Business Research Process Essay Example for Free

Business Research Process Essay Abstract The business research process is an important tool that can help the marketing in a business. By using the steps of this process managers are able to make decisions based on the study of the consumer and target audience. It is also important to identify the competitors in order to stay profitable and competitive. Business Research Process The business research method involves the studying of all parts of a company, the customers, and the market to make important decisions for the business. The strengths and weaknesses of a company are evaluated but especially how a customer views their goods and merchandise. Management studies the competition and the industry that which they are a part of. As part of the management at AZ Alarm Company, I make use of the business research process myself. The first step in this process is to identify the significant competitors in the industry. In the alarm industry it is important to know what other companies are offering so that we stay competitive and bring in new customers while still making a profit. Most of this information is readily available and easy to obtain. The second step in the process is to study the customer or consumer. Doing this enables management to find out what the needs and wants are in order to create new products. By analyzing this information it is also to be determined the amount of money someone is willing to spend on these services. After this information has been gathered it is ready to be analyzed. Companies sometimes use the SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. This method enables a business owner or management to enhance their strengths and to figure out what needs to do to change their weaknesses into strengths. Opportunities need to be taken advantage of and utilized because they will not always be available. The target audience also needs to be taken into consideration. If a business is marketing to people that will not use or benefit from their product or service they will not be able to meet their full potential. This can also affect their profit and gain immensely. All of the steps in the business research method are only effective if the information is used and applied to develop and better their marketing strategies. Collecting and analyzing data is something that is ongoing and should be done continuously. As times and technology change so does a consumers wants, needs, and preferences. At AZ Alarm we are always to striving to have the newest and latest technology but also at a competitive price so that we stay on top. References Cooper, D., Schindler, P. (2011). Business research methods (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Suttle, R. (2013). The Steps in a Business Research Process. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/steps-business-research-process-3294.html Suttle, R. (2013). What Is a Business Research Process?. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/business-research-process-3279.html

A Study On The European Citizenship Politics Essay

A Study On The European Citizenship Politics Essay Citizenship is not an essence but a historical construction. The idea of European Union citizenship was first acknowledged in the Maastricht Treaty, which was signed in 1991 and came into effect in 1993. European patriotism and identity obviously draw on the concept of European citizenship. The complicated nature of European collective identity and the different collective identities of European nations eventually link the process of common identity-building to the legal formation of a European citizenry and the distribution of rights and duties guaranteed for citizens by European law (Von Beyme, 2001). Today, citizenship has moved to the forefront of political debates in many European countries as well as the European Union institutions, and it has become a volatile policy area where change is dynamic and continuous even if the citizenship laws remain robust to major changes mainly due to the friction between the nation state and supranationalism in terms of political sovereignty. While Maastricht Treaty establishes Union citizenship for every person holding the nationality of a Member State; the Amsterdam Treaty addresses this issue by adding that Citizenship of the Union shall complement and not replace national citizenship (Treaty on European Union Article 8, February 7, 1992). There is a problematical area which the European Charter on Fundamental Rights will not overcome: the citizenship is merely a derived condition of nationality, while certain fundamental rights are based on a mixture of various criteria other than citizenship or nationality alone. Even if the Charter on Fundamental Rights in the European Union adopted as a legally binding instrument with EU law, it will not change anything in this direction and this dilemma will remain to exist. An important problem of the current formulation of European Union citizenship is that it is not defined as an autonomous concept in Community Law at the supranational level, but defined exclusively by the appl icable member state legislation for granting of nationality only at the national level. From the perspective of the legal aspects of citizenship, EU citizenship might be characterized as a derived condition of nationality simply because there is no Community competence to set up its own criteria for defining nationality or citizenship, thus the formal European identity. The conception of European citizenship is one of the mechanisms that the integration process generates for further deepening of the Union. After several rounds of enlargements and accession of more than ten new member states in the last decade, the European integration project must focus its efforts on deepening its structures and organization rather than enlargement especially at a time of fast globalization. Today, Europe is in need of defining the borderlines of European citizenship which cannot be constructed by a model built on the nation state principles. Although the identity building stage for peoples of the European Union is similar to the process of national identity building; the EU citizenship shall be comprehended and structured as a whole different entity than national citizenship. Today, the European society is in trouble because of the unclear definition of the EU citizenship and common European identity, or the unhealthy practice of European citizenship through natio n state based models in the integrated Europe of our day. So far, the prospects of a common European citizenship have been basically failure when it comes to practice and the reason is that European citizenship is incorrectly formulized to serve the aims of national interests rather than the supranational institutions of the European Union. The ultimate attempt of the European Commission to consolidate political integration through a Constitutional Treaty in the year 2005 was rejected by citizens of France and the Netherlands. The public opinion indicates that most citizens in Europe are not eager to become citizens of Europe they are not willing to shift their sovereignty, political allegiance and identities from the national to the supranational level (Baubà ¶ck, 2006). The results of successive editions of the Eurobarometer suggests that European political identity is weak and there is a great variation across EU member states, while in most EU countries only a very small percentage of people around five percent declare having an exclus ive European identity while up to fifty percent do not have any sense of European identity (Gubernau, 2001: 176). Indeed, Amsterdam Treaty of 1997 makes it clear that citizenship of the Union shall complement and not replace national citizenship and that the Union shall respect the national identities of its member states. Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty of the European Union: Article 1, October 2, 1997). Therefore, Community law does not recognize any authority of the Union in determining its own citizens (Baubà ¶ck, 2006). Instead, the current legislation suggests that the European Union citizenship is simply derived from national member state citizenship, which is highly problematic to serve the jurisdiction of the European Union institutions. Before the enlargement of 2004 which resulted with ten new member states joining the EU, the European Commission identified three priorities for the EU which highlighted giving full content to European citizenship (European Commission, 2004). In 2006, the second phase of the EU Programme to Promote Active European Citizenship was launched. The concept of a European citizenship incorporating shared values and a sense of belonging to the European Union in addition to legal rights were officially acknowledged by the Programme. However, today the European Union citizenship is increasingly challenged in domestic politics and may eventually become a source of conflict between member states, if it has not become an important area of intra-tension yet. Recent European experiences suggest that natural and spontaneous convergence among EU member states towards cosmopolitan liberal norms is no longer a reasonable expectation. Almost two decades after creating a citizenship of the Union, it shal l be the time that European policy-makers take the initiative of introducing common European standards for the citizenship laws of the member states to create an active and functioning European Union citizenship. Although this does not require imposing a single European citizenship law, the process might start with an open method of coordination and could result in an authority of EU law to regulate those aspects of national legislation that violate principles of European solidarity or result in discrimination and exclusion of third-country nationals (Baubà ¶ck, 2006: 6). Furthermore, problems exist at the supranational governance level as the European Parliament is the primary legislative body of the European Union but it is not a sovereign legislative body. . After all, the EU citizenship has unfortunately remained a metaphor with some added value to it until today. The European Union citizenship in order to practically exist needs direct effect of Community law in order to becom e e a genuine source of rights for citizens of Europe. Although Europe gave birth to the nation state system and the Europeans are creators of the idea of citizenship; peoples of the European Union are in desperate need of making an up-to-date definition of the EU citizenship today. The Classical Model of Citizenship, also known as the National-Political Citizenship, is a product of Europe in the context of the classical European nation state. One major problem in todays Europe is that this model is crumbling and no more capable of providing a complete comprehension of citizenship in the integrated Europe under our days dynamic conditions. The Classical Model applies to two types of nation state formations in Europe: the republican or civic model supported by France or the nationalist or ethnic model supported by Germany and the Eastern European states. Although the French model, also adopted by the Americans, focuses on the political qualities of culture and the German model focuses on the ethnical qualities as major elements; both incl ude the concept of nation, in other words people on a certain territory with certain rights and liberties as their main element. However, the strict attachment to territory when defining citizenship is no more applicable under todays European Union conditions; as free movement within the Union is established in recent years. On the other hand, the rights and liberties given to the increasing immigrant population and ethnic groups are questioned as the main factors of inconsistency, distress and tension in the socio-political life in Europe today. After all, the European Union is not a nation-state; it entails a whole different type of organization, a supranational entity above the level of member nation-states. If the EU is imagined as a large nation state, then its cultural politics stays on the top-bottom line as elitist discourse to create Europeans (Strath, 2000) and do not touch social identities of the people, except Euro-bureaucrats only (Shore, 2000). Nonetheless, today the EU citizenship rights are derivative of national citizenship and currently they do not form a compelling basis for an active European citizenship of participation (Delanty, 2000a: 83, Baubà ¶ck, 2006). On the other hand, to what extent EU citizenship departs from the nation-state norms of citizenship remains the question. The European integration has a positive impact on the decline of nation states as they begin to share their sovereignty for building a supranational entity which entails an economical as a well as a political unification of Europe. However, the National-Political Citizenship Model is out of date with the formation of todays integrationist Europe. European nation states are breaking down as they face with drastic changes driven by diverse outcomes of globalization, such as heterogeneous multicultural structure and free movement within the European Union which challenge the territory principle of the nation state structure. In Scholtes words, contemporary governance is multilayered; it includes important local, substate regional, suprastate, regional, and transworld operations alongside and intertwined with national arrangements (Scholte, 2000: 143). An important consequence of these shifts is that governance has become more fragmented and decentralized. Globalization has accelerated t he efforts for building European citizenship by creating gaps in effective governance at national level and refocusing attention on problems best dealt with at the sub-national or supra-national level (Rumford, 2003). Therefore, one can conclude that globalization has opened up the field of European governance. As a result, the new supranational state organization in Europe does not allow powerful nation states of the 20th Century to exist, and therefore the Classical Model of Citizenship which relies on the nation-state structure simply needs to be changed or reconfigured under todays circumstances. The present formulation of European Union citizenship has failed to establish a direct connection between the citizenry and the European Union institutions, without ties to the nation state. In the literature of liberal democracy, citizenship is meant to empower citizens of a state to hold governments accountable. In this respect, Union citizenship hardly satisfies democratic aspirations (Baubà ¶ck, 2006). Baubà ¶ck argues that the true value of being a citizen of the European Union lies not in rights one has towards the institutions of the Union, but in rights towards the other member states as the Union citizenship extensively prohibits national governments from discriminating against the citizens of other EU states (Baubà ¶ck, 2006: 1).. After all, there is a broader aspiration to promote relationships between the Union and European people which are to be more direct and substantial than they were in the past and which are less intervened by the member states. Almost a decade a fter the EU citizenship was introduced, the European Commission had confessed that EU citizens have little in the way of a European political consciousness and are not given much encouragement nor facility to engage in a consistent political dialogue with European institutions (European Commission, 2001:7). Therefore, Europeanists also believe that EU citizenship is also important for the future of the Union as it entails an enhanced relationship between the EU and its citizens which in turn will increase effectiveness and