National minimum wage which covers the whole of south korea

National minimum wage which covers the whole of south korea Introduction The third edition of Collins dictionary defines that the minimum wage is the lowest wage that an employer is allowed to pay an employee according to a law or agreement. South Korea introduced the minimum wage in 1988 with the purpose of stabilizing low-paid workers living and improving the quality of the labour force, thereby contributing to the stable development of the national economy.(Minimum Wage Act, Article 1, 1986) Since then, South Korea has have one national minimum wage which covers the whole of South Korea, even though there are various exceptions which are not applied, such as any businesses employing only families or relatives who are living together, those who are hired for household works, seamen who are subject to the Seamen Act, trainees who are doing on-the-job training during the first 3 months and workers with disabilities who can be paid sub-minimum wages pursuant to a certificate issued by the Ministry of Labour. The minimum wage in South Korea in 1988 was 462 won (KRW, a proxy 0.37 dollar at the current exchange rate: 1$=1,240 KRW), the minimum wage in 2009 is 4,000 won (a proxy 3.23 dollars at the current exchange rate). In case of the US, the US federal minimum wage in 2009 is 7.25 dollars and that of 1988 was 3.35 dollars. (U.S Department of Labor, 2009) If we compare two countries with 2008 minimum wage which South Koreas minimum wage was 3,770 KRW(3.41 dollars, at the 2008 average exchange rate: 1$=1,105 KWR) and the US federal minimum wage is 5.85 dollars. Considered the gross national income per capita in 2008 which of South Korea is 21,530 USD and that of the US is 47,580 USD The World Bank, 2009), the level of the minimum wage in South Korea is not low, and furthermore the average increasing rate during the past 10 years in South Korea, which is over 10%, is much higher than that of the US. But because of the recent economic depression, while the Minimum Wage Council (MWC) which is established in the Ministry of Labor to deliberate the minimum wage and other related matters, which is composed of three part representatives workers representatives, employers representatives and the public representatives, deliberated the minimum wage in 2010, there was a big gap between workers representatives and employers representatives, even employers representatives who have offered a slight increase during the last two decades made a suggestion that the minimum wage should be frozen or should be dropped. After the long deliberation, the minimum wage of the next year fixed at 4,110 KRW which is the lowest increase level during the past 10 years. Furthermore on 18th Nov. 2008, 31 members of the National Assembly from the ruling party (Hannara-party) submitted the revised minimum wage bill, in which included the introduction of a regional minimum wage and exception to the over 60 years old people. They claimed that the present minimum wage level is quite high, becomes a burden to small businesses, and ultimately causes the low-skilled workers unemployment. (The National Assembly, 2008) The proposal of amending the minimum wage act provoked the criticism from the Labour Unions and some social organizations. In this research, I will review one aspect of the revised bill, the regional minimum wage introduction into South Korea. The economists perspectives of the minimum wage According to conventional supply and demand curves, the price of the product is fixed at the equilibrium point, theoretically the labour market is the same. The price of the labour market i.e. the wage settles at the equilibrium point (Figure 1, at We) where supply and demand meet together, therefore there is no unemployment. But the minimum wage is settled at the certain level which is mostly higher than the equilibrium (figure 1, at Wm) with the certain social and political purpose, for example, the stabilization of vulnerable workers livelihoods and income redistribution. Economists say that the minimum wage reduces employment in the sectors which it targets to cover and the decrease of employment outweighs the wage increase leading to lose low-skilled workers jobs. In figure 1, if the minimum wage settles at Wm, then it causes the unemployment (G-D) and the amount of employed workers reduces from F which is the amount of the employed when the government does not intervene in the labour market to D. This is the basic theory that most economists use when they mention the negative effects of minimum wage George Stigler (1946, p358) points out in his article that the popular objective of minimum wage legislation-the elimination of poverty-was not debatable and a minimum wage could not guarantee the low-wage members of wealthier households. He claims that the program of increasing income must be supplemented by a program of education-in diet, in housing, in education. (Stigler, 1946, p365) It is commonly agreed in the field of economics that the minimum wage is not an effective device for eliminating poverty. The brief history of the Minimum Wage The minimum wage was first introduced in New Zealand in 1894 in response to so-called sweat shops workers strikes. (Starr, 1981) Now most countries in the worlds including the US, France, Canada, Japan, China and the UK have the minimum wage regulation. Still there are a few countries which do not have the minimum wage