Global Perspective on Health Policy Essay Example for Free

Global Perspective on Health Policy Essay The controversial issue of healthcare coverage for all individuals is an ethical and moral issue that Americans struggle with and as socially proactive as they are on there are many issues arising of it. Healthcare is not only about health and coverage but the major issue is about funding, what can be funded and what cannot be funded and how is going to be funded. Universal healthcare in other countries offers insight into some of the biggest issues and best alternatives for providing healthcare to all and to resolve the health care rising cost. The ethical issue of health care has led to the Accountable Care Act or Obama Care policy development and legislation. More time, data and research has to be done before the definite results of this legislation can be proven. A controversial issue Considering the opposing views about Accountable Care Act legislation, it’s reasonable to understand why universal health care has elicit such a heated political controversy among political parties as well as throughout American people. Unlike other Western industrialized nations, the U.S. has not established a universal health care system. Since health care is a fundamental defining policy of the modern state, and since Obama’s health care reform can be seen as an expansion of the role of government, it can be analyzed in a global context (Ha, 2012). The issue of health care reform brings important ethical issues of justice to the forefront, as individuals, communities, and the legislature struggle with how to provide quality health care for the many without sacrificing the basic rights of even the few (Sorrel, 2012). Policy’s creation The divide on health care coverage, cost and sustainability for all Americans and the increased cost of health care in United States led to legislations being brought to seek out a solution to the issue. The American Recovery and  Reinvestment Act was the first of these laws, this act signed into law in 2009 by President Obama. The Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act was also signed into law. Also enacted and accompanied by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. Another legislation that became a law in 2010 is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Patel, 2013). Provisions in the act are designed to expand insurance coverage, control costs, and target prevention (Gable, 2011). One of the primary targets is adults aged 19-64, since their access to health care and use of health services deteriorated between 2000 and 2010, particularly among those who were uninsured (Kenney, McMorrow, Zuckerman, Goin, 2012). The PPACA includes reforms such as prohibiting insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, expanding Medicaid eligibility, subsidizing insurance premiums, and providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits. Insurance companies will no longer be able to drop clients when they become ill. The act has the potential to improve health outcomes across all income and age groups at a reduced cost (Sorrel, 2012). Steps in the state and federal policy development process. The steps of the development process focus in the four â€Å"pillars† of health reform: improving the quality of care, making health insurance affordable, supporting personal responsibility, and developing a sustainable approach to health care financing. This platform will help focus the initiative to tackle the growing costs of health care while preserving the highest quality of care for all Americans and avoiding cost-shifting wherever possible (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2013). Many ACA provisions went into effect immediately or soon after the health reform law was enacted in 2010; others are being phased in over time. Several major reforms, including the Medicaid expansion, insurance exchanges, and minimum coverage provision (â€Å"individual mandate†) will go into effect in 2014, and still others will go into effect later. APHA recommends several great resources for tracking state progress on creating health insurance exchanges, funding states have received through various ACA provisions, and states intentions regarding the Medicaid expansion, and other topics (APHA, 2010). Policy development vs implementation. Policy development starts with knowing what the problem is and how the policy will improve the issue. So the importance of analyzing the data about the problem needing fixed. When writing the policy provide the opportunity for the input of the policy makers to suggest changes which provides different viewpoints. To present the policy to the committees for approval or changes as needed. Policy Implementation is ready to start with a timetable of how the implementing of the policy and briefing the States. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act is an enormous administrative challenge, and many details of its implementation are still developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (Wann, 2013). Policy development starts from the moment the public, the legislature think there is an issue and a solution is needed. The ACA development started many years ago back in the 90s when the Clinton administration specifically Hillary Clinton supported the creation of a Universal Health C are system, that laid the foundation on which ACA started to gather the issues and started to research possible solutions. The issues was brought by the public to the press, to the meetings and hearings during the elections campaign and started to gather strength and support on President Obama challenge not only the American people, but the entire Congress to bring out to the negotiations idea on how to increase access to care while reducing cost. The ACA legislation development follows several tenets as the building block in which the legislation was written and develop on, Quality affordable health care for all Americans, the role of public programs, Improving the quality and efficiency of health care, prevention of chronic disease and improving public health, Health care workforce, Transparency and program integrity, Improving access to innovative medical therapies, Community living assistance services and supports and Revenue provisions (Democrat Senate, 2004). The implementation process of the legislation follows the same tenet but there is not planning and changing is the plan drafted and written how each steps will be attained and when and lastly the evaluation of the development and the implementation and sitting back in the drafting table to fix any encountered issues. The development and implementation phases of the legislation cannot be seen as two different path but rather as a process of two collaboration between the two parts using the same foundation to build.  To summarize the differences between development and implementation would be that the developments of the policy consist of the idea to the final written policy. The implementation of the policy is the start of putting the policy in action. Stakeholder’s involvement The stakeholders became involved with the affordable care act because even though this was controversial many believed that the needs were far greater than the issue and some changes were needed. Stakeholders for this legislation is the entire country of United States as the affected party, the health care providers, the legislators, the President of United States. In health care, the overarching goal for providers, as well as for every other stakeholder, must be improving value for patients, where value is defined as the health outcomes achieved that matter to patients relative to the cost of achieving those outcomes. Improving value requires either improving one or more outcomes without raising costs or lowering costs without compromising outcomes, or both. Failure to improve value means, well, failure (Porter, Lee, 2013). Stakeholders are heard during the elections periods where the issues to be discussed should and have to be of interest to the public to be added to the political platform. The press plays an important role on serving as the echo or the microphone to put the issues that are important for the American people. The Health care providers were a major force on the legislation development as their input from a business standpoint played major role on discussing areas that were part of the problem as well as area that needed to stay the same and it also serve as another voice of the public on such a controversial issue. Congress as a stake holder not only play a vital role on policy development and drafting but was the starting point of bringing the issue to the front and placed it in the agenda to be discussed and heard and last the President and its executive branch as the approval seal to the developed policy. In summary the Affordable Care Act has pique the interest not only as a national issue but a global one. Like any policy development the issues have to discuss by the stakeholders representing health care and each and every one has a specific interest in the issue to be solve. References American Public Health Association, (2014), ACA Implementation. Retrieved August 4, 2014 from http://www.apha.org/advocacy/Health+Reform/implementation/ Bipartisan Policy Center, (2013). Managing Costs, Preserving Care: Health Care Cost Containment Report Release. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://bipartisanpolicy.org/projects/health-care-cost-containment-initiative Patel, K. Parker, R. Villaruel, A.Wong,W (2013). Amplifying the Voice of the Underserved in the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://www.iom.edu/Global/Perspectives/2013/AmplifyingTheVoice Ha, J. (2012). Health Care Reform vs ObamaCare: Partisan framing of FOX, MSNBC, NYT snd WSJ. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://gnovisjournal.org/2012/11/30/health-care-reform-vs-obamacare-partisan-framing-of-fox-msnbc-yt-and-wsj/ Porter, M. E. (2013), The Strategy that will fix health care. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved On August 4th, 2014 from http://hbr.org/2013/10/the-strategy-that-will-fix-health-care Sorell, M. J. (2012), Patient Protec tion and Affordable Care Act: Ethical Perspectives. Retrieved on August 4th, 2014 from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Columns/Ethics/Patient-Protection-and-Affordable-Care-Act-Ethical-Perspectives.html

Library Management System

Library Management System Development and connection to multiple online /www database using jsp Introduction: There are many web based application running with only single database. It has some problems such as performance issues etc but we are going to implement the Our primarily purpose is to connect the multiple databases with the application to decrease the database terrific and make it efficient. On the other hand we will To Online Library Management systems that connect to multiple databases. When any user will come to access the application and do registration then its information will be saved only one database on the base of implemented business logic of the databases. Library Management System will give you facility to search the online books on the base of different options, reserve the books in advance, user management and interactive report module. All the search information will come from different databases. Problem Statement The problem with the existing system is that most of the online application is based single or centralized database. When multiple users comes and access the same application at the same time than the response time of the application goes slow due to huge amount of requests as long as database processing also go slow to process the all requests and application go stuck. Although all data stored in only single database and if the central database fails then whole application will not work. Aim and objective: The main aim of this project is to build online application that integrate the more than one connection with the multiple databases as in result query processing time will also go faster because information will be saved in different or more than one database. There are many objectives which well use after implement  · Remove the Database Centric Concept.  · Increase the Database performance and its speed.  · Minimize the database load.  · Improve the Processing power of each system Proposed methodologies Methodology is processes that focus on what information is collected and how to analyze it. In our Development and Connect multiple databases we will implement the RAD methodology.RAD stands for Rapid Application Development as long as product can be implemented rapidly with high quality.RAD produce the quick and dirty prototype application or software which satisfied the customer needs and requirements. In RAD the software developed in series of cycles which probably know time boxes. The main advantage of RAD is that customer gives the feedback on each completion of phase of software. Without completion of previous phase the next phase cannot be started. Expected artefact / outcomes: The expected outcomes of development and connect multiple databases is that it provides the online Library Management System in which user can get registration and search the different kind of books on base of different parameter such as BookID, Author Name etc as long as confirm the booking of book in advance. By connecting the more than two databases with each other, system will execute the efficient, reliable and reduce the database terrific as well as database performance will be increased. Technologies for implementation Java:- Java is one of the most popular language that currently using for Software Development because its an open source features. There are many features provide by Java such as JVM(Java virtual Machine) is use to translate the Java program into machine language, JIT(Just in time complier) to compile all the methods of the coded program[1], exceptional handling and gives the rich support of JDBC API for communication with the Database. We will implement this project in Java. So, all the methods, Classes, Interfaces, Data Types will be implemented in Java. In order to Java version well implement it using Java 6 or latest version. Servlet:- Servlet is a Java class which use of Web based Application. This class is same like the Simple Java class but it has some extra features and interfaces that make it powerful. In server there are many features available like Session Handling, Request, Response, and Dispatcher etc [2]. All the requests of the clients handle on the servlet. JSP:- JSP stands for Java Server Pages and its server side programming language that provide the dynamic web pages feature. Its known as a scripting language. it has built in JSTL( JSP Standard Tag Library) to do some actions and components such as scriptlet, expression. In our project well use JSP as a view and follow the MVC architecture. We will controller to control the terrific of the application, implement the Business logic in Business Layer and JSP as a view. Java Script JavaScript is an Object-oriented programming language and client side scripting. JavaScript code embedded in the HTML and run on the users web browser [4].Like Java, it also has Classes, method and data types but different is Java is run on Server side and JavaScript run on Client Side. You can also generate Dynamic html. In our project well use Java Script only for validation purpose. Itll validate the data such as BookID, Date and address of the book. MySQL:- MYSQL is a relational database managements system that provides the multi databases access to all the users. Its going popular day by day as well as it has no license fee. It has many powerful features such as stored procedures, locking and unlocking, views and triggers. In our project well use MYSQLl as a backend database to store all the data of Library Management System. There will be more than two databases used in our project to store, view, update and delete the existing data. Whenever user will send a search request then itll search the data to all the databases. Apache Tomcat Server:- Apache Tomcat Server is a web server that Java Servlet container. A Web server the listen the HTTP request which is sent by the user and return the response. All the websites, application will be deployed under the Tomcat Server cond Structure. Tomcat is good because it supports both the Java Servlet and JSP pages. In our application well use the latest release of Apache Tomcat 6.x. Design/Structural Formation High Level Design In Development and connecting multiple database application, when user send the searching request then application will search the data from those databases in which search data is saved and return the result from all databases. Project Plan: Interim Project Report 1 week Requirement Analysis 1 week Design 4 days Implementation 3 week Poster Design 3 days Testing 1 week References: 1. Effectiveness of Cross-Platform Optimizations for a Java Just-In-Time Compiler by Kazuaki Ishizaki, Mikio Takeuchi, Kiyokuni Kawachiya, Toshio Suganuma, Osamu Gohda, Tatsushi Inagaki, Akira Koseki, Kazunori Ogata, Motohiro Kawahito, Toshiaki Yasue, Takeshi Ogasawara, Tamiya Onodera, Hideaki Komatsu, and Toshio Nakatani Page[1] http://0-portal.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/citation.cfm?id=949305.949322coll=ACMdl=ACMCFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467 2. An Introduction to Java Servlet Programming by Vandana Pursnani http://0-www.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/crossroads/xrds82/servletsProgramming.html?CFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467 3. An Online Bookstore Using JSP Technology by Jose Hughes http://0-delivery.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1145/1170000/1167328/p339-hughes.pdf?key1=1167328key2=3359398621coll=ACMdl=ACMCFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467 4. Characterizing Insecure JavaScript Practices on the Web by Chuan Yue, Haining Wang[1] http://0-delivery.acm.org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1145/1530000/1526838/p961-yue.pdf?key1=1526838key2=0773498621coll=ACMdl=ACMCFID=82535495CFTOKEN=35642467

Essay --

The world is ending: prophecy, weaponry, and ecology. Amanda Finn South University 1/16/2014 Did you know that â€Å"globally 15 million children under the age of five die each year because of diseases caused by polluted drinking water†. (http://likes.com/facts/gross-facts-pollution, 2012). â€Å"There are today more than 17,000 nuclear warheads, some fear a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, involving 100 Hiroshima-size bombs -- less than 0.5% of the world's nuclear arsenal.† (Ira Helfand updated 1:21 AM EST, Tue December 10, 2013http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/09/opinion/helfand-nuclear-disarmament). The human race is going to kill this planet whether it is from massive amounts of different types of pollution or nuclear destruction. With the increase of pollution humans are speeding up the process called global warming or the â€Å"greenhouse effect† which is â€Å"an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate† (Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Global Warming?s=t ). Global warming is causing extreme changes in our weather patterns, from the massive string of tornados that ripped through the Midwest in 2011 to the surge of tsunamis in the Philippines just this past year. Carbon pollution is the main reason our planet is getting hotter, upping the chances for extreme weather disasters, drought and floods (NRDC. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/climate-change-impacts/). Just last year the worst drought in 50 years claimed our breadbasket region, it was declared a drought disaster area. What is it going to take or how bad does it have to get before we finally do somet... ...and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-accident/. (2013, 01 14). Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Fukushima-Accident/). The Fukushima nuclear disaster showed us once again that nuclear reactors are dangerous. Not only do they cause damage to our planet but to the health of populations and to national economies. None of the world’s 436 nuclear reactors are safe from human errors or natural disasters.(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/nuclear/safety/accidents/Fukushima-nuclear-disaster/) Another form of nuclear destruction is nuclear warheads. A nuclear bomb is a â€Å"bomb whose force is due to uncontrolled nuclear fusion or nuclear fission.† (Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nuclear+bomb?s=t).

