is still being practiced even in this era of cultural and social advancement. It appears that she is working in a mine considered to be one of the most hazardous work environments for children. It is very unfortunate that most often there are several relevant government officials who come across these and are aware of the same but are either bribed to keep mum or simply overlook such things.
Possible remedies
The Convention on the Rights of Children was a step towards the elimination of child labor. The fact that many countries ratified this convention is enough testimony of the existence of goodwill among stakeholders to prevent child labor (International Rescue Committee, 2013). However, having such conventions and ratifying them alone is not enough. It is important that the member states go further to enact relevant laws within their various states in order to be able to have a good foundation for dealing with such issues. Further, it is important to implement such laws once they are enacted.
Public awareness concerning child labor can also help to enlighten the communities on the dangers involved in engaging in child labor. Accordingly they should be taught about the negative effects that child labor has on the children and be made aware that they can be prosecuted and charged for engaging in such practices. However, many people agree that initiatives aimed at reducing poverty eventually impact positively on the number of child laborers available. In many cases, children are forced to engage in child labor due to lack and scarcity in the families they come from. Empowering poor family through giving incentives like interest free or low interest loans to start businesses or in any other way can help to reduce the number of child laborers in developing and poor countries tremedously (International Rescue Committee, 2013).
Other than poverty, improving the quality and distribution of healthcare facilities can also assist in mitigating child labor and its effect. By using health insurance targeting the poor who cannot afford proper medical care can help reduce the need for children to work in order to fend for the family in case the bread winners fall sick. The government can also ensure that stringent laws are legislated to ensure that employers who hire children are penalized and punished in order to discourage them from engaging in child labor (International Rescue Committee, 2013).
However, ending child labor cannot just be left to the government alone. In order to effectively end this menace would require a collective responsibility that would bring on board the government on one side and the non-governmental organization and the citizens on the other side. While the government enacts and implements policies, the civil societies have a role in educating the public about these laws and about the dangers of not following them. Similarly the citizens have the role of acting as government watchdogs and reporting anyone seen to be promoting child labor.
Photo from Child Labor Public Educational Project (2013). http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/what_is_child_labor.html
The photograph above depicts 6 or 7 year old children working in a mining site involving carrying heavy loads. They are also exposed to danger since they inhale chemicals such as mercury that is harmful to their health (Child Labor Public Educational Project, 2013).
Conclusion
Considering the discussion advanced above, it is appropriate to say that child labor is as much alive today as it was in the early 1900s; only the intensity and its nature have taken a more hidden approach. Moreover, it is evident that child labor is mostly common in poor countries especially in Asia and Africa. However, statistics reveal that it is also practiced in developed countries such as the US. Further dealing with the problem will take more than the government to achieve. It requires a collective responsibility. Therefore, there is need for experts to research and identify new and better ways through which all the stakeholders can effectively collaborate in combating this universal problem.
References
Child Labor Public Educational Project (2013). What is Child Labor? Retrieved November 20, 2013 from http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/what_is_child_labor.html.
Edmonds E. (2007). Child Labor. Department of Economics at Dartmouth College, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), and National Bureau of Economic Research.
Emerson, P.M., & Portela, S. (2011). Is Child Labour Harmful? The Impact of
Working Earlier in Life on Adult Earnings Economic Development and Cultural Change 59:345385, January 2011.
International Rescue Committee (2013). Combating Child Labor in Ethiopia. Retrieved November 20, 2013 from http://www.rescue.org/news/combating-child-labor-ethiopia-4231
Jaffe M., Mills M., Rosen S., & Shepard R. (1997). By the Sweat and Toil of Children: The Use of Child Labor in US Agricultural Imports and Forced and Bonded Child Labor, Volume 2. Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing
Loretta, Bass (2004). Child Labour in Sub-Saharan Africa. Lynne Rienner Publications. pp. 3043.
Slavery in the 21st Century (October 26, 2011). Child Labor: Harmful but Necessary. Retrieved November 20, 2013 from http://slaveryinthe21stcentury.blogspot.com/2011/10/child-labor-harmful-but-necessary.html
Sukritha (2013). How to Prevent Child Labor? Child Labor Still Exist. Hubpages. Retrieved
November 21, 2013 from http://sukritha.hubpages.com/hub/ChildLabourStillExist
The History Place (2012). Child Labor in America 1908-1912. Photographs of Lewis W. Hine. Retrieved November 20, 2013 from http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
Thomas, C. (2013). Protecting Children from having to work. International Labor
Organization. Geneva.
Vandenberg P. (2007). Eliminating Child Labor. Guides for Employers. International Labor Organization. Geneva: ILO Office.
UNICEF (1997). The State of the World’s Children. USA: UNICEF House, New York.
Veerman, Philip (1997). The Rights of Child and the Changing Image of Childhood. Leiden, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
CHILD LABOR 2
Running head: CHILD LABOR 1
Global Strategic Planning-SLP
Types of international trade aspects of your country
Sweden as a country relies heavily on international business activities. For this reason, the global crisis in 2008 adversely affected the country. Fortunately, the country’s economy recovered again in 2010 following an increase in household consumption and restart of the normal international trade (Dreher, Noel & Martens, 2008). This trend is expected to continue since the country maintains good relationships with foreign investors and has multilingual and highly qualified workforce. Additionally, Sweden has a very high per capita income, high purchasing power, rapid rates of adoption of technology in to its economy, and a highly advantageous tax regime. The per capita FDI received in the country is the fourth across the globe.