efficiency of European institutions, reducing the EUs democratic deficit while increasing the Unions political legitimacy. Meanwhile, the European citizenship has been a rather insignificant area of law and source of rights so far, after nearly two decades it had been introduced into the Community Law. In practice, the concept of EU citizenship has been used with an intention to close up certain gaps of free movement issues within the European land. The legal rights associated with citizenship of the Union are to travel and reside anywhere in the EU; to vote and to stand for election in municipal and European elections in the member state of residence, regardless of nationality; to have consular protection by the consulate of another member state while outside the EU; to petition the European Parliament and apply to the European Ombudsman (Consolidated Treaty of Rome Articles 18-22). Based on general principles of the Community law, specifically the principle of non-discrimination having direct effect, an extension of the substance of citizenship to third-country nationals who have legally lived within t he boundaries EU for a long time; and the issues that correlate with the interrelation between rights and duties remain as a question (Reich, 2001). Deviating from the past trend towards liberalization, there are numbers of countries, such as Greece, Denmark, and Austria, where restrictive citizenship laws have been either retained or further advanced largely due to the growing trend of external migration to the Union. The Netherlands, which used to have a liberal naturalization policy for immigrants, is the most dramatic example of a turnabout of citizenship policy. Furthermore, citizenship tests were introduced in Germany, Denmark, Greece, Austria, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in addition to the widespread requirement of learning the dominant language, these tests include questions about the countrys history, constitution, and everyday culture which almost require university level education for immigrants in order to become citizens (Baubà ¶ck, 2006: 5). While language skills are universally accepted as useful for social as well as political integration for immigrants seeking citizenship, the usefulness of the largel y implausible questions asked in citizenship tests raise doubts. This new approach in European Union member states to naturalization reminds of exclusionary ethnic conception of citizenship as the new naturalization policies emphasize integration as a precondition for citizenship and they define integration as an individual achievement rather than a structural condition of equal rights and opportunities. Although citizenship is no longer attached to ethnic identities in todays Europe, it cannot be accepted as a tool for integrating societies which have heterogeneous origins. Today, the current formulation of the EU citizenship has three main features. First, it is not autonomous and genuine as it is derived from member state citizenship; second, it cannot establish a direct link between the European Union and its citizens without ties to the national level; and third, in practice it only gives free access to other member states for European citizens within the boundaries of the Union, and does not provide more. Moreover, it is a source of inequality and exclusion for Europeans. Some European Union member states may give national citizenship to immigrants in three years while another state can call for ten years of residence; thus there is no standards for becoming a European Union citizen for immigrants as the Union citizenship is merely connected to national citizenship. On the other hand, current policies do not serve as a unifying factor at the supranational level but remain merely connected to the national level as immigrants who move frequently betw een different member states of the EU while staying within the territories of the Union for an overall long period of time cannot become European Union citizens, because citizenship policies still operate at national level which does not only harm the unity of European society but also embarrass European Union by proving it as an ineffective political entity. In fact, nearly all European states require a certain period of continuous residence in their national territory rather than the territory of the European Union as a condition for naturalization according to their natural laws. Theoretically, the EU citizens have the right of free access to employment in other member states of the Union. However, this right has been temporarily suspended in some member states for the citizens of countries that have recently joined the EU which introduced a temporary form of second-class citizenship within the Union that is hard to reconcile with the basic commitment to free movement and non-dis crimination on grounds of nationality among the European Union citizens (Baubà ¶ck, 2007: 459).Therefore, one may conclude that there is a great inconsistency between the aims of the European Union citizenship and its current formulation due to the tension between national and supranational levels and the fact the EU citizenship is not genuine and remain merely a derivation from natural citizenship policies. There are different ways of responding to these problems and all entail a new formulization of European Union citizenship. A radical solution would be to turn the relation between supranational and national citizenship upside down, so that the former determines the latter (Baubà ¶ck, 2006). This would propose a federation for the European Union and there is not much political support among European citizens as well as governments for building such a European federation. The alternative remains to be to hope for a spontaneous convergence of national citizenship policies from below; which experience suggests that is not realistic to expect anytime soon. Many national reforms have moved in similar directions over the past decades, but it would be rather optimistic to believe that member states are willing to change their laws in order to avoid burdening other states with immigration problems or in order to secure roughly equal conditions for access to citizenship across Europe (Baubà ¶ck, 2006). Rainer Baubà ¶ck (2007) summarizes three major approaches to future European Union citizenship: The statist approach, the unionist approach and the pluralist approach. The statist approach view the European Union in as progressing towards a federal state, and suggests federal norms of citizenship such as the example of the United States for the EU citizenship. The unionist approach aims to strengthen citizenship of the Union by making it more inclusionary for the Europeans. It is different from the federal modal in terms that it seeks to emancipate EU citizenship from member-state citizenship rather than integrate the latter into the former. The pluralist approach seeks to apply general norms of democratic legitimacy at both supranational and national levels and to balance these concerns where they may coincide or conflict. Although this approach is not primarily committed to strengthening the EU citizenship by weakening member state citizenships; it is reformist in promoting a more consistent conception of multilevel citizenship which can be applied to the EU under todays conditions. The statist, in other words Federal approach has only few advocates and involves substantial departure from the path the European Union has been following until today which makes it a non-feasible solution. The Unionist approach has many advocates among Europeanists and immigrant populations; but in larger civil society it still remains a marginal proposition for European politics. Finally, the pluralist approach is the most feasible solution for European Union citizenship, but still it is too ambitious to have any chance of adaptation in the near future (Baubà ¶ck, 2007). After all, all three approaches propose different paths for European citizenship but they share a commitment to Union citizenship and they are opposed to Euroskeptic nationalist or intergovernmental perspectives on EU citizenship. In the general literature, In the general literature, there are several alternative formulations other than the Classical Model of Citizenship which may serve as basis for a common European Union citizenry.Revised National Citizenship Model is a new approach to citizenship; it is basically a version of the national-political model of citizenship which is arguably updated to todays conditions in Europe. Indeed, this model is probably the most commonly practiced citizenship model by the European states today, which simply took place of the classical model or mixed with the classical model due to change of the environment in Europe. Although this model supports openness in terms of a potential of citizenship for resident non-citizens, political rights are not given to the non-citizen residents which is central to discussion to overcome the potential problems in Europe centered in minority issues. Therefore, this model does not seem to provide a solution for the European Union citizenshi p in todays circumstances as it has already been largely practiced in parts of Europe. Finally, although the revised model makes it easier for non-citizen residents to earn citizenship rights while it simultaneously closes the doors for newcomers by establishing effective control over borders. The model makes it even harder to migrate into a country in any legal status which would decrease the non-citizen resident population. Most states in Europe such as England and Germany which are regarded as the hardest countries to earn citizenship; empower this model rather than the classical model today, to create a solution for their migration problems. The Post National Citizenship Model is the most complex, revolutionary and appropriate model for the future of European integration. Habermas, as a well-known European constitutionalist and pro-integrationist who comes from a republican nation state tradition, puts a lot of emphasis on civil rights and liberties while his arguments center on the idea of constitutional patriotism. The main argument is that Europe needs a public sphere, a public opinion and a political culture to create a common identity but the values used in creation of this singular European identity should not be ethnic or nationalist values and solely political elements of culture (Habermas, 1994). Ratification of a European Constitution would provide the easiest way to achieve these values to create a single European identity, which definitely cannot be created with ethnic or nationalist elements, which should remain as secondary identities. On the other hand, Habermas argues that further enlargement of the EU wi ll make integration even more difficult and the deepening of European Union is more important than its widening policies under todays conditions (Habermas, 2005). Finally, the newcomers are seen as a risk for the model of citizenship and the future of Europe because they must adapt to the European political culture or they will surely pose a threat to the democratic system of the state. Habermas concludes that a resident non-citizen should be entitled as a citizen only when being a part of the European political culture by building positive relations with the majority of the society and by being schooled in the educational system of the host country to for full adaptation (Habermas, 1994). On the contrary, Yasemin Soysal uses a different perspective while discussing the Post National Citizenship Model. The main argument which lies at the heart of the debate is that the human rights are more important than political rights because citizens are individuals which raise the importance of human rights (Soysal, 2000). The key point here is the fact that, although political rights are highly related to the nation state structure, the human rights are not related to the development of nation-state thus they are independent from a nation-state based citizenship model. Massive decolonization, the rise of transnational agencies, the emergence of multilevel politics and most importantly, increasing immigration after the Second World War are four developments that created the historical background for the rise of human rights in Europe in last fifty years. In Todays Europe, boundaries of citizenship are fluid, multiplicity of membership and universal personhood exist which are basi c characteristics of the Post-National Citizenship Model. As a result, the post-national citizenship model is compatible with todays European Union, as it does not count on national borders and only universal characteristics rather than national ones. Therefore, post national citizenship model suits well with the concept of a European citizenship, not created by ethnic, national or religious elements of culture but the political culture, as it was also argued by Habermas (1994, 2003). On the other hand, there is a counter-argument about the possible success of the Post-National Model application in Europe. The critical argument made by Soysal is that the rising trend of human rights creates a paradox, which lays as the main reason behind the increasing minority violence events across Europe. Soysal asks in todays environment of emphasized civil rights and post national individualism, how are particularistic identities affected, given the rise of human rights, particularistic identities such as ethnical, religious and national identities rise simultaneously (Soysal, 2000). The conclusion is that the Post National Citizenship Model sits on top of the paradox; civil rights and particularistic identities rise simultaneously as increasing liberties prepare grounds for expressing these identities. Although human rights are rising for the privileged citizens, not each and every individual in a society such as immigrant minorities in France has full access to human rights because they remain as non-citizen residents, outsiders to the culture and this causes the creation of socio-economical inequality. On the other hand, when these groups are given cultural rights under todays conditions without the establishment of necessary economic and social integration; the outcomes may be further expression of particularistic identities which will again create a threat to the social system. The rise of cultural rights is a crucial issue in the post national debate. Cultural rights are defined as an issue of human rights; the issue is related to group rights rather than individual rights in the post-national context (Taylor, 1999). For example the minority violence events on European streets can be understood by observing the rights of these groups of people who are all resident non-citizens and who all dont have national political rights; and it is important that all are group actions instead of individual actions. Cultural rights of these groups are crucial in a multicultural post-national Europe, and most of the social tension centers on the issue that how much cultural rights should the minority groups have in the context of an integrated Europe rather than a nation state structure. What makes these people different than European Union citizens in the cradle of democracy is the fact that majority rules in democracies and minorities are excluded from the system as a s acrifice simply because democracy is a majority system. On the other hand, in democracies, minorities have belief in the system because they have hopes to be a part of the majority and thus the ruling class one day and thats how the mechanism of democracy works. However, these minority groups in EU member states seemed to lose their hopes of having political rights, or becoming citizens in other words; thus they pose a threat for the democratic system under todays national-political citizenship model as Habermas also argues (1994). As these minority groups were left outside by segregation in Europe, and they have no political rights as resident non-citizens; the expression of their adaptation problems turned out to be attacks against the social and democratic structure in the country. These are all problems caused by the crumbling model of classical citizenship and post-national citizenship idea would bring solutions to most of these problematic areas. Immigrant minority groups in Europe would have citizenship rights that would integrate them into the democratic system and give them the chance to be represented, which will provide these groups hope and trust in democracy. As a result, violence on streets would be prevented because these groups would have the chance to fight for their rights in the democratic arena rather than the streets. The integration of non-citizen minority groups will give pace to the deepening process of Europe and it should be achieved before further widening which would slow down the integration in Europe by adding more complexities (Habermas, 2000). Cultural rights and cultural policy is another important area of tension in the debate of a European Union citizenship. In the Classical Nation state, or Liberal Model in other words, which is exercised by most European states today, public and private are two distinct and clearly separated realms (Habermas, 2003). Cultural rights can be exercised in the private area of life while public area is kept neutral and ethnic or cultural signs are kept out strictly. In France, people are asked not to wear even cross as a symbol of Christianity in the public area, however one can see women wearing headscarf in public in Paris; so the picture is mixed and complex. Taylor argues that this clear separation of public and private spaces aimed by the Liberal model cannot be achieved in a multicultural environment (Taylor, 1999), such as todays Europe. However, under a multicultural model suggested by Taylor which means the end of the Liberal model, all citizens will not be equal but groups of citi zens will have different rights in practice. If such a system will be designed for Europe it would be problematic to govern multicultural societies in European Union, more rights will be asked from the state to overcome the inequalities between the groups and it is questionable how much cultural rights a European state can give as a reply to the enormous demand by different groups. Such a system will lead to chaos in both governance and the society thus keeping the public sphere neutral as it is in the liberal model still is a better proposition for Europe while increasing the cultural rights homogenously to an extent supported by the Post National Citizenship Model. As a result, one may conclude that citizenship is increasingly post-national, rather than national, and the rights and benefits of citizenship frequently accumulate to resident non-citizens. Equally, the spaces within which citizenship is enacted and contestation and claims-making take place do not necessarily coincide with either the nation-state or the EU (Soysal, 2000). In short, there exists a proliferation of new forms of participation, and multiple arenas and levels on which individuals and groups enact their citizenship (Soysal, 2001: 160). The bond between citizenship and civil society can no longer be assumed, and nationally coded public spheres do not hold (Soysal, 2001: 172). The application of civil society to a transnational context has attracted criticism; particularly that such a move represents an attempt to reproduce on the supranational level a model that has reached its limits on the national level (Delanty, 1998). There is also

Are People With Anorexia Or Obesity Deviant?

Are People With Anorexia Or Obesity Deviant? Anorexia is seen as deviant because it defined as an illness. People literally starve themselves at times. It is a world known behaviors especially in women. Many women become victims to anorexia due to society and the media creating the perfect body for people. (deviance sociology) this is mentioned in the functionalist theory which looks at society. Obesity people are seen as deviant because people stereotype them as lazy, slobs and ugly. Medically overweight people are those who are 20 percent over their ideal weight. (deviance) The media is one of the most influential cultures; it can impact individuals and cause society issues. It can impact society negatively due people relying on media for information. (Wright 1986). How does society define the right weight? If there was no gym or healthy table how would you know if you had the right weight? American Company Metropolitan established the first table of the right weights and height in 1942; it was based on the measurements and life spans of a large number of their clients. (Deviance and social control p. 129). Healthy people find it easier to get insurance, somebody suffering from obesity or anorexia will struggle to get health insurance. Women have been stereotyped there image since history could remember. In ninetieth century to be thin signaled nervous exhaustion and lack of fitness to fulfill the ideals of wife and motherhood (Ewen 1988). Only in the 1920s did the image of women start to change. Anorexia can be seen as a form of rebellion A Sociologists looks at issues from a different perspective, they focus their attention on social factors. They look at regularities as with all social behavior, it is socially patterned.   Emile Durkheim Deviance has to do with going against the norms of a particular society. For years it has been discussed how celebrities and their super slim bodies have tainted the self-image of the very impressionable youths. We have reached a point where eating disorders have saturated the adolescent population and as such society has expressed their disgust. Previously it was a topic that was avoided as much as possible but the realization has come forth that the only way to attack this problem is head-on. As such, a very negative stigma has been placed on eating disorders especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. This stigma has caused those affiliated with the act to be viewed as deviants and treated as such. They are institutionalized so that they can be rehabilitated and released back into society when it is thought that they can function normally. The Interactionist Perspective emphasizes things such as peer pressure, the influence of role models, and the role of peer groups on an individual (Adler and Adler 49). Because people often associate with others who are similar to themselves, the obese persons peer group becomes many other obese people. Often, these people reinforce each others eating and exercise habits, as well as beliefs concerning obesity. It becomes an acceptable practice to eat often and poorly as well as not exercise. These peer groups perform the function of support and acceptance, making the obese person feel better about him/herself. The group even allows its members to feel a sense of normalcy about themselves. Outside of this peer group, however, these people are seen as deviant. According to McLorg and Taub, as a part of developing the deviant identity, people experience both primary and secondary deviance (Adler and Adler 247-250). Between these stages is societal reaction. In primary deviance, the person violates norms that do not affect self-concept or social role performance. In this stage, the person overeats, but has not yet begun showing signs of being overweight or obese. They do not feel differently about themselves. Between stages, the person begins to be visibly deviant, and is labeled obese by society. In secondary deviance, the person deviates in response to societys having labeled them. Once this has occurred, the obese person internalizes