Using social media to manage personal knowledge and learning within a Case Study

Using social media to manage personal knowledge and learning within a Postgraduate Learning context - Case Study Example I am taking part in a Postgraduate Learning program in a business school in the North London area. Personal knowledge and learning scopes of this program will be developed through different means of social media. I will be able to gain the insight of Personal Knowledge Management or PKM, Knowledge Management or KM and different learning theories. Personal Knowledge Management is mainly a process that enhances the possibility of gaining more knowledge and managing the development of learning and knowledge (Cope and Kalantzis 332). I think that PKM will create contemporary knowledge among the students. According to my experience, social media policy of the higher education institutions is quite feasible in personal knowledge management. Knowledge management policies are highly adopted by the companies and educational institutions. I observed that knowledge of the teachers and experienced people are disseminated among the new recruits or the learners with a sound communication system (Costello 634). Knowledge management process is adopting innovative approach for the learners. I observed that KM process in the post graduation learning institutes helps in recognising the scope of education. Being one of the members of the post graduation learning institutions, I am able to evaluate various courses provided in the institutions.

Civil engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Civil engineering - Essay Example All the facilities and infrastructures that we use in our everyday activities are works of civil engineers and therefore the discipline can be regarded as one of the oldest profession (Agrawal and Dill, 76-82). The field of civil engineering has been improving over the years. The improvement has been possible first due to the development of technology and through building innovatively on the previous works. As the field develops, it has been focusing attention on solving the present challenges in the lives of men. I have chosen civil engineering because it gives me a chance to join the group of innovators and developers who design and build the best and most significant features in the world. Being an engineer has always been my dream throughout school. I always enjoyed as buildings grew from a bare ground, and roads and highways traversed a previously wild area. This always made me feel the urge to be part of the development. In high school, I was keen to notice excellence in physics and mathematics was the way to achieving my dream. The main aspect of the discipline that interests me most is the innovativeness that is encouraged in civil engineering. Different from architecture, in civil engineering there is more that drawing of designs. There is the actual touch of the work and appreciation of results. Civil engineers are capable of assessing the needs of the population better and implement solutions through designing and building of what the population needs. Besides this, civil engineering will allow me to travel to many places and meet many different kinds of people and cultures which has always been my hobby. One of the grand challenges in engineering today is the restoration and improvement of urban infrastructure. Urban transport and other fundamental life supporting systems are facing a challenge related to the increasing urban population. Moreover, the infrastructure in many cities is slowly aging and failing as a result. It is

Homework Should Be Abolished Essay Example for Free

Homework Should Be Abolished Essay It is a common emotion to students regarding the distaste of homework, but legions of teachers know better because they recognize the importance of homework in the success of students in school and outside of school. I completely disagree with the statement that homework should be abolished. School without homework is not an image I can fathom. There are many reasons why homework should not be abolished as it is greatly beneficial towards the student. Homework improves the stability of the student in school allowing them to spend their time wisely and not only focus on play. It allows the teacher to acknowledge the students weaknesses and in turn giving them an opportunity to improve and acquire new skills. Also, taking time each night to do homework is a chance for students to catch up on missed class and further reinforces the days lessons so it is permanently etched in the students mind where the information is stored and used when called upon. Several studies have proven that homework, in fact, does improve the stability of the student in school. This strengthens the statement that time spent completing homework is time well spent. Rather than giving students another hour of leisure time, doing homework entitles the student to an hour of enriched education. This can greatly benefit the student, as consistently finishing homework will reap great rewards such as a favorable test score or report card. Not only does homework accomplishment benefit the student, it also benefits the teacher as well. Teachers receive the opportunity to see at what stage the student is by assigning homework. Furthermore, the teacher can identify the weaknesses of the student so they can ameliorate their study habits in hopes of pulling their grades up. Many students chose not to say when they are experiencing difficulties and it is often up to the teacher to find out. Homework is not set out only to serve students, but it is also definitely aimed to help teachers gain insight on their students progress. Moreover, the meaning and goal of homework is profitable towards the students. It allows students who missed the days lesson to catch up with the rest of their classmates. Likewise, homework reinforces the new concepts taught that day and helps the student develop a deeper understanding of what they have learned. On the contrary, if teachers were to assign no homework daily, then the new ideas they have brought forth will fall on deaf ears and the students are the ones who lose out on the wondrous opportunity of learning something new. Are you ready to give up an opportunity where new notions are introduced and planted firmly within your mind? It is incredulous to suggest that homework should be abolished. Although many may hate the mention of homework, no one can deny the fact that homeworks benefits overshadow its cons. To put it succinctly, homework should not be abolished! It helps with time management and organization skills, allows teachers the opportunity to find their students weaknesses so that they can help them to improve and lastly, it helps to reinforce things taught in school and help to gain a better understanding of the new ideas and concepts taught, engraving it inside students memories forever.

The issues of Corporate Social Responsibility

The issues of Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is also known as corporate responsibility and corporate citizenship, responsible action, responsible action constant (SRB), or the performance of social institutions. Ideally, the policy of corporate social responsibility is a compact, self-regulation and the mechanism by which the work would monitor and ensure the commitment to the law and ethical standards and international rules. (William et al, 2005). The development of the businesses in claiming the responsibility by the impact of its activities on the environment, consumers and workers, local communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public domain. The practice of corporate social responsibility is a subject of debate and criticism and widespread. Proponents argue that there is strong demand for the issue of social responsibility of businesses, and companies benefit in many ways by working with a broader perspective and longer than their own direct, any short-term profits. Crit ics argue that the act of corporate social responsibility is the primary economic role of companies, and others believed that no more than window surface is decorated , and some say it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog on the powerful multinational companies (Argandona, 2001). Marks and Spencer plc, also known as MS, is a world s renowned retailer with its headquarters in Westminster, London. It has more than 300 stores across 40 countries and more than 70 stores in UK. MS is famous for its clothes and food products. It was found in 1884 by Thomas Spencer and Michael Marks in Leeds. Since 2000 the company Marks Spencer began to expand and explore other areas: household products, food, furniture, products for beauty, technology, financial services, etc. In recent years, Marks Spencer stores act as full-scale shopping centres with huge grocery supermarkets, entertainment venues and cafes. The company is covering general merchandise sector and food sector. All these units have contributed in shaping up company s vision stating that they want to set a standard through which other company should be measured. These units are centralized by the values of Marks and Spencer. These include trust, service, value and innovation. (Utting, 2007, 11 13) Each of the units has developed its specific strategies of Corporate Social Responsibility that is based on the brand-value of trust. The issues that are tackled in the strategies were identified through customer research, understanding within business and by interacting with important stakeholders, government, NGO s etc. An action plan is developed for handling each issue that arises in order to balance expectations of the customers and the stakeholders and other external pressures. These issues are divided into three groups: people, products and community. People: these include the company s employees plus the people who are employed in its chain supply. Product: this division emphasizes on the production of high quality, valuing that are positive for social and environmental benefits. Community: this division emphasizes on the role of the company in helping to maintain and develop places where people can work and live easily. For all these groups, Marks and Spencer have planned a program with the name of Plan A. (Archie, 2008) WHAT IS PLAN A? Plan A is Marks Spencer s comprehensive approach to sustainability which to them is doing the right thing . Were doing this because its what you want us to do. Its also the right thing to do. Were calling it Plan A because we believe its now the only way to do business (Marks Spencer s, 2010). On 15th Jan, 2007, Marks and Spencer took an initiative by launching a program known as Plan A. This was to bring a dramatic increase in the environmental sustainability in five years. Plan A contains 100 commitments for five years in order to address the major environmental and social challenges faced by Marks and Spencer, today and in future (marks and spencer, 2010). They have a tag-line for it which states: Because there is no Plan B. These commitments cover five different themes: Sustainable raw material, climatic change, fair partnership, health and waste with the purpose of: I. No waste will be sent to landfill II. Become Neutral to carbon III. Bring extension in the sustainability of resource IV. Help in improving the lives of employees working in their supply chain department (Brown, 2008, 125 147) V. Provide a healthy lifestyle to the customers and the employees of the company To begin with, as a part of Plan A, the iconic reusable brown bag was introduced in the year 2007. This brought a hope that it will decrease the usage of plastic bags over the next few years. In 2008, Marks and Spencer introduced the 5p carrier bags scheme at their stores. The customers were supposed to pay 5p per vest carrier bag which was of standard size for their food purchases. This scheme was