Forensic Science: Evolution and how it has helped to solve many infamous crimes Essay

A murder mystery, an unidentified body, stab wounds to the chest, a pool of blood in a high end street in New York, photographers, police, investigators rush in to begin their course of work to solve the mystery of the dead body, to solve the puzzle, to tell the world the story of the dead body, to make sure the life they lived didn’t just vanish with their death in a split second. It may seem like a season premiere of the latest CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) season, within one hour you are presented with the murderer and how it occurred and why. But is it always that simple? Is it always that crystal clear? Forensic Science has never been under the eye of the public as it is right now. But the perception of what Forensics is to the public is not really what it seems to be in TV shows. Forensic Science is a much more vast collection of studies that helps put murderers and criminals behind bars. It has been present since a long time ago and its evolution from that time to now , has helped solve many infamous crimes that have shocked the world. It has become one of the most crucial elements in any trial to verify the accuracy of the evidence and to grant justice to the innocent and send the guilty behind bars. Forensic Science is known as the science of gathering evidence and establishing facts that can be taken as evidence in a court of law. (Rankin, 2013). The first use of Forensics has not been clearly mentioned, but it is evident that Forensics was used to solve cases even from long time ago. One of the most famous cases reported was the story of Archimedes, where he used his theory of buoyancy to prove whether the gold smith who built the royal crown for the king used 100% gold as he said or whether he mixed silver to it. (Rankin, 2013). From the old age, Forensics has been developing with time. Even before the invention of the microscope, people managed to link evidence and solve crimes. A few such cases include the matching of a torn piece of paper in a pocket to a gun  used in a homicide, developing the finger print system to verify and identify individuals and distinguishing the different blood categories which were some of the most basic techniques used in the early ages to dis tinguish evidence. (Rankin, 2013) With the development of technology, Forensic Science has blossomed immensely. From the use of fingerprint analysis to DNA testing, the advancement of this science has helped to solve many crimes and put criminals behind bars. It has also introduced various aspects of Forensic Science which gives importance to individual specialties and not as a whole, a few common aspects are: Pathology, Entomology, Toxicology and Anthropology. For the CSI fans, Dr. Al Robbins needs no introduction, to the others, he was the Medical Examiner in the series, a doctor who did autopsies and figured out the cause of death of the deceased. This is exactly what a pathologist does in real life even though not as sugar coated as on TV. Pathology is the study of diagnosis and disease and determining the cause of death. It involves gathering evidence from the crime scene and establishing a time of death, cause of death and identifying the body. In almost all cases, Pathology is used, as it is the factor that determines the cause of death. One case as such involves a 16 year old girl name d Leanne Tiernan. She mysteriously disappeared in November 2000 and sadly, her body was found in august 2001. According to evidence found around the crime scene- a dog collar, twine and a cable, they were easily linked back to the murderer John Taylor. But the main piece of evidence was strands of Leanne’s pink sweater which was found at John’s house which provided the final piece of evidence to link him to the murder. John was arrested in November 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment. (Suzanne Elvidge BSc (hons), 2013) Even though Pathology is one of the main factors being exercised at a crime scene the other factors are equally essential to find out many other details about the crime. Another rather interesting method used by forensic scientist is Entomology which uses information from insects to establish the time of death and location. Naturally after death, the body goes through various stages of decay which attracts many insects in succession, scientists are then able to establish a pattern in which insects arrive at which stage; therefore, making it easy to establish a time of death. Some insects are unique to a certain region, which helps in distinguishing a location if they are found in places where they are not commonly found. Some insects suck out  blood which helps in analyzing if any toxics were involved in the death. Even though the toxicology report is a job for the toxicologist , the sample is taken out from the insect by the Entomologist. A case which used Entomology to a very high standard in the summer of 1997 was the case of Kevin Neal. A stepfather killed both his step children in an act of revenge. The Kevin Neal murder case used Entomology to great lengths. The children, 11 years and 4 years old, were both murdered by unidentified homicidal evidence, but with the help of the vast amounts of insects which gathered in the two bodies where they lay for weeks in a hot summer land, the entomologists were able to establish a rough time period of death and the cause of death to some manner of asphyxia. The fact that 3 different types of insects weren’t found to be acting in the same manner as they would on a normal body made them suspect the day which they first thought the children were murdered. Then a few weed seeds which were attached to Neal’s pants from the site, were found at his house linked him to the crime scene and after years of trial, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. (Gribben, n.d.) This also shows us how a simple factor such as insect succession which helped in determining the time of death which helped in forensics to form a timeline to figure the whereabouts of Neal at the time of death and link it to the murder of the children. Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects on the human body caused by toxics. It is mostly used to identify any chemicals present in the body after death to rule out foul play or suicide. Not only poisons toxicology is used to identify any foreign material that may have been become toxic while in the body. (Toxicolog y, 2013) The first use of toxicology occurred in 1751 where a woman named Mary together with her husband in need of her father’s estate gave him Arsenic in small dosages until he died. However the maid caring for Mary’s father realized what Mary did and she was accused of murdering her father. The autopsy done by 4 notable doctors at that time revealed that the cause of death was indeed arsenic poisoning and from the powder saved by the maid they conducted a very poor method of burning the powder and smelling it which confirmed it was arsenic. This was reported to be the first toxicology experiment conducted to convict a criminal. Even though the test conducted was purely vague, this incident made them develop more accurate tests to identify compounds and to make them pay attention to forensic toxicology.  (Ramsland, n.d.) If you have watched the hit TV series ‘Bones’ you probably understand what Forensic Anthropology is. The SWAGANTH (Scientific Working Group for Anthropology) defines forensic anthropology as â€Å"The application of anthropological methods and theory – particularly those relating to the recovery of analysis of human remains to resolve legal matters.† (Scientific Working group for Forensic Anthropology, 2013) Anthropology, jus t as the other sectors of Forensics, is a mystery itself. All human skeletal remains are very similar; therefore, identifying its owner can be a cumbersome task and not as easy as it looks on TV. From gathering bones to creating a three dimensional image of the individual, anthropologists have to first gather the bones, analyze it and then identify its origin. There’s a certain protocol which they follow to study their evidence and present it. The protocol is as such: Are the remains human? Do they represent one person or more? When did the death occur? How old was the descendant? What was the sex of the descendant? What was the race of the descendant? What was the descendant’s stature? Body weight? Physique? Does the skeleton present physical anomalies, signs of old disease and injuries or other characteristics which could give a positive identification? What was the cause of death? What was the manner of death? (natural, accident, suicide, murder or unknown) (Snow, Forensic Anthropology, 1982) This method was introduced after a high profile murder case which took place in the 1850’s at Harvard University. The case was called, The Parkman Murder after the murder of Dr. George Parkman. A Harvard alumnus, Parkman donated the land in which the Harvard medical school was built. Professor John Webster was a chemistry professor at the medical school his friend Parkman established. But due to hundreds of dollars Webster was indebted to Parkman, their friendship was heading downhill. Webster was a man with expensive taste that couldn’t suffice with the $4000 a year pay check he received, so  he has taken many loans over the couple of years when Webster and Parkman were friends. Parkman, let the debt go on until he found out that Webster was trying to sell off a valuable mineral collection which he put up as collateral on the loan. This made Parkman denounce Webster in public which may have been the cause for his dismissal from Harvard. Webster under false pretences then had requested Parkman to arrive at his laboratory to allegedly make a substantial payment of his debt, but little did Dr. Parkman know that, that it would be his final journey in life. Dr. Parkman was murdered that night and his body was burnt in a furnace to make him unrecognizable and if that was not gruesome enough, his body, or what was remaining, was thrown into the Charles River. The body was beyond recognition and a highly educated set of pathologists, anthropologists, odontologists who works in Harvard got together and distinguished it to be Dr. Parkman. In the following week, Webster was caught by bone fragments which were found at his home furnace. This case would go down in history as the first case to be solved down through Anthropology and a guiding stone to what Forensic Anthropology is today. (Snow, 1982) Most murder cases such as the Parkman Murder, Leanne Tiernan , are only a one time scenario. You have the murderer, the victim, the police, and the investigation. Some end up well, some end up bad, but either way, when the guilty party is charged, and the deceased family componsated, the story ends. But there are stories that don’t end that e asily. Stories which go on for years, with many people involved, many casualties that would terrorize whole nations in the matter of days and some to not be solved even after a century’s time – Serial Killings. These are killings that are premeditated and are carried out in a series over a period of time. (Jenkins, 2013) What triggers human beings to suddenly be as impulsive as to kill and mutilate their own beings, we don’t know. But fortunately Forensics has been a driving force behind bringing these notorius criminals to justice. Theodore Robert Cowell, notoriously known as Ted Bundy was one of the most gruesome and frightened serial killers in the USA. He used to pretend to have a broken arm and lured young women into his vehicle and horridly mutilated, raped and killed them. Known to be a handsome man, Bundy had no problems with making small talk to make young women comfortable around him, until he made his move. He is known to have murdered over 30 women and to date, the exact amount is unknown. A  known case, somewhat believed to be Bundy’s first, was the brutal rape of 18 year old Joni Lenz, she was found in her own basement with a bed rod savagely rammed into her ge nitals fortunately or unfortunately she was one of the very few people to have escaped the death sentence from Bundy’s terror. Bundy was not arrested for suspicion