The government of Sweden has taken the responsibility of ensuring and developing all kinds of support for foreign investments through expansion of its sectors like biotechnology, manufacturing, sand food processing. Similarly, the country supports rapidly advancing growing markets. Since joining the European Union, The government of Sweden established several reforms to enhance and improve its business operations. This has had the effect of increasing foreign investments and enhancing the country’s competitive advantage. As far a promotion of foreign trade is concerned, the OECD through the public expenditure places Sweden on rank n ° 1 (World Trade Organization, 2013).
Sweden as a country is very open to international trade. The political and economic status of the country is very favorable and provides high quality of business environment. This has had the effect of increasing foreign investments and enhancing the country’s competitive advantage. The foreign trade represents over 90% of its GDP (World Bank, 2013). In fact, The European Union is strengthening its position with Sweden as a primary partner. In simple terms, half Sweden’s exports go to EU and a better part of its imports is from there. The foreign trade with its neighbors has experienced a rapid growth and exports to China and India have undergone a significant drop. Sweden conducts a very significant trade in motor vehicles and certain metals. The government of Sweden supports various activities of the Swedish companies in foreign markets. Even though the fall in international trade resulting from the adverse effects of the economic crisis affected the balance of Swedish trade, it is still expected to exceed the anticipated performance.
How international trade affects Swedish Business Activities
International trade has several effects on the various aspects of business operations of countries that can be seen in various sectors like jobs, economy, labor practices, and outsourcing (World Bank, 2013). For instance, foreign trade enables Sweden to communicate and transfer goods and services across its borders using the current technology. Second, it enables Sweden to purchase raw materials and finished goods from other countries. Additionally, it enables Sweden to obtain the necessary finances for expanding the trade.
Third, international trade has effects on job opportunities in Sweden. For example, most companies in the country make good use of cheap labor from other countries that can perform the same duties as local workers at a lower cost (Dreher, Noel, & Martens, 2008). This has the effect of lowering the available number of jobs for local people. For the reason, the local citizens have to compete with foreign workers. Consequently, this impact of international trade has led to unscrupulous business people to exploit cheap workforce in a manner that is somehow detrimental to the foreign workers. Therefore, cheap labor could be disadvantageous.
References
Dreher, Axel, Noel Gaston and Pim Martens (2008), Measuring Globalization-Gauging its
Consequences. New York: Springer
The World Bank (2013). Ease of Doing Business in Sweden. Retrieved from http:/ /doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/sweden/#resolving-insolvency
World Trade Organization. Trade Facilitation. Retrieved from http://wto.org
2
GLOBAL STRATEGIC PLANNING-SLP
Running head: GLOBAL STRATEGIC PLANNING-SLP 1
Apple Inc’s Marketing Plan
Competitor Analysis
The introduction of a smart phone that can be charged by solar energy will make certain that competitors in the smart phone industry will follow suit. This will pose as a threat to the marketing of the new product in the market. Apple Inc’s primary competitors include Samsung, Huawei, Blackberry, and Nokia. These are well established companies that have registered significant success in the smart phone industry. Samsung is among the most formidable competitors because it has developed smart phone products that have hit instantaneous popularity in the international market. The table below will analyze the competitors of Apple and highlight different aspects that Apple Inc. will need to consider when launching the solar powered iPhone in the international market (James 2012, p. 32).
SamsungBlackberryNokia Size of the companySamsung is a multinational conglomerate company that is headquartered I Samsung Town, in the capital city of South Korea, Seoul. It was founded in 1938 and has registered considerable growths over the decades. It made its entry into the electronics industry in the 1960s and has diversified its operations into various operations including securities, financial services, insurance, textiles, and food processing. It is the largest company in the electronics industry. Its primary smart phone products are the Samsung Galaxy Series that have been noted to be very popular among clients based both in the developed countries and the developing countries.Blackberry is one of the companies that can be considered to be pioneers of the smart phone industry. It was established in 1984 as Research In Motion Limited. The company had been the leading company in the industry until Android platform and
Apple’s iPhone were introduced in the market. Being based in Canada, the company has been struggling with its market leadership over the years. It has been registering stagnant success in the international market. However, the company has been noted for its development of a loyal customer base that has been attracted by the company’s products since the inception of the company.Nokia is considered to be the largest mobile phone company in the world. Headquartered in Hungary, it has been in the market since 1866. However, in its inception, the company had not been involved in its current business operations. It has been the leading mobile phone company since the production of mobile phones started becoming mainstream production. The company operates in more than 120 countries and has its products sold in all parts of the world. It’s most notable smart phone has been the Nokia Lumia series that have been identified as a formidable threat to such companies as Blackberry, Samsung and Nokia.Market shareSamsung’s products have been recognized as being very popular in the international market. The company currently controls over 63% of the smart phone industry. This can be attributed to the verity that it offers high quality products at very reasonable prices. It is also important to note that the marketing of the products have been focused on both the emerging and developing markets and the developed markets. This has played a critical role in ensuring that the company is enjoying a good market relationship with customers from all over the world.The company had been a market leader until the invention of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. However, the company still commands a significant market share among older working class populations. Its market dominance has been surpassed by such companies as Apple and Samsung. Nokia has a far reaching clientele. Its diversification in the mobile phone industry has been found to be very influential. The company’s products are designed to match different lifestyles. Its products are applicable to both high income earners and low income earners. It is also one of the companies that has concentrated on the emerging and developing markets with products designed to fit all types of markets in the world.GoalsThe primary goals of the company have been constantly to be the market leader of the market. In the year 2011, the company achieved one of its primary goals, the goal of ensuring that there were 10 million smart phones that have been sold since the inception of the Galaxy Series. The company has maintained the goal of ensuring that it develops products that are attractive to a wide range of customers in different parts of the world. It has also maintained the goal of engaging in cost effective business operations that enhances the pricing of its products in the international market.The primary goals of the company have always been to be the company of choice in the smart phone industry. It has tried to achieve this goal through developing a unique platform of its smart phones. It has also concentrated its marketing efforts in the developed markets like the United States, Canada, and Europe.The motto of the company has been connecting people. This implies that the organization is focused on ensuring that people have access to cheap connectivity devices. However, the company has also been noted for incorporating high technology in its products to enhance the experience of the users. Nokia is one of the companies that has been very influential in ensuring that people from different backgrounds can access connectivity devices easily and at cost effective prices.Target Market