implemented as a part of Plan A, saying that it discourages the use of customary plastic bags. All the profits gained from the sale of these bags are given to the Groundwork UK. To become a carbon neutral company, Marks and Spencer committed to only using the carbon equalizers as their last resort, confining to the cases where is required by the government or where the green air, road transport and technology will not be available for the predicted future. In 2008, Marks and Spencer had 3 operational wind tribunes, one in Methlick and two near Strichen. These generate power that is enough to cover three stores through National Grid. In 2009, the company started buying 2.6TWh of the renewable energy from the Npower which was enough to provide energy to all of the MS offices and stores in Wales and England. In 2010, Marks Spencer s set out 80 new commitments with the aim of becoming the world s most sustainable major retailer by 2015. This they hope to achieve by engaging their customers in building Plan A qualities into all of its 2.7 billion products and assist the customers to develop their own Plan A eco-plan. Also, they intend to move Plan A from just a plan to How we do business by integrating it into processes and giving its people the required tools, skills and motivation to make a difference. In order to achieve this, Marks Spencer s launched a 50m innovation fund, as well as sustainability programmes for its food and general merchandise suppliers, sustainable agriculture programmes for its farmers and growers. As part of efforts to extend the Plan A to the employees, they are been offered free home insulation, a free home energy monitor and a day s paid leave each year for a volunteer work. Benefits of Incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility: Plan A of Marks and Spencer Firstly, Marks and Spencer got the value of differentiation. This does not necessarily relate to the product but also defines the moral values of the company. With the implementation of Plan A, Marks and Spencer got benefited with appeal factor. A recent research states that, 88 percent of the customers will be more interested in buying the products from the company that is actively working in the society and engages and supports the activities in improving the environment of the society. Thus, it has provided an advantage to marks and Spencer by being well known for their active participation in Corporate Social Responsibility methods. They can easily attract their existing customers to increase their sales and they can even attract new customers by their Plan A project. This in turn, helps in adding up the profits made by their stores. But these profits eventually are used by Marks and Spencer in investing in the strategies of Corporate Social Responsibility. Although, Marks and Sp encer can charge high price for their differentiated products in order to cover the cost of investment in CSR. The reason due to which they can charge higher price is their active participation in being socially responsible. This in the long run will increase their profit margin. This is a basic rule for CSR (Cuthbertson, 2011) Secondly, the workforce at Marks and Spencer is very happy with some of the programs that the company is running. One of these projects was the Ready to Work project. In this project, Marks and Spencer helped around six hundred homeless people from UK to acquire work experience while they were being mentored by a friend. Moreover, above 30 percent of these people, who were internee, were later on provided a job because of the success of the project. This program came up with a market research which was successful and was stimulated by the founders of Marks and Spencer s strategy stating that the best and guaranteed way to acquire long-term success is to have good relationship with your suppliers, employees and the society. This message acted as a backbone for all the CSR strategies of Marks and Spencer. A survey based on 500 employees of the company, stated that 75 percent of the employees felt that the projects has contributed in making Marks and Spencer a great place to work. They also said that it helped them in increasing and enhancing their skills. This also led to an extra motivated workforce who feel completely comfortable at their workplace and have led to a decrease in the rate of employee turnover. Thirdly, Plan A also covers the part of fair trade extensively. This is an issue which has gained UK s focus more than any other country. Marks and Spencer has purchased around a third of the world s fair trade cotton (Cuthbertson, 2011). Not all the achievements were remarkably good. For cutting down the emission of CO2, Marks and Spencer tightened up the needs for attaining a company car. These steps did drop the corporate auto fleet from 488 to 469, but this did not bring any significant change (Damien et al 2010) compared to other achievements, this strategy must be left out of the spotlight. The biggest disadvantage