Education Is Not the Key to Success Essay Example for Free

Education Is Not the Key to Success Essay

Minimum Wage Debate in the US

Minimum Wage Debate in the US Minimum wage has been a subject of sustained and polarizing debate in the realm of U.S. labor economics right from the time the Department of Labor came into existence in 1913 (Neumark, Salas Wascher, 2014). The debate is older than the official federal minimum wage legislation, which came into force in 1938. Nonetheless, despite the massive attention this subject has elicited over this lengthy period, a consensus concerning the effect of minimum wage on employment is not in the vicinity. Experts have argued plausibly both in favor of and against minimum wage laws. Even so, this paper seeks to add its voice to this debate by arguing that minimum wage laws are necessary because they speed up economic recovery after recessions, safeguard workers from exploitation, and attempt to bridge the income inequality crisis the country is presently witnessing. Annotated Bibliography Meer, J., West, J. (2015). Effects of the minimum wage on employment dynamics. Journal of Human Resources. Retrieved from http://people.tamu.edu/~jmeer/Meer_West_Minimum_Wage.pdf In this journal article, the authors advance a familiar argument in the field of labor economics. In their view, an increase in minimum wage or the existence of laws that specify a particular minimum wage serves to reduce employment growth over a lengthy period. Apparently, the reason most studies that seek to establish a relationship between minimum wage and employment dynamics fail to do so due to the methods they employ. An example is the use of state-specific time trends (p. 1). