Rising Income Does Not Necessarily Determine a Rise in Happiness Essay Example for Free

Rising Income Does Not Necessarily Determine a Rise in Happiness Essay Many people say that money can buy anything including happiness. If one possesses a huge sum of money then they will be able to acquire the necessities of life that brings great satisfaction and significantly increases the happiness in people. Happiness comes from within and is an intangible asset. Happiness is a common term with a vast concept. One of the most conventional definitions refers to happiness as an attitude towards ones own life, the degree to which a person judges the overall quality of his or her life as a whole in a favourable way (Bruni Stanca, 2007 ). Others believe that true happiness is not obtained through material possession but divine paths. They deem that the aim of human way of life is not restricted to money as it is regarded as only a kind of survival in this world and doesn’t have any relationship with happiness. Money versus happiness What is crucial in a human being’s existence? Money will, in all likelihood, be the answer in most people’s life. The current society endorses the objective of making as much money as one can without considering what the cost is. People lie, cheat, and steal to gain another dollar at the loss of others happiness, but do they acquire the happiness from others? Vice versa, there are people who take home more money in a day than others in a year but yet they are still contemplating suicides. According to Bruni and Stanca (2007), when a person income rises, they need to pursue a higher level of pleasure so as to achieve the same level of happiness. A very vital question often asked is Does money buy happiness? Money does buy happiness if it is a material need. According to Diener, Harter and Arora (2010), â€Å"the Gallup World Poll included measures of not having enough money for food and shelter and therefore allowed people to examine the path from income through basic needs to the various forms of subjective well-being† (p. 269. ). However, using money on a want more than a need, for example, a nicer car or fancier bag, is unlikely to buy happiness which is long lasting. Money is directly related to happiness only to a certain extent but after a certain amount, it does not necessarily determine a rise in happiness. These three various effects help to explain these paradoxes are different perspectives, comparison of incomes and the doubling effect of incomes. Different Perspectives of the Rich and Poor The impact of rising income depends on the different social status an individual holds. The two social statuses that will be discussed here are the rich and the poor. The poor is defined as having insufficient means to afford needs and many a time requires struggle to attain those means; while the rich is defined as having more than enough means to afford needs and luxury wants. These are the two extremes in a society. Those experiencing poverty view having an increase in income as being a luxury, allowing them to afford even more necessities to support themselves and their family which builds a perspective in them that having more money means having an increased level of happiness. However, the increase in income only brings happiness till it allows the individual to escape poverty and after which, the rise in income no longer contributes much to an individual’s happiness level (Martin, 2008; Myers and Diener, 1997). On the other hand, many rich individuals do not feel any happier with rising incomes. According to Martin (2008), the doubling of average incomes in the west for the past 50 years did not invoke any significant rise in the level of happiness. It is true that with higher incomes, an individual’s spending power will increase but that will also mean an increase in aspirations (Easterlin, 2001). With this consistent rise in income and aspirations, each factor is dependent on one another, the level of happiness will remain the same and in some cases when the aspirations are beyond what the income can fulfill, depression may follow. Many tend to spend their extra rise of income haphazardly which eventually creates a vicious cycle of getting and spending rather than using that sum to increase freedom and peace of mind (Martin, 2007). In addition, having more income means having a wider spectrum of options to choose from in life. However, with more options it will mean choices become more difficult (Binswanger, 2006). With more options, it means choosing any one will incur a larger opportunity cost when all options seem attractive but only one can be chosen, hence forgoing the remaining options. Therefore, the status of rich or poor determines the significance of increasing happiness. Comparison of Incomes Humans have a natural tendency to compare what they have with everyone around them, including the comparison of incomes (Binswanger, 2006) where people choose to earn more than others, hence resulting in happiness. This can be well explained by the saying â€Å"keeping up with the Joneses† where people tend to keep upgrading themselves and become better than others hence making them feel they are of a higher status. When this happens, people begin to desire for branded cars, larger houses, expensive clothes and luxury holiday trips. This raises the self-esteem together with their social status (Martin, 2007) where people begin to feel good about themselves and being seen as admirable in a society’s viewpoint. As stated in a research by Martin (2007), some people were asked if they prefer earning an income of $50,000 as opposed to others having $25,000, or an income of $100,000 while others get $200,000, they chose the former. This clearly shows that even if every individual has one’s income increased, the level of happiness will not increase because of the need to have high self-esteem with high social status. The rise of income of everyone in the society does not equate to the rise of relative income where relative income means having earned a certain amount of income as compared to others’. Having a higher status than others may bring happiness but for the status of an individual to rise, others will have to be in a lower status and to some extent this can only be achieved at the expense of others’ happiness. Furthermore, if an individual decides to pursue a higher relative income, one will have to do that on the expense of one’s personal leisure time, striving to advance in one’s career to earn more money. Assuming that this thirst for status