for murder, he was arrested for not stopping at a police blockade and after being stopped, the police were found suspicious items such as a ski mask, rope, crowbar and handcuffs in his car which lead to the initial suspicions. This lead to him being recorded and under surveillance for some time and after many times he was released due to lack of evidence. But due to his sadistic fantasies of biting his victims, it was Odontology that helped put Bundy away, Odontologists were able to associate his teeth marks with the bite marks of some of the victims, at the same time a few strands of hair found in his car linked him to the murders that lead to the final conviction of this mass murderer in 1989 January with his life ending in the electric chair. (Bell, 2012) The story of Richard Ramirez is quite intriguing. He was known as the Night Stalker due to his modus operandi which followed, jumping into houses and killing people inside the house. The metho d of his killings were gruesome. He would mutilate his victims by gouging their eyes out and mutilating their corpses. He was known to perform sexual activities with dead corpses as well. He was a self aclaimed satanist who had no remorse for the crimes he commited. His capture was with the help of fingerprinting techonology which was making quite a stir at that time. Ramirez’s fingerprint caught in a car was linked to him and his mugshot was sent to the police, in one weeks time, he was captured and sent to prison on the account of 13 murders. (Reporter, 2013) John Wayne Gacy Jr., a name that still sends chills down anyone’s spine was a serial killer who preyed on young boys. He would perform sexual acts on the boys who he caught and eventually murder them. Gacy was a man loved by everyone. He was a hard worker who was just trying to catch a break which he did, but would end up tarnishing his image due to his sadistic homosexual needs. Married twice, he would be no more different to your own friendly neighbor, as his close friends stated in court during his hearing. He would go on to murder more than 30 young teenage boys who he would perform sexual acts on and burying them in his own backyard. After going through the second divorce he started  his own business where he undertook work such painting, refurbishing and maintaining. H e hired young men under him to apparently lower the costs, but it was apparent that, that was a cover up to hide Gacy’s fantasies. One by one, the men at his workplace kept disappearing and after being questioned for suspicion of the disappearance of the men he hired to work for him, the sheriff in charge did a background check on Gacy and got to know about his previous acts of sodomy. He then got a search warrant to investigate his house when Gacy wasn’t in, he then went on to find many links that connected Gacy to many of the missing men and at that point he confessed to one of the murders thinking they would not dig the grave yard in his crawl space at that point. However the unbearable stench coming from Gacy’s crawl space would lead the police to dig up his backyard that would reveal the grave yard of the missing men, more than 30 bodies and of which, 7 have not been recognized up to date. Anthropology played a massive role in separating all the bone fragments gathered from his backyard and identifying their owners as well as determining their cause of death. When the final tally came up Gacy would only be second to Ted Bundy with the death toll. Even though it was one factor in forensics which helped in catching these murderers be it pathology, anthropology or odontology, all of the other factors help in verifying the data you gather. Therefore, it is not quite clear cut as to say that only one aspect of Forensics played the whole part in solving a murder. This is the reason as to the Medical Examiner is the head of the Forensic department. All the data is gathered by him and he makes the final judgment as to what the evidence shows. In forensics, the evidence is the bits and pieces of a story that is scattered around. The forensic examiner merely interprets what the evidence means to his area of expertise and delivers it to the Medical Examiner – the author. Here, the Medical Examiner gathers all the little stories scattered around and builds up the story that will be given out to the police – the publisher. In the same case, these results may turn out to not be what you expected. Sometimes, these results may interpret inconclusive results that would alter the final decision of the respected official therefore it is not always correct. Recently many scientific communities have been debating about the validity of Forensic Evidence in court due to various inconsistencies in the results that has been produced in labs. Not only scientists, many people are now questioning  the science of forensic evidence as at current, the evidence is taken for granted. With hit TV shows like CSI, Body of Proof, Bones, people are easily manipulated into believing the circumstantial evidence provided to judge a case, now called the CIS effect where people judgments are subconsciously questioned by TV shows than what is provided as evidence. Some juries who are fans of CIS have gone on to acquit obviously guilty criminals just because the investigators failed to test evidence â€Å"the CSI way†. (Cole & Diosso-Villa, 2009) These jurors are now known to rely on superficial evidence CSI has provided rather than the evidence provided. The most frightnening factor in this case is the evidence itself. Regardless of the jurors verdict, the results that have provided in some cases are now known to be inconclusive. A recent research found out that ‘identifications on the same fingerprint can change solely by presenting the print in a different context’. Called ‘conceptual biasing’ the report showed how previously identified finger print results of the samples changed when details about their arrest were told which is called conceptual biasing. (Jr. & B., 2009, 36-38p) Another case which was under the spotlight was th case of Brandan Mayfield. He was arrested with charges of being a material witne ss based on his fingerprints found in a bag where the detonation device of the terrorist bombing which occurred in Madrid, Spain which killed 191 people and injured thousands. The fingerprint of Mayfield was analyzed by an outside source by a different individual. The Spanish police then alerted the FBI regarding doubts with the findings of Mayfield and released him after 18 days with $2 million componsation. (Jr. & B., 2009) Many scholars have begun to question the accuracy of the evidence used in a court. The highly controversial Amanda Knox case was recently brought back to lime light with the Forensic Scientist in charge of the murder trial requested to retest the blood which was on the knife which was used to kill Meredith Kercher; however, the appeal judge thought the evidence was unreliable and hence dismissed the suggestion. This would have been a major point to rule out whether it was Kercher’s blood in the knife as statistically, if the testing was done more than 5 times, the results would have been more accurate with regard to whether the blood was actually from Kercher and would have either verified the unreliable evidence or dismissed it which would make a firm case for Knox’s release (Alexander, 2013) At points like   these the evidence is just put aside where it would have been of great resource. Since the inception of forensics, it has managed to send many criminals behind bars, as to whether the law decides if it is true or not is up for debate, but scientist today are trying to make the evidence they gather more reliable so that no such cases will arise in the future. The advancement of technology has helped to create many new methods of tests for the use of Forensics. A recently discovered method of finger printing was found in Australia at Curtin University using henna. The usual method of identifying invisible fingerprints were said to be by using nin-hydrin a volatile chemical, now they have been able to use henna to identify the finger prints which is not harmful at all and is available at ease. (Renee Jelly, Chris Lennard, Limc, & Almogd, 2008) Other findings include gunshot residual identification. The technology to identify minute residual materials on suspects is being developed. Earlier use, included the use of paraffin to make cast over the suspects hand and when sprayed with a reagent would turn into a specific colour, but due to cigarettes and urine also giving the same results, this method was dropped in the 1950’s, therefore this new method would be a new beginning for Gun Shot Residual identification. (Pilant, 2000) The hour of a purely fictional TV episode ends. What has is it done to you? What has it made you believe? If only forensics was as crystal clear as in TV, the police would have caught all the criminals and serial killers of the world if so, but unfortunately it is not. We have to slap ourselves back to reality and realize the situation at hand. Forensic Science has helped to imprison the demons in human form that have made you want to doubt if you will ever see your loved ones after they leave the comfort of your house. It might soon overcome the point where innocent children such as Madeleine McCann, Edward and Austin Bryant (Sampson, 2011) can be found by the use of new technology and reopen these cases and analyze the evidence recorded and stored. It would give peace to many parents who are mourning the disappearance of their loved ones not knowing whether they’re alive or not. Forensics has turned out to be a scientific breakthrough in the industry of crime. With the media attention it is getting, Forensics is at a point where it’s growing at a steady rate. It has brought a whole new era in to the cycle of forensics and what we will expect in the future will definitely be unimaginable and till then we will await. Bibliography Alexander, R. (2013, 04). Amanda Knox and bad maths in court. Retrieved 2013, from BBC News Magazine: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22310186 Bell, R. (2012). Ted Bundy. Retrieved 2013, from Crime Library : http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/bundy/index_1.html Cole, S. A., & Diosso-Villa, R. (2009). INVESTIGATING THE ‘CSI EFFECT’ EFFECT: MEDIA AND LITIGATION CRISIS IN CRIMINAL LAW. The Stanford Law Review , 1335-1373. Gribben, M. (n.d.). Crime Library. Retrieved 2013, from Crime Library; crimina mindls and methods: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/kevin_neal/1_index.html Jenkins, J. P. (2013). Encyclopeadia. Retrieved 2013, from Encyclopaedia Brittanica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/863836/serial-murder Jr., D., & B., H. (2009). Forensic Science under the spotlight. Judges’ Journal , 48 (4), 36-38. Pilant, L. (2000). Forensic Science: Bringing New Technology. Ramsland, K. (n.d.). Crime Library; criminla minds and methods. Retrieved 2013, from Crime Library: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/toxicology/2.html Rankin, S. (2013). Forensic Science. Retrieved 2013, from Forensic Science Central: http://forensicsciencecentral.co.uk/history.html Renee Jelly, a. S., Chris Lennard, b., Limc, K. F., & Almogd, J. (2008). could henna help catch criminals. Retrieved from RSC publishing: http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2008/08/fingerprints.asp Reporter, A. P. (2013). Mail Online. Retrieved 2013, from Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343661/California-serial-killer-self-confessed-Satanist-Richard-Ramirez-died-cancer.html Sampson, J. (2011, 07). 10 Tragic cases of lost children. Retrieved 2013, from Listverse: http://listverse.com/2011/07/11/10-tragic-cases-of-missing-children/ Scientific Working group for Forensic Anthropology. (2013). Retrieved 2013, from a forensic anthropoligical scientific group: http://www.swganth.org/ Snow, C. C. (1982). Forensic Anthropology. Annnul Review of Anthropology , 11, pp. 97-131. Suzanne Elvidge BSc (hons), M. (2013, 04 21). Explore Forensics. Retrieved 07 30, 2013, from Forensic Science exploaration: http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/forensic-cases-murder-leanne-tiernan.html Word Count – 3900