clay Beats Liston: February 25, 1964 :: essays research papers fc

"Clay Beats Liston: February 25, 1964" From the accounts of various Kentucky newspapers, I was able to learn a few facts about Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, as well as the attitudes of his fellow Kentuckians. The first thing I noticed in all the newspapers that I viewed was that almost all the articles written about the fight were written by writers from either the Associated Press (AP) or United Press International (UPI). This displayed three things about the Kentucky press, first the belief that Clay's fight was not important enough to cover themselves, secondly that the newspapers probably did not make enough money to send their own reporters down to Miami Beach, and finally the localization of the newspapers' audiences. Another aspect of the fight is the effect it had on Kentucky society, especially the sports scene. I primarily noticed that almost all the papers used reports from the Associated Press and the United Press International, even the (Louisville) Courier-Journal, one of Clay's hometown newspapers, used reports from the Associated Press. The only articles that were not written by a member of the Associated Press were the very rare editorials written about the fight. The use of reports from the AP and the UPI shows that most newspapers did not think the fight was very newsworthy. Only one newspaper published an article that was not written by a member of the Associated Press or the United Press International, however that one article was an editorial about Cassius Clay's new found wealth and not the actual fight. The lack of coverage also proves that even though blacks were supposed to be equal to whites, that in reality achievements by blacks and whites were treated differently. None of the newspapers that I read displayed a large picture or headline proclaiming that Cassius Clay was the new heavyweight champion of the world. Most newspapers had an average sized headline stating that Clay was the new champion, but none had an article about him on the front page. This further illustrates that achievements by blacks were believed to be less important than the achievements of whites. I saw almost the same amount of articles on high school basketball, as I did on the fight. Although I am not surprised by the fact that high school basketball received almost a page of coverage, I am alarmed by the fact that this one page of coverage on basketball was the same amount of coverage for the boxing match. The stories by Associated Press and United Press International illustrate two more facts about Kentucky during the 1960's, primarily that most of

Hydrogen Fusion is the Future Source of Energy Essay -- Energy Power G

Hydrogen Fusion, the Future Source of Energy Abstract The world is currently in an energy crisis with no end in sight. Many technologies can help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and have the possibility of ending the energy crisis. Hydrogen fusion holds great promise with its no pollution energy output. If more energy can be created than is used to start the fusion process, the energy crisis might become a thing of the past. Over half of the energy used now comes from fossil fuels, which is around 2.77*10^14 KJ in 2003. ITER, which is under construction right now in France, will have the possibility of releasing 500 MW of energy as an output. By developing methods that reduce the energy needed to start the fusion process, hydrogen fusion might end our need to use fossil fuels. Introduction Humanity has faced many crises in the past few millennia. From the Black Plague of Medieval Times to World War II in the 1940’s, humans have always had some form of large-scale problem to deal with. Now in our modern times, we as humans are facing one of the toughest: the energy crisis. This dilemma will have the greatest involvement of human minds to figure out a possible solution. The majority of all the energy produced in the world comes from fossil fuels. In these strange times, humans are now looking for new viable sources of energy to replace the highly depleted fossil fuels. One of the newer possibilities that can be used as a new form of energy is hydrogen fusion. One of the earliest experiments in this technology was in the late 1960’s with the development of the Tokamak. The Tokamak was a Soviet-built magnetic confinement device developed by Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov. The shape of the Hydrogen Fusio... ...al Total Primary Energy Consumption (Demand) Information. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2005 from http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/contents.html ITER. 3 August 2005. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 3 August 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER JET. 27 July 2005. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 31 July 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_European_Torus Nave, C.R. Hyper Physics. Retrieved July 21, 2005. From Georgia State University Department of Physics and Astronomy Website: http://hyperphysics.phyastr. gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/fusion.html Tokamak. 27 July 2005. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 31 July 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak WEC Scenario A3 jpg. 20 July 2005. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 31 July 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WEC_Scenario_A3.jpg

How culture influences human development Essay