remains unquenched, the individual will be giving up a lot of one’s leisure time just to reach that temporary moment of high status and eventually a ‘snowball’ effect is created where more time, which can be spent on being happy, is being eroded at the end of the day. The Doubling Effect of Incomes Due to the high tendency of people adapting to higher income with higher aspirations (Binswanger, 2006), the desire for more income will never stop. In addition, when an individual earns a certain level of income, one will easily get used to it and soon becomes dissatisfied again. To satisfy that individual again, it will mean having to increase one’s income with a significant percentage. A study was done to further explain how an individual can only be satisfied when one’s income is doubled instead of raising by a percentage smaller than 100%. People tend to be happier when their initial income of $10,000 is increased to $20,000 as opposed to those who earns an initial $80,000 and getting an increase to $90,000. For that to feel an equal impact, the initial income of $80,000 should rise to $160,000 instead (Diener, Ng, Harter and Arora, 2010). In terms of percentage, the increase is required to be at least 100% increase for the impact to be significant enough to make an individual happier. In other words, the doubling of an income will give rise to a higher satisfaction level as compared to a relatively smaller increase. Table 1 Percent Distribution of Population by Happiness at Various Levels of Income, United States, 1994 Table 1 depicts the various income groups and shows how the doubling of each income group rises the mean happiness rating. As shown, the mean happiness rating for those earning $10,000 is 2. 1 while those earning $20,000 has their rating rising by 0. 2 and as the earnings doubled each time, the rating increases steadily. Counter-argument: Money Bring More Opportunity to Happiness Money has a direct correlation to happiness to a certain extent. According to Tatzel (2003), happiness rises when we experience self-esteem, control and optimism, and it decreases when those factors fall. Rise of income increases these personalities, allowing one to attain a higher level of happiness. Self-esteem is the beliefs, thoughts and feelings people have about themselves. It motivates one’s attitude and behavior. People use their money to boost their ego while some use money on retail or food to mask pain or deal with emotional issues. These help them to feel better and contribute to their happiness. Research conduct by Becker (1965), stated quite a few examples of how money indirectly bring happiness through time-saving inventions. For example, shopping in supermarkets help to save shopping time, vehicles help to cut down time spend on traveling to our destination and communication deceive such as telephones help us to get our message across faster. The key focus here is monetary affluence resulted in more opportunity leading to happiness Being financially stable, one has control the nature of their daily activities. This brought about spiritual joy as one can go to the movies every weekend, or lavish on gifts for the people he/she love. For the rich, money helps them have pure happiness because they can help bring relief to the suffering millions and the victims of the disasters. Money can also give us experiences and opportunities that we would otherwise never be able to have Money not only provides a shelter over one’s head but also provides assurance, leading to optimism. For example, when faced with illness, stress and fear of death will be relieved due to the security that money promises. A man in fear of death ceases to be afraid when he has the needed money, even before he actually cures the illness. Thus, money took away the fear and helps one to be optimistic. There are so many more things that money could be used in exchange for our desires thus, it resulted in a raise in happiness index. Money is one of things that contribute in the process of being happy. Rebuttal: Money cannot buy happiness Money enables the opportunity for happiness, but people more often than not squander away on things that will make them happy but never does so. It only buys illusions of happiness. As such, people have a tendency to shift towards money and material pleasure. According to Binswanger (2006), all time-saving innovations mentioned by Becker (1965) did not result in time-savings. For instance, e-mails are more convenient than sending letters thus prompting individuals to send more messages through mail as compared to letter than they ever would. Instead of having to read only one letter, there will be an increase in the exchange of information resulting in failure of time-saving improvements. Very often, people mentioned that money can increase one’s sense of well-being as it does not restrain one from spending more time in leisurely pursuits. For example, watching a musical show or going for a vacation. However in reality, time was wasted on work and traveling, less time was engaged in experienced happiness. Psychologists of Harvard University concluded that wealth increases human happiness when it brings people out of poverty but it does little to increase happiness thereafter. There are people who are wealthy but lonely, while others are poor but happy because they have their close friends, good health and family. Happiness is not just set by one single factor but many others; it does not always increase in direct proportion to the amount of money. Conclusion In conclusion, money is necessary but not the obligatory prerequisite for happiness. Individuals may be more satisfied with their life if they have more money, but this does not necessarily mean they will be happier. Money does provide basic needs which leads to happiness as it satisfies one’s desire, however this feeling does not prolong when there are more money. In addition, there must be a balance between earning morning and leading a healthy lifestyle. Being absorbed in earning money can easily cause one to forget their actual meaningful tasks such as caring for their families, having time with their friends†¦etc. They trap themselves in the materialized ambition and lose what are important to their life. Happiness and contentment are simply poles apart. Being in the upper social status distribution will not ensure a placing in the upper rank of the happiness distribution. However being contented and getting involved in meaningful accomplishments such as help to pave a way to the top of happiness index.

