Respones paper Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Respones paper - Movie Review Example The fiction in the movie or novel finds itself in the fact that all main heroes gathered by the author in The Yacoubian Building (a luxury apartment building which was built in Cairo)  are invented by him. Nevertheless, the borders between reality and fiction are blurred for these people, only with different names, can be among the audience of readers or viewers right now, as they â€Å"†¦are people of our world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hamid). One of the outrageous themes raised in the work is the false Islamic piety. The main characters including an impoverished aristocrat and a self-proclaimed expert on women, a godly student, a newspaper editor and a corrupt politician, all of them perceive themselves as Allah-fearing citizens who honor their religion and lead a righteous way of life. Still there is a small remark that must be underlined – our heroes go on about their desires and feelings which are inconsistent with the concepts of their faith. In such a case they simply interpret the commandments of the Koran in a favorable for them light to justify their actions and not to be sinners in their own eyes as well as in the eyes of God. The strong belief of almost every Muslim is that â€Å"†¦God bless him and grant him peace†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Aswany 4) and our characters are not the exception. Another important feature of contemporary Egyptian social life is its injustice and inequality of people of different classes. In this respect the Yacoubian Building itself serves as the symbol of the division of the poor and the rich, according to their situation in the edifice, that is, the poor are in the upper and almost unsuitable rooms and the elite is on the lower floors with large comfortable apartments. Nevertheless men of every social class are the same in one question – relations with women. As it shown in the novel and film, different people have different love affairs with representatives of different sex. However, the place of a woman is still the central one in the lives of

Future of Rural Communities Essay Example for Free

Future of Rural Communities Essay Will today’s small rural towns be the ghost towns of tomorrow? Will what’s now a moderately busy main street be overtaken by grasses and tumbleweeds? According to the CEDS â€Å"Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy†, which was compiled in 2003 by the South Central Economic Development District, Franklin County ranks last in housing unit counts, wage and salary income, employer establishments. County population has declined over 34% from 5,449 in 1960 to 3,574 in 2000. Is the future of Franklin, Nebraska a steady decline with an end as a ghost town in the future? Franklin has a chance to reverse this trend with lots of community involvement, and by taking immediate action. There are many obstacles in the way of meeting the goal of making our small communities more livable and desirable. In the case of Franklin, there is a core group that has been in charge for many years and that is not easily convinced of the need to change. â€Å"Why change what has worked for many years? is only one of the questions that are heard many times. People don’t understand that in order to attract new families to move into our community, there has to be something to draw their attention to the area. Resistance to change is one of the greatest obstacles people that try to introduce change to small towns face (Gorman). Here in Franklin, ideas are often turned down, only because they may have come from an â€Å"outsider†. In this small town, everyone that has not been born in the community or in the next few towns up or down the river valley is an outsider. Unfortunately a distrust of strangers and their motives can be a great hindrance when making an effort to encourage growth. Massive change in a community often requires a great financial effort, and funds that are not readily available to communities. Often the city council votes against a project because of lack of money in the community. They are unaware that there may be grant money available for community improvement projects, or that someone in the community may feel strongly enough about a project to finance it with a donation. Problems must be dealt with honestly in order to find solutions that work. To turn ideas into concrete plans, a professional economic planner may be needed. There may be people within the community that are already equipped to do the necessary research and work with the many State-run and private organizations that are available to assist with rural development. Another option is to get together with other towns that may face the same problems, or have already taken forward steps to becoming a thriving community. Another secret to success lies in supporting existing businesses and encouraging entrepreneurs to follow their dreams (Brhel 1). A local bank that is open to working with new and existing businesses can be a great asset in keeping businesses in town and gaining new business ventures. Filling empty storefronts on main-street and keeping existing businesses open is a vital part of keeping downtown alive. Making a plan for business succession is another priority. There needs to be a plan for what happens when owners of existing businesses retire, in order to keep these businesses from permanently closing. Isolated counties may not be able to attract large businesses, due to a lack of skilled workers. It may be wise for small towns in these counties to attract families with an array of recreational opportunities. (Duggan, 12) Many workers are not tied to their office anymore; telecommuting and the internet give them the choice to live where they want to live. Making a community an interesting place with many recreational opportunities and marketing these opportunities can interest new families. The promise of affordable living with a great quality of life could act as a magnet to newcomers. There are many requirements that have to be met in order to turn a small rural town around. It takes people with a vision to see a potential in such a town. The community needs to pull together and find a group of volunteers that are also concerned with the community’s progression (Brhel, 2). It helps to find volunteers that are involved only in a limited amount of activities, since â€Å"professional volunteers† are often stretched so thin that they do not have the necessary time and energy that needs to be invested in community activism. A strong leader is needed to encourage volunteers but who is also able to deal with city and state officials. Franklin has found such a strong leader in Jim Gorman, who only moved to town about three years ago, after marrying Randee Emerson, a longtime Franklin resident. After living here in the community for a while he noticed that there are many individuals within our community that are quite willing to work hard for the community. He also noticed that there are many civic and other organizations in town that are basically idle or inactive. He founded the County Stimulation Initiative for Franklin County (CSI Franklin), an organization that is concerned with stimulating the growth, and improving the health and well being of our community on an economic and quality of life basis (Gorman). Jim Gorman is active in a number of organizations that have the economic growth of rural towns at heart. His activism in this town is strengthened by his being associated with the South Central Nebraska Economic Development District, a consortium of twelve rural Nebraska counties who see improving rural economies as a regional rather than purely local issue(SCEDD). CSI Franklin is what Gorman calls his group. They have already taken action in modernizing some signs at the local museum, and are now working on new museum exhibits and on the preservation of current artifacts. The Franklin Museum now also offers broadband internet access that was made possible with the help from Glenwood Communications. A new community website will help market the city of Franklin, and hopefully instill an interest in people to relocate to this area. Gorman states he hopes that by marketing our fantastic hunting opportunities, and our wonderful quality of life, marketing the modern workplace with broadband internet access for telecommuters and new businesses, people will be attracted to this area, and we will see an influx in people moving to this area. Possible future projects include restoration and renovation of the Dupre Music Hall, a historic building in the middle of the Franklin City Park and the Lincoln Hotel, a three story structure that was built in 1918 and is in dire need of repair. Both buildings are not usable at this time, but would make wonderful community centers. Making either one of them useable would be a great enrichment to this town. It would also instill a sense of pride in the people of this town, which might make them more likely to volunteer for community improvement projects. With a handful of dedicated volunteers, a good leader, and a solid plan, Franklin has a good chance of not only survival, but may even have the opportunity to flourish. There are many resources available to us and we need to make good use of them. Organizations like CSI, SCEDD, the University of Nebraska Rural Initiative are there to assist with these activities, and people like Jim Gorman are essential in reaching our goals.

Five Burning Lights in a Dark Universe :: Women Feminism Rights Essays

Five Burning Lights in a Dark Universe The present just as the past did holds innumerable obstacles for women in search of a professional career. However, as a woman of the 20th century, I am glad to say that the obstacles have decreased through time thanks to the voices of courageous women who dare to talk when everyone else held silent. Many changes occur from the 17th century on, economically, politically and socially; the scientific revolution, the end of monarchy and absolute power, the emergence of democracy, and capitalism are only a few of those changes. This changes also brought changes in peoples attitudes, specially the attitude about women. Since the Greek times, society has underestimated women's potential. However, through history women have dared to challenge the world, and have spoken up to show the world that women are as capable, and talented as men. Aphra Behn, Anne Finch, Margaret Cavendish, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary Shelly are five of these women from the 17 and 19-century who dared to speak up, and raise their voices to let the whole world know about women's situation and solutions to it. Aphra Behn, born in 1640, was England's first professional woman writer. Behn was a middle-class widow who mainly wrote for TIME and CLEOS, in Greek or fame and fortune for us. In a time where women were suppose to be silent, pure, and in the private sphere or homes taking care of the children and their husbands, a woman dared to challenge society. Behn, challenged society not only by stepping into the public sphere, publishing her writings, but also by writing about women's feelings, desires, dreams and realities. Behn wrote great poetry and we can see her challenging ideas in the title of her poems most of the time, and this challenges become more obvious as we read her poems. "The Willing Mistress," was a vivid example of this, since in its verses Behn writes about a woman's sexual desires and wiliness to have sexual relations with a married man. We can also see a reflection of her ideas, in her speech titled "Mrs. Gwin," where she criticize the gender ideology of the time, and also exposes women's situation. She argues that no reason existed for men to prevent women from writing, governing and fighting, with the excuse that women were weak and inferior, because women have had done it before.