of CSR for Marks and Spencer is the cost that is invested in the implementation of these strategies. Plan A introduced by Marks and Spencer had an estimated cost of around 200 million. Although, the CSR strategy helps in gaining profits in the long run and it helps in becoming financially strong, it still requires a huge amount of investment to implement the strategies. Thus, if the strategy of Corporate Social Responsibility is not successful in producing a desired amount of effect in attracting the customers, then it could cause great loss to the investors. This loss might not be disastrous for Marks and Spencer however; it can damage its reputation. Although, the Corporate Social Responsibility is about enriching the stakeholder, but if the strategy is not successful in bringing extra profit then it depends on the morals and values of the investor to consider what a good outcome is and what a bad outcome is. Another disadvantage of this strategy would be the cost of keeping the customers happy. In the Plan A of Mark and Spencer, there are twenty targets for enhancing the fair partnership between the suppliers. Initially, the investment should be large as it targets the suppliers belonging to the international market (Beder, 2007). The most essential factor in this Plan is the consumer power. According to the research, around 88 percent people would prefer buying a product of the company which is highly active in social activities and are working with the concept for enhancing the quality of life. Therefore, Marks and Spencer cannot bypass this point as according to the economic climate these days, a customer moves on to the next best solution available depending on the morals they chose to follow. Thus, to build up CSR strategies are a positive investment in holding back the goodwill and image of the company, which Marks and Spencer has already established. In line to achieve a target of been the most sustainable retailer in the world, Marks Spencer s have over the years shifted from philanthropy to community investment and subsequently corporate social responsibility. Launching Plan A was its next logical step but there is still a long way to go. To ascertain the extent to which the achievements of Plan A would result in Marks Spencer s being the world most sustainable retailer, it will be important to understand what sustainability means. Brundtland s (1987) defined Sustainability as the development that meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs . This approach to economic growth perhaps includes a social responsibility to its stakeholders and a wider responsibility for the impact of its activities on the environment. With the sustainability plans on the report being that of Marks and Spencer s alone, there is no basis for comparison with other major retailers to know the extent to which its sustainability measures surpasses them. Also, by using the word sustainable, they universalised it to their meaning. They fail to know that sustainability could have several meanings for people different people. For instance, findings have shown that people in poor countries see sustainability as poverty reduction where as in developed countries; sustainability is linked to climate change. It will be a fallacy to make people believe there is a universal word for the term sustainability as there is no agreement over the specific meaning of the word and this makes it impossible to measure the performance of a company in that area. ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF MARKS AND SPENCERS CSR REPORT HOW WE DO BUSINESS Corporate social responsibility reporting which is voluntary is said to be a public account of environmental, social and ethical impacts of a company. It demonstrates accountability, transparency and credibility gaining the stakeholders trust. In order to assess the quality of Marks and Spencer s CSR report, we shall employ the Global reporting initiatives which sets out the principles and performance indicators that organisations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental and social performance (GRI, 2011). These principles include materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability context and completeness. Likewise, the standard disclosure examines the strategy and profile of the organisation, the management approach as well as the performance indicators of the organisation. So using the GRI guidelines to analyse the report (Appendix 1) I shall grade the Marks and Spencer s CSR report below a C minimal level despite it was assured by an independent third party Ernst and Young, to guarantee accuracy of the report and in line with best practice. To me, it failed to report the minimal requirements. Using the GRI framework, there was no report of some mandatory disclosures needed to attain a C level. These include (2.4) where it failed to report the location of its headquarters. Also in the profile disclosure, they failed to report on (4.15) which is the basis for