regulation such as Germany, Italy, Swiss, Sweden and Denmark. In case of South Korea, the minimum wage act enacted in 1986 on the grounds of the Constitution. Since the enforcement in 1988, reflecting the economic and social change, amendment has been made. But the assessment about the minimum wage is different among people. Employers complain that the present minimum wage policy does not reflect the current businesses situation and the change of the labour market (MWC, 2008). In contrast, labour unions argue that the current minimum wage is a very low level and does not carry out the objective of minimum wage effectively. The debates about its effects are still going on. Criteria for setting minimum wages Each country has its own organizations and minimum wage deciding procedure. Factors which affect the minimum wage vary from countries, in spite of the varieties; we can generally classify them into three main factors, which are the needs of workers, ability to pay and the requirements of development. (Starr, 1981) Gerald Starr mentions that defining meaningful criteria is the main key to ensure the objectives of minimum wage. (Star, 1981) In South Korea, the minimum wage act article 4 states that a minimum wage shall be set after considering the workers living cost, labour productivity and the ratio of income distribution and it can be set differently by the industry. There is a controversy whether criteria are meaningful or not, and how each criterion can be measured precisely is also a concern. Despite of the other arguments about the minimum wage policies, I will not talk about them here. The introduction of a regional minimum wage into South Korea As I mentioned in the introduction, the revised bill by Hannara-party is pending at National Assembly. This revised bill includes several debatable issues. The regional minimum wage introduction is one of them. Hannara-party claims that the minimum wage has contributed to the low-paid workers livelihoods ; meanwhile the recent financial crisis causes financial pressure to small companies, makes them violate the law and consequently is taking the job opportunity from the vulnerable working class. They say that there exists a gap to the living cost and between provinces. That is the main reason to suggest the revision. (NA, 2008) Under the present acting law, there is no ground that Ministry of Labour can set a different minimum wage according to geographical areas. On the minimum wage act article 4, Ministry of Labour can set a minimum wage differently according to industries. But until now, Ministry of Labour has never set the minimum wage differently by industries. As soon as Hannara-party turned the bill in, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) made an announcement that Hannara-partys suggestion is a threat to the basic role of minimum wage. The regional minimum wage introduction will cause the society to widen the social and economic gaps between the provinces and to deepen the emotional diversion. KCTU argues that the revised bill will make workers who work at the small companies where the minimum wage is comparatively low move to the higher areas i.e. Seoul or the other big cities. In the long run, the regional minimum wage will not help small companies in the local and rural areas but will destroy small companies. Furthermore, it will devastate the national economy. Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) which is the other major associated union organizations also expressed the same position about the revised bill with the KCTU. In contrast to KCTUs arguments, the Korea Employers Federation expresses an agreement about a regional minimum wage introduction. KEF says the cost of living and the average wage in each city and each province is different. The price in local provinces or rural areas is relatively low, compared to Seoul and Kyeonggi province-so-called metropolitan cities. But the present system-one national minimum wage- does not reflect this cost living difference, the wage gap and the structural difference in the labour market. Considered the purpose of minimum wage which is to protect the low-paid workers, setting a regional minimum wage which workers can live with rather than establishing one national minimum wage is effective to the national economy. They claim that the law should be revised and minimum wage can be set differently according to geographical areas. They argue that a regional minimum wage is more appropriate to the objective protecting the low-paid workers. Through reflecting the price difference and applying differently to the areas, the regional minimum wage will also help small companies from the labor shortage. But they say that the process to determine the minimum wage should be reformed first, they express their worries if the authorities to determine the minimum wage are given to each province and then the disputes between employers and workers will worsen. KCTU argues that KEFs idea is unarguable and the Hannara-party revised bill is a retrogressive bill under the recent economic crisis, even it is against the Constitutional principles. Two major associated labor unions organizations say that they will continuously do street rally in major cities throughout the county, and will show their protestation against the revised bill, furthermore do every efforts to protect the lower-class and to gain a Living Wage until the Hannara-party and the government will withdraw