Case Study of the Spanish Retail Chain Zara

The Spanish retail chain, Zara, owned by Inditex is a retailer that has been so successful in our world of globalization and new technologies today by simply adopting a new approach in the industry. With their simple business model of speed, flexibility, and high fashion, Zara has the competitive advantage to be sustainable. Zara was founded by Amancio Ortega Gaona (Ortega), in 1975 and went on to become the flagship brand of the holding company, Industria de Diseno Textil, SA, popularly called Inditex, which was founded in 1979. As of 2002, Inditex operated six separate chains, that being, Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho. However, each chain operates independently and is responsible for its own strategy, product design, sourcing and manufacturing, distribution, image, personnel, and financial results. Zara, which contributes around 80 per cent of group sales (Grant 2005, p. 398), is by far the largest, most profitable, and most internationalized of the chains. Its stores can now be found in the most important shopping districts of more than 400 cities in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. With year-on-year sales increasing at around 25% over the last 5 years, it has become one of the world’s fastest growing retailers (University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing). Discussion The global apparel market is a consumer-driven industry (Criag, Jones & Nieto, 2004) in which profits derived from â€Å"unique combinations of high-value research, design, sales, marketing, and financial services that allow retailers, branded marketers, and branded manufacturers to act as strategic brokers in linking overseas factories†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ with markets (Collins 2003, p. 44). Zara's business model can be broken down into three basic components: concept, capabilities, and value drivers. Zara's fundamental concept is to maintain design, production, and distribution processes that will enable Zara to respond quickly to shifts in consumer demands and tastes. The main business tactics of the company in context of its business model is:- (i) Short lead time: More fashionable clothes and embracing quick changing customer's tastes. (ii) Decentralized Management: Taking advantage of the intelligence and trust the judgment of employees. (iii) Lower quantities: Inventory will be formidable burden in perishable products. (iv) More styles: Providing more choices for customers and more chances of meeting the customers taste. At the heart of Zara's success is a vertically integrated business model spanning design, just-in-time production, marketing and sales. The distinctive vertical integration feature of Zara’s business model, has allowed the company to successfully develop a strong merchandising strategy. This strategy has led Zara to create a climate of scarcity and opportunity as well as a fast-fashion system. Currently, H&M is Inditex’s major competitor. Swedish retailer H&M has been growing at an average rate of 20% annually in the past two decades. These two European retailers are known for their ‘fast fashion’ had unique business models and growth strategies which have enabled them to expand quickly and successfully beyond their own borders. With the European markets becoming saturated, Both companies are expanding outside Europe and establish their hegemony in the world market. Yet what is it that distinguishes Zara from H&M and its other competitors? In its process of expanding globally, Zara, unlike its competitors such as Gap, Benetton, and H&M, does not use cheap Asian outsourcing. Eighty percent of Zara’s materials are manufactured in Europe, with fifty percent made in Zara controlled facilities in the Galicia region of Spain near headquarters. Though the cost of production in Spain more expensive compared to Asia, Zara still manages to maintain competitive advantage over its competitors in regards to operations. Zara maintains local strategic partnerships with manufacturers and suppliers in Europe and this proximity gives Zara great flexibility in adapting their product lines based on up to date market trends and consumer behaviour while decreasing costs of holding inventory. This proximity effect and the flexibility give Zara its competitive edge in comparison to their peers. However, the business strategies adopted by Zara, does have its setbacks to Zara’s success. The vertical integration concept often leads to the inability to acquire economies of scale, which means Zara cannot gain the advantages of producing large quantities of goods for a discounted rate which leads to higher costs being incurred as they have to set a higher pricing of Zara products outside of Europe in order to cover supply costs. Zara has not invested in distribution facilities to support their global expansion. As a result, despite being able to quickly supply their stores at present, they may not be able to supply to a larger number of retail locations due to their â€Å"centralized logistic† model. Even though Zara has been successful at scaling up its distribution system, the centralized logistics system might eventually be subject to diseconomies of scale as Zara continues to open stores all around the world and ships product from its single Distribution Center in Europe. This system may work well with the current number of stores because majority of the stores are centralised in Europe. However, Zara won’t be benefiting from short lead times and low operational cost with a single central Distribution Center model in terms of globalisation and branching out into other countries. Conclusion To successfully expand globally, Zara should focus on one country at a time. Our team concludes that Zara’s current focus should be international expansion in a country that has an open trade market with well formed trade regulations as this provides a safer business environment. During the globalization process, Zara should maintain short lead time, quick inventory turnover, leading fashion brand and low advertising cost as its competitive advantage. As a result of their product cycle, Zara gives their customers the feeling of scarcity because new items are presented weekly and are often not restocked, and this encourages customers to come to the stores and buy frequently. As such, Zara invests more in their store layouts as compared to marketing. Their cost advantage and ability to maintain brand recognition and customer loyalty along with other factors such as regional distribution center, vertical integration, outsourcing and eye-catching window displays are essential elements for Zara to build value in the company and to continue to re-invent and innovate themselves to stay fresh in the apparel industry.

Observation Performed at Atascadero Lake Park

This paper will include observations of interactions between other children that appeared to be in his respective age group as well as children of the opposite sex and In some cases younger and older. Through the use of Piglet's theory of child development and other resources I will compare the child's development as compared to other children In his age range, as well as ascertaining and conveying the parenting style that I observed during this time.Observation of a 3 Year Old Boy Upon arriving at the Decorator Lake Park I positioned myself at a bench close to the play area. This area Included many of the usual types of equipment that one old expect to see at a park that Is frequented by young children. Clearly most of the play equipment was of modern construction and design and It being a beautiful sunny day, the park was full of children of various ages and stages of development.The child I observed primarily was a male approximately three to four years of age and was very active during the time he was at play. He appeared to be at a normal state of development upon my initial observation and this point was only confirmed as I continued to watch Children between the ages of three and four typically walk more rhythmically and re able to easily go from a walk to a run, they Jump and are more able to throw and catch object much more effectively, essentially there gross motor skills advance (Beer).Children in this age range also exhibit improvement with their fine motor skills that allow them to use zippers and eating utensils much more effectively (Beer). The young boy I was observing displayed an excellent ability to climb and run, his balance and depth perception seemed to be very appropriate for this age range. There were many other children of various different ages and sexes at the park as well as the child that I was observing. He seemed especially adept at interacting with many of the other children.Although there were many different toys and pieces of e quipment to play on I also observed several of the children pretending that they were on a ship at sea or performing in the circus, according to Pigged this is part of the operational stage which represents a stage of development that usually occurs Detente ten ages AT two Ana seven (Plague, EYE). One AT ten most villous attributes of this stage is the extraordinary increase in representational, or symbolic, activity (Pigged, 1951). Pigged felt that make believe play was an excellent way for hillier to strengthen newly acquired representational schemes (1951).The child that I was observing seemed to have excellent manual dexterity, he was able to swing from bar to bar on the Jungle gym with ease. He was able to climb up and down the various ladders and chain ropes, crawl through the many openings of the mock tree house that had been provided by the designers of this particular park. One of the longest periods of time he spent on one task was during his time in the sand box. He focus ed a great deal on building what appeared to be a pyramid or some sort of castle.The focus the he exhibited on the end result, I found to be remarkable, however once he had made the decision that it met his expectations he made it a point to not only destroy what he had been painstakingly working on for the better part of forty minutes he also smoothed over the area that he had been working, almost seeming to be concerned that there was no visible evidence remaining. There was a great deal of interaction between the young man and his peers he seemed to have no issue with the sex of the other child, however I did observe at one point that he was holding the hand of a girl who appeared to be around the same GE as he.He appeared to be attempting to persuade her to Join him on the swings. She however was not interested in that particular activity. She actually looked as if she wanted to leave the sandy area of the playground and move onto the grass which would have involved navigating a small step up. When the girl attempted to step up she tripped, causing the boy made a valiant attempt to stop her from falling, to no avail. He was however successful in aiding her to stand back up and helped to bush of the sand. I will say from that point forward the girl was not as eager to hold his and as she clearly felt that was what had caused her to fall.After observing this boy for some time it became clear that he was there with two other children. One a male that was younger than he and the other a female that looked to be approximately four to five years old. In addition after hearing some discussion I was able to ascertain that these children were there with the boys mother and grandmother. Although I did not witness any direct disciplinary steps taken by either of the adult authority figures it was clear that both of the adults were very engaged in what the children were doing.However they allowed the children to lay on the various types of equipment and really only be came involved with specific instructions if it seemed that any of the children were considering leaving the immediate play area. I really felt that the adults were allowing the children to explore and engage in whatever activity they so choose provided it was not an activity that could potential cause harm. In this particular case on this particular day the parental figure was clearly exhibiting the authoritative method of child rearing.According to Beer the authoritative child rearing style is the most successful approach that involves high acceptance and involvement, which includes adaptive control techniques and appropriate autonomy granting (up. 260-261). Although I had only a few opportunities to hear conversations between the adult figure and the child I was serving It was clear Tanat communication was Tree Tooling In ten sense Tanat when the boy expressed what he wanted to do the parent was very responsive to the idea.The youngest of the three children in this group began to have some sort of issue with being unable to navigate the low hanging swing bridge. Subsequently he began to cry which then turned into a fully fledged protest. The boy that I was observing immediately came to his younger peer's assistance. He was able to hold onto the younger child allowing him to make it across and back. This show of empathy which becomes an important part of proboscis and altruistic behavior, according to Beer empathy becomes more common in early childhood and typically preschoolers rely more on words to communicate empathic feelings. (p. 60). In this particular case it was clear that the older boy was in fact talking the younger child through the necessary steps in order to successfully traverse this bridge. This boy seemed especially adept with social interaction and seemed able to move room situation to situation with ease and was comfortable engaging with children of different sexes, ages and points in development. In some instances he seemed to almost make a point to become involved with all of the groups of children. Additionally he appeared to make a point to try to include some other children that were more focused on solitary activities.This I found to be almost deliberate, it seemed that not only was he concerned that a few of the children were playing alone, he persisted in his invitation to Join the other children even when the â€Å"lone wolf† expressed no or very little desire to participate in any group activity. Comparing the child that I was observing to several of the other children that appeared to be in his approximate age range his development seemed to be at least comparable and in some cases further along that the others.With regards to his ability to communicate with the others as well as his ability to move from group to group with a great deal of ease he exhibited an excellent ability to vacillate between appropriate energy levels and vocal volume that would be appropriate to the circumstances to which he wa s about to enter. This displayed to me that the child was experienced with many different types of play or social situations and was able to differentiate each situation without disrupting the other children's focus.This was in clear contrast to several of the other children of the same approximate age that clearly felt it was necessary to make a grand entrance. The amount of time that I spent observing this child's adeptness to navigate through a fairly complicated social playing field displayed how impressive this ability truly was. During the final thirty minutes of my time at the park I really tried to focus on pavement and physical acuity. The boy tended to focus much of his attention on the â€Å"Jungle gym â€Å"equipment.This particular apparatus offered many types of activities, slides, rope swings, monkey bars, which this particular child seemed especially skilled in, also various ladders of different shapes and moving in multiple directions. I can assure you this was no t the park toys of my younger days. The equipment at this park seemed well designed offering the children many different opportunities to discover any hidden acrobatic skills that they may be harboring.All in all this observation made it clear that this young child, this boy of three or four years old, was agile and energetic, had clearly been exposed to many types of social solutions, Ana parents Tanat succeeded to ten autonomy tattle style Ana was developing both physically and cognitively at an appropriate level. In my opinion in many cases he was a bit advanced compared to other children that I observed during my time at Decorator Lake Park. The one thing that impressed me the most was his ability to socialize, to communicate and yet seem to really enjoy his time at the park.

A Guide to Disciplinary Probation

A Guide to Disciplinary Probation Disciplinary probation is the term many schools use to indicate a student or student organization has engaged in unacceptable behavior, according to an institutions student handbook or code of conduct. This is also known as college probation, probation, or a probation warning but is different than academic probation. Schools often let students or student organizations on disciplinary probation remain at the school during a probationary period, as opposed to suspending or expelling them. How to Respond to Probation If youve been placed on probation, its important to be very clear on 1) what caused your probation, 2) how long your probation will last, 3) what you need to do to get off of probation, and 4) what happens if you break your probation rules. Ideally, your school will provide all this information when your school notifies you about being placed on probation, as well as whom to contact with any questions. Additionally, its important to make sure you find positive support systems and stay away from situations that might, even by chance, lead you to a probation violation. Disciplinary probation often requires students to remain free from any kind of disciplinary trouble during a predetermined time period. For example, a student on probation for violating residence hall rules must not have any other disciplinary problems in the hall. If that student violates their probation, they may face more severe consequences, like suspension or expulsion, which can hinder progress toward graduation. In the case of an organization on probation, the school may further restrict its activities, cut off its funding, or force it to disband if the group violates probation. Probationary periods can be anything from a few weeks to an entire semester or academic year. Impact on Transcripts Policies vary by school, but your disciplinary probation could show up on your transcript. As a result, your probation could have an effect on any future activity that requires you to present your transcript, like if youre transferring to a different college or applying to graduate school. Youll want to check with your school, but in many cases, the probation note will only show up on your transcript during your probation period. If you make it through probation without violating its terms, the note should be removed. However, if probation leads to suspension or expulsion, its likely to remain a permanent part of your transcript. Can I Get out of Probation? Again, youd need to check your schools policies, but if you feel you dont deserve to be put on disciplinary probation, you may be able to fight it. See if theres a way to appeal the decision. If thats not an option, ask if theres anything you can do to shorten the probationary period. Beyond that, your best course of action may be to ride out the probation period with patience and good behavior. Once youve done whats required of your probation terms, your transcript will likely show no record of it. Of course, just because its not on your transcript doesnt mean your school forgets about it. You probably have a disciplinary record, as well, so youll want to avoid getting in trouble again, because you may face harsher consequences the next time youre cited for unacceptable behavior.

261 OConnor and A Good Man Is Hard to Find Professor Ramos Blog

261 OConnor and A Good Man Is Hard to Find Flannery OConnor (1925 1964) Quick Write Flannery OConnor (1925 1964) A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955) 50s Music 1950s Highway Sign in the Southern United States

Cupones de alimentos para inmigrantes y ciudadanos

Cupones de alimentos para inmigrantes y ciudadanos El programa del gobierno federal de cupones para alimentos - conocido como food stamps- ayuda a alimentar a  46.7  millones de personas en Estados Unidos. Para los migrantes es importante conocer en quà © consiste este beneficio de los cupones de alimentos, quà © migrantes pueden solicitarlo, cà ³mo se pide y cules son las opciones para las personas que no pueden aplicar para los food stamps. Datos bsicos sobre los cupones de alimentos o SNAP Este programa es administrado por cada uno de los 50 estados y es conocido como SNAP por sus siglas en inglà ©s (anteriormente como Food Stamps). Casi la mitad de los beneficiados son nià ±os. La cantidad a recibir mensualmente por cada beneficiario o por cada familia se ingresa en una tarjeta electrà ³nica conocida como EBT que funciona como una tarjeta de dà ©bito. Se puede utilizar en miles de supermercados, tiendas y cooperativas de alimentos. El gobierno se gastaba unos $70 mil millones (billones) al aà ±o en este programa. El beneficiario medio recibe en torno $1.40 por comida. Una familia media compuesta por cuatro personas recibir $632. Cada familia o individuo recibe una cantidad distinta segà ºn sus necesidades, pero en la actualidad la media por persona es de $130 al mes, aproximadamente. Requisitos migratorios para solicitar los cupones de alimentos Todos los ciudadanos estadounidenses pueden solicitar este beneficio, incluidos los nià ±os nacidos en Estados Unidos cuyos padres son inmigrantes, tanto los legales como los indocumentados. Los progenitores pueden solicitar los cupones de alimentos para sus hijos. En el caso de inmigrantes sin estatus legal, debern decir simplemente que no pueden presentar ciertos documentos. Es fundamental entender que la ayuda se pide y debe ser disfrutada por los nià ±os ciudadanos. Los residentes permanentes legales, es decir, los titulares de una green card, tambià ©n tienen derecho a los food stamps, pero hay requisitos diferentes dependiendo de ciertas circunstancias. La regla general es que los migrantes que son residentes permanentes legales y son  mayores de 18 aà ±os debern haber vivido en Estados Unidos por un mà ­nimo de cinco aà ±os. Este tiempo puede ser menor si han acumulado al menos 40 crà ©ditos de trabajo (se puede verificar en la Administracià ³n de la Seguridad Social). Sin embargo, si el residente es ciego, incapaz, miembro activo de las Fuerzas Armadas o veterano o cà ³nyuge o hijo de un militar en activo o veterano no tiene que cumplir con ese requisito de los cinco aà ±os de residencia o 40 crà ©ditos de trabajo computados. Tampoco aplica a los residentes legales menores de 18 aà ±os. Es decir, los nià ±os residentes tienen derecho a la ayuda inmediatamente, no necesitan haber vivido en EEUU por ningà ºn periodo de tiempo Algunos estados como Nueva York, Connecticut o California ofrecen beneficios alimentarios a residentes permanentes aunque no lleven  cinco aà ±os de residencia. Eso es asà ­ si demuestran cumplir todos los otros requisitos necesarios para recibir este beneficio. Asimismo, tambià ©n pueden solicitar inmediatamente los cupones de alimentos los asilados y refugiados y, tras cinco aà ±os de residencia en EEUU, las personas que hayan entrado al paà ­s condicionalmente asà ­ como las và ­ctimas de violencia domà ©stica (cà ³nyuge, hijos, padres del abusador) que tengan un procedimiento pendiente. No pueden aplicar los extranjeros que estn temporalmente en EEUU, como son los estudiantes, ni tampoco los indocumentados. Si estas personas obtienen cupones de alimentos a pesar de que la ley se lo prohibe tienen que saber que cuando esto se descubra tendrn aà ±adido un nuevo problema migratorio por haber sido una carga pà ºblica. Quià ©nes pueden aplicar por cupones de alimentos: requisitos econà ³micos Los ingresos y medios econà ³micos con los que se cuenta como propiedades, cuentas bancarias, etc., deben ser reducidos. Se puede verificar si se tiene o no derecho a recibir este beneficio por internet y esta es la là ­nea de la pobreza sobre la cual se hace el clculo. Dà ³nde aplicar por SNAP Se puede solicitar en cualquier oficina del Programa de Asistencia Nutricional Suplementaria. Muchos estados permiten aplicar por internet. Cunto tiempo tarda en procesarse la solicitud En un mximo de 30 dà ­as la peticià ³n ser aprobada o denegada. Si el solicitante tiene muy poco dinero disponible se resolver la solicitud en siete dà ­as. Quà © comprar con los cupones de alimentos Se puede adquirir productos lcteos, frutas, vegetales, panes, cereales, pescados, carne y pollo. Est prohibido comprar tabaco, licores, cerveza, vitaminas, medicinas y artà ­culos de hogar como jabones o alimentos para mascotas. Tampoco se puede pagar con los cupones comida en un restaurante, salvo casos muy excepcionales en los que hay autorizacià ³n para proveer con comida caliente a bajo precio a personas sin techo, ancianos o personas con una incapacidad declarada legalmente. CONSEJOS A TENER EN CUENTA Si los padres indocumentados se encuentran con problemas para solicitar cupones de alimentos para sus hijos ciudadanos, pueden pedir ayuda a las organizaciones de defensa de los derechos de los inmigrantes para que les ayuden en el proceso. Tener en cuenta que en algunos estados en las familias mixtas con personas documentadas e ilegales puede que estos à ºltimos tengan que estar excluidos en los cà ³mputos. No debe confundirse el programa de cupones para alimentos con Asistencia a Familias Necesitadas, TANF por sus siglas en inglà ©s. Es beneficio por el que se entrega una cantidad de dinero en efectivo a las familias con nià ±os en situacià ³n econà ³mica muy precaria. Las condiciones varà ­an de estado a estado y en la actualidad ms de cuatro millones de personas se benefician mensualmente de esta ayuda. Por à ºltimo, el solicitar cupones de alimentos no afecta negativamente a una posible peticià ³n posterior de la ciudadanà ­a. Recibir esta ayuda no convierte al inmigrante en una carga social. Si necesitas ms ayuda para alimentos, puedes solicitarla en los bancos de alimentos de tu localidad. Para ello no necesitas ningà ºn requisito legal. Este es  un directorio de bancos de alimentos por estados, pincha en el nombre del tuyo y se abrir una pantalla con la informacià ³n que buscas.   Otras posibilidades que aplican a todos los migrantes Embarazadas, lactantes, madres recientes, infantes y nià ±os menores de cinco aà ±os pueden recibir ayuda nutricional en forma de alimentos mediante el programa WIC. Puede calificar cualquier persona que cumpla con los requisitos, sin que importe su estatus migratorio puede  calificar para esta ayuda WIC. Test de respuestas mà ºltiples Se recomienda tomar este test de respuestas mà ºltiples  sobre el permiso de residencia para verificar que conoces puntos bsicos sobre la greencard: cà ³mo obtenerla, conservarla, causas comunes de rechazo, etc. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Major Approaches to Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Major Approaches to Knowledge Management - Essay Example Peter Drucker introduced the first related term ‘Knowledge Worker’ in 1960. Over the years, there has been a significant growth in this field and various authors and scholars have brought a number of different areas of focus on the subject. Carlie (1998) highlighted that several theories were developed to manage the intellectual capital in the 21st century. Graham and Thomas (2008) believed that KM is supported as a means of harnessing and utilizing intellectual resources to address challenges, as well as improving innovation, business performance and client approval. Since 1996, there has been immense and rapid growth in terms of KM. Knowledge is the awareness of what one knows through study, reasoning, experience or association, or through various other types of learning (McInerney, 2002). KM consists of four key processes to include knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, scoring knowledge and knowledge use. DeNoni, Orsi, and Pilotti (2009) believed that the impleme ntation of knowledge management needs effective methods of accessing, measuring and controlling information to manage increasing complexity. This paper aims at highlighting the major approaches that have been developed for KM. This paper addresses the various approaches that have been developed and the importance that this plays in the success of a business. A comparison of the similarities and the differences of the major approaches are discussed. Finally, the importance of computer technology in capturing the unique level dependent organizational knowledge will also be discussed. It is essential to briefly understand the meaning of KM before moving into the various approaches. KM has been discussed and described by several experts. Ron Young, CEO of Knowledge Associates International has defined KM as, â€Å"the discipline of enabling individuals, teams and entire organizations to

Marketing management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Marketing management - Assignment Example It is the first step of the STP model where the customers possessing similar set of wants are grouped under a particular segment (Kotler, 2012). The market segments are not created by a marketer instead; it is identified and decided on which consumers to target. Mass marketing is different from segmentation marketing and the later is considered more beneficial in terms of market strategy. The organization can implement a much precise and targeted marketing mix in case of segmentation marketing. The automobile sector is classified into the following: Although most of the developed countries are major hub for the premium cars, the growth rate of the budget car segment is also moving up the ladder as the consumers are becoming more aware of the financial and economic changes in the market leading to cost consciousness. The target customers of this sector are generally young adults and the retired consumers. Car brands which come under the small car segments are Maruti 800 and Tata Nano. The price of this car segment ranges from 2.5 lacs – 3 lacs (Kotler, 2012). This segment constitutes to a very limited market, creating its own niche and the cars are all priced above 15 lakhs. The premium car segment targets the high income group and the elite classes. The car brands are Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche and Jaguar (Kotler, 2012). The second stage of the STP model is the selection of the target market. It is the customer bases which are targeted by a company to maximise its profit and revenue. Targeting means analysing different segments of the market and identifying the specific customer group as well as the sub markets where the company should compete. The estimation of the specific segment and the target market is done by comparing the financial attractiveness of the segment with the company’s objectives and capital to invest. Emphasis is given on the size of the segment, the resources required for market penetration, the