identification and selection of stake holders whom they engage with. In the performance and indication section, despite not giving any report on human rights except for HR1 and HR2 where incomplete reports were given, they met the minimum requirement of the GRI framework of reporting at least one out of each Performance Indicator. In all, the CSR report could be said to focus primarily on profile disclosures and this tend s to be the major strength of the report where reports on performance indicators were incomplete and in some cases not reported. The stakeholder inclusiveness of the report was thoroughly reported. Pages 42 and 43 in the report contained a stakeholder dialogue which is quite impressive as stakeholder dialogue is one of the basic parties of a sustainability report. Marks and Spencer s reported how they engaged Ernst and Young to gather impartial feedback from a range of organisations which was also listed in the report. These organisations are NGO s which focus on sustainability. The responses of the stakeholders were also listed in the report and were quite enlightening as there were not just compliments but also suggestions for Marks and Spencer s sustainability direction. Also, marks and Spencer s responses to the suggestions were listed. The major concern about stakeholder reporting was on lack of information on how many stakeholders from each NGO who were consulted provided feedback and why they chose to use external figures to facilitate the dialogue rather than discussing with marks and Spencer s people. Also, it wasn t disclosed in the report how much stakeholder input influenced the selection of Plan A commitment. Marks and Spencer s CSR report is both wide ranging and highly focused. Under the headings of Climate, waste, Natural resources, fair partner, health and well being, each issue is broken down into targets set for the reporting year, performance in the current year and future goals. This approach is highly effective in terms of presenting a clear and thorough picture of the broad scope of Marks and Spencer s CSR related activities. The report is quite balanced as there were a handful of achievements listed in each of the headings such as cutting of carbon emissions from operations by 8% and improving store energy by 19%. Also, quite a couple of the challenges faced by the organisation was also noted which include rise in business travel emissions despite the Green travel policy. They also noted a decline in the sales of organic food despite their effort to introduce new products. So I think it just wasn t a win- win basis in the report. ACCESSING THE EXTENT TO WHICH PLAN A COULD BE ADOPTED SUCCESSFULLY BY A RETAILER IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY. The term developing countries is used to collectively describe nations that have low per capita incomes and are less industrialised (UNDP 2006). Corporate social responsibility(CSR) in developing countries have to deal with the formal and informal manner in which businesses contribute to governance, ethical, social labour and environmental condition of developing countries which they operate and perhaps remain sensitive to prevailing religious, historical and cultural context (Visser 2007). Contrary to the nature of CSR in developed countries, CSR in developing countries present a distinctive set of agenda which are certainly different from those faced in developed countries. CSR priorities in developing countries differ. For some, improved ethical responsibilities and incorporating good governance are assigned the highest. Whereas in others, tackling HIV/AIDS, improving working conditions, provision of basic services supply chain integrity and poverty alleviation are at the peak of CSR priority. .Major issues pertaining to CSR in developing world as at large relates to the strategic motive for adopting socially responsible practices. These actions appear to reflect Carroll s (1991) competing priorities which are; firms adopt CSR in order to meet their economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities. Conventional wisdom suggests that CSR is more relevant to organisations operating in the developed countries due to elevated expectations of society responsible behaviour. In view of this, I she use Bangladesh to examine the extent to which a retailer could adopt Marks and Spencer s Plan A because it possess the characteristics of a developing country. Basically, for the success of Plan A in any developing country by another retailer, the retailer needs to operate the strategies according to the culture, ethical background, nationality, religion and race of the developing country. As Plan A is committed to improve the lives of people in their supply chain sector (Peter, 2010). With the review of the state of government policy and support for CSR in Bangladesh, corporations have hence increased their commitment to CSR other than profit making and now complying with safety regulations. For example, CARE Bangladesh