the pending bill. Concerning this aspect, Uh soo-bong, a professor at Korea University of Technology and Education, said in the conference hosted by MWC in November 2008 that the regional minimum wage introduction could be considered if there is a significant gap between minimum living costs according to regions. But he added that there is no objective evidence for that until now. Some countries have the regional minimum wage, for example, the US, Canada, Australia and Brazil. (MWC, 2009) In case of the US, the minimum wage first was adopted by Massachusetts in 1912 to cover women and children before the federal minimum wage was adopted. Since then, several states also adopted the minimum wage legislation. The Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938, is the first federal minimum wage regulation. The President at that time, Roosevelt, said that The law was the most far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted. Wages must ensure a minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency and general well-being, the act stipulated without substantially curtailing employment. Ever since, even in the US, critics and supporters have disputed over the minimum wage: some say it destroys jobs by making it too expensive to keep workers. Other economists note, however, that because a majority of minimum-wage earners work in outsourcing-resistant service jobs, businesses will have a hard time dismissing the workers massively. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found that after an 80-cent New Jersey minimum wage increase in 1992, employment in the states fast-food restaurants rose slightly faster than in Pennsylvania, where the minimum wage did not change. (Card and Kruger, 1995) Instead of killing jobs, minimum wage supporters argue, the wage floor increases productivity and boosts consumer purchasing power. Now many states in the US have minimum wage laws. Therefore an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages. Even though the federal government for almost 10 years from 1997 to 2006 did not increase the minimum wage, each state has increased the state minimum wage independently according to their own decision. Despite of the unchanged federal minimum wage, the states minimum wage increase did positive role in improvement for workers. As you can see figure 2, the number of the states which do not have state minimum wage is 5 which lie mostly in southern area, for example, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The number of states which have the lower state minimum wage is 7 and that of states which have the higher minimum wage is 12. Canada has only the states minimum wage, Canada does not have a national or federal minimum wage. In 1918, the state of British Colombia established the minimum wage first, and then Ontario, in 1920. Each state in Canada has the authority to decide the minimum wage independently. From the stage of the minimum wage introduction, South Korea and the US were quite different. In case of the US, Massachusetts first adopted the minimum wage, and a federal minimum wage was first set in 1938. Even though the national minimum wage does not change, the states set own minimum wages. The period 1997-2007 is the longest period during which the federal minimum wage has not been changed. Many states have departed from the federal minimum wage. Washingtons minimum wage is 8.55 dollars as of January 1, 2009. California and Massachusetts currently have minimum wages of 8.00 dollars, meanwhile the federal government has minimum wage of 7.25 dollars. There are lots of researches about the effects of minimum wage, but there are not many articles about comparison to a regional minimum wage and a national minimum wage. David Card and Alan B, Kruger published Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum wage in 1995. This book contains the cross-state comparisons. The study of employment in the fast food industry after the 1992 increase in the New Jersey minimum wage shows that employment was not affected adversely. In comparison to New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania where the minimum wage remains unchanged, conducted before and after the increase in the New Jersey, they found that the employment in New Jersey actually expanded with the increase minimum wage. Secondly a cross-state analysis finds that the 1990 and 1991 increases in the federal minimum wage did not affect teenage employment adversely. They mentions most economic discussions of public policy are concerned with questions of efficiency: in other words, where a particular policy generates more benefits than costs. In their research, they claim the minimum wage might raise the efficiency. In their views, the minimum wage is mainly a distributional issue. (Card and Kruger, 1995) They come to a conclusion that minimum wage does not have any negative effects to the employment. Their works rekindled the disputes among the economists. Kevin M. Murphy and Finis R. Welch, at a seminar in Washington in 1995 held by the American Enterprise Institute, claim that their research was prejudged and therefore, biased. Murphy and Welch also point out that systematic differences in state labor markets can obviously bias cross-state comparisons of employment as measures of minimum wage effects. (Murphy and Welch, 1996) Card and Krugers book has a different view from the commonly agreed idea, but ignores the potential effects of