The contrasting characters of Hal and Hotspur in King Henry IV Essay Example for Free

The contrasting characters of Hal and Hotspur in King Henry IV Essay Examine closely the contrasting characters of Hal and Hotspur in King Henry IV, Part One, showing how the play is built around their actions and different destinies, and how this contrast is reflected in the language associated with them. This play is showing the point of history when Henry IV (Bolingbroke) disposesses Richard II from the throne in 1399. It shows the problems Henry faces after he has changed and tampered with the divine rights of kings and then dishoned all the people who helped him overthrow Richard II. This creates a great main point to the story which shows a contrast between two characters, one being Hal, the kings son, and the other being Hotspur a honourable warrior. A contrast between Hal and Hotspur is established very early on in the play. Hotspur is portrayed as a great warrior who is brave and honourable, loyal to the king and an accomplished leader. Hal on the other hand is shown as someone who should be helping the king as he is his son but is not. He insteed is being dishourable and is showing the negative qualitites of being foolish and cowardly. In the kings speech in Act 1, Scene 1, the king says that he wishes Hotspur was his son and that Hal was not. This is a very strong and very important part of the play as this shows just how much higher Hotspur is than Hal in the kings eyes that he would want to trade his son. He describes Hotspur as theme of honours tongue and as the straightest plant which shows how important and how much respect the king has for Hotspur in using this personification. The word theme shows that Hotspur is a main part of the word honour and without Hotspur and all his honour there is not much honour left as Hotspur holds a great deal of it. He is described as: the straightest plant; by the king as the word straighest shows that hotspur is in his prime and that he is the strongest, most full and most wanted. The word plant is also significant as plants and trees are needed for the survival of humanity as they take in the carbon dioxide that humans exhale which is useless to humans and exchange it for oxygen which is a much needed and essential ingredient to human life and with him being the straighest and most full he is the main source of the worlds oxygen along with his fellow friends. This shows that without him the rest of the world would not be the same as it is now and the world of honour could well be lost if it wasnt for him. In this same speech of the king, Hal is described as riot and dishour stain the brow which shows the complete opposite of Hotspur and says that Hal is looked down upon and a disgrace to his family name. This contrast is shown clearly with the alternating scenes having every scene being set on either Hal in Eastcheap and then the next with Hotspur in a knightly place. This helps with the development and change of the two characters as you can see clearly the rise of Hal throughout the play and then the opposite decline of Hotspur in parallel. This helps to show the clear crossover of Hal and Hotspur in terms of honour in the midpoint of the play, Act 3. Straight away you can tell that Hotspur is going to be a great warrior and a well respected man through his name. The Hot part makes him seem as though he is fired up and ready for anything which could come along. It also shows he could be hot-headed and a slight brute in battle leaving no-one with any honour but himself. The spur part makes him seem as though he lives in the past like a cowboy. It also as was the point of cowboys makes him seem as though his main gol in life was to get as much honour and respect and the only way to do this would be as the cowboys would put it the quickest shooter in the west. Hotspur has many other positive traits which are shown towards the beginning of the play to signal how much of a strong and honourable character he is. He is portrayed as being a great warrior and a leader who would be great in battle; all praised knight. This shows how honourable he is and how everyone acnologise this fact. This is a good contrast between Hal as people dont see Hal as a warrior with honour but as a devious politician who cant seem to ever gain honour though his current lifestyle. Hotspur being honourable is one of his main strengths as this shows that he can always be counted on and being a good warrior aswell means hes the first choice for a man in battle: to pluck bright honour from the pale faced moon. The words used in this quote are very significant as it is short and to the point, compact into one strong and effect sentence which enables it to stick in your mind and be remembered. The words pale-faced moon make it seem as though the honour is very high and almost unreachable to any human being but not Hotspur as the words pale-faced and pluck make it seem as if getting the honour for Hotspur was very easy and even the moon was shocked and pale. Also the word bright makes it seem as if it is heaven like, holy and above any normal human being but again nothing is too hard for Hotspur. Hal however has a very dishonourable lifestyle and rejects his royal duties and instead drinks, whores and robs people of their money. The way Hals scenes are written in prose with alot of common tongue and swearing shows he is not acting like that of a prince, heir to the throne. The king has already right at the start of the play in the first scene told that Hal has Stain the brow of the royal family and the word stain makes it seems as though it is permenant and so can never been got out or redeemed. Hal while with Falstaff and the rest of the lads down Eastcheap is very lazy, careless and dishonourable and seems to not care at all for anything except from sleeping with prostitutes and drinking beer which he gets the money from through robbing others for their money which is shown in Act 2, Scene 2 where Hal and the rest of the gang at Eastcheap plan to rob tax men. This robbing scene though also shows more traits of Hals as Hal plans with Poins to not rob the tax men but to wait until Falstaff does it and then rob the stolen money off of Falstaff. This shows that he is a planner and has a political and cunning mind as he then says that robbing a robber isnt a crime and so he is only acting and playing a robber and is not actually a true lowlife. Robbing from Falstaff is also significant as it shows Hal cares little of Falstaff and is showing that Falstaff means nothing to him nd that this life may also be an act and not be true of Hal. Although Hotspur is expressed as an honourable warrior who is not at fault for anything and is on top of the world he also has his weak traits which on close analysis indicate a downfall of him at the time of the rebellion. Many of the sentences which are used when Hotspur is speaking are simple, short and exclamatary which shows he is hotheaded and has a bad temper: Hang him!; which would also lead to him being rude and unable to accept people different from his great warrior type which will end up to him losing allies unlike that of Hal who can get on with anyone: And you in hell, as oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of. But his main weaknesses are his lack of planning which will have great effect on the rebellon he is running: I forgot the map! and also the way he allienates his allies which will also lead to the same downfall and failure to the rebellion. A lack of planning shows a old trait of a warrior and not that of a politician which as shown by Hal is a new and effective way to shape life and succeed in life. The way he allienates his allies also shows how egolistic he is as he thinks he doesnt need anyone else as he on his own can do anything he wants and succeed in anything in