initiated a successful CSR programme with BATA where the company is using the extensive network of RARE to promote its environmental friendly products door to door in rural communities. With this, Plan A will be successful due to governments supporting policies which create room for CSR investment. Also, the issue of global warming which has to deal with the climate, it is obvious that this is affecting both the developed and developing countries and therefore governments are imposing on companies to develop CSR which will minimize carbon emission. So a retailer who adopts the Plan A will definitely succeed but will result in high operation cost to the company. Plan A can also be successful in a developing country if the retailer seeks the help of its suppliers in developing the factories with either being ethical or encouraging environmental characteristics. They can even encourage 10,000 farmers to join their sustainable agriculture program just like M S (Mike, 2008). The Retailer can also implement their Plan A project and be successful by becoming an important retailer to make sure that their key raw material such as soya, palm oil, coffee, beef, leather, etc, are coming from sustainable resources which do not contribute to deforestation. Contrary to this, Plan A which according to marks and Spencer s is doing the right thing will be successful at a minimal rate if adopted by a retailer in Bangladesh. This is so because of the prevailing high rate of poverty and corruption. Basically the priority of Marks and Spencer s plan A, which focuses on climate change, waste, waste, natural resources , fair partner performance health and well being may not be in line with CSR priorities in developing countries as they are interested in tackling HIV/AIDS, improving working conditions, provision of basic services supply chain integrity and poverty alleviation. CONCLUSION In this modern era, it is 100 percent important that companies differentiate themselves from rest of the market by working on developing strategies for their Corporate Social responsibilities. In order to make their strategy work successfully, companies need to strongly highlight educate people with their CSR plans. Keeping the research in mind, it is important for the companies to differentiate themselves. The company should also be aware of the cost that involve in the implementation of the plan. Whether you do it for financial reasons or to feel morally good, CSR plans completely depend on your ethics, both economically and personally. Marks and Spencer has started their journey to make their business more sustainable. Over the past decades, the company has never been stagnant. It has been moving from philanthropy to investing in the community to investing in corporate social responsibilities. In 2007, Plan has proved to be a radical commitment by focusing on specific CSR issues and tackling the sustainability issues.

Rabbit Tobacco :: essays research papers

My grandmother grew up in Americus, GA, a rural town over 100 miles south of Atlanta. Her parents were of Cherokee descent, so I asked her about any herbal remedies passed down to her. She told me of several, but the one that she remembered with the most clarity was rabbit tobacco. Rabbit tobacco is also known as lasting, everlasting, sweet balsam, white balsam, feather-weed, and sweet cudweed. Its scientific name is Gaphalium obtusifolium. These annual herbs reach a height of 1 to 3 feet and have erect stems with brown, shriveled leaves persisting into winter and stems covered with felt-like hairs in summer. The leaves are 1 to 3 inches long, and alternate. The flowers, minute in whitish heads, appear in late summer to fall. Fields, pastures, and disturbed areas are the sites of this common native plant of the eastern United States. The Cherokee named it rabbit tobacco because they believe it was the rabbit who took attended the plant. In Cherokee medicine, it is believed that councils of animals created diseases in order to avenge the loss of their families and living spaces. The plants, being sympathetic to humans, decided to each furnish a cure for these diseases. It is believed that the spirit of the plant will tell a sick person which one to use to cure his illness. Rabbit tobacco can be used medicinally in several ways. Smoking the leaves is good for sinusitis, head colds, and congestion. In hot teas, it is used to treat sore throats, fevers, diarrhea, colds, flu, pneumonia, asthma, and coughs, as well as a mild nerve sedative, a diuretic, and an antispasmodic. My grandmother said it was most often used in her home as a salve made of lard and ground up leaves. It was applied to the chest and back and caused profuse sweating. The effect is similar to Vicks in that it helped open up breathing passages. It is also believed by the Cherokee, as well as other Native American tribes, to help cleanse a house after a person’s absence or to cleanse the body after accidental contact with â€Å"bad medicine".