an increase in the minimum wage on cost of living. They study an aspect of the cost side of a higher minimum wage its effect on firms profitability, but they do not have the satisfying outcomes for the distribution side. Introducing a regional minimum wage into South Korea is another story from the US. Each state of the US rules independent politically and socially. It has own laws which have settled from the long history. As you can see the difference scale in two countries, the system of two countries is the more important aspect. Are there any needs to introduce a regional minimum wage into South Korea? Is the difference of cost living between provinces big enough to consider a regional minimum wage introduction? While Hannara-party and employers claims that the cost living and the price of commodities in local areas are relatively low, consumers price index shows that there is no difference between provinces. Furthermore, according to the result of the regional wage and working hour survey by the Ministry of Labor, Seoul, Ulsan, Taejeon and Kyeong-gi are the highest provinces in the monthly wage, Jeju and Jeonbuk is the lowest area. Jeju and Jeonbuk are considered as a low area of cost living, Seoul is considered as the most expensive city to live in. If a regional minimum wage is introduced for small companies in local provinces, the minimum wages of small provinces will be likely to lower than that of big cities, which will cause the gap of wage bigger. We can say that table 3 demonstrates the present wage reflects the cost living and the price of commodities. Conclusion The ultimate goal of minimum wage is for the stabilization of low-paid workers, not for the benefits of businesses. Even under one national minimum wage, the gap of the average wage between provinces is big. The average wage in so-called local provinces which assume that the cost living is rather low is the lowest level. The introduction might lessen the financial burden in the short run, but in the long run, economic polarization will deepen. And South Korea has a different political system from the US. Each province is not separate in politically and socially. That is the other aspect which makes the introduction difficult. Card and Kruger said minimum wage has no effect to the employment through the empirical research of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but they did not consider each states cost living. As Stigler said in his paper, for small companies, the direct subsidy rather than minimum wage might be a better solution. (Stigler, 1946) References George J. Stigler The American Economic Association Vol 36, No 3 (Jun.,1936) pp 358~365 David Card, Alan B, Krueger Myth and Measurement the new economic of the minimum wage, Princeton university press Princeton, New Jersey,1995 The effects of the Minimum wage on Employment ,

Confessions of a Chronic Shopper :: Personal Narrative Shopping Toys Papers

Confessions of a Chronic Shopper It began with Barbie. I received my first at age four, and for awhile, I was happy with just that one. But when I walked down the all-hot-pink aisle at Target, I couldn’t help but need another. Magic Moves, Peaches and Cream, Crystal. Barbie and the Rockers. And then came the accessories. Barbie’s pink Jeep. Barbie’s bed and bedroom furniture. Kitchen accessories. Gym equipment. A tall Barbie house with an elevator. My sister and I had the works. We would set up luxurious Barbie mansions and would select from a bottomless Barbie pit four or five Barbies apiece, creating elaborate plots that could contend with any of the afternoon soap operas. Their days consisted of primping, changing clothes at least 35 times, ordering miscellaneous stuff advertised on the radio, and dating. And with only a Ken and a Derek to go around for eight Barbies, there was much stealing of boyfriends. They led extremely enriching lives. Then Cabbage Patch Kids were born. Since they were in such high demand, it was agony wondering if I’d even get one. But Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Leo were successful on Easter of 1985. Although Grandpa had to literally fight with a woman in the aisle of Toys ‘R Us over the last Cabbage Patch on the shelves, he won, thank goodness, so that I could have Martina. Martina Dorisa. But after awhile, Martina needed a playmate. And another. And a fourth. So, I acquired three more—Billy, Gary, and a little premie named Felice. My sister had four as well, and ironically, when we played with them, we would pretend that we were destitute single mothers. The home we set up was underneath the ping-pong table in our basement, cramped quarters for two girls and eight babies. But we were impoverished, after all. In all honesty, however, I cannot remember a day when I ever felt the scarcity of money —whether it was the fear that I might not be getting another meal or that I might not be getting another Christmas present. As the fourth and youngest child in my family, my parents were in their thirties and well-established when I was born. While my older siblings felt the consequences when my parents struggled to make ends meet, I never had to witness such financial straits or worry about money at all. I grew up knowing only affluence, receiving almost any desire I entertained, and so consumption naturally became a part of my life, just as some children who are born into poverty naturally understand privation and want as a natural way of life.