Youth Development Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Youth Development - Case Study Example Emotions Management- this refers to the recognition and appreciation of emotions and developing appropriate ways to express them. Purpose Development- one develops career goals; they commit to personal interests and activities. They also establish a robust interpersonal commitment. Identity Development- individuals develop and humanize values. There is also personalization of values and congruence creation and development. Autonomy toward Independence- in this vector, individuals increase and establish and emotional freedom. Identity establishment- an individual does acknowledgment indifference of identity. They base the identity on ethnic background, personal orientation and even on gender. Interpersonal relations development- individuals appreciate aspects of interpersonal tolerance, differences in culture and finally the creation of sound intimate relationships. Bartleby is able to get everyone to pretend that they are rehearsing for a recital, while, in the real sense, he engages the class in taking photographs to make IDs. This is even emphasized by Bartleby’s decision to create his own ‘sham’ S.H.I.T school and go ahead to pocket his father’s ten thousand dollars given as a fee for the first semester. Lack of school ethics also shows in the decision of students to have them engaged in alcohol consumption, drug abuse and illicit sexual relations with one another in school. In addition, such classroom subjects designed, such as ‘Do Nothing 101 and ‘The Art of Sleeping’ points a lot on the degree of moral decadence in the fake school, so established by Bartleby and friends. Cognition and intellectual development- this is expounded by the manner in which the Bartleby and his friends had difficulties learning in an environment regimented with clearly drawn up policy guidelines, rules, guidelines and strict curriculum. So much that they had to be rejected by many institutions. Bartleby [especially] does not intellec tually thrive in a regimented school environment alike to the majority of his friends.

Management report. It should critically evaluate the leadership and Essay

Management report. It should critically evaluate the leadership and management processes within your own organisation or one th - Essay Example 468-469, 1998). This paper is an attempt to look at the leadership dynamics of a well-known leader Ricardo Semler, who is currently the CEO of Brazilian firm Semco SA. Ricardo Semler and his company are widely known for its principles of industrial and corporate democracy, participative management, innovative business management and corporate re-engineering. Born in 1959 at Sao Paula, Semler is one of biggest names of the corporate, business and academic arena of Brazil and all over the world. Semler has repeatedly been nominated as the top 100 global business leaders. In addition, â€Å"he was named as the Latin American Businessmen of the year in 1990 by the TIME magazine† (Antonakis, Cianciolo & Sternberg, pp. 41-49, 2004). Semler has is occasional lecturers to seminars and has received immense media attention. ‘World Economic Forum’ has also nominated Semler as Leaders of Tomorrow. He is the author of many business articles in Harvard Business Review and he ha s also written best sellers such as â€Å"The Seven Day Weekend: Changing the Way it Works† and â€Å"Turning Your Own Table† (Hamel & Breen, pp. 258-259, 2007). This paper would explore his business styles, leadership dynamics; compare the information available on him with the well-known leadership literature to draw certain conclusions and recommendations. Organisational Context Antonio Kurt Semler, an Austrian Born immigrant in Sao Paulo, established his little company with the name of â€Å"Semler & Company† in 1952 to sell his patented vegetable oil centrifuge (Patching, pp. 86-87, 2007). However, as the company grew, it diversified into the business of Mixer & Agitator and other supply materials for shipping and construction. However, Antonio Semler strongly believed in the autocratic and controlled style of leadership (Antonakis et. al, pp. 41-49, 2004). At that time, Semler was a tall and hierarchal organisation with many layers of management. Ricardo wa s the only son of the Semler family and therefore, Antonio wanted, right from the started, his son to take over the company after him (Sashkin & Sashkin, pp. 379-386, 2003). However, Semler was not interested in the family business. Despite the fact that he went to Harvard Business School for business studies, his interest was to join a Rock band, like the ones that were famous in the 1970s (Semler, pp. 3-6, 1989). However, on the insistence of his father, he took the position of Assistant to the Board of Directors. Even though, the job title suggests that young Semler had quite some authority over the business, the same was not true. He had disagreements over most of the issues with the other senior board of directors most of which were the â€Å"golf buddies† of his father (Tjosvold & Tjosvold, pp. 487-489, 1995). This frustration and disappointment grew so much that young Semler finally threatened his father to leave the company. As mentioned earlier that it was the dream of his father to see his son taking over the company. Therefore, after a few weeks, Antonio Semler took a decision, which surprised everyone. He himself went on a vacation to Europe, resigned from his post, and transferred all the power to his son, leaving Ricardo Semler as the incharge of the company (Semler, pp. 3-6, 1989). After taking over the company, he fired over 75 percent of the top and middle managers of the company and took the company into a new strategic direction of acquisitions and

Alzheimer's Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alzheimer's Disease - Essay Example It is a disease that occurs mostly in older people and adversely affects various parts of the brain, which subsequently results in a loss of memory, thought and speech. Some of which have been provided as follows. Alzheimer 's disease is a form of dementia that is, "associated with the breakdown of the nervous tissue in the brain." (http://bse.airtime.co.uk/defb.htm) According to the ALS Therapy Development Foundation, Alzheimer's disease is, "a form of degenerative brain disease resulting in progressive mental deterioration with disorientation, memory disturbance and confusion. It leads to progressive dementia, often accompanied by dysphasia and/or dysphasia. The condition may also give rise ultimately to spastic weakness and paralysis of the limbs, epilepsy and other variable neurological signs." (http://www.als.net/als101/glossary.asp) The online site of the Medaus Pharmacy states that only in a few cases does Alzheimer's exist before the age of fifty. This disease results in a complete eventual breakdown of speech-patterns and results in disorientation and apathy in the patient. Other symptoms include the loss of intelligence, memory, judgment and the ability to think abstractly. In addition, diverse changes in the personality and behavior of the patient can often be seen as well. (http://www.medaus.com/p/147.html) It is natural for a person with Alzheimer's to remember things that may have happened years ago clearly and to forget those of the present. Any form of dementia (be it Alzheimer's or otherwise) does not occur all of a sudden; rather it is a slow process that often occurs over the course of months or years. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/) The number of people with Alzheimer's disease is likely to increase to 34 million by the year 2050. 350,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed annually and the approximately 50,000 patients die from the disease each year. It has been found in literature that life expectancy is directly proportional to Alzheimer's. In other words in every country where the life expectancy its citizens has increased (this would mostly include the developed nations around the world) so has the prevalence of Alzheimer's. (http://www.ahaf.org/alzdis/about/adabout.htm) In addition, it has been found that, "women have a slightly greater chance of developing Alzheimer's than men do at the same age". (http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspxarticleId=14) There are basically two types of Alzheimer's disease; the early onset and the late onset. The early onset is the type of Alzheimer's that occurs before the age of 60. Though is not very common it is highly progressive and greatly degenerative. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000760.htm) "To function properly, the brain must have a minimum number of healthy cells. In Alzheimer's disease brain cells progressively die. If the number of neurons is also suddenly reduced, the patient's mental state may deteriorate abruptly. Several conditions may be responsible for the loss of neurons, including: strokes, subdural hematomas and space-occupying lesions inside the skull." (Handy et al, 1998, pp.105) Though the symptoms of each patient are unique, there are some basic indicators, which are likely to be experienced by most patients. These are given as follows, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/mental_health/disorders_dementia.shtml) Lack of concentration, Confusion about time & place(s), Negligence of one's own self, A

Management report. It should critically evaluate the leadership and Essay

Management report. It should critically evaluate the leadership and management processes within your own organisation or one th - Essay Example 468-469, 1998). This paper is an attempt to look at the leadership dynamics of a well-known leader Ricardo Semler, who is currently the CEO of Brazilian firm Semco SA. Ricardo Semler and his company are widely known for its principles of industrial and corporate democracy, participative management, innovative business management and corporate re-engineering. Born in 1959 at Sao Paula, Semler is one of biggest names of the corporate, business and academic arena of Brazil and all over the world. Semler has repeatedly been nominated as the top 100 global business leaders. In addition, â€Å"he was named as the Latin American Businessmen of the year in 1990 by the TIME magazine† (Antonakis, Cianciolo & Sternberg, pp. 41-49, 2004). Semler has is occasional lecturers to seminars and has received immense media attention. ‘World Economic Forum’ has also nominated Semler as Leaders of Tomorrow. He is the author of many business articles in Harvard Business Review and he ha s also written best sellers such as â€Å"The Seven Day Weekend: Changing the Way it Works† and â€Å"Turning Your Own Table† (Hamel & Breen, pp. 258-259, 2007). This paper would explore his business styles, leadership dynamics; compare the information available on him with the well-known leadership literature to draw certain conclusions and recommendations. Organisational Context Antonio Kurt Semler, an Austrian Born immigrant in Sao Paulo, established his little company with the name of â€Å"Semler & Company† in 1952 to sell his patented vegetable oil centrifuge (Patching, pp. 86-87, 2007). However, as the company grew, it diversified into the business of Mixer & Agitator and other supply materials for shipping and construction. However, Antonio Semler strongly believed in the autocratic and controlled style of leadership (Antonakis et. al, pp. 41-49, 2004). At that time, Semler was a tall and hierarchal organisation with many layers of management. Ricardo wa s the only son of the Semler family and therefore, Antonio wanted, right from the started, his son to take over the company after him (Sashkin & Sashkin, pp. 379-386, 2003). However, Semler was not interested in the family business. Despite the fact that he went to Harvard Business School for business studies, his interest was to join a Rock band, like the ones that were famous in the 1970s (Semler, pp. 3-6, 1989). However, on the insistence of his father, he took the position of Assistant to the Board of Directors. Even though, the job title suggests that young Semler had quite some authority over the business, the same was not true. He had disagreements over most of the issues with the other senior board of directors most of which were the â€Å"golf buddies† of his father (Tjosvold & Tjosvold, pp. 487-489, 1995). This frustration and disappointment grew so much that young Semler finally threatened his father to leave the company. As mentioned earlier that it was the dream of his father to see his son taking over the company. Therefore, after a few weeks, Antonio Semler took a decision, which surprised everyone. He himself went on a vacation to Europe, resigned from his post, and transferred all the power to his son, leaving Ricardo Semler as the incharge of the company (Semler, pp. 3-6, 1989). After taking over the company, he fired over 75 percent of the top and middle managers of the company and took the company into a new strategic direction of acquisitions and