The primary target of the company has been the youths and young adults. These are the populations that have been identified to be enthusiasts of technological gadgets. The target population of the company has not been limited to developed countries but has also included the emerging and developing markets. It has concentrated its marketing to countries located in Africa, Asia, South America, and Middle East.At its inception, the target population of the organization had been the youths and the young adults. However, this has shifted over time and the company has been noted to be inclined towards older people in the market. It has recorded some significant success in offering these products to that target population. However, it has not been successful in appealing to the Generation Y population which has been noted to have a significant influence on technological gadgetsThe primary target of the organization has been all populations. The company’s products have been noted for being all inclusive. Children from young ages to elderly can find a Nokia device that can enhance their experience. The target population of its smart phone products has been identified as people from all ranges of age and backgrounds in both the developing and developed markets.ProductThe primary product of the company in the smart phone industry has been the Samsung Galaxy. This product has registered significant success in all regions of the world. For instance, it has been identified as being the most used smart phone in both the developed and developing markets.The primary product of the organization has been the Blackberry phones that were introduced in the market. These products were noted for their improved operating systems. However, the company has been redundant in its development of new products and has been introducing new models that have little or no enhancements from the previous models.The primary products that have been found to be very competitive towards products from Samsung, Google, and Huawei has been identified as the Nokia Lumia. This phone incorporates greater technology that has played a critical role in ensuring that the phone has made a successful entry into the market.PlaceSamsung has established a well connected network of distribution. This has played a critical role in making certain that the smart phone can be easily obtained by people from different parts of the world. For instance, it has been identified that the product can be easily accessed through established distributors in different markets. There are also many Samsung stores in many parts of the world.Blackberry has well established distribution networks in the developed markets. However, the distribution in the developing and emerging markets has been found to be problematic and in some countries, the products of the company can only be accessed through well established distributors who offer mobile phone services. This means that many people in the developing markets cannot easily access the devices and this has had a negative effect on the performance of the organization.Nokia products can be easily accessed in different parts of the world. It has established good distributors’ networks in all parts of the world. People who are looking forward to purchase the product have been offered an efficient manner of accessing the product from different parts of the world.PriceThe company has been noted for its strategic pricing of its products. The company has adopted policies that minimize the production costs of the products and this has enabled the company to offer competitive prices. Currently, various models of the smart phones have been noted to fetch low prices when compared to similar products from competitors such as Huawei, Nokia, Blackberry, and Apple.The company can be said to be very considerate when pricing its products. This can be attributed to the fact that their products are priced in such a manner that they collaborate with their production costs. Currently, the company’s prices are lower than those of Apple although they are higher than those of Samsung.The pricing of the company’s products have been designed to fit people from different parts of the world. Low income regions have been offered an easier opportunity of accessing the products through considerate pricing.
PromotionSamsung has adopted very competitive promotion strategies. The company having identified that its target populations are the youths and young adults, it has incorporated such strategies as internet marketing and very colorful television adverts. It has also incorporated colorful billboards as a promotion strategy.Blackberry incorporates internet marketing strategies in their marketing efforts. This has been found to be critical in ensuring that many working people can get the information from the internet. Blackberry has also been noted for its high profile television advertisements that have been recognized as some of the best adverts in the television.Nokia uses both internet based promotion strategies and the traditional promotion strategies. This is in-line with its endeavor to ensure that people from different backgrounds can receive information of the products.
Macro-Environmental Analysis
The macro-environmental analysis will use the PEST analysis. The PEST analysis looks into the political, economical, social, technology, legal, and environmental factors that may influence the success of the organization. The development of a solar charge smart phone will need to consider these factors. The political factors are usually concerned with the extent that the government or administration intervenes in the economy. Apple is based in the United States, one of the countries that have been identified as having large degrees of economic autonomy and freedom in the world. This implies that political factors are not considered to be a threat to the new product. However, Apple will need to consider the political factors in the international market and the restrictions and tariffs that are applicable in target countries (Hasan 2013, p. 23).
The economic factors include such factors as inflation rate, exchange rates, interest rates, and economic growth. The United States has been found to be facing economic hardships over the last few years. This implies that in the international market, the organization may face hardships that are concerned with exchange rates and interest rates from countries that are perceived to be performing better than the United States. This could have an influence on the profit margins of the company’s product in the international market. However, this factor is not likely to have a profound impact because the United States has been known to have a very stable economy that is anticipated to stabilize in the short term future.
There is also the issue that is concerned with social factors. It is important to note that the product will receive favorable social response owing to the fact that it is environmentally friendly. Many people around the world have identified the benefits of using environmentally friendly products. The increased source of information in all parts of the world has led to a situation where many people are favoring environmentally friendly products over other products. This implies that Apple’s new product will receive favorable response in different parts of the world.
Technological factors are also critical to be considered. This implies that the organization will need to consider the technology that is at its disposal. The United States is one of the countries that have been found to be very advanced technologically. This implies that the company will have the benefit of such technological aspects of automation and enhance research and development facilities. Since the product will be produced in the United States, it is critical to note that the organization will not need to involve itself in the technological aspects of the international market. However, it will need to look into assembly technologies available in the target regions (Baum et al 2012, p. 17).