life no matter what the chances of failure are: Well fight tonight; Act IV, Scene III, where the other members of the rebellion say to fight tomorrow when they have more men and a greater chance but Hotspur is not interested in numbers and planning but only himself and fighting. All the time Hotspur is on the downfall coming up to the rebellion Hal is on the rise thanks to his calculating and futuristic mind which he uses to plan the future to his advantage. This political and machievellian side shows his planning ability which will help him to defend his father, king Henry, in the rebellion and rescue him from a complete dishonourable life. The machievellian side indicates how good he is at acting and indicates tht he is actually acting to be part of the rough lowlife community when actually he is using it to his advantage as when he becomes honourable and a good king the contrast between the two different Hal and Prince Harry sides will be so drastic that everyone will see him as a much better king than he actually is: I will redeem all this on Percys head, which is said in Act 3, Scene 2 which shows his Machievellian side and how all of his life has been an act which is outlined in the soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2. Hals calculating side is shown clearly as the further the play goes on the more financial and mathematical language is used; the debt I never promised; from the soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2. This describes Hal as a prince which he sees as a debt as it wasnt up to him to be a prince he was just born into it. Also Hal pays Falstaffs tavern debt which gives the indication that he pays all debts and so will most probably pay the debt of being a good prince and finally king. In Act 3, Scene 2 Hal has a speech with the king which opens up the change of Hal. This is noticeable from the very start of the act as it is written in verse as that of the royals and not in prose like he used to talk in Eastcheap. In the speech the king starts by saying that God is punishing him for the way he overthrowed Richard II by giving him a lazy and ignorant son. Hal responds to this by accepting his faults but by aso saying that much of the news heard by the king was exagerated as Hal is prince. Bolingbroke then lies to his son and says that he himself kept out of the limelight unlike Richard and Hal and this is why he is king at the moment. But in Richard II, Bolingbroke is shown to be very much in the limelight unlike he has said and this this maybe suggests that Hal has got his skill of a politician from his father Bolingbroke. Then the king goes on to say what great qualities Hotspur has and how he is a warrior and a leader unlike Hal. He then goes on to say that he th inks his son is so dishonourable that if the rebels paid him he would fight for them against his father: to fight against me under Percys pay. This comment gets to Hal and so he reveals to his father, Bolingbroke, his plan of using Percy to gain all the glory and honour for him, which shows he is political and that of a Machievellian mind: Percy is but my factor. He then goes on to say that once Percy has gained the honour he will kill Hotspur and take all the Honour of Hotspur which will rid him of his bad life and allow him to make a good, princely new start: Stain my favours in a bloody mask/which, washd away, shall scour my shame. Hals change to a full new prince is shown clearly with evidence of this change being, the way he acts courteusly and kindly and doesnt tell a single lie. He also says that he is friends with his father which shows he has left behind the friends from Eastcheap and is now friends with the royals which he should be. He also pays back debt literally to the landlady in Eastcheap and also pays his royal metaphoric debt by giving commands and taking charge and acting like a prince in public for the first time. Hals rise is so great that it is even noticed by Vernon, one of Hotspurs rebels when he tells Hotspur of Hals rise by decsribing him as: gorgeous as sun at midsummer. The word sun is used to symbolise new hope and power from within Prince Harry and midsummer is used to tell Hotspur that th Prince is rising and peaking and so stronger than ever. The reference to sun also links to the soliloquy in which the Prince outlines his rise. Vernon also uses the quote: rise from the ground like feathered mercury to decsribe Prince Harry. The word rise shows that Harry is moving up in the world and Mercury to make he seem God-like. In Act 4, Scene 2, Falstaff sells his footsoldiers so he gets money and then just replaces them with the lowlifes of society and so he ends up with money and footsoldiers. Falstaff has an attitude that it doesnt matter hat footsoldiers you have they are all going to die and so who he has picked means nothing as he sees war as a blood bath which is a dramatic contrast to the idea of war to Hal and Hotspur as they both see it as honourable. Later on in the play in Act 5, Scene 1, Hal makes an offer to the king of single-handed combat with a Percy as he wants to re-inact what Bolingbroke did after he went from the drain to fame. To this proposal the king denies which shows he is know in the modern, political world and that the old medieval honour age is in the past. Falstaff later on in this scene dismisses honour and war again by saying it is useless and has no purpose as it cant keep you alive or save you from suffering and so he will have nothing to do with it. This speech by Falstaff signals the downfall of Hotspur as it shows that his whole life chasing honour is worthless as all it is is just a simple word which has no significance to our destinies. Hotspurs downfall is shown again in the next scene when he replies: Cousin, I think thou art enamoured on his follies; to Vernon when he praises the Prince and tels of his change. In saying this Hotspur is showing that he can not acept Hals change and so when it comes to battle Hotspur will be to arrogant and unestimate Hal which could and does lead to his death. Hal shows two last and most important traits of a true prince before killing Hotspur by refusing to leave the battlefield despite being wounded and told to by his father and then by saving his father, the King, from Douglas. The King tells of his forgiveness to Hal after he saves his life by saying that Hal has: redeemd thy lost opinion. The king uses the financial word of redeemd to show of the change to the new world and to show that Prince Harry is a political hero in the eyes of the king. Also, in saying this the king is forgiving him and allowing him to have a new start at being a Prince. Hal finally replies to the king by closing the soliloquy of that of princely debt by accepting that it was his debt and even if he never pomised it he still had to pay it to be a good Prince: never promiseth but he means to pay Hal then finishes his transformation into a Prince by defeating Hotspur in single-compact. But during the time in which Hotspur is finally dying and has lost his honour he relises it means nothing to you once your dead but still can only accept the lose of his life to Prince Harry over the lose of his honour. Once Hotspur is dead the Prince regains the traits of a true prince and pays respect to Hotspur after he dies and then covers his face as a final show of respect: But let my favours, hids thy mangles face. Hal then refers to himself as the Prince for the first time and this symbolised a complete change: I am the Prince of Wales. A truely transformed Prince Harry then backs up a total transformation by releasing and showing remorse on Douglas who fought against him and the king as part of the rebels in the rebellion and then finally rides of to fight Glendower with the king to show him and his father as true political royals side by side as they should be.