The Nonverbal Decoding Ability

1. Bonnet, C. (1993). Adoption at birth: prevention against abandonment or neonaticide. Child Abuse Negl, 17(4), 501-13. This study aims to clarify some of the anomalies that exist between abandoning a child at a public place and the choices made by the parents at the time of the birth of a child. 2. Bowen, E. , & Nowicki, S. (2007). The Nonverbal Decoding Ability of Children Exposed to Family Violence or Maltreatment: Prospective Evidence from a British Cohort. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 31(3), 169-184.This study outlined as to how the exposure of children to family violence and maltreatment in first four years of age can influence a child’s expression of fear and other related psychological issues. 3. Buller, David. (2005). adapting minds: evolutionary psychology and the persistent quest for human nature. MIT Press: New York. This book presents a philosophical analysis of evolutionary psychology and discusses some of the most important works in this field. 4. Castellucci & Plum. (1999). Ethics and Adoption Indeed. Retrieved 24 April 2009 from http://www. bastards. org/bq/bq11/ebdrep. htmThese are some of the notes from Evan B Donaldson Symposium on Ethics and Adoption and basically discuss some of the work presented by the participants in that symposium. 5. Conte, J. R. , & Schuerman, J. R. (1987). Factors associated with an increased impact of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 11(2), 201. This study dealt with the factors in assessing the impact of sexual abuse on children. Results indicated that there are variable results indicating different degree of variability of the results. 6. Daro, D. , & McCurdy, K. (n. d. ). Preventing child abuse and neglect: programmatic interventions.Child Welfare, 73(5), 405. This study provides an insight into how the prevention efforts at altering such behaviors can contribute towards the overall risk to the children and the families. This study further discusses as to what we know about the efficacy and e fficiency of such efforts and what some of the problems being faced are. 7. Finkelhor, D. , Williams, L. M. , & Burns, N. (1988). Nursery crimes: Sexual abuse in day care. No. : ISBN 0-8039-3400-9, 272. This study provides an empirical evidence of the child abuse taking place within the daycare facilities with children under the age of 7 years.This article therefore defines the nature of the problem, the effectiveness of the different investigation methods as well as the impact of such incidences on the community as a whole. 8. Gauthier et al. (1996). Recall of Childhood Neglect and Physical Abuse as Differential predictors of Current Psychologically Functioning. Retrieved 24 April, 2009 from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/8832112 This study attempts to bridge the gaps between the neglect and physical abuse on the psychological functioning of the children.By examining the sample of 236 male and 276 female undergraduate students, this study therefore empirically concluded tha t there is an strong relationship between the physical abuse and psychological functioning. 9. Gelles, R. J. , & Harrop, J. W. (1991). The risk of abusive violence among children with nongenetic caretakers. Family Relations, 78-83. By using a sample of more than 6000 participants, this study attempted to understand whether the non-genetic caretakers use more violence than the genetic caretakers. 10. Golden, O. (2000). The federal response to child abuse and neglect. The American psychologist, 55(9), 1050.This study outlines some of the efforts of the administration on children and family in improving the lives of the maltreated children. 11. Groza, V. , & Ryan, S. D. (2002). Pre-adoption stress and its association with child behavior in domestic special needs and international adoptions. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 27(1-2), 181-197. This study focused on the cross sectional data analysis of the adopted children from US and Romania. The major findings of this study include the recommen dations for families to understand how negative experiences in early childhood can affect child behavior. 12.Hill, R. B. (1977). Informal Adoption among Black Families. This is the study on the informal adaptation patterns of children in Black American families and outlined how different factors contribute to such patterns. 13. McNamara, Carter. (2008) Analyzing, Interpreting and Reporting Basic Research results. Free Management Library. Retrieved 24 April 2009 from http://managementhelp. org/research/analyze. htm This article, published on internet describes as to how to approach the research professionally and from an academic point of view. 14. Nalavany, B. A. , Ryan, S. D. , Howard, J. A., & Smith, S. L. (2008). Preadoptive child sexual abuse as a predictor of moves in care, adoption disruptions, and inconsistent adoptive parent commitment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32(12), 1084-1088. This study actually attempts to reinforce a small body of research that the CSA complicates furthe r the child adaptation process. 15. Spinetta, J. J. , & ER, D. (n. d. ). The child-abusing parent: A psychological review. Child Abuse: A Multidisciplinary Survey, 14. 16. Tan, T. X. (2006). History of Early Neglect and Middle Childhood Social Competence: An Adoption Study. Adoption Quarterly, 9(4), 59.This study examines whether the earlier history of neglect and maltreatment in infancy has any influence over the competence of the children when they reach the adolescence. This study further assesses the impact of such on the social interaction of children as well as their performance in the extracurricular activities. 17. Tongue, A. C. (1991). The ophthalmologist's role in diagnosing child abuse. Ophthalmology, 98(7), 1009. This study discusses the role of Ophthalmologist in diagnosing the early child abuse and as such provides certain recommendations as to how such violations can be decreased. 18. Watson et al. (1994).Substitute Care Providers: Helping Abused and Neglected Childre n. DIANE publishing Chicago This study provides insight into the development of abuse and drug exposure into the children and how to recognize different physical indicators to diagnose such state of children. 19. Wilson, M. I. , Daly, M. , & Weghorst, S. J. (2008). Household composition and the risk of child abuse and neglect. Journal of Biosocial Science, 12(03), 333-340 This study attempted to assess how the different factors such as family composition, income, age of the victim as well as household consumption can result into child abuse. 20. Harter, Susan.(2001). the Construction of the Self: A Developmental Perspective. Guilford Press: New Jersey This book attempts to explain as to how the children and their self perception about themselves define their relationship with others. This book therefore also provides the information about the self development of children which take place over the period of time. 21. Grotevant, Harold. (2005). Minnesota/ Texas Adoption research Proje ct. Retrieved 24 April 2009 from http://cehd. umn. edu/FSoS/assets/pdf/ResearchDiscovery/Procedures_Measures2. pdf This study basically attempt to measure the validity of different hypothesis

Assessors Award: the Principles and Requirements of Assessment

Assessor Award Unit 1 Name. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Signature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Assessor†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Assessor Signature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date of Professional Discussion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date Completed†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Verifier†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Verifier Signature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Date of Verification†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. UNDERSTANDING THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF ASSESSMENT 1 – Understand the principles and requirements of assessment 1. 1 & 1. 3 Explain the functions of assessment and your responsibilities as an assessor in the learning and development of your learners. (Include how you identify individual learner needs, how you record achievements and set targets, how you monitor and review your learner development, how you complete formative and summative assessments, how you contribute to quality assurance and best practice) . 2 List and define the key concepts and principles of assessment. (recognition of prior learning, special assessment requirements, skills, knowledge and understanding in relation to the roles of learners, trainers, assessors, organisations/employers during induction and the assessment process) 1. 4 & 8. 1 List the regulations and requirements that relate to your practices in your programme area. (Regulatory bodies and Statute Law) Explain the legal issues, policies and procedures relevant to assessment. 2 – Understand the different types of assessment method . 1 List the performance-based and knowledge-based assessment methods you will use with your learners (individually or in a group) and compare the strengths and limitations for each method. Assessment Method Strengths Limitations 3 – Understand how to plan assessment 3. 1 – What are the key factors you have to consider when planning assessments with your l earners? (Assessment methods planned, recognition of prior learning, addressing regulations, learner/employer needs and timing) 3. 2 & 3. 3 What is a â€Å"holistic approach† to assessment planning?How would you plan a â€Å"holistic approach† and explain the benefits. 3. 4 & 3. 5 Identify the risks that will have to be taken into account when planning assessments in your programme area. How can you minimise these when planning? Risks Actions to minimise 4 – Understand how to involve learners and others in the assessment process 4. 1 & 4. 3 Why is it important to involve learners and other people (peers, managers etc) when planning your assessments? How do you involve others and how can they be used effectively to promote learner involvement? 4. & 4. 3 Why is it important to involve learners and other people (peers, managers etc) when planning your assessments? How do you involve others? 4. 2 List the types of information you provide to your learners. 4. 4 Expla in how you can adapt your assessment planning to meet individual learner needs. 5. 1 – Understand how to make assessment decisions 5. 1 How do you judge whether the evidence is sufficient, authentic and current? 5. 2 When assessing the evidence how do you ensure that your decisions meet specified criteria and are valid, reliable and fair? – Understand quality assurance of the assessment process 6. 1 & 6. 2 Summarise the quality assurance and standardisation procedures in your programme area and why these are important. Procedures Why Important 6. 3 What procedures do you have to follow if there is a dispute in the assessment process? 7 – Understand how to manage information relating to assessment 7. 1 Why is it important that you follow your procedures for the management of information used in the assessment process? Summarise the procedures. 7. Explain the importance in the assessment process of feedback and questioning with your learner. 8 – Understand the legal and good practice requirements in relation to assessment: 8. 1 Explain the legal issues in relation to the following: Confidentiality Health, safety and welfare 8. 2 How does technology contribute to your assessments? 8. 3 Evaluate the requirements for Equality and diversity in relation to assessment 8. 4 Explain why you think it is important to reflect on your practice and development. How is this done in your programme area?