Other additional factors include legal factors and environmental factors. These factors have been found to be very critical in assessing the viability of different products. Legal factors include safety laws, employment laws, and discrimination laws. However, these factors do pose as an inhibitor to the success of the product because the company has been operating in the United States. Environmental factors such as weather and climate are not also a threat to the success of the products because the organization has incorporated sustainable operations over the years.
References
Baum M, Hackstein M, & Mehling M, 2012, Strategic Marketing: Assessment of why the Sony Walkman brand lost out to iPod in terms of its position and level of demand in the marketplace, GRIN Verlag.
Hasan MR, 2013, Apple Inc.-An Analysis: PESTEL analysis, Porter’s 5 Forces analysis, SWOT analysis, Comprehensive analysis of financial ratios, and Comprehensive analysis of share performance of Apple Inc., GRIN Verlag.
James E, 2012, Consumer Buying Behavior During a Recession: An Application to the PC Industry with a Focus on Apple (Doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina).
Apple Inc’s Marketing Plan 1
Gerontology
This study exhibits aging procedure among individuals starting from middle age category to later stages of their lives. It incorporates matters that revolve around social, physical and mental changes in adults as they grow old.
Case Study
I have chosen to use a 70-years old individual for this case. He is white, and at his age, he has experienced various changes in life. First, he suffers from a chronic heart disease, a condition that keeps worsening, as he grows old. This condition has become persistent in his life, and resistant to most treatments. As a result, this has made the white man to suffer a lot, as he grows older because; he experiences pain each day of his life. In addition, this chronic heart illness in such patients who are old affects two or three arteries. This implies that at a young age, heart attack is rare and can only affect a single artery that can be treated at an earlier age to avoid recurring. At age of 70 years, this patient requires more attention, and good care to be in a position to cope with his situation.
It is also evident that when this illness became acute, this man developed a heart failure. At this stage, it was difficult for his heart to pump sufficient blood to all parts of his body as required. This severe condition came after chronic stage where he experienced gradual heart problems. This man started by experiencing a heart failure at one side of his heart, a situation that becomes worse as he grows old. I had to change living arrangements to suit situation of this man who is now suffering from severe or acute heart disease. First, I realized that lack of proper exercise, and poor diet were factors that contributed to his worse condition. At his age, seventy years, I have to take care of him by ensuring that he feeds on a healthy diet. In addition, he has to engage in regular exercises to improve his living standards, and increase his life span despite his condition.
Acute heart disease has subjected him to a series of serious illness without improving especially at his age. Furthermore, the nature of this disease makes it hard to predict remaining time he is left with because; he is already old. In this regard, families and friends prepare his living arrangements by practically taking care of the patient on a daily basis. These arrangements will incorporate activities such as assisting patient to prepare his meals, washing and other house errands he cannot tackle himself.
As caregivers, we can also improve his living conditions by arranging a schedule where physicians visit him, and managing medications to ensure that he does not skip his dose. Support systems are also vital when giving care to such a patient. For instance, professionals in counseling play a significant role of ensuring that they offer him advice as a way of motivating him to live for a long time. The advance directives that suit this patient are issued out by medical practitioners. In this case, doctor advices this man to have enough rest, and avoid stressful situations that could reduce his life span. This man tries hard to ensure that he abides by all directives to live more years. At his age of seventy, he wishes to grow older without experiencing much pain as he deals with his acute heart attack situation.
Care Plan
As a caregiver, I understand that at seventy, this man cannot handle all chores on his own given that he is suffering from a severe illness. I intend to care for this person, and satisfy his needs by preparing him a balanced diet meal. This is a vital step because; I will be sure that by giving him food that is nutritious, it keeps him fit as he fights against the disease. Various ways can be used to treat symptoms of this illness. A medical way that is suitable in treating a heart attack disease will vary depending on the situation.
In this case, where this condition developed from acute to chronic, I would prescribe drugs to him. For instance, drugs such as super aspirins will assist him to prevent new formation of clots, which are symptoms of this illness. Therapeutic intervention may also be useful to ensure that the patient restores his flow of blood in a quick way. Nutrition is also an important factor that treats signs of a heart attack disease, which affects this man. This means that a healthy meal will give this patient energy to cope with his situation. Health prevention method that curbs symptoms of this disease is a medical checkup in case a patient feels unwell. New living arrangement, help or support system contribute a lot in caring for this patient. This is evident when medical practitioners use modern techniques to give a quick diagnosis hence; reduces risk of patient to die at an earlier age.
Surname 1
Role of Punishment in the Canadian Criminal Law System
This paper explains the role of punishment in the Canadian justice system. Various roles of punishment will be analyzed, which include but not limited to deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and retribution. According to Pratt (2002, p. 17) punishment can be defined as a legal process through which offenders are prosecuted based on specific legal procedures and categories. Whereas it is still debatable as to whether punishment is effective in reducing crime, punishment remains the single method used in Canada to control crime. The main function of punishment is to rehabilitate the offender, provide redress to the victim and deter others from engaging in crime. In order to get a holistic view of the role of punishment in Canadian criminal law system, it is important to focus on the different theoretical perspectives of punishment (Carrabine, 2004). Like the Canadian justice system, a criminal law system rehabilitates offenders, deters others from committing crime, and providing redress to victims. The Canadian justice system depends largely on punishment and incarceration. That notwithstanding, the Canadian system equally has elements of restorative justice that provides a sense of justice to the victims, while at the same time permitting the offenders to feel that the legal process accorded them a fair treatment. Consequently, it is equally the function of punishment to address offender-victim relations. As a result, punishment does not only have a responsibility to the victim, but also to the offender and the entire criminal law system.