This essay is an attempt to show how culture influences human development and interpretation of the world. Therefore, to start with this essay will define culture by different scholars. It will then show the types of culture and give a brief account on what culture constitutes (characteristics of culture). Furthermore, the concept of human development will be discussed briefly to give the reader a more clear understanding of the topic at hand. With clear examples, the essay will then show how culture influences human development and their interpretation of the world. Finally, a conclusion summarizing what the essay will discuss will be drawn. The attempt to define culture is elusive as many may suggest. Nevertheless, there are certain paradigms that constitute the sum total of culture and underlie cultural images and identity construction. It is the close affinity between cultural image and human identity that makes the definition of culture complex. The most complex and yet comprehensive definition of culture is that arrived during the ‘Mondiacult’ in Mexico city which has continued to be the most operationalised definition of culture: ‘Culture is the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material and intellectual features that charactorise a society or social group. It includes not only the arts and letters, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of human beings, value systems, traditions and beliefs.’ Young Kate (1993) in a report said, culture is seen in the African social context as transcending the arts or artifacts, folklores, literatures, music, dance and other artistic paraphelia. According to Taylor (1996) culture refers to the patterns of behavior and thinking that people living in social groups learn, create, and share. Culture distinguishes one human group from others. It also distinguishes humans from other animals. A people’s culture includes their beliefs, rules of behavior, language, rituals, art, technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking food, religion, and political and economic systems. Culture can also be defined as a set of values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors shared by a group of people, communicated from one generation to the next via language or some other means of communication (Barnouw, 1985). An American sociologist Ogburn has divided culture into two parts: Material culture which consists of tangible things and tools used to express the way of life such as machines, dwellings, manufacture of goods and transportation; and Non material culture which consists of non tangible aspects such as norms, values, customs and practices that are exhibited in social institutions such as the family, religion, economy and education. Some of the characteristics of culture is that it is symbolic, meaning it is based on symbols or abstract ways of referring to and understanding ideas, objects, feelings, or behaviors-and the ability to communicate with symbols using language; it is shared meaning people in the same society share common behaviors and ways of thinking through culture(Bodley ,1997); it is learned socially (Archer, 1996); it is adaptive, that is to say people use culture to flexibly and quickly adjust to changes in the world around them (Findely, and Rothney, 2006); it is social meaning culture does not exist in isolation; it is transitive as it is transmitted from one generation to another; and it is continuous and cumulative because it exists as a continuous process. Various people understand human development on a wide variety of aspects. Human development can be intellectual, biological, social, economical, and many others. Human development involves all the individual’s activities starting from birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, through to adulthood. Therefore, human development and people’s view of the world during all these stages of a person’s life is influenced by people’s exposure to various cultures in so many ways. Usually when a child is born, it is born into a particular family that has a certain way of life. Members of this family will have a language they usually use, type of food they usually eat, religion or church they are part of, a way they dress, a type of people they interact with, types of social  activities they engage in, and so on. All this is part of their culture as a family. That child will grow up and adapt to that culture because the family is its first agent of socialization. As the child grows and develops into an adolescent, then into an adult, his or her view of the world will greatly be influenced by this socialization of the family. The way in which he or she will interact with others will depend on how he or she has been brought up to do. Some individuals are shy and reserved while others are talkative. In the past, the African culture socialized girls and women to maintain their place which was in the kitchen and to be respectful towards men. In as much as this was a form of gender inequality, this culture also brought some form of human development as the men went out to provide for their families as well as develop their communities, while the women stayed at home cooking, taking care of the children and doing household chores which is a form of human development (social) were socializing of the children is involved. So, in this type of way of life the women interpreted or viewed men as being superior over them and the men viewed the women as being their helpers. However, over the years this sort of view has changed (though not everywhere) due to the fact that culture is not static, it is an adaptive mechanism that constantly adjusts to satisfy human biological and social needs. Because of this dynamic tendency of culture, cultural communities continue to change as do individuals. A community’s history and relations are part of cultural process which intern lead to various human developments. A good example that can be cited is that of the Khoi Khoi and san people of the past who hunted and gathered food for their survival. It is very rare to find any kind of people in this day and age who still follow that kind of lifestyle. Culture is not the same everywhere, it varies greatly and this great diversity can sometimes be confusing to others. For instance, the thought of children handling knives makes many American parents very nervous, yet toddlers in some parts of Africa safely use machetes. Similarly, infants in middle-class communities in the United States are often expected to sleep  alone by the time they are only a few months old while many low and middle-class Zambian children typically share their mother’s bed through their toddler years. These striking differences in child rearing practices reflect the diverse range of what is considered developmentally appropriate for children around the world, depending on their cultural circumstances (Roggof, 2003). Therefore, people from, say, these two types of societies will interpret child rearing practices differently from one another. Another example by Barbara Roggof (2003) which results in a great difference in interpretation due to the diversity of culture is the comparison between the United States and Mayan community in Gautemala. The United States is a highly age-segregated society, with children spending much of their time away from activities of adults. That segregation removes children from important opportunities to observe and learn from elders by participating in valued community activities, said Roggof. In contrast, in the Mayan community in Gautemala, children often learn through the process of observation and supportive guidance as they engage in community activities. Young Mayan girls, for instance, regularly observe women weaving complicated patterns because weaving is a daily household activity. Experienced weavers watched for their daughters to express interest and then set up a simple project beside their own which allows them to offer, what Roggof calls ‘guidance embedded in activity’. So unlike in the United States community were learning is often pegged to age and managed in specialized child settings, instruction in this Mayan community is generally triggered by the child’s interest in becoming involved in valued family community activities. This shows that human development in some cultures is influenced by age, while in others by interest. Cultural diversity shows that there are different viewpoints and ways of interacting with the world as there are cultures (Young, 1993). However, cultural difference may sometimes become problematic. Because different people are part of different cultures and backgrounds, people tend to see or interpret things through their background. ‘That is, culture acts as a filter, not only when perceiving things, but also when thinking about  interpreting events.’ For example, Mary Banda may interpret Aisha Yusuf’s habit of over spicing her food whenever she is cooking as a sign that Aisha is not a very good cook as she uses these spices as a disguise of her lack of talent. Mary might even conclude that people from her own culture are better cooks than that of Aisha’s because she does not need spices to make her food taste good. Mary Banda, in this example, is interpreting someone else’s behavior from her own cultural background and based on her own beliefs of culture and behavior. This is an act of ethnocentrism, which is the viewing and interpretation of the behavior of others through one’s own cultural glasses (Giddens, 1989). This is a form of biasness which is also closely linked to stereotypes. For example, suppose someone is having a conversation with another person from a culture different from their own. While he is talking to this person, he notices that she does not really make eye contact with him when he speaks. Also, she does not really look at him when he speaks. On the few occasions when her eyes look his way, she quickly averts her gaze if their eyes meet. From his cultural background he may interpret that she does not feel very positive about his interaction. He may even put off and reject any attempts at future interactions. He may not feel trusting or close to her. But she may come from a culture were direct gazing is discouraged or even a sign of arrogance. She may actually be avoiding eye contact not because of any negative feelings, but because of difference and politeness to him. Of course these potential problems have real and practical implications in everyday life. Such scenarios may occur in a job interview, in a teaching or learning situation at an elementary school, at a business negotiation, or even in a visit with a doctor. It is always hard for people to separate themselves from their own cultural backgrounds and biases to understand the behaviors of others. However, this is not to say that all cultures are different or diverse. There are always cross-cultural tendencies or behaviors that are shared in most cultures. For instance, in most cultures people burry their dead, celebrate at weddings, mourn at funerals, name their children, wear clothes (do not  move naked), and many others. CONCLUSION In conclusion, culture is basically people’s way of life or way of doing things or even way of thinking. Be it how they comb their hair, dress, worship, eat, time they sleep at night, and so on. Culture is material and non material, and therefore, influences a great deal of people’s lives. This influence of culture can be on their human development from birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, through to adulthood. Jean Piaget talked about four stages human beings pass through as they develop. These include the sensory motor stage (0-23 months old), pre-operational stage (2-7 years old), concrete operational stage (7-11 years old) and formal operational stage (11 years and above). Through all these stages, human development occurs in various ways. And this can be intellectually, socially, economically, and biologically. It can also influence how people interpret the world or other people around them as illustrated in the few examples in mentioned in the text. REFERENCES Archer, M. S. (1996). _The place of culture in social theory_. New York: Cambridge University Press. Barnouw, V. (1985). _Culture and personality (_4th edition_)._ Wales: Dorsey Press. Bodley, J. H. (1997). _Ethnology_ (4th edition). Mountain View cliff: Mayfield Publishers. Co. Dressler, D. et al (1976). _Sociology: The study of Human interactions_ (3rd edition). New York: Alfred A. Knopt. Findely, & Rothney, (1996). _Twentieth century world_ (6th edition). London: McMillan Press Ltd. Furedidi, F. (1997). _Population and development: A critical introduction_ (3rd edition). Britain: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1989). _Sociology_ (6th edition). Britain: Polity Press. Rogoff, B. (2003). _The cultural nature of human development._ New York: Oxford Press. Taylor, (2006). _Principles and practice of stress management_ (3rd edition). New York: Guilford Press. UNESCO, (1982). _Cultural industries: A challenge for the future._ Paris: UNESCO. Valsiner, J. (2000). _Culture and human development: An introduction._ Britain: Polity Press. Young, K. (1993). _Planning development with women: Making a world of difference._ London & Basinstokei: McMillan Press Ltd.

Tv Representation of Families and Society – 1950s to Present

The television shows from 1950 to the present are connected in many ways. The characters showed in the 1950s television show called Leave It To Beaver all have white coloured skin and portrayed as a happy, perfect family. As the decades increased, the nuclear families turned into blended families, and the television shows started to have coloured characters. The families started to have problems and social situations. The viewer sees the conflicts inside the family begin as the years progress. For example, in the 2000's we examined a television show called Arrested Development.The show portrays the characters as if they are troubled and have problems. The children do not listen to their parents but instead have their own path in life, and their father is in jail. The representations of families changed according to society. In the 1950s, society acted traditionally, and old-fashioned. Therefore, the families portrayed in television were traditional, old-fashioned, obedient, and respo nsible. However, as the years progressed, society changed. The people became more free, open-minded, united, and dysfunctional.However, even though there are many differences between the television shows from the decades, there are still similarities between them. Even though society changes through time, families are still connected through love, support, care and responsibilities. In my family, we always stick together, support each other's choices and love every person unconditionally. The television show that I can most relate to is The Crosby Show for many reasons. The Crosby Show has a humorous father, and a caring and loving mother who are both hard working, siblings who fight but still love playing and music.The female teenager called Denise is independent, likes boys, music, wants an education, but still has fun which is alot like myself. The family had the same values as mine, such as education is important in the household, being healthy, and having a respectful and hones t relationship with everyone. However, the past television show which I least relate to is called The Brady Bunch. It is a blended family which consists of a father who is an architect, a mother who stays home, a family nanny, and six children. The parents act romantic, loving and do not raise their voice or argue. The children behave properly nd do not have their independent voice nor their freedom. My family is not perfect like The Brady Bunch but we are a loving family with modern values and morals. The past television shows I have examined demonstrated morals, and values in families. In my opinion, the most realistic TV show about a family in the past was the Cosby Show. The Cosby Show was the only TV show that had a normal family. Both the parents had a successful job, the children have morals and optimistic values, and the family is always positive and humorous. The children have normal problems at their age, they care about education and social standards.They make it seem as if everyone is equal and fair, and everyone has their own opinions not just following every action. On the other hand, the TV show which had a dysfunctional and least unrealistic family was Married With Children. This family was chaotic, uncontrolled, and they have dysfunctional values. The mother does not think straight and wants control over her husband. The father on the other hand, gives away his money without an opinion, and does not give authority to the children. The children do not care about school, nor health. They cannot be controlled and handled by the parents very well.Half the time, the parents do not even know where their children are. In my opinion this is not healthy nor a stable environment for the children to grow up in. Overall, families in general are represented in TV shows by how society is acting in that specific year. For example, in the 1950s families were behaving properly and according to the rules. They had perfect hygienic appearances and they were prec ise about everything they did. They had a daily routine including work, chores, school, healthy food, doing homework, speaking politely, and the husband was the man of the house.In the 1960s, they begin to blend a family together and the viewer begins to see a small change. The children start to argue and disagree with many things, the father is still the only one working and still the man of the house. The family begins to have arguments and situations but learn how to solve it by communication. In the 1970s, the children begin to think more modernly and start to think for themselves. The parents are older and the children are younger. The children begin to wonder; my parents are older and they do not understand me.The values of the children are liberal while the parents are more conservative. In the 1980s, the families begin to show humour, choices, and diversity. The shows begin to have dark coloured skinned characters, and freedom of speech. The children begin to engage in extra curriculum activities and have their separate social lives. The parents are strict but still loving, and the family thinks modern and up to date but the husband is still the man of the house. In the 1990s, the families represented in the TV show, become disoriented, their values are mixed up, eat unhealthy, and do not follow any morals or rules.The parents do not seem to care or worry about their children. The children begin to disrespect their parents and not pay attention to the rules. In the 2000's, the family is more dysfunctional, and less sophisticated. The children are rebelling against their parents and their father is in jail. Basically, as the years progress, the values and morals of society changes thus, changing the morals in families. Report On The Image Of American Society In Films Representations of the American society in films changed throughout 1950s to the present. American society revolves around the typical American family.The family structure has changed drama tically over the years. In the early years, the family was represented as a perfect family structure that acted politely, sophisticated and came together as a family. The family communicated with each other and spent valuable time as one. They sat down together as a family and bonded. As the years increased, the morals and values began to get lost in time through technology. Family keeps everyone together and responsible but without an authority figure inside the family, the family will start lose their bond.Throughout the years, the husband was the authoritarian man figure, however, as years progressed from the 1970s to the present, allowed women an amount of independence to express their freedom by getting a chance to support their families and to receive an amount of responsibility. The films demonstrated that the families in the past had morals and values but decreased throughout the years. However, families still have honesty and unity to live by these days and no one can take that away from them. American’s society has a wide view on