Why Creationism Should Not Be Taught in Public Schools Essay examples -

A hotly debated topic concerning public schools centers on the origin of life. Now more than ever, science and religion are butting heads. What should public schools teach to their students? Alex Rainert reasons that both â€Å"science and religion are engaged in the same project, to discover the origin of life† (141). In short, one could better describe the debate as a crusade between evolutionists and creationists; both sides have their well-founded arguments, but when one looks at the decisions of the courts, clearly only one side may win the battle when deciding biology curriculum in schools. Despite an overwhelming number of individuals in favor of teaching creationism in public education, science classes should refrain from becoming a discussion of religious belief. In 2004, Sharpes and Peramas report that â€Å"nearly two-thirds of all Americans surveyed favored teaching creationism together with evolution in schools,† according to a poll organized by CBS Broadcasting (qtd. in Costley and Killins 5). Thus, it seems as if the public has bought into the fair play argument proposed by creationists. After all, creationists contend, why not have a place to teach equally credible theories of the origin of life in schools? (Eldredge 634). Chet Raymo, a noted science professor of physics and astronomy at Stonehill College, rejects this notion, stating, â€Å"one might as well give equal billing to those who believe the Earth is flat† since creationism stands on little factual ground (156). At any rate, the U.S. Supreme Court illustrates that teaching creationism puts pressure on minorities to conform to the obviously favored religion when the power of the government backs up the theory (qtd. in Anti-Defamation League 143). Therefore, if s cho... ...nd Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World. New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print. Eldredge, Niles. â€Å"Creationism Isn’t Science.† The Conscious Reader. 6th ed. Ed. D. Anthony English and Eben Ludlow. Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster, 1995. 633-638. Print. Hickman, Cleveland Pendleton. Integrated Principles of Zoology, sixth edition. St. Louis: The C. V. Mosby Company, 1979. Print. "Of Darwin, Dover and (un)intelligent design: scholar says the future of science— and Church-State separation--are at stake in the creationism/evolution conflict." Church & State 62.2 (2009): 10+. General OneFile. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. Rainert, Alex. â€Å"Creationism V. Evolutionism in America’s Public Schools.† Cooke 138-41. Print. Raymo, Chet. Skeptics and True Believers: The Exhilarating Connection Between Science and Religion. Walker Publishing Company, Inc., 1998. Print.

Components of Compensation paid to Employees Essay -- wages salary inc

A rigorous review of compensation and all its components Compensation is what is paid to an employee, whether in the form of wages, salary or incentives by the employer for a specific amount of time, skill and effort made available by the employee in fulfilling specific job requirements (Biesheuval, 1984). Compensation is important in organisations as it conveys information to an employee about their relative importance to the organisation and provides a scale to identify how much recognition they are receiving for their contribution (Harley and Stephenson, 1992). Compensation shows employees how much they are appreciated and worth. The most important differentiating element between jobs is the effort involved in performing a job (Biesheuval, 1985). †¢ Objectives of pay systems (Harzing and Van Ruysseveld, 1999): Objective: How to achieve it. To attract employees: Job salary To keep qualified employees: Bonus or incentive to stay e.g. shares To stimulate effective performance: Payment by results To teach employees new behaviours at work: Multi-skill bonus To compensate for inconvenient working conditions: A separate allowance †¢ Monetary and non-monetary compensation Compensation is made up of many parts. Although money (extrinsic compensation) is the most recognised, other factors can be just as rewarding. Employee benefits are one type of non-monetary compensation and are intended to improve the quality of work life of an organisations labour force (Sherman and Bohlander, 1992). These benefits make up a significant portion of the wage bill. Although benefits were initially introduced as a bonus to employees, they have since come to be expected in the workplace (ibid). Employee input is integral in determining the type of non-monetary compensation that is the most desired (ibid). Benefits (Sherman and Bohlander, 1992): †¢ Medical aid funds including health and dental plans †¢ Pension funds where the employer also contributes a percentage. †¢ Employee assistance programs where counselling and assistance are provided with day-to-day issues such as career planning and emotional trauma. †¢ Education assistance plans where the employer pays a portion towards further study. This often benefits the employer as the employee becomes more multi-skilled and efficient at their job. †¢ Child and elder care ... ...e company’s overall strategy before determining the compensation structure. The way an organisation uses compensation can drive an organisation in specific directions (Noe et al, 2003). Therefore, great thought should go into deciding what type of compensation structure to use in terms of the whole organisations strategy and the chosen method should contribute to furthering the overall objectives of the organisation (Sherman and Bohlander, 1992). E.g., individual incentives will not fit into an organisation that wants to further a team-based approach to work (ibid). Compensation sends a message about what an organisation feels is important and the types of activities it encourages (Sherman and Bohlander, 1992). Compensation tailoring is an integral method of maintaining the budget (ibid). For this reason, many companies resort to retrenchments in economic downturns (Venter, 2003). An organisations compensation program determines the type of employees that it will attract a s well as either increase or decrease the applicant pool (Sherman and Bohlander, 1992). 2295 Works Cited Work Motivation and Compensation By Simon Biesheuvel Published 1984 McGraw-Hill ISBN:0074507184

Police work with juveniles Essay