Deterrence
This is the first role of punishment. Individuals are deterred from committing criminal acts when they desist from crime because they fear the possible consequences of such actions. Under the Canadian criminal law system, it is believed that when those who commit crimes are punished, it deters others from engaging in crime. Deterrence occurs in two forms. The first form deals with punishing the offender with the hope that because of the punishment, he or she will not commit the crime again because of the fear of punishment. The second form deals with the fact that criminal punishments are well defined in the Canadian law to discourage defendants from repeating the same offenses, while at the same time discouraging the society as a whole from engaging in similar criminal activities. The most significant deterrent is a criminal law system that guarantees with certainty that all individuals who break the law would be arrested, convicted, and punished, and that no benefit will arise from his or her wrong doing. This objective is effectively achieved through hefty fines and long prison sentences.
Rehabilitation
Incapacitation
Under the incapacitation theory of punishment, punishment has a role of preventing offenders from committing additional criminal acts either by permanently or temporarily removing them from the society or by using other methods that limits their physical ability to reoffend members of the society in some other way. Some of the most popular methods of incapacitating offenders in the Canadian law system are imprisonment and incarceration. That notwithstanding, the Canadian system equally has other severe forms of punishment, like capital punishment. The primary goal of incapacitation is to stop dangerous offenders from reoffending people in the society. Under utilitarianism, the punishment that comes with incapacitation is justified because it prevents or reduces additional harm that the offender would have caused to the rest of the society through his or her future crimes.
Retribution
Retributive justice is primarily focused on ascertaining guilt and issuing appropriate punishment. Punishment performs the role of retributive justice in the Canadian criminal law system. In R. v. Morrisey (2000), the Supreme Court of Canada reiterated the significance of the principle retributive justice in Canadian criminal law system (Government of Canada, 2013). Its role is to ensure that the punishment the court gives to the offender should be commensurate with the level of harm occasioned by the offender`s crime. In essence, punishment has a retribution role. The victim furnishes the court with particular information on the scope and nature of harm he or she suffered as a result of the offender`s crime (Government of Canada, 2013). However, it is worth noting that the impact statement made by the victim is not used to facilitate revenge by the court, but rather to guarantee that the final punishment given is indeed proportionate with the level of harm inflicted on the victim (Government of Canada, 2013).
Protecting the Public
Protecting members of the public is one of the main functions that justify the use of punishments. For instance, when an offender is imprisoned, he or she is incapacitated so that they are stopped at least temporarily from committing crimes that offend the public at large. The Canadian society has to have the power to secure itself against dangerous elements in the society who seek to cause harm. Through punishment, the society can equally protect itself against prospective offenders and because the sentences given to previous offenders serves as a deterrent. Retributive sentence will work to not only protect the community at large, but also deter prospective offenders.
Denunciation
Another significant role of punishment in the Canadian criminal law system is denunciation. Under this, punishment is used as a way of expressing societal condemnation. The possibility of being denounced publicly serves as a deterrent for prospective criminals. Similarly, denunciation is equally retributive as it encourages the idea that criminals deserve punishment. Consequently, denunciation is regarded as one of the functions of punishment, as well as a possible justification for imposing a sentence. In Canada, denunciation has been used to justify the need for death sentence for crimes such as murder, even though the country abolished death penalty in 1976. Denunciation of behaviors is closely linked to the idea of retribution. Punishment works a statement of conviction that the society holds against particular behaviors. The degree of penalties, as a result, reflects the extent to which the society condemns that particular crime. The law exists as the society`s statement of values. It is worth noting that denunciation does not denounce the offender, but rather proposes to denounce the criminal act.
In conclusion, punishment performs a significant role in the Canadian justice system. Punishment does not only express disapproval, but also amounts to a symbolic way of hitting back at the offender and demonstrating vindictive resentment. According to Cavadino & Dignan (2002, p. 92), punishment is instrumental in teaching offenders a moral lesson, and in the process of being punished; they are made aware that crime violates societal values. Consequently, they realize what is good and opt for it in the future. Based on this account, the role of punishment is to convince and not to coerce or manipulate.
References
Carrabine, E. (2004). Criminology. London: Routledge.
Cavadino, M. & Dignan, J. (2002). The penal system. London: Sage Publications.
Government of Canada (2013). Victim Participation in the Criminal Justice System: The Precedent of Victim Impact Statements in the Sentencing Process. Retrieved on 13 December 2013 from: <http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/victim/rr02_5/p5.html>
Pratt, J. (2002). Punishment and civilization. London: SAGE
ROLE OF PUNISHMENT IN THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL LAW SYSTEM 7
Running head: ROLE OF PUNISHMENT IN THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL LAW SYSTEM 1
Reporting a Person Found Dead
Introduction
Most people have died in circumstances that no one can account. In most cases, these people die because of mistakes that people around them might have prevented at the time of death. The problem is that it is not binding that people should report the death to the authorities. It is ethical to report once you find someone dead and failure to do so can be unethical. The law does not require people to report a death if one finds someone dead.
This has given rise to serious criminal activities touching on the people who find others dead. A number of them choose to keep quiet about it while a minority goes their way to report the situation to the authorities. These deaths occur at home or in other areas and can be difficult to begin investigations if nobody reports the death to the relevant authorities. Although failure to report a person found dead is not a criminal offense in several states throughout United States of America, it is extremely imperative for this loophole to be sealed by making it unlawful not to report a dead person. This can be done through making the person who fails to report a prime suspect. If the law makes it mandatory, it should also be stated in a manner assuring the public that victimization will be avoided upon reporting a person found dead. People should be educated on the importance of reporting the people found dead to the authorities.
Reporting a Person Found Dead
If you find someone dead and you fail to report, it can easily be translated that you had something to do with the death. Although some people fear the process of recording a statement to the police, this should not be the excuse for us not to report a if we find a dead person. Everybody has a responsibility of assisting the police to reinforce criminal justice and failing to report a death should be termed as a criminal activity. People should attempt to let the authorities know whatever is happening in the neighborhood.