Class Room Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Class Room Management - Essay Example The teacher further explains various rules when it comes to leaving the classroom for bathroom and distribution of material so that every child can share and utilize the items fully. They are further told about the attendance chart and the schedule; as the same schedule is to be followed throughout the academic year hence it is require for all students to refer to it every now and then as it is important to smoothly transition between activities. They are also told how to get water from the water fountain and use the sharpener and how to wait for their turn, if another student is using those items and how to sign on to the list every time they have to take a bathroom breaks or step out of the classroom. Being the first day, the children are given the latitude to look around the classroom, guided by their teacher, who explains them various procedures that can be adopted for all the possible situations. For recess, all children are lined up in two file; one for boys and one for girls. All students return to the classroom in the same fashion and the students are given the promise of being assigned to various duties to help them engage in the implementation of this routine. For effective implementation, the teacher explains exactly when, where and how to perform various classroom routines. The teacher further explains the sequence of the activity in a concise, clear and precise manner; in this regard the tone of teacher is essential that further help the students to understand the importance or gravity of a particular situation. The teacher further tells all students what to do, rather than what not to do so that further motivates the behavior in the children. In order to make sure that every student understands the routine the teacher prompts them to repeat after her and for the routine to become automatic it is rehearsed over and over again. Especially when the teacher adds this to their knowledge that the routine is to be followed every day therefore, the child knows exactly what to do and when to do it. It can be further observed that the teacher rewards the students and acknowledges their good behavior to enhance motivation of the skill. For instance, the teacher distributed â€Å"super first days† certificates at the end of the day for the good behavior of children and the rewards for perfect attendance. She further enhances the children’s motivation to actively partake in activities by telling them about cursive handwriting and various other future classroom plans. The aforementioned techniques were employed by the teacher for implementing classroom routine and effective management of the students. 2. Analysis, Exploration & Reasoning (a) The routine is primarily designed by the teacher to help the students feel more comfortable however, their participation and engagement is of equal importance to help gain the prior benefits of the routine in their lives. In order to postulate the children’s level of engagement is done largely through the number of responsibilities that are assigned to them. As the teacher states in the video, each child would be given a ‘job’ in the class to maintain order and acquire a sense of responsibility, which will enable him or her to have greater participation in the implementation of the routine. Furthermore, the children will be given ample freedom of movement and dialogue with other

Managing Property Businesses Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing Property Businesses - Term Paper Example To remain competitive, organizations have to evaluate their strategies to make sure they align with business needs - both today and in the future. They need to deliver new business value and growth in the market through product innovation, more personalized customer service or transforming business processes They must be able to anticipate, rapidly respond and always be available. Organizations are looking to make better use of resources that they have, whether by saving a step in a business process or by improving linkages with their business partners. Organizations are looking to get more out of the resources they have in place so they can be freed up to generate additional opportunity. They want to reduce their operating costs so that they can invest in growth and opportunity. The need for a suitable workforce seems to be at the top of these reasons for relocation."Most businesses start in a small facility, such as the founder's garage, and then move to bigger quarters in the same city", says L. Clinton Hoch, director of location advisory services for DCG Corplan Consulting (a site selection consultancy in West Orange, New Jersey). Later, the business outgrows that location or begins to find fault with its facilities, services, utilities, infrastructure or other features. "Usually only after a business owner goes through those stages is he or she ready to make a move out of the original area," says L. Clinton Hoch. Relocating may be one of the best things that can be done for a business. Whether we are moving by choice or by necessity (our lease is up and our landlord is raising the rent), relocation is not an easy task. There are issues like location scouting, commercial realtors, negotiating, number crunching, licenses, packing, unpacking, mail forwarding.  Ã‚  

The Raise interactive scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Raise interactive scenario - Essay Example In Tanzania in the areas of Mererani, children are subjected to deplorable conditions of mining, while they ought to be in schools or other places. A child is supposed to go through childhood and enjoy the happenings that happen in that stage. It does not help matters that poverty and the rare of occurrence of gem could be coincidental in Mererani (Sanga, 2007). Thus, the children in this place are subjected to work at that early stage and point in their life. It beats logic to note that as much as this place and area is a lucrative zone of close to thirty million dollars, a sizeable proportion of the population still live under poverty. It is needless to stress that the children who work in this sites also constitute part of the poor population (Goodman & Barnes, 2011). Thus, it would be more beneficial to them and the future of the society if they were involved in other alternative activities such as pursuing education. Subsequently, the risk and the deplorable work conditions in the mines do not make matters any easy for the children. Firstly, the children do not have any skill or expertise on how to act or behave when they are down deep in the mines (Schroeder, 2010). Thus, they are exposed to dangers of losing the prospects of a better life ahead of them, if they do not succumb to the dangers of the mines. Conclusively, there are other options that could be pursued to relieve these children off their predicament as articulated above. Sanga, S. P. (2007). The Role of Poor Governance in the Tanzanite-Al Qaeda Link Controversy, and Policy Options for Tanzania Enabling it to Escape from ‘Curses’ in the Mining Industry. One Society Institute.[Online] Available at: www. policy. hu/document/200808/sebastian. sanga. pdf&letoltes,

Religious Education Resource Package Speech or Presentation

Religious Education Resource Package - Speech or Presentation Example It is essential for a teacher to be aware of what to teach during RE classes and why to teach it. In most Catholic schools, RE is accounted for in timetables and programs for teaching for over two hours every week. For the time spent in RE classes, the students will learn about the life of Jesus Christ and about Catholic traditions. Learning about the seven sacraments and practicing them will aid the students in exploration of the traditions of the Catholic Church and the way it works in their lives. Christian life should be about the seven sacraments (Holy Spirit Interactive, 2009). For this reason, the seven sacraments have a vital place in all Christians’ lives, which necessitates teaching them to young Christians. In the Christian journey of faith, the seven sacraments act as the signs of the presence of God (Bausch, 2003). Therefore, the community, parents, and teachers of Catholic communities must play their role and be responsible for the provision of opportunities to l earn and engage in these sacraments to Catholic K-2 level students. Sacrament of Conversion allows Catholic Christians to renew their baptism and follow Jesus Christ’s example. ... Sacraments are Jesus Christ’s extensions because they are symbolic of Jesus’ actions and extensions of the actions of God. These actions are an oath via which Catholic Christians seek witnessing and verification from God. Catholics ask for verification and witnessing that all they do is good and true, which is what the Sacraments call Christians to do (Crowe, 2005). Every Sacrament is a dispensation of life in the comprehension that we are born, or renew our Christian beliefs and life through the Sacrament (Fosarelli, 2012). The Sacrament of Conversion’s importance comes through the effect that it has on individuals. According to the Catholic Church’s Catechism, the Sacrament of Penance has several effects including (Williams, 2008); Reconciliation with the Catholic Church Reconciliation with God Increasing of spiritual strength required in the battle of Christianity Spiritual consolation and serenity and peace of conscience Reconciliation with God’ s Church Partial remission of temporal punishment that comes from sin Remission of God’s eternal punishment because of mortal sin Resources for Background Knowledge Books White, J. D., & White, A. A. (2004): Teach it: Penance and reconciliation. This book is especially meant to be used in RE programs for teachers. It follows the teachings of the Catholic Church and is based on the Bible and the Catholic Church Catechism. In addition, the authors dwell in their introduction on the role that teachers and parents have to play in preparing the children for their first and subsequent Sacrament of Penance, while also including practical ways that seek to involve teachers and parents more in the RE program. Majority of the activities in this book are easy to

Not a paper 4 questions in statistics Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Not a 4 questions in statistics - Research Paper Example According to the sample data. It will not be correct to say featured crimes are likely to be cleared by arrests. One might confuse that many featured crimes are cleared by simple arrests if he or she literary looks at the ps ratios. However, it is pertinent that one looks at the denominator through which the ratios get obtained. According to those statistics, as much as the featured crimes may portray a great figure, the denominator through which they get obtained is not the same as that of non-crime line crimes. Therefore it is not likely that featured crimes will get cleared through arrests. According the five step model, the level of interactivity between the liberal arts students and that of the other students is inverse, although the average figures may suggest otherwise. The liberal Arts major students interact more with the information in the books given that they are just bus a fraction of the students, yet able to achieve an average close to that of other

Improving Pharmacy Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Improving Pharmacy Services - Essay Example The second issue, sustainability is equally important in securing the quality of products and services in pharmacy. One way of achieving sustainability is through keeping indicators which can be used for predicting future trends of the industry. These may include new drugs or practices which outdo the existing methods. This would, for instance, ensure that patients get the best treatments when they become available. Again, sustainability can be achieved by being connected to the global pharmacy community through which innovations and emerging issues can be shared. In so doing, the pharmacy can be interconnected, informed, and universal (Lesko & Anderson 16). The advantage in this is that relevancy and effectiveness would be assured.The final means of improving pharmacy is by having well-structured organizational layouts. Layout covers all the areas from when a patient goes through a health center to the time they emerge, having received treatment. Pharmacies should ensure that their staff receives optimum working conditions, free from distraction, stress, or any negative influences. For instance, there should be training to sensitize staff on proper (good) health habits. Healthy and happy staff is likely to be best in disseminating services to the people than stressed, underpaid, or sickly staff. Concisely, the comfort of the workforce determines the quality of services and products.As the above findings state, there are many channels through which pharmacy can be improved.