that identity and begins to interact with others in such a fashion. It affects his or her self-concept and social roles. One begins to associate with others like him/herself. At this point, the deviant has achieved a new status that defines him/her. Additionally, the people surrounding the deviant often expec t the person to fulfill the deviant role. Deviance is not the person who is being breaking the rules but the social groups who apply those rules. The deviant behavior is who labels the people (Becker 1963:9). According to downs 1999 labelling theory has had a dramatic impact on social policy. It stresses the negative consequences of societal reactons to deviance that have more to do wth stigmatizing outsiders than attempting to prevent crime. Obesity can be considered deviant due to its societal reaction. Obesity is visibly deviant, therefore, making it easier for the labeling process to occur. Once the obese person has been labeled, he or she is deviant. besity has become statistically an average behavior in the United States. Nevertheless, it is still abnormal. The norm stands that thinness is attractive and worthy (Adler and Adler, 245). So long as this norm is upheld, obesity will be deviant and people will be labeled for their deviance and inability to conform. Also, it has been noted in a study done by Hammarlund et al, that poor family functioning and parental control are risk factors contributing to childhood obesity. Adult obesity is often rooted in childhood obesity making it harder to lose weight later in life (Wardlaw 324). Deviant behaviour is pathological in that it repents the viollateion of shared norkms (Elliott et al. 1985) have shown thast young people behaviour needs to be understood in terms of immediate goals (such as doing well in school, being popular and being successful in sporot) as well as long term economic success ( Lawson snd heaton 1999:58). Women are taught that image is their master status and that those who do not meet a lofty standard will be branded as inferior or unfit (or in the words of Tepperman, citing Erving Goffman, stigmatized. [Tepperman, 52]) Becker 1963:9: What kinds people commit deviant acts (Roach Anleu 2006:26). 2500 words defend argument provide evidence refer work to sociologists sujpport claims use the sociological models to organize the argument atleasst 10 references It further questions why, given those definitions, some people come to be defined as deviant, and what consequences this has for them (downes 1999:223). Girls as young as six or seven years of age react to being labeled. This labeling often originates when mothers pressure their young daughters into becoming aware of their physical appearance. (ibid) This image pressure can range from nominally harmless activities like encouraging children to play with make-up and dresses to overtly telling a chubby child that she should lose weight. By enshrining image and appearance near the top of the childs list of cultural goals, mothers often render their daughters susceptible to further and perhaps more harmful pressures from other sources in their adolescent years. Mertonian Functionalism and Symbolic Interactionism are only two of the many sociological perspectives that make substantial contributions to our understanding of eating disorders One particular example of research that an SI sociologist might perform would be an examination of the intervention process. Many individuals who are perceived to suffer from a psychological illness, including those related to body image such as obesity and anorexia, are subject to interventions and confrontations by their friends and family. During an intervention, a wide variety of social sources attempt to get the subject to admit to having a problem. This strategy of confrontation is not unlike the way that psychiatric hospital staff treat patients who insist they are not actually ill, as developed David Rosenhans famous study that utilized SI paradigms. (Rosenhan)

Divorce is a Life Changing Experience Essay -- essays research papers

Divorce: a personal life changing experience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With this ring I thee wed†¦. For better or worse, for richer or poorer†¦. Traditionally, two people speak these words on their wedding day, the day that two become one, the day that two people begin a life together and share an unbreakable union. This may be so in some cases but not all. Divorce among Americans is rampant. In society today divorces are as common as marriages themselves. Couples meet, date, fall in love, marry, and have children and then one day: Wham! Something is just not right with the relationship anymore, so they opt for the easy way out, the big "D". They get a divorce, is this really the easy way? The legalities and dissolution of the union may be easy and painless, but what about the emotions that are still in tact? Although a divorce may be hard on the adults involved, what about the children? What happens to the kids of these broken marriages?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some parents who are going through a divorce wonder what the effects of their decision to dissolve the marriage will be on the children. Parents worry that their divorce will cause their children emotional problems that will last a lifetime. These worries are not unsubstantiated. Depending on the reasons that led up to the divorce the effects can vary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being a product of a broken home, and having my own child which is also a product of a broken home I can relate personally to the lasting effects that divorce has on a child.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My family consists of five children, which today is considered a large family. Of the five I am the youngest by six years. My parents were married for twenty-eight years before they decided that divorce was the only solution. I was fourteen years old and the one child that suffered the most emotional damage. Because of the many years my parents were married and the wide age difference between my siblings and myself I was the only child still living at home with my parents. The day my dad decided to move out was the day my life changed forever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My parents did not discuss their reasons for the divorce with me, they didn't have to, and I knew the reasons. I had lived the reasons for as long as I was old enough to remember. The arguments, the name calling, the accusations, the past threats to move out. I was well aware of the reasons. Although there was never any physical violence there was enough screa... ...stances but they are all just personal ones and my not be traits of children in every situation. I do know that every child of divorce is overwhelmed with everlasting emotions. I do know that every child of divorce has individual feelings depending on the situation that led up to the divorce and I do know that almost every child of divorce that I know personally, is now or has been divorced as well. I try to structure the teachings of my son about love and life in a way that he will be able to relate when he is older and ready to marry. I want his choice for a partner in life to be just that, his partner for life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although almost all children from broken homes are survivors, they often have lifelong emotional scars. It would be impossible for a child of any age to come through a divorce no matter how civil without some sort of emotional damage. That is why it is so important for the parents of these children to make extra efforts to be a part of their kid's lives. It is vital at any age that these parents stress to their children that even though they (the parents) may not love each other anymore the love they have for them (the children) is unconditional and never ending.