The fact that people report to the police and other government agencies when they find their loved ones dead, there should be no difference when we find people known and unknown to us dead. Failure to report the death of our loved ones is usually illegal. The law should also make it unlawful if people fail to report death cases of those unknown to them (Bulletin of the National Research Council 38-41). This will make the work of the police easier while attempting to make our society conducive. A case and point is where people fail to report a person found dead, the decomposing body can make it difficult for people to live in the neighborhood.
In most cases, these deaths are caused by criminal activities and once the gangs commit murder they flee from the area of crime. It means that arresting the criminals can be difficult if the first person to arrive at the scene does not report to the police. On the contrary, if the initial person to arrive at the scene reports the death it becomes easy for the police to get the criminals. Failing to report gives the criminals the opportunity to flee. This delays justice and any justice delayed is equivalent to a denied one. This should be one of the reasons why failure to report a person found dead should be illegal.
The families of the dead persons have a right to be notified of such deaths. If the people who find them do not report, it only gives them a hard time trying to look for their loved ones. We are living in a society where people are not willing to take up responsibility (Fishman 78-82). This trait has made it hard for our state agencies to be effective and the only way to make people become part of community policing is through making it illegitimate not to report a person found dead in the society. It becomes wrong when people make the assumption that the police have the responsibility to find out by themselves.
To prevent further criminal activity, it should be made illegal for failure to report people found dead. There are cases where people who arrive at the scene of death engage in unethical behaviors of robbing the dead people of their possessions. Such people find it hard to report because the police are likely to give them a benefit of doubt and secretly launch investigations to ascertain whether they had anything to do with the death. After robbing them, they fail to report and this becomes criminal activity. If the first people to find the dead do not report, those who come later can engage in the criminal activity of robbing. If the first person in the scene did report, the crime could have been prevented. When investigations involve multiple people it can be extremely complicated to get to the cause.
There is no way people can have a choice of either reporting or not reporting. This is because once you arrive at a scene and you find a dead person, you automatically become part of the panorama and failure to report can implicate you as a suspect. This means that you can get yourself into trouble and to prevent this, the lawmakers should make it mandatory for people to report (Krakow 1). Even if you do not report the death, forensic investigations can easily lead the investigators to you thus becoming a prime suspect. It can put you in trouble because explaining the situation can be complicated. The freedom to choose to report or not to report has resulted in many cases where people find dead bodies after breaking into their houses and failing to report. They break in after knocking the door and not getting a response. People fail to report after already interfering with the scene and this should be another reason why the government should make it compulsory for people to report.
If in the event of vacating the scene, after making a decision not to report, somebody sees you, it is possible to be accused of contributing to the death and to avoid this, it should be illegal for people not to report a death after finding someone has died. People who fail to report should be accused of withholding vital information from the law enforcers (Fishman & Anne 3-6). The idea is to ensure that the causes of such deaths are established to help the authorities take care of others. Some deaths may be as a result of a highly contentious disease. Failure to report can mean that the dead body may be a threat to the health of other people.
Lack of proper legislation to press charges against people believed to have either contributed to the death or committed a crime in the aftermath of the death is not easy. This is because it is not mandatory to report if you find someone has died. The police advise in favor of dropping such charges against the person because in the event that the person is not found guilty, the consequences can befall the complainant. Because of this, there is a need for the law to make it clear that someone found guilty of not reporting anyone found dead will be charged of committing an offence.
Failing to report only means that people who kill and end up not being followed through investigations by the police and continue to live with us. You may not know the next culprit is and it should be made illegal not to report such deaths to make sure that police are able to get the people involved and take them where they belong. The reason why the society has become too unsafe is because we let criminals escape so easily even when we know we can easily trace them. Some people can give the wrong dosage to their friends in hostels and once they realize that it may result in death they run away and fail to report to the police. This is because they know that there is no law binding them to do so and the result is the number of people who have died in circumstances that would have been averted.
Conclusion
Having noticed that a section of law gives way for people to commit crimes, it is vital for the government to ensure that there is a proper mechanism for combating crime by making it a must for people to report any person found dead. It should be known that failure to do so can attract charges to the offender. This can help the police to establish the cause of deaths and take necessary action as provided for in the law. Making it illegal not to report cases of people found dead can help in preventing further criminal activities and ensuring that the course of death is not a threat to other people.
Works Cited
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Bulletin of the National Research Council. Washington, D.C: National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 1919. Print.
Fishman, Clifford S. Jones on Evidence: Civil and Criminal. Lawyers Co-operative Pub., 1992. Print
Fishman, Clifford S., and Anne T. McKenna. “Jones on Evidence.” Retrieved on December 13, 2013 from: <http://www.mdattorney.com/files/jones_cases.pdf> (1992).
Krakow, Barry, et al. “An open-label trial of evidence-based cognitive behavior therapy for nightmares and insomnia in crime victims with PTSD.” American Journal of Psychiatry 158.12 (2001): 2043-2047.