Case Study: Starbucks’ Structure

Barista: This job contributes to Starbucks success by ensuring our service and store standards are met. We do this by providing customers with prompt service, quality beverages and products. Starbucks and partners will experience a friendly, upbeat and clean atmosphere. Key Responsibilities: Develops enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time. Welcomes and connects with every customer. Discover customer needs and appropriately suggests product with every customer to enhance service and meet sales goals. Offers customers demonstrations, and samples using brewing equipment.Howard Schultz became convinced that he could turn coffee drinking into a cultural experience. He had traveled to Italy and watched with interest as city dwellers would stop to begin the day at a coffee bar. Using the same type of model, Schultz purchased and opened his first location as Il Giornale. The company evolved into Starbucks, where multitudes of consumers began purchasing designer coffees, such as espresso, cappuccino, and coffee mocha. Store interiors encourage lounging and relaxing with a newspaper, magazine, laptop, or friends.Each cafe featured enticements such as jazz music in the background, additional merchandise to examine, and comfortable seating. (Reilly, Minnick, & Baack, 2011). Until the 2008 recession, Starbucks had continued to grow. Some of the units in larger cities experimented with selling additional products, including lunch service. Then a quickly collapsing economy, possibly coupled with other problems, including over expansion, sent the corporation on a downhill slide. Founder Howard Schultz worried that the addition of so many locations had watered down the Starbucks experience. Reilly, Minnick, & Baack, 2011).. Starbucks should be using is departmentalization by geographic region. Starbucks locations are all over the United States. According to our text, â€Å"Geographical departmentalization makes it possible to tailor managerial efforts that addres s territorial differences. †(Reilly, M. , Minnick, C. , & Baack, D. , 2011). Departmentalization can be defined as an effective organizational tool in that it involves dividing people up into different departments or divisions in which collections of tasks are placed together, such as accounting, marketing, and production.Going through Starbucks case study, the best suited departmentalization for Starbucks would be by Geographic Region. Starbucks has its financial affairs, legal affairs separated from stores. It has also added talent management, human resources and training and development as part of being specialized departments. This structure works, because it is separated from day to day business and does not interfere with store operations. This will help in the different locations to adapt the menu to accommodate. For example the Starbucks in Florida may sale more ice coffees than in Washington State where it is not as hot.When the increase of competition began the decli ne of sales for Starbucks, the leadership shouldn’t try to centralize power. With the leadership being centralized the organization may start making bad decisions because it only allows for two or three leaders to be overwhelmed and start making wrong decisions, where as if they were to have more ideas from their employees they may be able to come up with a structure that can help them through the decline of sales The configuration that best fits Starbucks would have to be the divisional organization.This is because Starbucks has different products and many business units all around the world. According to an article, Mintzberg’s Organizational Configurations, â€Å"The benefit of the divisional organization is that it allows the line managers to maintain more control and accountability. †(Mindtools, 2012). In conclusion, Starbucks organizations have been a great place for people to work, customers to hang out at, and overall a great place to have coffee.From wh at I see, the structure that Starbucks has been using, so far has been doing a good job. According to Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, â€Å"Starbucks continues to expand our global Starbucks footprint and accelerate the innovation and momentum in our CPG business† (Financial Release, 2011) ? References: CNN Money, (Feb. 7, 2011). CNN Money, 100 Best Companies to work for. Retrieved on September 10, 2012 fromhttp://money. cnn. com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/snapshots/98. tml MindTools, (2012). Mintzberg’s Organizational Configurations, Understandingthe structure of your organization, retrieved on September 10, 2012 fromhttp://www. mindtools. com/pages/article/newSTR_54. htm Reilly, M. , Minnick, C. , & Baack, D. (2011). The five functions of effective management. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Starbucks Coffee Company, (2012). Starbucks Investor Relations, 2011 Financial Release, retrieved on September 10, 2012

Censorship Essays (888 words) - Freedom Of Expression, Censorship