Masculinity and Advertising Essay -- Ads Advertising Marketing Gender

Masculinity and Advertising Picture this: There are three beach chairs on a beach and occupying each seat is a male college student. One guy has no shirt on and is wearing a hat. With a smile on his face, he looks to his right. The two guys sitting to his left are each reading a magazine. All three men seem to be enjoying the hot weather and the one looking to his right is enjoying a beer. Coming up on his right are three beautiful girls in bikinis. One girl is blonde, very well developed, and as she walks by you can see her breasts move back and forth with every step she takes. She smiles as she walks by, and by the expression on the guy's face he seems to be enjoying what he is seeing. Her two friends, who are brunettes, also have hourglass figures and smile at him as they walk by. The guy with the hat stares at them with a big smile. This guy then turns to his left and tells his friend, "It's your turn." His friend takes the beer that is offered to him, bangs it on the arm stand of the beach chair, and with this the girls rewind back to their starting positions. The music in the background plays again and the guy in the middle gets to enjoy the upcoming view. If you have not recognized this scene, it is a Miller Lite commercial that is typical of the ones shown during televised sporting events. In this paper I will analyze this commercial as well as others to reveal what the world of advertising on the Internet and on the tube set is all about. In a way, the advertising companies are prescribing certain roles of masculinity to men. These advertisers are suggesting that the men that are portrayed in their commercials or advertisement are the way men are or ought to be. I will explain why men should be aware of the issue... ...e use of half naked women walking around or the use of any alcohol. You can make it for T.V. or for a picture on a Web site. If you insist on making it a beer commercial you can have a dolphin swim up to the shore balancing a can of beer on its nose. I am not trying to persuade men to not watch the commercials or not go to the porn section, or go to the sports section of the web, but instead to view them in a different perspective. Men are portrayed as: having an identity crisis, unable to communicate with the opposite sex, and lastly a low level of language apprehension. Maybe even almost as cave man, we slam our beer down and the women go back to where they started. I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy looking at all types of women, whether they are clothed or half naked, but when I do my mouth is closed and when I open it, it's to carry on a conversation.

Teaching Philosophy :: Education Educating Teacher Essays

Teaching Philosophy The most important impact I want to have on students is that they remember me as a teacher who cares about their education. I want to leave an impact on each child’s life. My motivation to teach comes from a desire to help others and see student’s excitements as they learn new concepts. I believe teaching is my way to make a positive difference for each of my students. My approach to teaching is based on the belief that my purpose at any school is to serve the students. I will focus on the long-term best interests of each student. Serving students begins with respecting them as an individual who can make worthwhile contributions to my learning and others’ learning. This type of respect also leads to taking a personal interest in my students so they know that I value them. Serving students goes beyond just teaching them the facts of economics of how to think and learn. It means challenging them to be successful and excel in anything they accomplish. A prerequisite for good teaching is a solid understanding and thorough knowledge of the subject area. As I want my students to respect me, I desire to earn their respect by having something valuable to teach them. I will use my knowledge of real life experiences in the subject area I will teach. To me the overall purpose of education is to get win the battle with getting the students to be motivated in doing their best in school. For the students to develop an interest in a subject to learn it well and the primary source of that interest comes from the enthusiasm of the teacher. I believe that my passion for teaching will allow me to motivate my students to learn any difficult material. I will model this attitude by learning from my students in the classroom, showing that they have things to teach me. To make the best use of my classroom time I as a teacher need to know what strategies to apply to promote good classroom management. The following are the methods I would apply to my classroom: . Using rewards and reinforcements . Understanding my student’s level of learning

Emotions In The Things They Carried Essay

In his story â€Å"The Things They Carried†, Tim O’Brien, enlightens the reader with the many faces and emotions of men. Although men are normally thought upon as the stronger of the two sexes; physically and emotionally, O’Brien lets us realize that this is not so. Men are weak in even the strongest of situations. And in this case, the situation is war. War is the main theme of the story. Masculinity in the story The ‘soldiers’ mentioned are victims of many emotions, for example, love, hatred, stress, depression, etc. They realize how important love and real-life relationships are. Most men who are prey to long lost love, try to let go of their past and focus only on their duties in vain. As they walk through the streets of Vietnam, they carry with themselves the basic necessities of survival and souvenirs to remind them of home. During these marches, they dispose of some of their supplies because they are aware that they will soon gain much more. War is like a game to the soldiers, there are always winners and losers. It can be played with many different tactics. It is all a matter of luck and strategy. But it is not all that bad. Some of the soldiers, who leave, return soon because the peace ‘hurts’ them too much. And for some, the war is far too much to handle. This is mainly due to the losses they experience. Death is a frightening incident which occurs most often bringing with it tears of pain and stress. The soldiers are afraid of killing as well. The first kill is always the hardest to bear. These soldiers imagine what kind of a life their enemies led before getting involved into such a situation. Deep, dark marks are left within the hearts of these soldiers as they spend endless days on the battlefields. Voegele quotes O’Brien as talking about fear, â€Å"In many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down.† (Voegele). The soldiers have dreams about escaping the brutal nature and reality of war because they are unable to remove fear from their hearts. Most of the time, there are petty quarrels that take place, some leading to physically fights, which soon lead to renewed friendships, trust and written pacts, and then ending in death and sorrow. Voegele quotes O’Brien provides the weight of the objects which the soldiers carry by saying â€Å"The weapon weighed 7.5 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full 20 round magazine. The riflemen carried anywhere from 12 to 20 magazines†¦adding on another 8.4 pounds at minimum, 14 pounds at maximum.