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Surname 1
Cognitive Behavioral therapy with PTSD intervention
Method of Intervention used on a Patient who Experiences Post War Trauma
The most detailed method of intervention in handling the case of a man with PTSD would be exposure therapy method. Exposure therapy technique is ideal to a patient who has undergone traumatic experience while at wars, and faces critical moments in his life. Wars bring psychological events in the mindset of an individual, and this requires a considerable method of treatment. Exposure therapy works in a sequential platform and generally includes variety of methods such as systematic decentralization and flooding, which can either be vivo or imaginal, depending on the patient’s conditions. Other forms of exposure therapy include participant modeling and self-control decentralization. Among the methods discussed above, their application can be performed to an individual in order to ascertain the level and type of trauma the victim experiences. For instance, an ex-soldier under review may have developed different types of traumas, and it would be ideal to establish his case before employing a prerequisite administration method (Dattilio, & Freeman, 2007, p.64). This is a situation in which the techniques stated above come into application. In addition, the task of ascertaining the nature and type of emotion that an individual suffers from is solely in the hands of experts, who conduct series of tests under exposure intervention methods. Emotional processing is considered an ideal method of ascertaining the psychological conditions of a victim under consideration. Two main methods under exposure therapy take distinct sets of processes, where some forms of graduated exposure is induced to the victim, in either a vivo or imaginal exposure system. In addition, method described above may be accompanied by relaxation, in attempts to maintain a fear-antagonistic state of a person. The extensive approach under exposure therapies may involve taking the victim back to the trauma sites so that he/she can come to terms with the salient terms that accompanied the event. These terms may include time of the day that the trauma occurred, as well as other external stimuli that have close association and connection to the trauma. Other than this technique, emotional structures of the victim are connected to a given traumatic event by presenting alone the imaginal material, or in combination with the vivo cues.
Other than the two techniques highlighted under therapy exposure, Cognitive Behavior Therapy for PTSD could in equal measure incorporate stress inoculation or management techniques, or therapy for this case. Under stress management or stress inoculation therapy method, the victim undergoes skillful training and masters all certain concerned behavioral techniques, and consequently have an understanding of how to manage anxiety response. The training is not just limited to this level, but extends beyond, where the victim gets full training on how to apply these new skills in managing PTSD-related symptoms. Exposure therapy is wide and not limited to the methods described above; other methods that can potentially reduce the effects of post war trauma on my client include relaxation trainings, where the victim is taught how to manage his stresses by simply relaxing and avoiding such events (Follette, & Ruzek, 2006, p.231). Another method that features under exposure therapy includes anger management skills and trainings. Under this method, the victim is taught to become slow to anger, especially when confronted with similar situation experienced earlier. In connection to this, the victim becomes resilient to anger, and keeps a very somber mood in dealing with different situations. Finally, trainings involving radiation exposure extends to capture guided-self dialogue and thought stopping. These methods and techniques are elements of a whole package taught under exposure therapy in order to culminate the effects of a given trauma.
Literature Review in Favor of Exposure Therapy Method
Introduction
Exposure therapy is a method that has been used to eliminate instances of PTSD. The first notable duration to successful administration of this method involves the 1980,’s shortly after method had appeared in the diagnostic nomenclature. Exposure therapy is perceived as the most effective method of CBT in controlling PTSD. In 1980’s victims were first introduced to systematic exposures to some traumatizing events that they had experienced. The onset of treating and controlling, attributes to single-subject designs or in some cases involved genetic psychological assessment that were used in demonstrating clinical outcomes. Later, larger and more controlled evaluations were conducted in order to validate treatments for PTSD. This point in time became the melting point where treatments for PTSD under Cognitive Behavioral Therapy were invented (Johnson, 2009, p.47). Exposure therapy became applicable in many cases, especially in cases where the victim had experienced very traumatizing events. Supportive clinical records are detailed to show how victims responded to various exposure therapies in order to control severe effects associated with their respective sets of traumas. For instance, considering the case of a victim who had bad memory from wars, the best means would be to attend a radiation therapy exposure. Sequential procedures attached to this method suffice the need for psychological construction, and once again, generate an upbeat measure on the victim.
Various measures have been adopted to validate and standardize the application of exposure therapy under the control and treatment of PTSD. Subsequent test and treatment methods have been applied in controlling the effects of PTSD resulting from given traumas that victim undergoes. Considering the case of a war veteran, many predictions cannot be made about his/her conditions and status, unless he/she is exposed to various exposure therapy methods. This forms the conceptual framework that has been used by various clinical researchers in establishing the magnitude of effects generated by various traumas on victims. However, researchers and other sets of scholars have intensified search for a better method that would see victims of PSTD cushioned from their corresponding adversities under the general method of exposure therapy. Therapy has deeper implication, especially when considering key methods discussed above. The most important aspect of administering these techniques on victims is always to realize accurate results and measures that would eliminate potential errors while establishing mental and psychological condition of a victim. This is the operational platform that exposure therapy operates in controlling severe conditions of victims suffering from trauma related syndromes. In addition, syndicate of methods and techniques can be applied before one can validate an exact position concerning a particular victim. On the other hand, empirical studies and clinical research have indicated that exposure therapy generates improved outcome on PTSD victims. This result is based on the improved conditions of victims who had chronic PTSDA conditions (Hofmann, & Reinecke, 2010, p.312). Exposure therapy has been recognized as an efficacy of cognitive behavioral procedures in the treatment of PTSD. This generalization attains two methodologically approved clinical trials employing men who have experienced war trauma, and have become very unstable in their mindsets.
The variations that are attainable to clinical treatments for PSTDS, is what sometimes attribute to various supplements under exposure therapy. These measures have cognitive procedures which serve the intention of addressing various issues related to guilt, various sets of cognitive distortions, sets of values that have been rendered dysfunctional and beliefs considered to be irrational. These are the set conditions that apply in the cure of PTSD, and sometimes attract more intricate measures in their treatments. It is very proper for combat veterans to establish whether these sets of techniques add to the general effectiveness of the treatments, while considering certain empirical questions. The cognitive behaviors on victims of PTSD exist under the adjuncts intuitive and theoretical appeals, and this makes the field of clinical trail to await firm justifications to the psychological elements stated. Care and test of PTSD patients must be a thorough process, which encompasses various technocrats and variety of measures, especially the exposure therapy techniques. Scholarly attributes have favored exposure therapy through its numerous techniques that aid in proper control of traumas (Monson, & Fredman, 2012, p 123). For instance, most scholarly research is anchored on war-veterans, who have been rendered psychologically unstable based on the incidences they experienced at war. Considerable method under therapy exposure has been applied in controlling the effects associated with such disorders. Just like a war veteran under my custody responds to different methods of exposure therapy, so are the justifications made by various scholars. This is the literature review with regard to the exposure therapy used in culminating potential effects of PTSD.