war on iraq :: essays research papers

Police line streets of Benton Harbor after nights of riots Residents outraged by deadly police chase Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Posted: 8:57 PM EDT (0057 GMT) State and local police make their presence felt Wednesday in Benton Harbor, Michigan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Story Tools -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELATED †¢ Interactive: Benton Harbor riots †¢ Map: Benton Harbor, Michigan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- †¢ CNN Access: Mayor: Police relationship unkind to citizens VIDEO Bullets, fire and rage on the streets of Benton Harbor, Michigan. WSBT reporter Jennifer Kuk is on the scene (June 18) PLAY VIDEO BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) -- As many as 300 officers from the Michigan State Police and surrounding jurisdictions moved onto the streets of this economically depressed small town Wednesday, hoping to prevent more violence after two nights of rioting triggered by the death of a black motorcyclist fleeing white officers in a high-speed chase. The city has declared a state of emergency and imposed a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for children under the age of 16. Adults going to and from work are not affected by the curfew. The rain that began Wednesday evening may also discourage people from gathering outside. Benton Harbor Mayor Charles Yarbrough urged residents to stay home. "The burning must stop, the rocks must stop, people must stop being hurt," Yarbrough said after Tuesday's violent protests left five homes burned and at least 10 people injured. Police used tear gas to break up a crowd of about 300 people early Wednesday. Some of the protestors shot at police, and as many as 12 people were arrested, mostly on charges of civil disturbance and vandalism, Yarbrough said. "It was very violent," Benton Harbor Police Chief Sam Harris said. "We had gunfire. They shot at our trucks, they shot at the captain of police, ran barricades." The violence followed the death Monday night of a black motorcyclist in a high-speed chase by white police officers from nearby Benton Township. The motorcyclist, 28-year-old Terrance Shurn, of Benton Harbor, was killed when he crashed into a vacant building in a neighborhood near the city's center. City Manager Joe Patterson said the Michigan State Police are investigating the incident. Wednesday afternoon, police officers from several different jurisdictions began arriving in Benton Harbor. Some carried riot gear, and several reinforced vans called "peacekeepers" were parked downtown. The bullet-proof vans help protect officers from gunshots, rocks and bottles. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said about 130 state police officers are assisting local law enforcement, but she urged local leaders to come together to restore calm.

Children and Domestic Violence Essay

Family or domestic violence can have tragic consequences on all those involved. However, children exposed to domestic violence are often the most negatively affected by domestic violence and they frequently show symptoms of psychological and emotional trauma. It is estimated that at least one in every three women have been or will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime (http://therapistfinder.net /Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Furthermore, physical violence is estimated to occur in four to six million intimate relationships every year in the United States (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). It is next to impossible to get totally accurate rates on domestic violence because many cases go unreported due to inconsistency in police reports, inconsistency in what is defined as domestic violence, and general lack of police intervention (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Dome stic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). It is estimated that women make up three-fourths of the victims of homicide by an intimate partner; in all actuality, 33% of all women who are murdered are murdered by a current or former boyfriend or husband (http://therapistfinder.net /Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). In addition, black women, women aged 16 to 24, and women of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be abused by a partner than all other races, ages, and social classes of women (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Since many of the women who are victims of abuse have children, the children often witness their mothers suffering terrible forms of abuse. In addition, it is estimated that between 53% and 70% of male batterers also frequently abuse their children, which increases the child’s involvement in the abusive situation and subsequent negative effects (Volpe, 1996). The consequences of this are staggering. The negative effects are infinite and often include academic problems, agitation and anxiety, behavioral problems, clinginess, depression, distractibility, emotional numbing, extreme fear, flashbacks, feelings of guilt and not belonging, insomnia, irritability, low levels of empathy, low self-esteem, nightmares, obsessive behaviors, phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety, bereavement, aggressiveness, revenge seeking, suicidal behavior, truancy, withdrawal, feelings of vulnerability and helplessness, and displaced violence (Volpe, 1996, Warner & Weist, 1996, and http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). These effects vary from one child to another based on the child’s intellectual development, interpersonal skills, self-esteem, self-efficacy, talents, religious affiliations, socioeconomic status, opportunities in school and employment, and social support (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violen