FDI Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FDI Strategy - Essay Example These trends come with different advantages as well as their fair share of challenges as pressure to belong grows on these corporations and firms regularly. To assist in these changing trends, foreign direct investment guarantees that the corporation is well-situated through mergers, joint ventures, or acquisition of shares. This guarantees their position in the growing market, and a place in their hosts’ market (Peng, 2012). MNE selected (who they are and what they do) Multinational enterprises are taking over the world by storm as they strive and struggle to capture the international market through some of the products and services they offer. One major MNE that is popular in this day and age is probably the McDonald’s fast food chain. This MNE has been around for a particularly long time and is keen on spreading its wings into different regions of the world, so as to capitalize on the changing trends. Changes in the technological and cultural field are making it easier for MNEs to break into emerging markets and take advantage of the growing number of consumers (Peng, 2012). McDonald’s Corporation probably has the largest chain of fast food restaurants around the world. It is situated in almost 119 countries, and has its headquarters in the United States. The corporation sells almost anything that is considered fast food, ranging from soft drinks to desserts for its ever-growing customer base. Sadly, one region that may not boast of having a branch of this corporation is North Korea. Challenges and advantages of FDI for the MNE One of the main advantages of FDI for the MNE is that the host country may be assisted in their quest for improving their infrastructure and projects that boost their economy (Dunning & Lundan, 2008). McDonald’s, in some of the areas that it is situated, can offer them the aid they need in order to be self-sufficient and increase their infrastructure developments. North Korea, as a region that does not boast of having a McDonald’s branch or franchise, may need the services and job opportunities that arise from the corporation’s presence in the region. Moreover, greater competition may arise from all the subsidiaries of the corporation, which may lead to an increase in productivity and gains from all groups participating in the business. Some of the challenges of foreign direct investment for the fast food corporation involve the exploitation of labor in the region. In order to make a mark in the region in which they are situated, corporations are pushed into focu sing on their profits, rather than the positive impact of their presence. Also, the host’s country’s investment policies may be a tremendous challenge to the main corporation (Dunning & Lundan, 2008). If the host region has stringent investment policy measures, it may be next to impossible for the mother corporation to invest in the host country, or even find the right strategies to satisfy their overall organizational performance. Best way for the MNE to minimize foreign exchange risks For MNEs, it is crucial to identify the risks that are posed to its operations. The corporation needs to monitor its financial, portfolio, and structural risks and engage in risk management strategies that may protect the corporation’s investments in the host country. When it comes down to foreign exchange and MNEs, structural risks are the most crucial risks to monitor. This is because mismatches between cash inflows and outflows can cause

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel Essay Example for Free

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel Essay The Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman was praised by The Economist (2006) as â€Å"the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century†¦possibly of all of it. In 1970, he published an essay on the social responsibility of business in the New York Times Magazine. In his article, he explains in complex detail about the notion of â€Å"social responsibility† of businessmen within a corporate environment and their goal to increase profits. Indeed, at first glance, this quote seems to capture the mentality of many of the actors in the financial sector in our era. Banks and financial institutions are accused of acting unethically and only in their self-interest to increase profits along with brokers and investment bankers who are accused of primarily aiming high incentives and bonuses by selling unconscionably high-default assets. Scholars argued that corporate governance failings and lack of ethical behaviour were significant causes of the financial crisis of autumn 2008 (Skypala, 2008). This essay discusses the question whether the above statement made by famous economist Milton Friedman is still relevant in the context of business today and to what extent it is relating to the financial sector and in particular to the financial crisis of autumn 2008. In order to address this problem, it is important to discuss the fundamental view behind Friedman’s idea since it needs to be fully understood and interpreted. He stated that the social responsibility of business was to maximize profits and to create value for stockholders within the bounds of the law. Furthermore, he thought that using corporate resources for purely altruistic purposes would be socialism. Moreover, corporations had no social responsibility other than to spend its resources to increase the profits of its investors since only investors as individuals could decide to engage in social contributions. Thus, he believed that the corporate executives, who were appointed by investors to make profits on investments, could not engage in social contributions using the corporate money. As a result, they could only do so as a private individual on their own behalf. Friedman devoted â€Å"social responsibility† to violating the interest of the manager’s employers. In other words, if managers invest in â€Å"social responsible† projects, they will harm the business since these investments will result in inefficiency and lost production leading to a reduction in shareholder’s wealth. His idea and the logic behind it have proven unconvincing to many scholars (Mulligan, 1986; Feldman, 2007; Wilcke, 2004). Indeed, several arguments can be shown which offset his idea. Firstly, his theory does not allow for the possibility that profits and social responsibility can ever exist together. It is necessary to consider the constraint noted by Jensen (2002) who indicated that it is â€Å"logically impossible to maximize in more than one dimension at the same time unless the dimensions are monotone transformations of one another†. This constraint implies that profits and social performance cannot be maximized simultaneously. That is why there is a trade-off between profits and social performance. Still, it does not mean that profit maximization and social performance cannot be congruent. In reality, there are many examples which show that both can coexist. Several reasons are to be mentioned here. Nowadays, banks and financial institutions are more aware of their role towards the society since they realize that they are an integral part of it. Furthermore, they notice that they can contribute positively to the environment and society with a positive effect on their reputation, creating a higher firm value. Furthermore, since numerous scandals of firms violating morality and ethics in the late 1990s and early 2000s (e. g. WorldCom and Enron) the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasing tremendously and included in the business culture of most of the financial institutions today. The concept of CSR means that â€Å"corporations have ethical and moral responsibilities in addition to their responsibilities to earn a fair return for investors and comply with the law† (Munstermann, 2007). So, almost every large corporation is increasingly investing to improve its performance on sustainability assets. Banks and financial institutions know that society is always enlightened when it sees that a firm is engaged in charity and donating projects. While it is true that engagement in â€Å"social responsible† projects, for example donating for orphans of the developing countries means explicitly higher expenses and hence, reducing the profit, it has a long term profit as well. Engagement in donating projects has a positive effect on the reputation of firms, thus, affecting positively the consumer behavior of customers who will buy more products of firm, thus creating profit. Friedman also never considers the very real possibility that companies engaging in â€Å"social responsible† projects gain the support from the community and polity that might, otherwise, eventually turn against them. Nowadays, almost all companies working in the financial sector are in some kind of way socially engaged. Looking at websites of famous big banks like Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, one can find headings of Corporate Social Responsibility throughout the pages. Deutsche Bank has its own report on CSR for each year which reports engagement in AIDS projects in South Africa and support of education for children in India. JP Morgan reported an annual donation amount of $110 million for organization in 33 different countries and Goldman Sachs is actively involved in environmental projects. This shows that almost 4 decades after the famous essay of Friedman, companies do not follow his sole idea anymore but are or are forced to act socially responsible. On the other hand, a business should try to make profit since it is inherent in its nature and by definition (except for non-profit organization). According to the Business Dictionary, a business is an â€Å"economic system in which goods and services are exchanged for one another or money. Every business requires some form of investment and a sufficient number of customers to whom its output can be sold at profit on a consistent basis. † If a company does not make profit on a consistent and long-term basis, it will face financial distress and bankruptcy. Then, employees and workers will become unemployed which will affect the society negatively. For example, all the employees of banks going bankrupt in the financial crisis like Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae and Lehman Brothers were facing hardship. Hence, it is true that businesses are to a certain extent socially responsible to make profit in order to ensure job security and to create more jobs. This helps the society and improves the economy of the society. But Friedman does not consider the fact that if companies’ sole interest would be profit making, they can harm people and the surrounding environment. What if firms poison the water by disposing chemicals in rivers and sea disposing toxic that leads to illnesses and death of animals and human beings? Friedman also fails to argue whether profit-generating actions like selling nuclear bombs to terror organizations, or knowingly manufacturing and selling defective, health-threatening products count as social responsibility as long as the company makes profit. Evidently, in the financial sector there are not activities such as producing bombs or life-threatening drugs. Even though this sector cannot produce life-threatening products, it can create a value chain of unethical and careless activities that can damage the whole world as well. One example is the Asian financial crisis in 1997 where moral hazards were mentioned as a major cause. Moral hazards are â€Å"negligent and fraudulent insureds† (Baker, 2000). It also refers to situation that tempted otherwise good people. The problem with moral hazards in the Asian financial crisis was that Asian banks thought that they would receive implicit guarantees that they would be bailed out if they encountered financial distress. Hence, these banks and companies were much more speculative in their investments and kept investing increasingly. If the investments fail, they will not have to bear the cost since it will be picked up by the government. They were playing with people’s money and did not act in the social interest of their customers. Instead, they were only focussing on making as much profit as possible. The result is known to everybody: In 1997 the nations of East Asia experienced the worst economic crisis they have never seen before. Obviously, the latest and most discussed topic on morality in the two recent years has been the culpability of shareholders and banks along with board directors for failings that led to the financial crisis of 2008. On the one hand, the crisis can be blamed on mortgage brokers, investment bankers and banks’ executives. Skewed incentives and greed contributed too much of the crisis. For example, mortgage brokers generate sub-prime mortgages but were paid regardless of the outcome. That is why they were selling unscrupulously assets with high default risk to clueless customers in order to receive high commissions. Not to mention â€Å"Wall Street Executives† who were focusing solely on how to increase their bonuses and remuneration packages. Also, Banks who took on these mortgages were accused of shoddy risk management and unethical behaviour, since they knew from the beginning that these subprime mortgages would eventually be securitized and removed from the bank’s balance sheet. Again, the originating banks got paid up front for processing the mortgages without having to retain part of the risk. Another factor is the misleading ratings of financial instruments credit agencies that were by far from independent. Arrangers of the secured assets were allowed to manipulate the creation of secured assets by mixing good assets with high risk assets to the point of getting a triple A-rating. If they did not get this rating, the assets were withdrawn, reconfigured and resubmitted. Since agencies are owned by banks, they were subjected to give best ratings to these dangerous assets and mortgage brokers knowing the risky idea behind those assets sold them to unsuspecting investors. According to Friedman, every party involved in the actions mentioned above showed â€Å"social responsibility† since they did not care about their social responsibility to the world but only about maximizing their profits. Evidently, the aftermath of the American financial crisis has shown that the social responsibility of business is definitely not only to increase their profits. If banks, brokers and lenders, accountants, the government and important financial organization did not incorrectly assessed or even ignored the magnitude of the risks mentioned above, if managers and investment bankers were not greedy and showed herd investment behavior, it can be argued that the crisis could have been prevented. But the various parties acted immorally and socially irresponsible not caring about the social consequences of their actions. Consequently, the Asian crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2008 are two memorable examples that offset Friedman’s idea. In conclusion, this paper has shown that Friedman’s request of being socially responsible by focusing solely on increasing profits is nowadays theoretically not accepted by banks and financial institutions. In contrast, in the 21st century social responsible corresponds to the alignment of business operations with social and ethical values. It is seen as the key to beat the competitor and to ensure sustainable growth. But the latest financial crisis has shown that even though CSR is part of the business culture of the large corporations, the key players in the large corporations do not practice social responsibility in a proper manner. It seems that CSR and corporate governance are a compilation of words and rules that adds only little value to the everyday businesses. Money has made everybody blind. Everybody wanted to have a piece of the big cake leading them to lower their inhibition threshold. The â€Å"social responsibility† of businesses should not be increasing profit but focusing on what it really means in practice to encourage stewardship. As a matter of fact, banks and financial institutions first need to show social and ethical manner in order to prevent another disaster like the financial crisis of 2008. All in all, businesses need to focus on environmental and social issues in the arena of corporate responsibility since the society expects and demands responsibility of organizations. In fact, the law expects it as well. Banks and financial institutions are challenged after the aftermath of the financial crisis they have to find a way how to act in the best interest of stakeholders, society, the government and the environment, still being able to make sustainable profit. It is now a request from the society. ? References Baker, T. (2000). Insuring Morality. Business Dictionary. Definition of business. Homepage: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/business. html [1. 2. 2010]. Feldman, G. (2007). Putting Uncle Milton Friedman To Bed: Reexamining Milton Friedmans Essay on the Social Responsibility of Business. Labor Studies Journal (32), 125-141. Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2002 (12), 404-437. Milton Friedman, a giant among economist. The Economist. Verfugbar unter: http://www. economist. com/business/displaystory. cfm? story_id=8313925 [28. 1. 2010]. Mulligan, T. (1986). A Critique of Milton Friedmans Essay The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits. Journal of Business Ethics (5), 265-269. Munstermann, T. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility: Gabler. Skypala, P. (2008, 17. November). Time to reward good corporate governance. Financial Times, S. 6. [28. 1. 2010]. Wilcke, R. W. (2004). An Appropriate Ethical Model for Business and a Critique of Milton Friedmans Thesis. The Independent Review (2), 187-209. The Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman was praised by The Economist (2006) as â€Å"the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century†¦possibly of all of it. In 1970, he published an essay on the social responsibility of business in the New York Times Magazine. In his article, he explains in complex detail about the notion of â€Å"social responsibility† of businessmen within a corporate environment and their goal to increase profits. Indeed, at first glance, this quote seems to capture the mentality of many of the actors in the financial sector in our era. Banks and financial institutions are accused of acting unethically and only in their self-interest to increase profits along with brokers and investment bankers who are accused of primarily aiming high incentives and bonuses by selling unconscionably high-default assets. Scholars argued that corporate governance failings and lack of ethical behaviour were significant causes of the financial crisis of autumn 2008 (Skypala, 2008). This essay discusses the question whether the above statement made by famous economist Milton Friedman is still relevant in the context of business today and to what extent it is relating to the financial sector and in particular to the financial crisis of autumn 2008. In order to address this problem, it is important to discuss the fundamental view behind Friedman’s idea since it needs to be fully understood and interpreted. He stated that the social responsibility of business was to maximize profits and to create value for stockholders within the bounds of the law. Furthermore, he thought that using corporate resources for purely altruistic purposes would be socialism. Moreover, corporations had no social responsibility other than to spend its resources to increase the profits of its investors since only investors as individuals could decide to engage in social contributions. Thus, he believed that the corporate executives, who were appointed by investors to make profits on investments, could not engage in social contributions using the corporate money. As a result, they could only do so as a private individual on their own behalf. Friedman devoted â€Å"social responsibility† to violating the interest of the manager’s employers. In other words, if managers invest in â€Å"social responsible† projects, they will harm the business since these investments will result in inefficiency and lost production leading to a reduction in shareholder’s wealth. His idea and the logic behind it have proven unconvincing to many scholars (Mulligan, 1986; Feldman, 2007; Wilcke, 2004). Indeed, several arguments can be shown which offset his idea. Firstly, his theory does not allow for the possibility that profits and social responsibility can ever exist together. It is necessary to consider the constraint noted by Jensen (2002) who indicated that it is â€Å"logically impossible to maximize in more than one dimension at the same time unless the dimensions are monotone transformations of one another†. This constraint implies that profits and social performance cannot be maximized simultaneously. That is why there is a trade-off between profits and social performance. Still, it does not mean that profit maximization and social performance cannot be congruent. In reality, there are many examples which show that both can coexist. Several reasons are to be mentioned here. Nowadays, banks and financial institutions are more aware of their role towards the society since they realize that they are an integral part of it. Furthermore, they notice that they can contribute positively to the environment and society with a positive effect on their reputation, creating a higher firm value. Furthermore, since numerous scandals of firms violating morality and ethics in the late 1990s and early 2000s (e. g. WorldCom and Enron) the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasing tremendously and included in the business culture of most of the financial institutions today. The concept of CSR means that â€Å"corporations have ethical and moral responsibilities in addition to their responsibilities to earn a fair return for investors and comply with the law† (Munstermann, 2007). So, almost every large corporation is increasingly investing to improve its performance on sustainability assets. Banks and financial institutions know that society is always enlightened when it sees that a firm is engaged in charity and donating projects. While it is true that engagement in â€Å"social responsible† projects, for example donating for orphans of the developing countries means explicitly higher expenses and hence, reducing the profit, it has a long term profit as well. Engagement in donating projects has a positive effect on the reputation of firms, thus, affecting positively the consumer behavior of customers who will buy more products of firm, thus creating profit. Friedman also never considers the very real possibility that companies engaging in â€Å"social responsible† projects gain the support from the community and polity that might, otherwise, eventually turn against them. Nowadays, almost all companies working in the financial sector are in some kind of way socially engaged. Looking at websites of famous big banks like Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, one can find headings of Corporate Social Responsibility throughout the pages. Deutsche Bank has its own report on CSR for each year which reports engagement in AIDS projects in South Africa and support of education for children in India. JP Morgan reported an annual donation amount of $110 million for organization in 33 different countries and Goldman Sachs is actively involved in environmental projects. This shows that almost 4 decades after the famous essay of Friedman, companies do not follow his sole idea anymore but are or are forced to act socially responsible. On the other hand, a business should try to make profit since it is inherent in its nature and by definition (except for non-profit organization). According to the Business Dictionary, a business is an â€Å"economic system in which goods and services are exchanged for one another or money. Every business requires some form of investment and a sufficient number of customers to whom its output can be sold at profit on a consistent basis. † If a company does not make profit on a consistent and long-term basis, it will face financial distress and bankruptcy. Then, employees and workers will become unemployed which will affect the society negatively. For example, all the employees of banks going bankrupt in the financial crisis like Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae and Lehman Brothers were facing hardship. Hence, it is true that businesses are to a certain extent socially responsible to make profit in order to ensure job security and to create more jobs. This helps the society and improves the economy of the society. But Friedman does not consider the fact that if companies’ sole interest would be profit making, they can harm people and the surrounding environment. What if firms poison the water by disposing chemicals in rivers and sea disposing toxic that leads to illnesses and death of animals and human beings? Friedman also fails to argue whether profit-generating actions like selling nuclear bombs to terror organizations, or knowingly manufacturing and selling defective, health-threatening products count as social responsibility as long as the company makes profit. Evidently, in the financial sector there are not activities such as producing bombs or life-threatening drugs. Even though this sector cannot produce life-threatening products, it can create a value chain of unethical and careless activities that can damage the whole world as well. One example is the Asian financial crisis in 1997 where moral hazards were mentioned as a major cause. Moral hazards are â€Å"negligent and fraudulent insureds† (Baker, 2000). It also refers to situation that tempted otherwise good people. The problem with moral hazards in the Asian financial crisis was that Asian banks thought that they would receive implicit guarantees that they would be bailed out if they encountered financial distress. Hence, these banks and companies were much more speculative in their investments and kept investing increasingly. If the investments fail, they will not have to bear the cost since it will be picked up by the government. They were playing with people’s money and did not act in the social interest of their customers. Instead, they were only focussing on making as much profit as possible. The result is known to everybody: In 1997 the nations of East Asia experienced the worst economic crisis they have never seen before. Obviously, the latest and most discussed topic on morality in the two recent years has been the culpability of shareholders and banks along with board directors for failings that led to the financial crisis of 2008. On the one hand, the crisis can be blamed on mortgage brokers, investment bankers and banks’ executives. Skewed incentives and greed contributed too much of the crisis. For example, mortgage brokers generate sub-prime mortgages but were paid regardless of the outcome. That is why they were selling unscrupulously assets with high default risk to clueless customers in order to receive high commissions. Not to mention â€Å"Wall Street Executives† who were focusing solely on how to increase their bonuses and remuneration packages. Also, Banks who took on these mortgages were accused of shoddy risk management and unethical behaviour, since they knew from the beginning that these subprime mortgages would eventually be securitized and removed from the bank’s balance sheet. Again, the originating banks got paid up front for processing the mortgages without having to retain part of the risk. Another factor is the misleading ratings of financial instruments credit agencies that were by far from independent. Arrangers of the secured assets were allowed to manipulate the creation of secured assets by mixing good assets with high risk assets to the point of getting a triple A-rating. If they did not get this rating, the assets were withdrawn, reconfigured and resubmitted. Since agencies are owned by banks, they were subjected to give best ratings to these dangerous assets and mortgage brokers knowing the risky idea behind those assets sold them to unsuspecting investors. According to Friedman, every party involved in the actions mentioned above showed â€Å"social responsibility† since they did not care about their social responsibility to the world but only about maximizing their profits. Evidently, the aftermath of the American financial crisis has shown that the social responsibility of business is definitely not only to increase their profits. If banks, brokers and lenders, accountants, the government and important financial organization did not incorrectly assessed or even ignored the magnitude of the risks mentioned above, if managers and investment bankers were not greedy and showed herd investment behavior, it can be argued that the crisis could have been prevented. But the various parties acted immorally and socially irresponsible not caring about the social consequences of their actions. Consequently, the Asian crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2008 are two memorable examples that offset Friedman’s idea. In conclusion, this paper has shown that Friedman’s request of being socially responsible by focusing solely on increasing profits is nowadays theoretically not accepted by banks and financial institutions. In contrast, in the 21st century social responsible corresponds to the alignment of business operations with social and ethical values. It is seen as the key to beat the competitor and to ensure sustainable growth. But the latest financial crisis has shown that even though CSR is part of the business culture of the large corporations, the key players in the large corporations do not practice social responsibility in a proper manner. It seems that CSR and corporate governance are a compilation of words and rules that adds only little value to the everyday businesses. Money has made everybody blind. Everybody wanted to have a piece of the big cake leading them to lower their inhibition threshold. The â€Å"social responsibility† of businesses should not be increasing profit but focusing on what it really means in practice to encourage stewardship. As a matter of fact, banks and financial institutions first need to show social and ethical manner in order to prevent another disaster like the financial crisis of 2008. All in all, businesses need to focus on environmental and social issues in the arena of corporate responsibility since the society expects and demands responsibility of organizations. In fact, the law expects it as well. Banks and financial institutions are challenged after the aftermath of the financial crisis they have to find a way how to act in the best interest of stakeholders, society, the government and the environment, still being able to make sustainable profit. It is now a request from the society. ? References Baker, T. (2000). Insuring Morality.Business Dictionary. Definition of business. Homepage: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/business. html [1. 2. 2010]. Feldman, G. (2007). Putting Uncle Milton Friedman To Bed: Reexamining Milton Friedmans Essay on the Social Responsibility of Business. Labor Studies Journal (32), 125-141. Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2002 (12), 404-437. Milton Friedman, a giant among economist. The Economist. Verfugbar unter: http://www. economist. com/business/displaystory. cfm? story_id=8313925 [28. 1. 2010]. Mulligan, T. (1986). A Critique of Milton Friedmans Essay The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits. Journal of Business Ethics (5), 265-269. Munstermann, T. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility: Gabler. Skypala, P. (2008, 17. November). Time to reward good corporate governance. Financial Times, S. 6. [28. 1. 2010]. Wilcke, R. W. (2004). An Appropriate Ethical Model for Business and a Critique of Milton Friedmans Thesis. The Independent Review (2), 187-209.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Lucid Dreaming Therapy