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This term paper tackles the issue of police work with juveniles.   For purposes of this paper therefore, juvenile delinquency should be understood to refer to any antisocial or criminal behaviour by children or adolescents (Quint, Andrew Reisig & Mueller, 1996)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On Friday June 1996, a 9 year old and 11 year old boy were charged with the rape of an 8 year old pregnant. In addition, a pregnant girl was shot by another student in St. Louis Miami almost during that time (emergency net news, 1996).   These are just but cases of Juvenile offences that the police have to deal with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Juvenile policing has its roots in 1899 in cook county Illinois, where the first court was created as a result of ideological changes in the cultural conception and strategies of social control during the 19the century; an event that culminated into a century long process of differentiating youths from adults offenders( Quint et al. 1996)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What then is the police role in juvenile policing?   Just like the adult system of criminal justice, the juvenile justice system also has three basic components, the police, courts and corrections (Larry & Welsh, 2004) More often than not, whether or not a juvenile is processed into this system is dependent upon the outcome of an encounter with the police.   It is therefore true to say that, the police serve the role of the gatekeepers to the juvenile justice system.   They thus begin the criminal justice system. Also, upon the arrest of a juvenile offender, the law provides for the police to release the juvenile to his or her parents or take the offender to a court (Quint et al. 1996) A new view has however emerged within the police themselves. Rather than seeing themselves as crime fighters who track down serious criminals or stop armed robberies in progress, many police departments have adopted the concept that their role be maintaining order and being a visible and accessible component of the society(Larry & Welsh, 2004)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Police research and other related studies indicate that these offender of violent juvenile crimes are likely to turn up to world be junior terrorists who can be of rivaled some of the worst terrorist organizations in the world.(Quint et al 1996)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The arrest procedures for juvenile offender differ from place to place but generally, arrest becomes the primary option of securing the juvenile’s attendance to court.   In addition, a written notice can be issued by police for the offender to appear in court (Larry & Welsh, 2004). This is however mostly given to minor offenders.   The investigating officer then notices the parent or guardian about the arrest of the time, date and place where the offender is to appear.   While doing this, the police are supposed to exercise discretion to enhance the child’s rights and divert the child away from the mainstream criminal justice system(Larry & Welsh, 2004)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Search and seizure is another method of police methods of investigation.   The law governing search and seizure is typically the same for both adults and juveniles (Larry & Welsh, 2004). This procedure involves among others photographing, fingerprinting, lineups and record keeping.   Children however, just like adults are also protected against unreasonable search and seizure under the fourth and fourteenth amendments of the constitution (Larry & Welsh, 2004)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is also custodial interrogation which requires the offenders   to be questioned often within the presence of their parents or attorney.   This is because any incriminating statement arising from such custodial interrogation can be used at trial (Quint et al. 1996)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Because of the informality that has been built into the system in an attempt to individualize justice, much discretion needs to be exercised.   Daily procedures of juvenile personnel are rarely subject to judicial review except when they violate the youth’s constitutional rights (Larry & Welsh, 2004) and as a result, discretion sometimes deteriorates into discrimination and other abuses on the part of the police.    Too little discretion gives insufficient flexibility to treat juvenile offenders as individuals while too much leads to injustice (Larry & Welsh, 2004).   Police for instance are likely to act formally with African American suspects and use their discretion to benefit whites (Larry & Welsh, 2004). Other factors include environmental factors whereby the police have that in born mentality within them that certain places, or if a child comes form a particular place, then he/she is likely to be an offender.   This stereotypy thus falls under the environmental factors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Police bias can also be as a result of the situation and conditions under which the child is arrested.   If the child brings complications such as putting up a resistance against the arrest and therefore fights the officer, or merely has a bad or negative attitude, then he is likely to be arrested in such a case discretionary justice is likely to take place (Larry & Welsh, 2004). It should be noted also that discretionary decisions are made without guidelines from the police administration. As noted earlier, there are many factors that influence the decisions made by the police about juvenile offenders. among the ones not mentioned include, the seriousness of the offense, the harm inflicted on the victim and the likelihood that the juvenile will break the law again (Larry & Welsh, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The police have however taken the lead in delinquency prevention by employing a number of strategic measures some of which rely on their different powers. Others have relied on schools, the community and other juvenile justice agencies (Quint et al, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of these strategies of contemporary prevention relies on aggressive patrolling at specific patterns of delinquency.   This is what we refer to as aggressive law enforcement.   The police here target gang areas and arrest members for any violations.   The tactic however has not proved to be effective since in most cases, the results tend to be unsatisfactory (Larry & Welsh, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1996 for example, the Dallas police initiated the strategy, which led to significant reduction in gang activity, targeting truancy and curfew laws but the saturation patrols proved ineffective (Larry & Welsh, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Police have also worked with schools to improve their safety and prevent delinquency in the community through organizations of various programs (Quint et al. 1996). The problem here however lies in the view that is held by some people over police in schools.   These people assert that this infringement on the personal freedoms of students (Larry & Welsh, 2004)   and that schools   should be left to run sovereignly.   There are also others who call for greater use of police in schools, especially those schools that have experienced violent incidents in the past by students against teachers (Larry & Welsh, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Community policing may also be employed here.   Community policing models are put in place aimed at improving relationships between the community and the police.   This will be important since many juveniles will then have a high regard for the police. Conclusion The ever-changing nature of juvenile delinquency thus calls for more experimentation and innovation in policing strategies inorder to prevent delinquency (Larry & Welsh, 2004). Among the first steps therefore should be tailoring policing activities to prevailing local conditions and providing for an enlargement in the community and other stakeholders      References Emergency Net News Service, 1996 http://www.emergency.com/juvycrim.htm Larry J. Siegel, Brandon C. Welsh (2004). Juvenile Delinquency. Belmont, Calif: Thomas Wadsworth Quint Thurman, Andrew Giacomazzi, Michael Reisig and David Mueller (1996). Community based Gang Prevention and Intervention: An Evaluation of the Neutral Zone: Crime and Delinquency

Trifles: Murder and Mrs. Hale

Susan Glaspell’s one act play Trifles is a clever tale which highlights the way in which women were dismissed in the early twentieth century and perhaps in some ways still today. Glaspell uses the scene of a terrible crime to engage the audience and then deliver her social message. This play is mostly about the way in which women in her day were ignored. The play takes place in a farm house in the Midwest during the present day, around 1916. Mr. Henderson, a county attorney, and Mr.Peters, a sheriff, have come to the farm to investigate the strangling murder of John Wright. One of John Wright’s neighbors named Mr. Hale discovered the body and found Mrs. Wright sitting downstairs acting in an odd manner. He has come to assist them with his testimony. Two women accompany them, the sheriff’s wife Mrs. Peters and the neighbor’s wife, Mrs. Hale. As the play unfolds, the men remain baffled by the lack of any evidence pointing directly to Ms. Wright as the killer . The case will not be entirely resolved due to an apparent lack of evidence of any motive.The two male investigators see women’s values and motivations in a disrespectful light – as mere trifles – and because of this attitude they fundamentally misunderstand the crime they are investigating and turn the two women into enemies who protect Mrs. Wright by tampering with the evidence. The men fail to see the household disarray as evidence. When entering the home, the poor maintenance in the household is apparent to all four characters in this play. The County Attorney exclaims, â€Å"Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say ladies? † (1114). The women defend Mrs.Wright. Mrs. Hale responds, â€Å"Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men's hands aren't always as clean as they might be† (1114). And after the men are out of earshot, Mrs. Hale is clearly identifying with Mrs. Wright when she complains: â€Å"I'd hate to have men coming into m y kitchen, snooping around and criticizing† (1114). Although all four characters recognize that the house is not well kept, but only the women immediately understand that something was terribly wrong. The men go no further with their interpretation of what the women instantly recognize as signs of discord in the home.A central piece of evidence in this play is a quilt that is being made by the suspect, Mrs. Wright, at the time of the murder. Upon inspecting Mrs. Wright’s things, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters come across an unfinished quilt. It is Mrs. Hale who notices that the last section of the quilt is different. She points out to Mrs. Peters that the stitching in most of the quilt is well-developed and carefully knitted. This is in sharp contrast to the most recent piece of quilt. This final section has misplaced stitches and the poor workmanship which would happen under a high degree of emotional distress. Mrs.Hale realizes this only moments after the county attorney c omplains about a missing piece of evidence explaining: â€Å"It's all perfectly clear except a reason for doing it. But you know juries when it comes to women. If there was some definite thing. Something to show – something to make a story about – a thing that would connect up with this strange way of doing it† (1121). Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters realize that they are, in fact, looking at the exact evidence the county attorney had in mind. Mrs. Hale quietly undoes the stitching. Another critical piece of evidence is the knot stitching in the quilt.Early in the play, the sheriff scoffs at the silliness of women discussing the type of stitching used to construct a quilt in the middle of an important murder scene, exclaiming sarcastically, â€Å"They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it! † (1116). The point of view of the sheriff is clearly one in which he belittles female concerns over such a small detail when what he sees as a real concern, su ch as murder, is in question. The sheriff and county attorney ultimately fail to realize, or even consider, the critical nature of this evidence.At the end of the play, the sheriff takes a moment to tease the women a bit more about this topic. His sarcastic question about the quilting style is answered by a wicked pun from the author. Mrs. Hale explains that Mrs. Wright, instead of quilting it, was going to â€Å"knot it† ( 1121). Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters understand that this reference to a knot is in fact a direct reference to the way in which Mrs. Wright murdered her husband, by tying a knot around his neck and strangling him to death. She tied a knot in the quilt the same way she tied a knot around her husband’s neck.The irony of this pun is that this very evidence, seen as laughable by the county attorney, is actually central to the murder of Mr. Wright. Although the knot is right in front of his face, he would not be able to see the meaning of it in a million yea rs. The most obvious piece of evidence missed by the male investigators is the singing bird. As the women are collecting clothing and items to bring to Mrs. Wright at the jail, they come across a bird cage. Three questions are immediately evident. First, why is there a bird cage but no bird?Second, what happened to the door of the bird cage? Of course, this leads to the third and final important question: if the bird is missing, where is it? Within a few minutes, the women discover the fate of the bird. They find the pet hidden away with great care. It is wrapped in silk inside Mrs. Wright’s fanciest sewing box. Clearly this was a type of burial, a shrine to a beloved pet. The women make all of the central connections between the dead bird and the crime that the men are investigating. They immediately realize that the singing bird was Mrs.Wright’s only companion. Mrs. Peters notes that the hinge on one side of the door has been ripped out and not fixed as if someone br oke into the cage to kill the animal. They see clearly that the bird’s neck was broken and understand that this beloved pet was killed out of shear meanness by the overbearing; soul-crushing Mr. Wright. Mrs. Peters volunteers a story about one of her own pets that was killed by boys that she knew when she was younger. They instantly understand that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband in retaliation for this brutal act.They see that this was the motive behind this murder. The bird in this play is a reminder of the