† (Voegele). The story above portrays the masculine romance of the soldier as it portrays the tough and brutal nature of their experience in war. These soldiers have to be tough and brave in the battlefield in order to prove that they are worthy males. Experience of war O’Brien gives a graphic portrait of the experience of war by mentioning the weight of the things which the soldiers carry. The soldiers also have to face other external factors like the weather during the time of war â€Å"They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere†¦they carried gravity.† (Voegele). However according to O’Brien the soldiers have several emotional problems which are much heavier for them than the physical things they carry. â€Å"Grief, terror, love, longing these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weigh.† (Voegele). Many different stories are discussed and the lust for women is often brought up during camp talks. But many stories of lost and dead soldiers are never spoken of. Sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of respect, and sometimes out of sheer disappointment and misunderstanding. These stories, burdened by the soldiers sometimes drive them into a negative attitude. Most of these soldiers tend to commit suicide. â€Å"That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him† (O’Brien, pg. 156). The author describes his feelings of when he lost a true friend due to a sudden attack. Kiowa had drowned into the depths of the sewage during this attack. Although O’Brien had tried to help, the smell was excruciating to him. In the story, there is also specifically rumors of a girl smuggled into Vietnam by a soldier are brought up. This ‘soldier’ had to spend a large sum of money into getting his girlfriend there. He warned about how dangerous it was. All the men are duly jealous of the young couple. Superstition is common among the men. They keep certain ‘things’ with them at all times, believing these items may bring them luck. To a few of them, they actually do bring luck! But religion is also a big part of these soldiers’ lives. They chat about how one day; they would like to be monks and priests, and about how they would like to help people and be kind to them instead of killing anyone and anything that came in their way. As the war wages on, the soldiers try to find amusement in the harshness around them. The camps they set around for themselves are of unpleasant surroundings. From the ruthless weather, to the creepy crawlies and even then unbearable stenches, these soldiers have witnessed it all. They joke about the times they had almost died or had cried out of fear of facing death during combat. Most of these men undergo many changes, especially in their personalities. Some of the soldiers like Norman Bowler were decent and law abiding citizens when they were civilians. But this man transformed himself into a heartless creature and around his neck he carried a thumb which had been removed from the body of a Viet Cong guerilla fighter. The Viet Cong guerilla fighter was only a teenager. Bowler was very proud of his first kill. But there were also others, like Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who had been sensitive during their civilian life. But the effects of war do not change them into animals. They stay the same, lovable humans, hoping for an escape into the arms of their loved ones. But when they face their enemies, regardless of their age or gender, these soldiers are emotionless beasts. They even torture human babies, mostly orphan infants, brutally. O’Brien refers to the babies as a ‘young water buffalo’. Readers will find the story to be devoid of any emotions as the American soldiers engage in torture and brutality for sports and recreation. However, these men tend to feel awful afterwards. They think over what they have done and regret these events so much that they end up hurting themselves in order to finally escape this reality. While some, make all the killing seem like child’s play. And later, all these men share and relate their own life stories to the people they kill during the war. This, according to O’Brien, brings them back to life. He based his life on one motto, â€Å"Once you’re alive, you can’t ever be dead† (O’Brien, pg. 244). Tim O’Brien does not believe in death. The soldiers, even tough are fighting day and night for their country; feel that it is useless to wage this war. They cannot find any real reasons as to why they are there, except that they were appointed to this duty without any consideration. This lack of purpose also drives the men into insanity. When finally, the war comes to an end, the soldiers return home to again lead a ‘normal civilian’ life. But the bitter memories of Vietnam prevent these men from ever being sane again. The war has cast a heavy shadow over the hearts of these once good-willed, god-fearing men. Although, most of the story is fictional, Tim O’Brien portrays to his readers the cruelty of war. He wants people to understand how it felt to experience death, so that they could finally accept it. He tries to share his feelings and the feelings of his fellow soldiers through detached words. He talks of the torture and pain, the crying and screaming, the innocent civilian families watching their loved ones being put to death in front of their eyes aware that their turn is soon to come. The experience of war is romanticized in the novel as the author provides an account of the experiences of soldiers. These soldiers are living in hell but they have a clear concept of the culture of war. They know that they are making history by becoming participants of war. Conclusion This story clearly states that even men are feeble creatures who fall victim to emotions no matter what they do. The life of a soldier may seem to be filled with hardships and killing. But no one really knows the truth behind the lifeless eyes. We, civilians wonder what it might be like out their on the battlefield and how these soldiers live their lives without emotion. When, in reality, they share as much emotion as any normal human being would. They fear the blood shed around them. Some display their feelings and confess their love and fears, while others decide to hide themselves by displaying a merciless attitude. Every experience is hard for them. Every new day is a bigger challenge. If the cards are not played right, there is a loss, sometimes many losses. The story is an important reminder about the horrors and brutalities of war. It tells us how war changes the experiences of soldiers. Works Cited O’Brien. Tim. The Things They Carried. Broadway. (1998) Voegele, Jason. Thoughts on The Things They Carried. Copyright  © Jason Voegele Retrieved 16th August 2008 http://www.jvoegele.com/essays/things.html