Report on Religious Field Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Report on Religious Field Research - Essay Example Om Peace, Peace, Peace†. (Om asato†¦) Prayer over, the Preacher lost no time in beginning the day’s lecture: â€Å"The Perfect Masters of all religions mention about the same transcendental truth. What they wish to explain is beyond the realm and boundaries of words, thoughts, feelings and the capacity of body-mind-intellect. My submission is also an outline, and not the reality of spirituality. That has to be practically experienced by you. There is much more in this cosmos than what the senses can detect or the mind can comprehend. The totality can be comprehended with the help of the â€Å"Third Eye†, which Lord Jesus proclaims, â€Å"When thine Eye be Single†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"The problems arise when the Transcendental Reality is explained by the mind-level philosophers, intellectuals, preachers, mullahs and pundits. Arguments and counter-arguments follow. Misunderstandings generate and conflicts arise. This is the genesis of religious conflicts. If t he founders of all the religions are to sit together and engage in a discussion, actually there would be no discussion as there would be no differences of opinions amongst them. Though they use different languages and tender different examples, they are speaking about the same truth, the Ultimate Reality! For example, the source of energy for all the electrical appliances is electricity†. â€Å"The followers of different religions must stop quarrelling and grasp the underlying essence of the revelations by their Masters. World Peace becomes an attainable reality if they follow the revelations of the Masters in true letter and spirit. What difference does it make if you call electricity by some other name, it is the same entity and its power remains the same? Similarly hail the Consciousness that governs cosmos, the All-pervading Reality by any name, Jesus, Allah, Rama, Krishna, God or whatever you like. That Power is the same†. â€Å"God, who exists even before the cre ation and from whom the entire universe originates and gets manifested, in whom the entire universe exists and in whom the entire universe will be withdrawn, eventually; and that Light of your Consciousness, which is the Illuminator, the Witness, the Self within, which is aware of the presence or absence of thoughts in the mind, is one and the same! That Thou Art! You are not the body-mind-equipment, which you have assumed yourself to be, till now. Know the technique to stabilize your mind, transcend it and you will know that you and God are the same entity! The eternal search ends and no further running around are needed. All ambiguity stands vanished†. â€Å"The mind is an instrument in the hands of the Self just as the body is an instrument controlled by the mind. Matter is motion outside, the mind is motion inside. Theoretical arguments only lead to arguments and counter-arguments. It is impossible to realize the Truth through arguments. This is the reason that the name o f God, which out to bring peace and happiness to humankind, has been the cause of bloodshed in the world. The pages of human history are daubed in bloodshed due to bitter quarrels in the name of religion and race. Reach out for the direct

International Business Course work 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Business Course work 2 - Coursework Example Ethnocentricity is defined as the belief in the superiority of ones ethnic group (Thefreedictionary). This quality is very common in a lot of cultures does marketers have to come up with strategies to persuade the population of a specific cultural group to purchase the products and services your company offers. A way to differentiate a company’s product in new marketplace is to create specific branding strategies that are geared towards the purchasing behavior or the target population. The values and beliefs of a country are characteristics that must be analyzed to determine the buyer behaviors of a country and to be able to send out messages that are clear to avoid miscommunications. Colors have different means across cultural boundaries. For example the color red in Europe is a sign of danger, while the same color in Japan means life (Halman). The customs and attitudes of a group of people determine the preferences of the customers of a region. Environmental scanning of the socio-cultural factor is a technique that can allow a firm to determine the existence of subcultures that can create further segmentation of the market that allows for marketing campaigns for specific customer profiles within a culture (Kotler). There are many elements of a culture that a company must be aware in order to operate a successful and profitable operation in an international location. Some of these elements are: local business hours, the existence of consumerism tendencies, society’s view about the importance of tangible possessions, and governmental intervention in local commerce among other elements. The culture of a region is composed of many different elements. The attitude towards work between nations varies considerably. For example American workers are workaholics who on the average work nearly 50 hours a week, while in