care-free, singing, younger Minnie Foster who has now become the lonely, miserable Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale’s recollections link the bird to Mrs. Wright. She explains to Mrs. Peters that when she was single years ago, Minnie Foster was well known in the community for being pretty, well dressed, and singing like a bird in the choir. Mrs. Hale observes, recalling Minnie Foster’s singing, that â€Å"he killed that too† (1120).The central misunderstanding in this play is the male investigator’s inability to grasp the meaning of the readily available evidence. As the title suggests, the men see women’s work and women’s concerns as mere trifles. The men comment on the poor housekeeping in the home but do not seem to understand why or how it is related to the murder they are investigating. The men fail to see why the bird cage is crucial evidence. The men investigating the crime make no effort to examine the quilting done by Mrs. Wright. The women, on the other hand, see all of these things in stark relief.They understand that the shabby condition of the home and the poor housekeeping criticized by the male investigators reflect the increasing alienation and despair of Mrs. Wright. The women instantly see the significance of the quilt. They recognize the incriminating nature of the emotional distress reflected in the shoddy last section of the quilt. They also find the crucial evidence of the case by inspecting the sewing box. The women find the murdered bird. When they do, they immediately see that the bird is the lynch pin of the case. The bird is the motive.The bird explains, both in terms of meaning and in the reality of its broken neck, what actually happened to John Wright. He murdered the bird, so she murdered him The blindness of the men to the nature of the crime and their condescension to Mrs. Wright emboldens the women at the scene to destroy evidence. Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters make it clear that they blame themselves for having been poor friends to Mrs. Wright. Perhaps Mrs. Hale puts this best when she says â€Å"I stayed away because it weren’t cheerful—and that’s why I ought to have come† (1118).They even resolve to bring Mrs. Wright her bottle of preserves as a token of their concern and understanding. Subsequently, Mrs. Hale destroys the evidence of the poor stitching on the last quilt segment. She does this because she realizes that this is ac tually incriminating evidence because it reflects Mrs. Wright’s emotional state. Following this, both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters further tamper with the evidence by hiding the dead bird. When the men asked what happened to the bird, Mrs. Hale lies: â€Å"We think—the cat got it† (1119). Mrs. Peters could contradict Mrs.Hale. By not doing so she is also agreeing to lie and assisting Mrs. Hale in the destruction of evidence. In the final scene, both women attempt to hide the body of the bird and Mrs. Hale succeeds. They realize that the men are blind to the real motivation and nature of this crime. They are unafraid to destroy evidence which they know the men are too self-absorbed to find on their own. The play Trifles is a play about the lack of perspective men have for women’s issues. At every turn, evidence for this crime is available and plain to see.The male investigators fail to see the evidence of the murder because of their disrespect of things that are important to women. In addition, by being so dismissive and callous, they turn the two women who actually understand the crime against them. In the end, they fail to see much of the evidence. The women hide the remaining evidence easily. The women truly understand the crime and are certainly not going to assist in the prosecution of a woman who they realize has been treated so poorly. Glaspell is telling us to beware seeing other people’s work, hopes, and dreams as trifles.

Not that Colorblind - 1636 Words

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What Are Compound Nouns

In English grammar, a compound noun (or nominal compound)  is a construction made up of  two  or more nouns  that function as a single noun. With somewhat arbitrary  spelling rules, compound nouns can be written as separate words like tomato juice, as words linked by hyphens like sister-in-law or as one word like schoolteacher. A compound  noun whose form no longer clearly reveals its origin, such as bonfire or marshall, is sometimes called an amalgamated compound; many place names (or toponyms) are amalgamated compounds — for example, Norwich is the combination of north and village while Sussex is a combination of south and Saxons. One interesting aspect of most compounds nouns is that one of the origin words is syntactically dominant. This word, called the headword, grounds the word as a noun, such as the word chair in the compound noun easychair. The Function of Compound Nouns Creating a compound noun, or compounding inherently changes the meaning of the parts of the new word, typically as a result of their tandem usage. Take for instance again the word easychair wherein the adjective easy describes a noun as being without difficulty or being comfortable and chair means a place to sit — the combined new word would mean a comfortable, hassle-free place to sit.   In this example, too, the form of the word easy changes from an adjective to a noun, based on the part of speech the headword (chair) functions as. This means that unlike an adjective-plus-noun phrase, a compound noun serves a different function and meaning altogether in a sentence. James J. Hurford uses the compound noun tractor driver as compared to the adjective-plus-noun phrase careless driver to emphasize the difference between the two usages in Grammar: A Students Guide. A careless driver, he states, is both careless and a driver, while a tractor driver is a driver but certainly not a tractor! Special Rules of Usage As Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy put it in Cambridge Grammar of English, the compound noun structure is extremely varied in the types of meaning relations it can indicate, from what the object is for like waste-paper basket to what something is made of like woodpile or metal slab, how something works like a convection oven to what someone does like a language teacher. As a result, usage rules for everything from punctuation to capitalization can be confusing, especially for new English grammar learners. Fortunately, there are a few set guidelines for common questions related to these syntactical problems. For example, the possessive form of compound nouns, as Stewart Clark and Graham Pointon describe in The Routledge Student Guide to English Usage, must always place the apostrophe possessive after the whole of a compound noun, even if the last word is not the head word of the phrase: The Mayor of Londons dog (the dog belongs to the Mayor, not London). In terms of capitalization, the principle of  bicapitalization  applies to most compound noun forms. Even in Clark and Pointons example, both Mayor and London are capitalized in the compound noun because the phrase itself is a proper compound noun.