Adaptive Mechanism Necessary for Clients
The extent of effects of PSTD remains under control once the right mechanism is adopted by the victim. Like in in the case I handled, the victim faces myriads of challenges that seemingly jeopardize his social and mental concentration. In one way or the other, the victim seems to have lost hope and common sense attainable to a normal human being. However, the test later shows that the level and corresponding magnitude of post trauma stress has not attained a lethal level in his brain. This fortunately gives favorable balance in which correctional practices can be applied to help revive victims’ social standing (Zayfert, & Becker, 2006, p.82). In this section, much emphasis shall be laid on resilience mechanism attainable to exposure therapy discussed above. Technocrats make key postulates, and categorically states that PSTD are permanently eliminated upon development of sound social and mental adaptive mechanism, this is the best method that the war veteran deserves, and it is applicable in a number of ways.
The first adaptive mechanism applicable to the PSTD is by exposing the victim to a series of incidences that constantly reminds him of the severe occurrence he had once experienced in his life. Constant exposure to such stimuli generates more strength and makes him capable of overcoming the psychological effects attainable to the traumatic experience he had in his life. This process must be very consequential in order to subvert drastic change that may generate more harm to the victim. One such approach of making permanent adaption to PSTD is by consistently exposing the victim to series of less related incidences, but somehow traumatic to the victim, until he can sustain more magnitude of such events. This is one principle of exposure therapy, which states that persistent exposure causes resilience and more adaptation (Litz, 2004, p.92). Resilience and permanent adaptation through continuous exposure is one means that victims tend to heal from prolonged cases of trauma. In addition, the technique above equally enhances ones reasoning capability when prompted with similar situation. The general model adopted is inscribed under the exposure theory, which basically involves maintenance of the victim’s anxiety and the general adaptation to PTSD. The mind frame of a human being is codified in such manner that it gets used to memories, situations, images and objects he had once seen through constant exposure. This is the concept of adaptation in line with the exposure therapy. The general principle that this technique follows refers to the successful treatment of anxiety through activation of effective cognitive scenarios that directly relate to specific trauma the victim experienced, an issue that is both empirically and socially proven to facilitate healthy means of processing the trauma. The exposure levels vary with degree of fear and extent of trauma that an individual undergoes. This is the model framework that adaptive techniques operate in controlling effects of trauma on individual exhibiting different levels and degree (Foa, & Rothbaum, 1998, p.67). For instance, in the case of war veteran, he can get resilient from severe experience of war by progressively exposing him to movies, which vary in the levels of violence. This is sure means one can conceptualize the reality behind such scene, and count himself lucky for being a live, despite the raging war that he lately fought. Exposure is thus an important tool of ensuring that the victim is permanently cushioned from the adversities of wars that could possible upset his mental status.
Levels of adaptation vary according to set environments. Micro environment refers to adaptive environment that the victim acquires within his or her inner conscience. These modes of adaptations realized after constant exposure to series of events that have contributed to the adversities in the victims’ life. Micro environmental adaptation is realized from personal effort that a person perceives, after gaining good ground of exposure therapies. For instance, ability to reason and make right justification arises from one’s self-consciousness. This is the most stable adaptation, the victim can ever attain, since he reasons out of facts and make the right choice and judgments. Making self-justifications is a very ideal platform in recognizing personal problems, and it helps one from overcoming psychological and physical tortures attributable to the past events. Micro adaptation is the fullest step that the victim will always enjoy, even as he struggles to recuperate from his severe conditions.
On the other hand, Macro adaptation is attributed to the efforts made by mentors in sustaining psychological mindsets of individual who suffers from PSTD. This approach involves providing counseling and remarkably making necessary contributions to the victim’s life by conducting series of exposure techniques into the victim’s life. At this point, the victim is stronger and resilient due to contributory efforts of the mentor and his, but the mentor’s efforts are more pronounced. The higher-level adaptation is achievable through inclusion of multiple processes, which include micro mezzo and macroadaptation platform. Exposure therapy should be monitored under three functional framework of adaptation. With these mechanisms, I believe that the victim will resume his former life and continue living a stress-free life.
Reference
Dattilio, F. M., & Freeman, A. (2007).Cognitive-behavioral strategies in crisis intervention.New York: Guilford Press.
Foa, E. B., & Rothbaum, B. O. (1998).Treating the trauma of rape: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for PTSD. New York: Guilford Press.
Follette, V. M., & Ruzek, J. I. (2006).Cognitive-behavioral therapies for trauma. New York: Guilford Press.
Hofmann, S. G., & Reinecke, M. A. (2010).Cognitive-behavioral therapy with adults: A guide to empirically-informed assessment and intervention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, S. L. (2009). Therapist’s guide to posttraumatic stress disorder intervention. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Litz, B. T. (2004). Early intervention for trauma and traumatic loss. New York: Guilford Press.
Monson, C. M., & Fredman, S. J. (2012).Cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for PTSD: Harnessing the healing power of relationships. New York: Guilford Press
Zayfert, C., & Becker, C. (2006).Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PTSD: A Case Formulation Approach. New York: Guilford Publications.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY WITH PTSD INTERVENTION 2
Running head: COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY WITH PTSD INTERVENTION 1