History in America Essay Example for Free

History in America Essay Domestic abuse has a long and harmful history in America. Generally it occurs when the man within the family seeks to maintain or create control over his wife or loved one through a variety of motives which in the end, are counterproductive and which usually further the distance between the victim and the perpetrator which had already existed in the beginning and which contributed to the start of the abuse. What is starting to gain some light in recent years is the fact that men sometimes can be the victims of intimate partner abuse, both from homosexual and heterosexual relationships and which can be very damaging to the relationship in both cases. Abuse can be divided into physical, emotional, economic and spiritual. (Cook, 2003 pg. 13) All four can and often times do, place irreversible damage on the victim which if they are to ever recover from the abuse, can often times takes years and sometimes decades to recover. Others will never fully recover and in carrying that hurt, such abuse serves as a severe impediment to the victim ever carrying out successful and intimate relationships with future individuals. This is how intimate partner abuse can be so destructive. A black eye will completely heal in the matter of a couple of weeks at the most. However, a bruised psyche and emotional hurt can often times linger when there seems to be no outside effects on the victim. Only when that victim engages in a intimate relationship with an outside party will such hurt often times come to the surface and can sometimes completely negate the ability of the couple to continue in a successful and loving relationship as the victim may be forever scarred as a result of the previous abuse. Further understanding of the causes of domestic violence and the ways in which it can be dealt with and even prevented is so very important to not only the victim and his or her loved ones, but also their future relationships and also, the perpetrator himself. In doing this, the individual can better identify the reasons why he acts out in such a fashion and in doing so, it becomes that much more likely for the motivation to be identified and then corrected in one way or another. In the end, domestic violence can take on many forms and each case of intimate partner abuse can be the result of a single motivating factor or the combination of various factors and all to varying degrees. Domestic violence will not be disappearing anytime soon from our society but in the recognition of the causes and lasting and damaging effects of such abuse, one may be better educated and prepared to identify it and stop it from ever occurring. In first attempting to understand family violence, one must first define it. There are four major categories which are to be included when talking about family violence and the dangers that it imposes on the victims involved. The first and most obvious is physical violence. This constitutes unwanted physical contact which can also include rape and murder. It can also include indirect physical violence as for example, the throwing of objects from one person or another with the intent of committing injury on the receiver of the object. The second major category of family violence is mental or emotional violence. This constitutes verbal threats of physical violence to the victim, his or her children, animals or the use of possessions of any kind. Verbal threats also do not have an exact time frame associated to it as the threat of physical violence can be impending or is relegated to some inexact time in the future. Facial expressions or threatening body postures can also constitute an example of emotional or mental violence. The third is economic or social abuse. This is where one member of the family controls the other’s money in such a stringent sense that the victim is under strict economic dependence upon the perpetrator to a degree that a sense of empowerment is concluded and usually is the chief motivating factor. Social abuse is when the social life of the victim is dependent completely upon the perpetrator as he or she dictates who, the victim will see and how often. The victim usually suffers from a decrease in the number of friends in comparison to the time when the victim was not under the control of the perpetrator. Lastly, the fourth most common form of family violence or abuse is spiritual abuse. This is the prevention of the victim’s spiritual faith to be practiced in the home. This can also constitute a repeated harassment of the victim’s faith and personal beliefs to the point of ridicule. This also takes a toll on the victim but is one that has not received the same amount of coverage from violence prevention groups and therefore, there is less known as the repetitive of the violence as well as its direct effects upon the victim. All forms of family violence is harmful to the individual but the one that is the most common as well as the most dangerous is physical violence within the home. Often times, this relates to sexual violence. â€Å"Sexual violence is defined as the use of physical force to compel an individual to participate in a sexual act which is against the will of both people involved. † (Cook, 2003 pg. 23) When one of the participating parties is forced into the sexual act, this is an example of sexual violence. Also, the sexual advances upon somebody who is unwilling to refuse the advances, whether that be a result of the victim being intoxicated or his or her mental or physical disability preventing the victim from refusing. This is an example of sexual violence as well. It is a sad fact but one that is well established despite men’s reluctance to report as being victims of both sexual and physical abuse by their partners, it is much more common for men to be the perpetrators than women. One of the impediments to achieving an exact study on this problem is the fact that many men will not report such cases to the police out of fear of embarrassment as well as the police or their loved ones from taking the incident seriously. It is estimated that as many as 70% of all abuses of women towards men goes unreported. (Cook, 2003 pg. 118) This reluctance speaks to the misunderstanding of society as to the importance that the recognition of female abuse towards men. Mental and emotional violence which has a direct and negative effect upon the psychological make up of the individual is one of the four main categories of family violence. One aspect of this is when a threat is made from one person to another which promises bodily harm in the immediate future as well as an indeterminate time in the future. However, this is only one aspect of the psychological violence which occurs most often within the home. Harmful and repeated words of aggression or an attempt to bring down the family member with repeal hostile words or gestures in an attempt to maintain the supposed authority of one individual over another. A threat of a physical injury only constitutes a percentage of the abuse which can fall under the category of psychological abuse. This abuse is basically any intentional verbal assault which is designed to maintain the believed authority of one person over another. â€Å"When it is perceived that the victim is slipping away from the authority of his or her perpetrator, the abuse will often times intensify. † (Jones 2001 pg. 14) This feeling of a loss of power will only increase the abuse so when a victim feels as though the abuse will stop or is coming to a stop, often times, it is simply the calm before the storm as a more intensified version of the abuse is to soon follow. Psychological abuse can also use the children as weapons as the parents are seeking a divorce and the custody of the children is at stake. One parent will use the child to alienate the parent and to make the other feel as though he or she is powerless in their child’s life and that the authority, influence and love which the parent has present in the child’s life, is no longer valid and will soon be completely erased. These are very powerful feelings which often times can evoke a powerful response. In a very sad case in Hazel Crest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in the fall of 2006, John Jacobs, a forty one year old man in the middle of a bitter custody battle with his wife over his only child, an eight year old girl, the man, an avid pilot, piloted his plane along with his daughter inside and purposely, flew his plane into his ex wife’s house, killing both him and his eight year old daughter. The mother was not home at the time of the incident. The suicide note that the man left for his friends, and the testimony of those who knew the family was able to substantiate his story; that his wife was daily threatening him with their daughter and the possibility that she would never see her father again. Before killing both himself and his only daughter, Mr. Jacobs stated in his ransom note: â€Å"Julie, ( his wife) you have done everything in your power to try to take my daughter away from me. That is not right and I feel compelled to do the only thing that I have any power over. For your efforts, I will now take the daughter away from you forever. † (Pearson, 2003 pg. C3) This of course, was not a justified reaction to the parental alimentation which the mother reportedly used as a weapon against his ex husband. Hurt feelings were at a premium and when the child is used as a weapon, parents often times, do not possess all of their rational faculties. This was one very sad and tragic example of what can happen when the emotional abuse of one person over another reaches its zenith and the victim will often times become the aggressor in response as he or she feels completely helpless by the abuse and now seeks to eliminate the gap in power between the victim and the perpetrator which had existed. † (Roberts 2002 pg. 114) Often times in such cases, the courts are dragged in to take sides and in the process, usually will contribute the parental alienation as well. Economic abuse is when one person, usually a spouse, has complete control over the finances of the family and over the other person. This goes beyond the responsible actions of one who seeks to place his or her family on a budget and adheres to the strict restrictions himself, as well as what he imposes upon the other members of the family. Economic abuse occurs when there is an unnecessary and very fiscally stringent limitations placed upon the other’s spending habits while at the same time, not following the advice of his own actions. This is designed, not for the sake of fiscal responsibility but in order to create a dominion over the other in the form of financial power. If one does not have the economic freedom to act in accordance with his or her own financial earning power, then the person who controls that money, also controls the person who earns it. When one speaks of family violence and abuse, economic abuse often times is forgotten as physical abuse monopolizes the conversation. However, over time, economic abuse can be just as effective in the pursuit of one person to create or maintain control over another. This is true because â€Å"at the center of all abuse, whether it be physical, emotional or economic, there exists the desire of one person to create or maintain their control over another person† (Roberts 2002 pg. 200) Now that the various types of abuse has been defined, it now behooves the reader to realize the various facts which are associated with domestic violence. However, one must realize that by its very nature, domestic violence in all of its various forms, will usually remain underreported. However, these are some of the established and published statistics which are available to the public. In 2001, there occurred in the United States, 588,420 incidents of intimate partner violence (FBI 2004 pg. 15) Those incidents cost the United States between three and five billion dollars on medical expenses and an additional 90 million dollars is lost to businesses as the victims of domestic violence are therefore compelled to miss work out of a medical necessity or from the embarrassment that often times is associated with being a victim of intimate partner abuse. In the United States, 35% of violent crimes against women, occurred as a result of their intimate partner’s abuse within the home in 2003. ( FBI 2004 pg. 117) This is a stark comparison to the fact than less than 3$ of violence towards men occur as a result of their intimate partner as well. This latter figure and the fact that our society does not take seriously the occurrence of violence towards males, the reported 3% is only a ballpark estimate and there is no way of knowing exactly what percentage of men are being victimized by their intimate partner within the home. 23% of men of men who live with their homosexual partner, experience physical violence. 3. 2 million men experience â€Å"minor† abuse such as pushing, shoving and slapping from their intimidate partner. Nearly ? a million men are stalked annually and it has been reported that at least 22% of men have experienced some form of physical, emotional or sexual abuse in their lifetime from an intimate partner during their lifetime. (Cook 2003 pg. 118) except for the above mentioned, there seems to be a shortage on the information about men as being the victims of abuse of various kinds. This will continue until the stigma is completely erased and men feel an absence of guilt and embarrassment from being the victims of such crimes. The embarrassment comes from the fact that society perceives men as being stronger than women and therefore, it is always possible to fend off the attacker. In this erroneous assumption, one believes that the only form of abuse is physical. If that were the case, then society would be correct a majority of the time as men usually are stronger than women but this does not exclude a woman from using a weapon of any kind in which to overcome the difference in physical strength. Over 70% of men who were victims of physical abuse by their wives or girlfriends, were used on them, some sort of object which was then used as a weapon. However, often times, abuse does not take the form of physical violence and as it was seen in the case of the Jacobs, emotional abuse can for some people be more damaging than any form of financial or physical abuse. A man who is torn down every day for not fulfilling the expectations of his wife or girlfriend, who is made to feel as though he is not good enough and undeserving of her, who feels inferior in comparison to not only her, but as a man himself, will likely react in a wide array of different ways in which he seeks to regain control of the power which he felt he once had or as he feels emasculated by the entire process, the man now seeks to gain any sort of dominance over the perpetrator and in the process often times, is transformed from the victim to the perpetrator and physical violence will many times follow. Also, when there first is psychological violence, physical violence will likely follow. As it was touched on previously, the causes of domestic violence revolves around the fact that the victim, either intentionally or unintentionally is challenging the power and control of the perpetrator who is committing these various forms of abuse upon the victim. The need to control their victims also surrounds feelings of lose self esteem and the belief in the inadequacy of the person and that through the control of the victim, the gap which exists in their self esteem can somehow be corrected. Also, the more that these efforts fail to fill that â€Å"gap within their self esteem, often times, the abuse will intensify. † (Cook, 2003 pg. 134) However, there are other causes of abuse and often times, it is the childhood environment in which the perpetrator was subject to and which predisposed him or her to abusing a loved one in the future. A man is six times more likely to abuse a loved one if he was abused himself. A man is seven times more likely to abuse his loved one if he came from a broken home where the parents got divorced after a prolonged period of fighting and four times more likely to lack the emotional capacity to abstain from any aspect of the various abuses, if the person came from a broken home in which only one parent had always been present. (Roberts, 2003 pg. 190) Also, if a boy grows up in a family where his father routinely mistreated his wife, then when that boy grows up to become a man, as the sociologists all say that individuals are products of their environment more than then biology, it can sometimes become a certainty that the boy will grow up to repeat what he had spent his life witnessing. † (Jones, 2001 pg. 113) Substance abuse, mental illness and a low self esteem are among some of the various motivating factors which are somewhat to blame for a perpetrator’s likelihood to commit violence towards an intimate partner. What can be agreed upon, is the fact that intimate partner abuse can be the result of one chief motivating factor or is the result of various factors and all to a varying degree. This is what contributes to the complexity of the problem and the fact that spousal abuse, in all of its various forms, will not be eradicated from the social scene any time soon. Another cause of spousal abuse comes from the ability or desire of the man to devalue the woman for a wide range of reasons. This relates to the overwhelming percentage of spousal abuse in which the woman is the victim of the aggressive and hurtful behavior of the man. This is called dehumanization or the reduction of the other person to the importance of nothing at all; less than an object. Something that id disposable and therefore can be replaced and is of little importance. Only when the perpetrator values the victim as not only a person, not only an individual but one that is of a great value and cannot be replaced will the occurrences of abuse either stop of be curtailed. † (Cook, 2003 pg. 210) This also speaks to the gender differences of abuse. This is certainly not always the case but men’s abuse is preceded by physical violence and women are more known for psychological violence. However, an important issue to recognize is the fact that often times, physical abuse so preceded by psychological abuse and as a result, hospital records report a higher percentage of females seeking treatment than men for spousal abuse. Another factor in the high rate of physical abuse of women in comparison to men is the idea that women, had a predisposition towards being the victims of violence. In Erin Pizzey’s controversial book on abuse of women, Prone to Violence, Pizzey who was the founder of a women’s shelter in England stated that some women had a predisposition towards being the victim of abuses since they were seeking out the â€Å"bad boys;† the ones who were known to act out against society and therefore had within them a sense of danger which some of the women would find exciting. In the same book, Pizzey stated that of the first 100 female victims of spousal abuse, 62 were in her opinion, more violent than the men that they were running away from. Her book does not state if she thought that these women were instead made to act out violently because of the experiences that were placed upon them by their abusing spouses. These findings, no doubt, were the cause of a controversial discussion as to what was the cause of spousal abuse. Nowhere did Ms. Pizzey blatantly state that it was the fault of the women for being abused as it is not the fault of women who enter a bar wearing provocative clothing and gets raped. What is similar is that women, according to Ms. Pizzey, possess the power to many times, prevent the abuse from occurring by responsible behavior. This is not to say that women are to blame for the abuse since there does not seem to be any legitimate cause for the abuse of anyone, regardless of their gender, age or relation to the perpetrator. What next must follow is that the law will become involved. This is done reluctantly as the judicial system wishes to stay out of such affairs. This changes however, when one or more of the many crimes which are associated with spousal abuse, are deemed to have occurred or is about to occur. This includes but is not limited to murder, manslaughter, rape, threats to kill, kidnapping, false imprisonment, obstruction of justice and criminal damage as well as harassment and blackmail. When the above mentioned is present with a spousal abuse case, often times it is designed to create or maintain control over another person or the overreaction that the victim had towards the abuse of the perpetrator. In any event, the initial presence of the abuse increases into more than just a private family dispute. Often times, the presence of police and the judicial system often times will compound the problem. In a recent issue of the television show COPS, an individual’s common law wife called the police as she has become the victim of physical abuse by her husband. The cops responded to the call and tried to talk rationally to the man. The presence of the cops enraged the man and as he was being tackled to the floor, yelled that he was going to kill his wife and that he would never forgive her for what SHE had done. The police stated over and over, once the man was subdued, that they had not intention of arresting the man, despite the fact that it was obvious that the man had caused physical harm to both their home and to the woman but she was not going to press charges, the man was not going to be arrested until he decided to assault the police. Not only was the feelings of the man hurt and he was now more enraged by what he perceived to be the incorrect actions of his wife, the court case which followed, only prolonged the negative feelings that the man had towards his wife. Also, both the family disturbance and the court trial that was to follow, occurred in front of their small child. It seems unlikely that all three people will walk away from this event totally unaffected. The negative effects may last for decades to come in all three individuals. This speaks volumes as to the lasting dangers that domestic violence has on those who are involved and those who witness it. In an ideal world, everyone would find that one person that they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together in heavenly bliss. This still occurs but those are the lucky ones. Nearly every one of the millions of couples which have gotten divorced in America, either one or both of the people involved, were victims of one form of abuse or another. This is one of the leading reasons why divorce so severely scars the parents as well as the children involved as such abuse does not disappear quickly. Therefore, it would behoove all those involved, to abstain from such abuse on others, especially their loved ones and in front of their children. This is easier said than done for most people but if those who have a disposition towards either being the victim or perpetrator of physical violence, can recognize both the causes and effects of this most dangerous and harmful abuse, they can therefore be given much more of a chance to avoid its pitfalls and to enjoy the happiness of a mutually loving relationship; free from physical, emotional, economic and spiritual abuse which plagues the happiness of millions of people in this country and around the world. WORKS CITED Cook. P (2003) Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers Jones, A ( 2001 ) More Than Victims: Battered Women, the Syndrome Society, and the Law (Morality and Society Series Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pearson, D. Man and Daughter are Killed in Tragic Plane Crash. Chicago Tribune October 14, 2006 Roberts. A ( 2002) Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs, and Legal Remedies New York: Oxford University Press Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the U. S. , 2004 (Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the U. S. ) Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington D. C Government Printing Office