people based on the present life experiences.American films from the 1950s to the present have families based on the expectations of society at that moment. The past American film that I can most relate to is The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club is a movie from the 1980s about a group of different teenagers stuck in detention. These teenagers all have different personalities and hang out with different people. In the present society, I do not stick myself with one â€Å"crew† or â€Å"clique†. I pay attention to different kinds of people, with unique social standards and diverse appearances. The teenagers all come together and help each other and put aside their differences.The American film which I least relate to is called The Fight Club. This American movie about society got society all wrong. Society is not that cruel, guilty, and violent. The entire film is about a depressed man who meets another man who is played by Brad Pitt and form a fighting club for the men who need confidence and never fought in their lives. The two men lose their jobs, homes, and health and begin to live in a broken down house and rebel against the law. They lose themselves inside the money they earn and the fights they fight. They do not understand the true meaning of life.In my point of view, I cannot relate to those men fighting and rebelling against society. American society creates films based on the American population’s beliefs and moral values. America’s most realistic form of society in a film is Saturday Night Fever. This film toke society’s fashion, fads, slang, and the realistic view of society at that moment and brought it to life. John Travolta played a young adult who worked part time, but still made his own decisions and worked hard for what he wanted. He had an extra curriculum activity which was dancing, and that was special for him. He worked hard, and he devot ed himself to his passion.In civilization, human beings work hard to become someone that’s treated with respect. His family was not always beside him and supporting him but they got around like a normal loving family. He has freedom of speech and is involved with everyone around him. In that moment in society, the director got the exact moments, and social events precisely into the films. In my opinion, the least realistic film that was brought to the public based on the public was The Fight Club. The Fight Club did indeed touch people and made people want to fight to prove themselves worthy, however, society is much better and efficient than that.If one works hard, then the hard work will be paid off correctly and they will become a winner on their own. One cannot achieve greatness and success over one fight. One has to work hard, believe in themselves and have hope. Society is not weak and does not fight because they need confidence. In reality, people challenge themselves and earn their life and living in a proper educated manner. Overall, American society in general are represented according to the community’s actions, feelings, and moral values. The world begins to think less old fashioned and the directors understand that.Young adults are changing the future as we know it. Society is going to act accordingly to modern young adults’ opinions and attitudes. The films represent the positive views on society. They demonstrate the modern experiences and attitudes that the director places in the movies. Technology is taking over our world and has a huge impact in the movies. Directors try to catch the attention of their audiences but placing modern attractions into the movies. The films try to be what the society is at that moment so that people will want to see the movie and think that it is the coolest and top movie that there is.Modern Representation of Families in Society A modern Canadian society is represented through a TV show calle d Degrassi: The Next Generation. This TV show is about young adults in a high school trying to fit in, living through every day situations, and trying to understand life. The TV show focuses on many different life situations and unique kinds of people. These characters face various challenges such as poor self image, sex, AIDS, cheating, death and suicide, depression, bullying, homophobia, racism, eating disorders, peer pressure, child abuse, sexual identity, gang violence, self-injury, teenage pregnancy, and drug abuse.These are all topics that teens experience in high school, and there is no sugar-coating. In my point of view, this realistically relates most to the young adults and the adults in the show, also face daily modern situations such as divorce, abuse, economic problems, and identity issues. Degrassi is not for everyone, mainly because it's an honest account what it's like to be a teen in a society which values cliques and confrontation over truth and real growth. Teenag ers in society are beginning to learn their purpose in life and try to create their existence in society a worthy one.They believe that they can change the world and put their education towards a worthy cause. In the show, there are many cases of modern problems which demonstrate to the public that those are the situations that need to be changed. For example, teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy is high in America. 1 in 20 young females will become pregnant before they graduate high school. Teenagers need to realize that they do not live in a Barbie perfect world but have complications to face.With this TV show, teenagers, and young adults can realize the world issues out there and can fix them before they get out of hand. The audience gets a warning of the real world and chance for them to redeem themselves. The TV show is like a window into the modern world. The audience seems weak and confused on their path in life but if they get an opportunity to see the outcome of their actions, (s uch as having sex which can lead to pregnancy) they can learn what not to do. Television is a part in our modern society and media survives on the audience’s remarks.Basically, people enjoy watching what they can relate to or what they are interested in. This show is important to society in general for the Canadian community. The issues portrayed in the television show is the most realistic representation of modern society. It is based on real life stories and events that happened. It is important that television portrays the real society at that moment because people start to act according to them. For example, ideas and themes become main stream in society so do they become more common on television.Women would never sleep in the same bed as her husband on television. This is because at the time â€Å"Leave it to Beaver† was being aired, it was a social taboo to talk about sex, or sexuality, even between married couples. Today, we have shows about single moms and sex uality is openly displayed by characters on TV. This shows a change in our cultures values and how we need to be completely and clearly informed every moment we get in our lives so we can learn from TV characters’ mistakes.