Censorship Essays (888 words) - Freedom Of Expression, Censorship Censorship CENSORSHIP Censorship and the ideology supporting it reiterates concepts from ancient times. In early Greek civilization, Socrates was accused of worshipping strange gods and corrupting the minds of the youth. He preferred to sacrifice his life rather than accept the censorship of his teachings. Socrates advocated free discussion, and is the first person in recorded history to formulate a philosophy of intellectual freedom. Ancient Roman society endorsed that only members of the Senate, or persons of vast authority, enjoyed the privilege of free speech. However, the extensive Roman Empire could not have remained intact for four centuries if it had not maintained a tolerant attitude toward the diverse religions and cults of the races it ruled. In our own country, the American Revolution branded the beginning of an era with an emphasis on toleration and liberty the Age of Enlightenment. It affected all aspects of society, from religious belief and political life, to science and literature. The De claration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution sanctioned that restraint on publication is unconstitutional. Such repression is only justified in extreme cases, such as times of war. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of books, plays, periodicals, films, television and radio programs, news reports and the internet for the purpose of suppressing material thought to be objectionable or offensive. Censorship can be defined as the supervision and control of the information and ideas that are circulated among the people within a society. It concerns objectionable materials, such as those which may be considered to be immoral, obscene, treasonable or injurious to national security. The rationale of censorship is that it is necessary for the protection of basic social institutions: the family, the church and the state. It is a guardian of morals, and intrudes in many aspects of society: it supervises our communications, suppresses our freedom of speech, alters and edits our media and reduces the knowledge base that we can gain access to. It is claimed that permissiveness in the arts and mass media debases the public taste and corrupts all sense of dec ency. One aspect of censorship is that it omits some of our freedoms of speech when addressing a large group of people. For example, no person has the right to shout Fire! in a crowded theatre when no fire is present, or urge an angry mob to riot. This, as stipulated by Congress, would be a clear and present danger to the peace and security of the community. In some local communities, school boards have exerted pressure on publishers to omit certain areas of text relating to various sensitive issues, such as evolution, the biblical account of creation, or discussions of racial or religious groups. When publishers, authors or broadcasters trespass the political or moral boundaries set by law, they may be subject to fines, imprisonment and confiscation of their publication. The U.S. film industry practices a form of self-censorship. The Motion Picture Association of America imposed on its constituents a system of film classification. The Federal Communications Commission implemented v ague rules for television and radio about program content. They restrict the use of explicit language and direct references to sex. Religious, ethnic and racial groups have attempted to prevent plays, movies, and television programs because of elements they find offensive. In terms of my own opinions concerning censorship, I do not believe that it should be completely eliminated from our society. Instead of the materials we have access to being filtered and limited, I believe that the information should be available to those who choose to, and are mature enough to view it. One aspect I feel strongly about is that any individual should be able to openly criticize, through speech or publication, any government or public official. If we do not have the right to question or criticize our authority figures, than there is nothing to set our democratic society apart from that of a dictatorship. I do not believe that censorship should interfere with our correspondence, privacy, family or with our freedom of thought, religion or opinion. In terms of how censorship should be dealt with in our classroom, I think that omitting all profanity from music selection would eliminate a huge portion

lincoln essays

lincoln essays In March 1861, when Abraham Lincoln took the oath as the sixteenth president of the United States, the country had been struggling with the question of slavery for years. Kansas was bleeding from it, laws had been broken over it and in early February, seven southern states had finally seceded because of it and formed the Confederate States of America. In Kansas, pro-slavery and anti-slavery partisans engaged in a bloody war for control of the territorial government. Prior to these events, the voters who supported Lincoln in 1860 preferred preserving the Union rather than abolishing slavery; however they both became major issues of his presidency following his election. Contrary to many beliefs, the election of Lincoln was not the result of his followers, the majority of them being Republicans, wanting to completely remove slavery. He was known as the  gGreat Emancipator h and yet he did not publicly call for emancipation throughout his entire life. Actually, Lincoln denied continuously that he was an abolitionist. In two separate debates, he refused to believe that blacks should enjoy the privileges of American citizenship. Secondly, much as he hated slavery, he accepted it fs the law of the land, which he held sacred,  gas if the Almighty had written it in golden letters a yard high h. Throughout his inaugural address in March of 1861, Lincoln gave additional evidence suggesting that as President he really had no intention of advocating emancipation. Lincoln insisted he had  gno purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with slavery in the states where it already exists h. He continued by stating he had neither the lawful right nor the inclination to do so. His speech plainly states without doubt that Lincoln fs primary motive was not to abolish slavery. Instead, during the election campaign of 1860, Lincoln fs highest priority had been to keep the country united. He felt that any decision he would make as president wou...