History of Modernist Art Movement

History of Modernist Art Movement During a defining moment in history, there can be an event that can arrive that can aim at a mechanism of change. In art history, this mechanism of change is the object of art or particular artists with the intention of marking the beginning of a new period of creative practice. The western world experienced a changing period of revolution in thought, technology, and society as the older ways collapsed and paved the way for modernism. At the head of social and cultural movement, influencing and reflecting these changes were Artists exploring elements of their craft and personal expression as never before. It is understood that modern artists are those who experimented with new ways of seeing, expressing new ideas and methods (Cianelli, 2009). As a result, there were many distinct styles that emerged, each arising from a different part of the changing world, and each reflecting the idea of Modernism in its own way. According to Justin Andrews (2009), modernism describes the style and theory of art that emerged from the late 1800s lasting into the mid-20th century. Modernism describes a series of reforming cultural movements in art and architecture, music, literature and the applied arts. During this time, there was a strand of thinking that began to assert that it was necessary to push aside previous norms entirely, instead of merely revising past knowledge because of current techniques. Many of the art and the writings intend to depict emotions and happenings at that particular time. Modernism proposes new forms of art since these are more appropriate to the present time. The people during this modernist time wanted to impact history and how issues were viewed then. The Modernist point of view argues that people should adapt to change and accept the views of the 20th century which is forever progressing. These groups that wanted to be heard formed what was called the avant- garde literary group. Avant-garde is the breaking away of something to begin the application of something new. Change and revolt, the very meaning of avant garde, became the measure of progress in Modern art. It provided a focus and a purpose for art (Parks, 1989, p.11). Consequently, a series of writers, thinkers, and artists made the break with traditional means of organizing literature, painting, and music. Modernism rooted in the idea that the traditional forms of art had become outdated, and that it was therefore essential to move it aside and embrace and accept change. Modernism rejected tradition and proposed a return to the fundamentals of art that allows artists to experiment with colour and form along with a freedom of expression. Modernism weakens all prior theories regarding the existence of objective reality and the use of reason as a suggestion to gain it. Modernisms extreme focal point on subjectivity led to a contemplative age in art, literature, philosophy, and systematic study. Modernism supports the reassessment of every piece of reality. Because art was constantly rejecting the past and replacing it with new and innovative ideas, standards for judging quality had no benchmark. Therefore, formalism became the measure of quality; a work was judged not for its relevance to external concerns, but based on aesthetic coherence within the work itself (Parks, 1989, p.11). Formalism in art is appreciated for the forms of its components such as the way it is made and the visual aspects. Formalism basically emphasizes elements such as color, line, shape and texture (Lotito, 2002). Modern artists started intentionally drawing viewers attention to the shape of a paintings support (canvas) and the properties of the paintings forms. Thus the paintings flatness became an integral component in the viewers experience of the artwork. According to Justin Wolf (2010), Clement Greenberg argues that the single most important element in Modern painting is its flatness. While Gre enberg focused on the depicted flatness, the artist balances forms of color and line to create a painterly value that appears utterly flat. Paintings are flat by the nature of the canvas. Since flatness was the only circumstance painting shared with no other art, Modernist painting adjusted itself to flatness as it did to nothing else. Modernism changed from the way the classical or traditional artists view nature, the environment, plus social norms and structures. Artists embraced their newfound freedom of expression, experimentation, and discrimination. According to Jade Wildy (2010), modernism saw more experimentation with colours, vibrant with warm colours that let artists concentrate on tone and structure of the artwork, as a result the structure of art changed significantly. Artists tried to break down the communitys view of art, analyzing theories of color and composition and frequently presenting these explorations on canvas. Artists tried to show the strengths of the human condition, uniting with unlimited human needs. Therefore, Modern Era artists increases the materials they use to create their pieces, resorting to approaches such as collage and even setting aside objects as art solely because of their being chosen by an artist. In addition, the artists increase the materials they make use of to compile their pieces, going to procedures such as collage and also adopting objects as art only because of being selected by an artist. There were many distinct styles that emerged and reflect the idea of Modernism. One of the styles is the concept of expressionism. According to Architecture411.com (2006), modern expressionism is characterized as a creative style which the artist produces their artwork by combining illustrations or objects with emotions. This is accomplished by using both factual and theoretical emphasis on color, consistency, unclear subject matter, deformation, abnormal strength, exaggeration and changed surrounding imagery. During the Modernistic movement, artists disposed of the old rules of perspective, color, and composition to figure out their own visions. Edvard Munch, a Norwegian, expressionist artist, is a unique figure in the history of modern art that formed and express his inner vision when it came to art. Munch was reared by his father who was a military doctor. Munchs childhood was filled with dramatic and tragic losses, including the death of his mother when he was five followed by the death of his elder and closest sister when he was 15; both died from tuberculosis (Hà ¸ifà ¸dt, 2006). These tragedies impacted his emotional and intellectual development. Munch studied engineering at a young age but later turned to art. Between 1892 and 1908, Munch spent much of his time in Paris and Berlin, where he became known for his printsetchings, lithographs, and woodcuts. (Pioch, 2002). Munchs work of art was modernistic. Munch was essentially subjective, expressing his personal emotions through daring color, unconventional compositions and deeply symbolic content. Because of the tragedies that Munch had to endure explains the harshness and negativity of much of Munchs work. Munchs work was the only way that he could express the pain and loss that he had suffered. Munch was a true expressionist. His art was a major impact of the expressionist movement, where artists sought to result in emotional responses. Munch conducted experiments with various painting procedures, paints, colors, and canvas. He regularly made basic paintings with a strong use of color as a representation of feelings. Munchs painting, The Scream, was one of Munchs most famous oil on canvas paintings and is a vital part of modern art. Many think that it has collected so much interest because it illustrates not only the strength of modernism, equally as a belief and as an art movement, but trouble and indifference of the modern world. (Dranitsin, 2010). The Scream is considered as a depiction of existential pain and isolation. The Scream represents the apogee of anxiety, the souls final breaking point (Fineman, 2005). The painting is Munchs personal expression on living and handling depression. Munch recreated an image when he was younger that had grabbed him while walking with two friends on afternoon. In the painting, there is an illustration of an agonized, tortured figure that stares directly out at the viewer, hands pressed to ears, with mouth open in awe standing. There have been several interpretations to this painting. The use of color has been used to describe the mood of the subject as well as contribute to a sense of chaos and disorder, which helps to support the expression of the figure. The reddish tinted sky caused the intensity of the scene with the contoured body of water and landscape. In the painting, the figure appears as if screaming. It is unknown whether the figure seen something dramatic or if this is a release of inner emotions. But, the way the mouth was open in an oval shape scream displays pain. The figure in the image is covering the ears which suggest that its not the person who is screaming but maybe an inner, silent scream coming from anxieties in life that frighteningly is heard by the one figure, while the other people in painting may be unable to hear anything. In addition, the scream from the figure may suggest that they are releasing the torment and frustration life can bring on people and this may symbolize an in ner scream. In conclusion, modernism consists of the latest styles and attitudes, also new ideas and practices. Modernism can be seen as an overall open-minded style of thoughts, which make individuals progress and change the environment with the aid of scientific knowledge and most up-to-date technologies. The concept of formalism during the Modern Era deliberately calls attention to the natural flatness of the canvas in an artists work. Artists have exercised a uniquely modern trend, in which the viewer is not intended to appreciate the interpretation of anything, but the act of the painting itself. The many artistic styles and movements all reflect the idea of modernity by being of their own time, dealing with contemporary images or issues, and continuing to create new methods of expression through the varied use of art. Even though modernism had almost become an outdated form of expression, it did not die out, but instead made the way for Postmodernism which was in many respects, a revision of modernist ideas. Edvard Munchs, one of the most prolific, innovative and influential figures in modern art, captured the feeling of the moment instead of the sights in his famous work The Scream. The painting displayed a glimpse of what Munch was really like inside. The painting reflected the idea of modernism and expressionism in a way that it is known what and how the artist was feeling at the time, because it illustrates nothing but human emotion. Lastly, the painting created multiple meanings nevertheless conveys a universal emotion that is recognized and experienced by all.