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Lucid Dreaming Therapy Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has seen a steep incline in recent years, affecting over 1 adult in every 12 (National Comorbidity Survey Replication [NCS-R], 2001-2003). Per the American Psychiatric Association, it is defined as a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault (APA, 2015). An adult diagnosed with PTSD can arguably obtain normality in behaviour and mindset through various forms of psychotherapy and medication, and resultantly recover from the disorder. Lucid Dreaming Therapy (LDT) is becoming an increasingly large influence in the format of exposure therapy, which begs the question, to what extent can Lucid Dreaming be effective in treating the identifying characteristics of PTSD? Exposure Therapy is a format of behavioural therapy in which a patient re-enters the setting in which they experienced the initial trauma, whether it be virtually, imaginatively or physically, and attempts to confront the troubling factor (APA, Division 12). Exposure therapy is advertised as a treatment component range for several problems, including Phobias, Social Anxiety Disorder and PTSD. However, the difference with the latter is the inability to physically recreate the event in the exact manner that it originally occurred, with all smells, sounds and emotions originally experienced. The goal of Lucid Dreaming Therapy (LDT) is to reduce the detriment caused as a result of PTSD in order to enable a suffering adult to best function independently and successfully in various environments (Green McCreery, 1994; Halliday, 1988; LaBerge, 1985; LaBerge Rheingold, 1990; Tholey, 1988). LDT is most successful in combination with early intervention. Treatment closely after a traumatic eve nt allows for a greater possibility to alleviate suffering from effects such as nightmares and depression. Characterizing Description of PTSD PTSD is classified as a trauma and stressor related psychiatric disorder, largely due to four common features that appear from three months to years after the occurrence of a traumatic event. These characteristics are intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thought and mood, and changes in emotional reactions (DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5). The diagnostic features of PTSD best described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5. At least eight of the criteria must be present for the diagnosis of PTSD. Of these eight, additional requirements exist in each area. Exposure to death, violence or injury is one key feature of PTSD, referred to as stressor. This can be marked through direct exposure, witnessing the trauma, learning that a relative or close friend was exposed to a trauma or Indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma. A patient must have one of these social criterions to be marked as a patient of PTSD. Symptoms of intrusion are another foundation of PTSD. A persistently recurring format of re-experiencing the trauma is characteristic. Such symptoms include recurrent or involuntary and intrusive memories, traumatic nightmares, dissociative reactions such as flashbacks ranging on a continuum of brief episodes to loss of consciousness, intense or prolonged distress after exposure to traumatic reminded, as well as marked physiological reactivity after exposure to trauma-related stimuli. Persistent effortful avoidance of distressing trauma-related stimuli after the event is another core to PTSD. This can be marked through trauma-related thoughts or feelings in addition or replacement to trauma-related external reminders (e.g. people, places, objects or activities). Negative alterations in cognition are often a bi-product of PTSD and therefore a key factor in diagnosis. These alterations include; dissociative amnesia in relation to the key features of the traumatic event, persistent or distorted negative beliefs and expectations about oneself or the world, persistent blame of oneself or others for causing the traumatic event or for resulting consequences, persistent negative trauma-related emotions, markedly diminished interest in pre-traumatic significant activities, a sense of alienation/detachment from others, and a persistent inability to experience positive emotions. A patient must have at least two of these symptoms to be diagnosed with PTSD. There are many well-known associated features and disorders with PTSD. Insomnia, ranging from mild to profound, is prevalent in most cases. Irritability, aggression, self-destructive actions or recklessness are behavioural symptoms that may accompany PTSD. Additionally, hypervigilance and an exaggerated startle response, sometimes accompanied by problems in concentration are examples of alterations in arousal and reactivity that may have begun or worsened after the traumatic event. Two of these alterations are necessary for diagnosis of PTSD. Other factors such as duration/persistence of symptoms, functional impairment and confirmation of exclusion (verification that disturbance is not due to medication, substance use, or other illness) are key in the diagnosis of PTSD. By definition, the onset of PTSD requires that the given symptoms occur for a minimum of a month. Although to a comparatively minor extent, most symptoms are present directly after the trauma and will continuously dev elop throughout time. PTSD is two to three times more prevalent in females than to males. An experience of sexual assault or child sexual abuse is more likely amongst women in comparison to accidents, physical assault, combat, disaster or witness to death/injury being the likely trauma for men. The median number of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferers is 7 to 8 per 100 individuals, with reported ranges ranging from 7 20 per 100 individuals, the latter being combat related. The most recent statistic shows up to 8 in 100 individuals may be diagnosed with autism (DSM-V-TR). As the direct/chemical cause of PTSD is debatable, the reason for recent increase is, while speculative, currently unknown. Methods of Lucid Dreaming Therapy (LDT) Lucid Dreaming Therapy (LDT) is an upcoming format of treatment that has been specifically researched for application in relation to the treatment of PTSD. Lucid Dreaming is defined as the state in which an individual is aware that they are dreaming and subsequently obtain control over their dreams. The phenomenon of lucid dreaming dates back centuries and quite possibly millennia, with reports of its use dating back to the eighth century, in the form of what was known to be Dream Yoga. With scientific confirmation of the phenomenon in the late 20th Century, therapeutic possibilities began to be brought to light. Lucid Dreaming Treatment (LDT) arose from this idea as an alternative cognitive-restructuring technique, but only a small amount of research has been conducted on the topic, composed mainly of case studies (Abramovitch, 1995; Brylowski, 1990; Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker, van den Bout, Meijer, 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997). Nightmares are defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) to be extremely frightening and anxiety-provoking dreams which awaken the dreamer, followed by full alertness (APA, 2000). Although this is the current definition used as a diagnostic criterion, according to DSM-IV-TR, and in this essay, it should be mentioned that some have challenged this definition (Spoormaker, Schredl, van den Bout, 2005; Zadra, Pilon, Donderi, 2006). In the adult population, as many as 70 % of individuals report at least an occasional nightmare, and 2-5% suffer from recurrent nightmares (Lancee, Spoormaker, Krakow, van den Bout, 2008). Suffering from recurrent nightmares causes distress in waking life and can result in both occupational and social dysfunction. The fear and anxiety which the nightmare provokes linger when the dreamer awakens from it, which may prevent the individual from returning to sleep due to the fear of re-experience. It has been suggested that by becoming lucid during the nightmare, the dreamer can take control of the threatening situation and change the course of the nightmare, thus possibly alleviating feelings of fear and anxiety. This could possibly result in reduced nightmare frequency, relieving the nightmare sufferer from its negative effects both in sleep and waking life (Gackenbach Bosveld, 1989; Gavie Revonsuo, 2010; Green McCreery, 1994; Halliday, 1988; LaBerge, 1985; LaBerge Rheingold, 1990; Tholey, 1988). In LDT, the participants describe their nightmare and are then introduced to the concept of LD, the possibility to become conscious while dreaming and to be able to alter the content at will. The participants are then taught different LD induction techniques, such as choosing a recurrent cue within their dreams to be a signal of being in the dream state, or questioning the nature of reality several times during the day, asking themselves Am I dreaming? The participants then choose an alternative, more positive scenario of the nightmare, focusing on the content they wish to alter whilst lucid (Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker et al., 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997). A Pilot Study conducted by the Department of Clinical Psychology of Utrecht University in the Netherlands aimed to evaluate the effects of LDT on recurrent nightmares which is an identifying characteristic of PTSD. The participants of the study included 23 individuals (16:7, Female: Male) who have recurrent episodes of nightmares. The requirement from the participants of the study was to fill out a questionnaire regarding their sleep and Diagnostic Traits of PTSD. These individuals were randomly divided into 3 groups; 8 participants received one 2-hour individual LDT session, 8 participants received one 2-hour group LDT session, and 7 participants were placed on the waiting list. LDT consisted of exposure, mastery, and lucid dreaming exercises to train their mind to become more self aware. Participants then filled out the same questionnaires 12 weeks after the intervention as a follow-up. It was found that by the follow-up, nightmare frequency of both treatment groups had shown a dec rease. There were no significant changes observed in sleep quality and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptom. This led to the conclusion that while LDT seems effective in reducing the frequency of nightmares, the primary therapeutic components of exposure, mastery, or lucidity remain unclear. The results of utilizing LD as treatment are consistent, indicating that LDT is effective for reducing nightmare frequency (Abramovitch, 1995; Brylowski, 1990; Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker et al., 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997). A one-year follow-up showed that four out of five participants, who prior to the treatment suffered from nightmares once every few days, went down to once every few months or no longer had any nightmares (Zadra Pihl). In another study the treatment consisted of one two-hour session either individually, in group or, and as the control condition, being on a waiting list where no treatment was received. The participants had suffered from nightmares for over one year, at least once a week. The 12 week follow-up showed that nightmare frequency decreased in both treatment conditions, which was not the case for the control group (Spoormaker van den Bout). For some participants LDT was also effective in reducing non-recurrent nightmares with differing conte nts (Zadra Pihl). Some of the participant had also subjectively reported slightly improved sleep quality after LDT (Spoormaker et al.) and that dream lucidity resulted in higher positive psychological elements which were also reflected in waking life (Zadra Pihl). Similar effects have been reported by Brylowski and Abramovitch. The studies showed that while nightmare frequency was reduced following LDT, not all of the participants displayed in becoming lucid and to lucidly alter the content of the dream. One of the reasons attributed to this being the mere feeling of control which is necessary to LDT. Being able to master the nightmare and not being its victim seems to play an equally vital role as the actual altering of the content (Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker et al., 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997). Experiencing a traumatic event of extremely frightening and life-threatening character may, for some people, develop into Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a severe anxiety disorder in which the symptoms are collected under three clusters: intrusive/re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms and hyper arousal symptoms. Those suffering from PTSD endure highly disturbing recollections of the event. They display heightened sensitivity towards both internal and external stimuli which resemble or in any way symbolize some aspect of the original event. When confronted with similar symbols or conditions, they experience emotional numbness and sleep difficulties. The individuals self defence mechanism leads them to avoid all such stimuli which may remind them of the event. Hence those suffering from PTSD often experience constant conflicts in interpersonal relationships which can be attributed to heightened sensitivity as a