Conduct Disorder in Young Children Research Paper

Conduct Disorder in Young Children - Research Paper Example It can, however, be extremely difficult to diagnose a mental disorder in young children because the criteria used to recognise the symptoms of disorder in children are same as those used in adults. Diagnosis becomes even more complicated because children often do not have the skill to verbally communicate their thoughts, feelings and reactions towards certain situation. The difficulty in diagnosis also arises from the normal growth and development of young children. There are several symptoms like anger ‘outbursts, irritability, sadness, shyness’ which can be considered as characteristics of emotional disorders among children but such symptoms can also be features of normal adolescent behaviour under specific circumstances (Walker & Melvin, 2010, pp.1-2). This paper focuses on conduct disorder which is a specific kind of behavioral disorder common among children and adolescents. Conduct Disorder Characteristics Conduct disorder is a common type of mental or emotional problem that happens to children and adolescents. Children who suffer from conduct disorder generally show persistency in patterns of disregard for rules and antisocial behavior for a long time. There are some typical symptoms like aggressive behavior, running away from home at night and causing destruction to property. These symptoms increase with age as children pass on to their adolescent stage (Searight et al., 2001). Conduct disorder among young children can also result in deterioration of academic performance because children suffering from the disorder can exhibit learning inabilities that apparently do not have any â€Å"intellectual, sensual or health† reasons. It becomes difficult for them to maintain normal interpersonal relationships with friends and teachers. Even in normal situation they tend to behave in abnormal manner. Moods of depression can be seen in them all the time and they show signs of disobedie nce towards parents and teachers. These children also develop a fear in relation to personal and school related problems (Behavior Disorder/Emotional Disturbances, n. d.). Young children with conduct disorder can display certain patterns in their behavior at home and schools. Negative traits are seen in them like bullying, threatening or intimidating other people. Such children can often get involved in physical fights and can use dangerous items as weapons to physically harm people and animals, something like knife, gun or a broken bottle. It is also common among these children to get engaged in stealing. Other people can be forced into sexual activity by them. Properties of others can be destroyed by these children by setting fire on them. Another trait that can be seen in them is that they can stealthily enter into other people’s houses or get into their cars. These children often show tendency to lie to obtain things they want and can also get engaged in shoplifting. The rules of schools and home are violated by them as they play truant at school or run away from home at night. (Facts for Families: Conduct Disorder, 2004, p. 1). Prevalence There are different ways to evaluate the prevalence of conduct disorder and, hence, it becomes difficult to compare results from different studies. While some studies show prevalence during a definite period of time, there are other studies which show â€Å"cumulative prevalence†. Different studies are conducted during different age ranges of children and methods also vary with each study. As a result of this, different studies produce different estimates for the prevalence of conduct disorder. The prevalence of conduct disorder generally gets enhanced among girls as they leave childhood and move into adolescent periods. This feature is not common among

Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assignment 2 - Essay Example Considered as one of the best living American writers, McCarthy has written 10 novels in the span of four decades, but never once was he interviewed on television. This is what makes this Oprah interview special. Because this is a first for McCarthy (Winfrey, 2008), we might expect that he will be uncomfortable and might find it difficult to answer some of the questions. To prevent this from happening, Oprah went to Santa Fe where McCarthy is working so that he will be in a familiar setting and reduce the anxiety since there are no other people in the room (except for the camera man, of course). Moreover, Oprah chose to open the interview with the obvious question: Why did McCarthy never had any TV interview? This was something that the world renowned author can easily address this because he probably rehearsed this a number of times in different interviews before. From this question, Oprah went on to ask subtle, more personal questions so as to understand how McCarthy works and what inspires him to do what he does. Oprah’s interview had a good combination of direct, open-ended questions. The progression of her questions were well timed, starting with question pertaining to the author’s work before going into details which will force the interviewee to â€Å"think deep† and â€Å"reach into the heart† to find the answers. Aside from the questions, Oprah also showed a real interest in the information being provided by the interviewee. She looks directly at McCarthy and she provides her own reactions to his responses. While I am pretty sure that she had an interview agenda, she does not have it written down, she has remembered all the questions she wants to ask, but she phrases it in the same language used by her interviewee. This way, she improves the communication between them, and it also allows the interviewee to feel that Oprah was really listening to what he