Species-area Relationship of Herpetofaunas in West Indies

Species-area Relationship of Herpetofaunas in West Indies De Gao 1. Introduction 1.1. Biodiversity and crisis on West Indies Oceanic islands, due to their discrete geographic isolation, differ distinctly from terrestrial  ecosystem, offer great opportunities for species conservation, and are regarded as the natural  laboratory for the study of biogeography and evolutionary ecology (Adsersen, 1995; Crawford  and Stuessy, 1997; Ricklefs and Bermingham, 2008). Island habitat heterogeneity and the gene  flow barrier between the island and its neighboring islands or land are the most important driving  forces leading to new species differentiation and formation (Cherry et al. 2002). The colonized  species from continents or nearby islands are then subjected to unique evolutionary processes,  for example, geographic isolation, character displacement, and adaptive radiation. The  accumulated mutations gradually and ultimately make colonized species into new indigenous  species that are genetically different from the original one. One of the most distinctive features of  the biota on oceanic is lands is the large number of endemics occurring in small areas (Francisco-Ortega et al. 2000). West Indies was identified as a biodiversity hotspot by Myers et al. (2000). A significant  percentage of the Earth’s known terrestrial biota is distributed on islands of the West Indies,  many of these species are endemic to the region, to individual islands, and even to isolated areas  within some islands (Hedges, 2001). But a large majority of the vast complex of islands in West  Indies is changing rapidly, resulting in dramatic alterations of habitats, and nearly all of them are  mediated by human activities (Powell and Henderson, 2012). Small population size, gene drift,  isolated gene flow, and the complexity of island environment have already made the endemic  herpetofaunal species easy to be endangered or extinct, human disturbances undoubtedly worsen  the situation. Therefore, critical conservation concerns in West Indian region are increasingly  important and required. 1.2. Species-area relationship (SAR) The species-area relationship is one of the most fundamental patterns in macroecology and an  important tool in assessing species diversity, extinction rates and species hotspots (Tjà ¸rve, 2009). According to the equilibrium theory (MacArthur and Wilson, 1967), the relationship between  immigration and the extinction of species to island depends on the island size and its distance to  mainland. MacArthur-Wilson’s theory provided impetus for numerous studies on species-area  relationships (SARs) that have provided biological interpretations for several taxa and have  suggested factors and mechanisms that can determine species richness (Simaiakis et al. 2012). And the theory has an enormous influence on perspectives of species conservation and nature  reserves design. The main objective of this chapter is to discuss SARs for herpetofaunas in West Indies regions,  with the aim of discover which factors may determine their distribution over the whole range of  island sizes. We choose to fit some candidate models including the power model and some  sigmoid models to see whether a J-shaped part exists at the lower end of the curve. Small-island  effect (SIE) holds that, on islands smaller than a certain critical minimum area, one cannot  observe an increase in species number with increasing area (Simaiakis et al. 2012). We choose to  fit candidate models including the power model and some sigmoid models to see whether a J-shaped part exists at the lower end of the curve. If the best fitted model has a sigmoid shape, a J-shaped part will exist at the lower end, and then we accept SIE. If the best fitted model has a  convex shape, a J-shaped part will not exist at the lower end, and then we deny SIE. There are  also other reasons why it is so important to know the shape of species-area curve. Based on the  curve shape, we could estimate total species diversity from limited numbers of samples, or  estimate species extinction as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation (Tjà ¸rve, 2003). Candidate species-area models are proposed from two sources. The first source is species-area  literature which has traditionally fit data with power or exponential models, the second source  involves a broader search of the literature for models that increased monotonically to an  asymptote (Flather, 1996). Although the shape of the curve has been extensively debated over the years, power and  exponential curves are the most commonly applied and best known ones, lately, an increasing  number of authors have argued some SARs are perhaps best represented by functions that are  sigmoid in arithmetic space and there are also a number of recent studies where sigmoid models  have been fitted to empirical data (Tjà ¸rve, 2003). Some sigmoid models behave similar with  others, for instance, the Extreme value function behaves quite similar to the Logistic and  Gompertz models; The Cumulative beta-P distribution behaves similarly to the Weibull  distribution (Tjà ¸rve, 2003). 2. Aims In this study, we are trying to solve 3 questions: Question 1: What is the species-area relationship (SAR) for herpetofaunas in West Indies? Is the  SAR same for native and invasive species? And is it the same among each animal group  classification under amphibian and reptile? Question 2: Due to human’s help, invasive species are supposed to have a higher dispersal  ability as compared to the native. So, in the linear form of the power model (LogS/LogA) is there  a higher z-value for the invasive species than the native species? Question 3: What geographic factors may determine species richness over the whole range of  island sizes? Are these factors also applicable to other group of islands that located in similar  latitude areas to determine their species richness? 3. Material and Methods Data on species occurrences originate from Powell and Henderson (2012). Multiple basemaps in  ArcMap 10 and ArcGlobe 10 will be used to digitize islands map. We use different scales to  digitize islands with various areas. Fractal Analysis will be used to estimate the perimeters at a  uniform scale (Farina, 2007). For comparisons of the fit of different models, the Akaike’s  information criterion (AIC) was applied (Burnham and Anderson, 2002). Model selection  analyses will run using â€Å"mmSAR† package (Guilhaumon et al. 2010) for the R statistical and  programming environment (R Development Core Team, 2011). Aim 1: Model selection we use the 8 most general models composed in â€Å"mmSAR† package (Guilhaumon et al. 2010) to  fit the data, which include 5 convex models (Power, Exponential, Negative exponential, Monod,  Rational function) and 3 sigmoid models (Logistic, Lomolino, Cumulative Weibull). Aim 2: LogS/LogA linear regression We analyze the linear function of the LogS/LogA and compare parameter values with vertebrates  from global oceanic islands (Triantis et al. 2012). Aim 3: Find out the geographic factors affect species richness/Steps Initially selected variables are X1 Distance to mainland X2 Latitude of island centroid X3 Longitude of island centroid X4 Island No. within 0.1km X5 Island No. within 0.1-1km X6 Island No. within 1-5km X7 Island No. within 5-10km X8 Islands Area within 0.1km X9 Islands Area within 0.1-1km X10 Islands Area within 1-5km X11 Islands Area within 5-10km X12 Area of the island X13 Perimeter of the island X14 Perimeter/Area X15 Percentage of vegetation X16 Percentage of human area X17 Rivers within the island X18 Invasive spp. within the island X19 Percentage of invasive spp. X1 and X3 are used to examine species dispersal from mainland; X2 is used to examine the  nearness to equator; X4, X5, X6, X7 are used to examine stepping stones in each loop circle; X8,  X9, X10, X11 are used to examine total area of stepping stones in each loop circle; X12 is used to examine area effect; X13 and X14 are used to examine shape (irregularity) of island; X15,  X17 are used to examine habitat quality; X16, X18, X19 are used to examine human disturbance  and invasive species. Principal Component Analysis and Hierarchical Partitioning Analysis will be made based on the  residuals distribution of LogS/LogA linear regression to examine which geographic factors are  the significant contributions of species richness in West Indies.

A comparison of the heroic figures within Of Mice & Men (John Steinbeck, :: English Literature

A comparison of the heroic figures within Of Mice & Men (John Steinbeck, published 1938) and The Sexton's Hero (Elizabeth Gaskell, 1950s) A comparison of the heroic figures within Of Mice & men and The Sexton's Hero Although both Of Mice & Men (John Steinbeck, published 1938) and The Sexton's Hero (Elizabeth Gaskell, 1950s) contain story lines, & references that emphasise heroism, they are both set in very different locations & time periods, so their only apparent link is heroism. Of Mice & Men is set in California within the 1930's during the time of the depression. During this time many people lived in poverty, struggling to find employment, and had to resort to travelling from ranch to ranch in search of it. Unemployment had risen to 25% in the United States. At this time the 'American dream' that so many had sought after out had become nothing more than a lost dream. The Sexton's Hero is set around 1850. The story has a Christian influence. Of Mice and Men begins in the Californian countryside and then moves into the setting of the Ranch and finally at the end of the story the characters are taken back into the countryside. The Sexton's Hero also features a mix of countryside and village settings. The story begins in the Churchyard and moves into a village in Lancashire, North England. Of Mice and Men is written in the third person and is told chronologically whereas The Sexton's Hero is written in a more recollective, third person form (person at the church yard and then the Sexton remembering). In both Of Mice and Men and The Sexton's hero, there is a singular 'hero' that the story focuses on. Although both characters are both seen as heroes they are very different people, with very little in common. The stereotypical hero that many of us are used to today through watching television and films would be a character like Superman or Spiderman, a person who is typically strong, fearless, brave, and has some sort of special power. They also end up catching the villain and saving the girl. We can see from the example of Gilbert and George that this stereotype of a hero does not always apply to all heroes and that Gilbert and George are not stereotypical heroes, although both do share certain aspects of the stereotypical hero. The theme of heroism is introduced very differently in each story. In Of Mice and Men it is introduced implicitly to the reader. Readers look at the characters and their relationships with others and decide for themselves what a hero is. In The Sexton's Hero the theme of