ce-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Moreover, many children in these situations are forced to grow up faster than most children their age and become responsible for taking care of younger siblings and domestic responsibilities such as cooking and cleaning, which dramatically interferes with their chances of having an otherwise normal childhood (http://therapistfinder.net/ Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Also, since many women who are victims of domestic violence suffer from depression, preoccupation with the violence, emotional withdrawal, irritability, and other psychological stress, their children lack a positive, responsive role model and are often emotionally and physically neglected (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). These mothers are emotionally unavailable and chronically stressed, which makes them unable to fulfill their child’s needs (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/ Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Additionally, children often develop distrust for their fathers or other males who are abusing their mothers; especially because abusive males tend to be less affectionate, less available, and less rational when dealing with children, which increases overall levels of stress on children and often results in the child’s sense of heightened alert when around the male batterer (Volpe, 1996 and http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Children, as well as their mothers, are also more likely to be isolated from friends and family in an effort to conceal the abuse (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Many of the underlying causes of the symptoms children experience as a result of witnessing domestic violence are primary emotional responses. These responses include anger, rage, misery, terror, guilt, responsibility for the violence, fear of dying, and fear of abandonment or parental death (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). The expression of these emotions can take many forms. Often, children will exhibit psychosomatic problems, eating and sleeping disturbances, stifled emotional and social development, and severe emotional disturbances (Margolin & Gordis, 2000). In a 1999 study from Johns Hopkins, it was reported that abused women are at higher risk of miscarriages, stillbirths, and infant deaths, and are more likely to give birth to low weight babies (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). In addition, children of abused women were more likely to be malnourished and have recurring cases of untreated diarrhea and were less likely to have been immunized against childhood diseases (http://therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is caused by an â€Å"exposure to events that are so extreme and life threatening, that they demand extraordinary coping efforts. Such events are often unpredictable and uncontrollable. They overwhelm a person’s sense of safety and security† (Volpe, 1996, p. 2). PTSD, which used to only be thought of as a disease that affects war veterans, has now been found to exist in many children that have been exposed to severe violence (Volpe, 1996). PTSD can be classified in two ways, Type I and Type II PTSD (Volpe, 1996). Type I is characterized by exposure to one single, short-term event such as rape, assault, etc.; Type II is characterized by prolonged or repeated exposure, such as chronic victimization through child abuse (mostly sexual and physical) or battering (experienced or witnessed) (Volpe, 1996). Type II PTSD is often more traumatic and has a greater impact on functioning (Volpe, 1996). PTSD involves patterns of avoidance and hyperarousal, interpersonal and academic/occupational problems, and persistent re-experiencing of the event(s) (Volpe, 1996). PTSD emotional responses include shock, terror, guilt, horror, irritability, anxiety, hostility, and depression; cognitive responses include concentration impairment, confusion, self-blame, intrusive thoughts, low self-efficacy, fear of losing control, and fear of reoccurrence of the trauma; biological responses include sleep disturbance, nightmares, exaggerated startle responses, and psychosomatic symptoms and; behavioral responses include avoidance, social withdrawal, interpersonal stress, decreased intimacy and trust, and substance abuse (Volpe, 1996). Over half of children in domestic violence shelters exhibit PTSD symptoms; if left untreated, these children are at risk for delinquency, substance abuse, dropping out of school, and relationship difficulties of their own (Volpe, 1996). The reaction to domestic violence varies from young childhood to adolescence. Young children typically think that the violence is their fault and may exhibit this feeling through withdrawal, becoming non-verbal or regressing verbally, regression in clinging, whining, toileting, and overall immaturity, eating and sleeping difficulty, concentration problems, generalized anxiety, and physical complaints (http://therapistfinder.net /Domestic-Violence/Domestic-Violence-Crisis-Hotlines.html). â€Å"Exposure to trauma, especially family violence, interferes with a child’s normal development of trust and later exploratory behaviors, which lead to the development of autonomy† (Volpe, 1996). Pre-adolescent and adolescent children typically respond differently than younger children. Children at these ages have a greater ability to verbalize their negative emotions; in addition to many of the symptoms younger children show, children within this age group often loose interest in social activities, withdraw or avoid peer relations because of embarrassment of their home lives, develop rebellious and defiant attitudes, fight and lash out, abuse pets, and attempt to gain attention through hitting, kicking, or choking peers or family members (Volpe, 1996).