result of PTSD. It is not uncommon for them to display recurring avoidance patterns in occupational situations which may remind them of the traumatic event. (APA, 2000). In addition to heightened sensitivity and severe anxiety posttraumatic nightmares that replay or indirectly symbolize, the original traumatizing event constitute the most frequent symptom in PTSD. (APA, 2000). It has been estimated that up to 60-80% of PTSD patients suffer from posttraumatic nightmares (Spoormaker, 2008). However, research has shown that treating PTSD does not necessarily reduce nightmare frequency (Spoormaker; Spoormaker Montgomery, 2008). In contrast, Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT), a treatment focusing on alleviating nightmare frequency in PTSD also reduces general PTSD symptom severity (Krakow Moore, 2007). Research has also shown that nightmares and disturbed sleep may be a risk factor for developing and maintaining PTSD (Mellman Hipolito, 2006). Due to these findings, Spoormaker (2008) and Spoormaker and Montgomery (2008) stated that posttraumatic nightmares ought not to be viewed as a secondary symptom but rather as a central characteristic in the advancem ent of post traumatic stress disorder. Their series of research, studies and findings led them to infer that posttraumatic nightmares might develop into a disorder of its own and therefore demands specific treatment. LDT is effective in reducing the frequency of recurrent nightmares (Abramovitch, 1995; Brylowski, 1990; Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker et al., 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997), and thus it has been suggested that LDT could be a valuable supplement in the treatment of PTSD, focusing on decreasing the frequency of posttraumatic nightmares. As posttraumatic nightmares are a nocturnal replay of the original traumatic event, the patient is reminded of the trauma every time they dream about it. A reduction in the frequency of post traumatic nightmares would lead to an abatement of fear and anxiety due to decreased instances of number of occurrences in a given time frame. In addition to this, as anticipated by Spoormaker (2008) and Spoormaker and Montgomery (2008), posttraumatic nightmares not only enhance but also prolong the severity of PTSD. As such, LDT could work as a supplement to already existing treatment of PTSD and reduce nightmare frequency. Furthermore, LDT offers the patien t the opportunity to alter the content of the dream to a less fearsome dream, which could lead to reducing the feelings of fear and anxiety within the dream. If LDT is effective in both reducing nightmare frequency and the intense feelings of fear and anxiety, it might also be effective in decreasing the fear and anxiety associated with the original trauma during wakefulness, which in turn could lead to a reduction in general PTSD symptom severity. While this possible effectiveness of LDT on PTSD was proposed by Green and McCreery (1994) in the early days of LD research and recently by Gavie and Revonsuo (2010), there has only been one study where researchers attempted to treat PTSD patients with LDT (Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006). They found that nightmare frequency was significantly reduced in subjects receiving LDT, but the study did not reveal any significant reduction in general PTSD symptom severity, which the authors proposed might have been due to the low baseline for PTSD symptom severity in the studied population. Moreover, the study only included one participant out of 23 who was actually diagnosed with PTSD (Spoormaker van den Bout). Gavie and Revonsuo were adamant that no conclusions can be made based on this single study and encouraged future researchers to investigate the effect of LDT on PTSD nightmares and other PTSD symptoms with larger groups of diagnosed PTSD patients and longer lucidity interventions. Fear and Control: Two Key Components for LDT Fear is a main component of nightmares, experienced both during sleep in relation to the nightmare content and during wakefulness, as suffering from recurrent nightmares can lead to fear of going to sleep due to the risk of re-experiencing the nightmare. Fear also represents one of the key emotions during the course of PTSD (APA, 2000). In PTSD, fear is not only related to the extreme fright which was experienced during the occurrence of the traumatizing event, but also refers to the massive feeling of fear evoked when the patient encounters associable stimuli, which often serve as reminders of the original event. Posttraumatic nightmares generally replicate the original event, meaning every time the nightmare occurs, the patient re-lives the trauma and its accompanied fear (Gavie Revonsuo, 2010). Although LDT has been shown to be effective in reducing recurrent nightmares, not all participants succeeded in becoming lucid and able to lucidly alter the content of the nightmare. This has been suggested do be due to the fact that the feeling of control, following from the mere knowledge of the possibility to master the nightmare, is equally as important as the actual altering of the content (Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker et al., 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997). As such, control might constitute a key component of LDT, both in respect to lucidly to control the content of the nightmare and alter the course of the dream, and to the feeling of control brought by the thought that the fear both during the dream and during wakefulness is something that can be overcome. In this sense, LDT might prove to be effective not only for patients suffering from nightmares and reducing nightmare frequency, but also for patients suffering from disorders characterised by fear, offering them th e possibility to control and reduce the level of fear they experience. In one case study, a 35-year-old woman diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and major depression complained about frequent nightmares. She suffered from one to four nightmares per week, from which her self-confidence and security felt threatened. She did not suffer from recurrent nightmares, but her nightmares did contain a recurrent theme, relating to the physical and mental abuse she experienced by her father as a child, and husband as an adult. These nightmares were so intense that she had difficulties in separating her experiences in them from her experiences in reality, and sometimes spoke of them as if they were real events (Brylowski, 1990). The patient was introduced to the phenomenon of LD and was instructed to keep a dream journal, which she was to take with her to therapy each week. She was also told to practice an LD induction technique every night in order to learn how to become lucid during the dream. The appearance of her father or husband in the nightmare was chosen as a dream cue, used as an indicator to remind her that she was just dreaming. Upon recognising that she was dreaming, she was to use the realisation as a reminder that she was safely lying in bed and there was nothing to fear (Brylowski, 1990). During a six-month period, which included 24 sessions with her therapist, the patient experienced three lucid dreams and was able to alter the course of the nightmare in all three cases. Using LDT resulted in reduced nightmare frequency, intensity and distress, which provided her with a sense of mastery in relation to her emotions and responses to nightmares. Following these results, her therapist suggested that these abilities and attitudes could be used in waking life when dealing with similar problems. So, whenever she was faced with a stirred emotion or a difficult situation in waking life, she was able to remind herself of how she had controlled a similar situation in the dream state. In turn, she now had the capacity to deal with the waking situation just as she had while (lucid) dreaming (Brylowski, 1990). As a result, LDT provided her with a sense of mastery in relation to her emotions and responses to nightmares as well as her waking life, which then resulted in entering into psychotherapy. What Green and McCreery (1994) put forward, is that LD provides us with the experience of achieving control over a mental aspect, in this case distressing nightmares. They argued that gaining control over one might, in turn, have a generalised therapeutic effect. In the case study, Brylowski (1990) showed how LDT not only reduced nightmare frequency and distress, but also how engaging in LDT could extend into managing situations waking life. LDT provided the patient with the experience of mastering a fearful situation within a nightmare, which, prior to the treatment, had affected her to the point where she could not differentiate nightmares from waking events. After the treatment the patient expressed increased self-confidence, knowing that she now possessed the capacity to make changes in other waking circumstances as well. Brylowski (1990) initated the notion that, Nightmares can occur across diagnostic syndromes. According to DSM-IV-TR, nightmares can occur frequently during the course of many psychological disorders without there being a specific diagnostic symptom, for example as a part of Personality Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders and Schizophrenia (APA, 2000). Brylowski concluded lucid dreaming worked well for this patient as it motivated her to start and stay in therapy. He suggested that LD as a therapeutic tool ought to be considered not only for treating nightmares, but also in the treatment of personality disorders. Although diagnosed with BPD, the patient also showed symptoms related to PTSD, i.e. nightmares which directly or symbolically represented a traumatic event (history of abuse) and depression which, according to DSM-IV-TR, is highly associated with PTSD (APA, 2000). On the basis of this fact alone, it is premature to draw any conclusions on the effect of LDT on personality disorders. However, engaging in LDT did have a general therapeutic effect in this case study, and as such, LDT could be valuable as a supplement in the treatment of BPD and possibly even other personality disorders. Overall, more studies are needed to further investigate the possible general therapeutic value of gaining control over fear and anxiety using LDT, both in relation to recurrent nightmares, and to other psychological disorders such as PTSD and personality disorders. The current studies investigating the potential therapeutic value of LD in reducing recurrent nightmares have shown promising results, where engaging in Lucid Dreaming Treatment (LDT) has resulted in decreased nightmare frequency (Abramovitch, 1995; Brylowski, 1990; Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker et al., 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997), slightly increased subjective sleep quality (Spoormaker et al.) and reduced nightmare intensity and distress (Brylowski). As such, it has been suggested across these studies that LDT might be effective in reducing posttraumatic nightmares in PTSD (Gavie Revonsuo, 2010; Green McCreery, 1994). Every time a nightmare occurs, the patient experiences the trauma and extreme fear associated with it. Therefore, there is the possibility that relieving the posttraumatic nightmare could, in turn, reduce general PTSD symptom severity (Gavie Revonsuo). With larger groups of diagnosed PTSD patients and longer lucidity interventions, future research could st udy the effect of LDT on posttraumatic nightmares. As examined, one case study showed that attitudes and skills learned through LDT can be transferred and applied to waking life situations (Brylowski, 1990). This could be an indication that LDT has the potential to work beyond the more specific focus of alleviating nightmares. Although nightmare frequency was reduced, not all of the patients were able to reach lucidity and alter the course of events in their nightmare (Spoormaker van den Bout, 2006; Spoormaker et al., 2003; Zadra Pihl, 1997). On the basis of this, one possible and important key component of LDT could be that of control. In the case of Phobic patients, they were found to be less likely to believe in having control over events (Leung Heimberg, 1996). Considering lucid dreamers tend to believe in their own control over waking situations to a higher degree than non-lucid dreamers (Blagrove Hartnell, 2000; Blagrove Tucker, 1994), it shows that control could be one of the key elements of LDT and that LDT could be a va luable supplement in the treatment of phobia. Further and more extensive research is required in order to investigate the underlying functioning and other effects of LDT more deeply. There is also a gap in the research, where an opportunity exists to compare LDT to other cognitive-restructuring techniques, such as Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) and exposure therapy. In order to further explore the effect of LDT, longer LD induction technique practices and more intense lucidity interventions are needed for LDT to be applicable in the appropriate patient population. As seen in previous studies, there is the potential for this to help recurrent nightmare sufferers, PTSD and phobias, larger groups of nightmare sufferers, diagnosed PTSD and phobic patients. There is still untapped potential for the utilisation of LD as a therapeutic tool and supplement in the treatment of these symptoms, which needs to be studied in-depth.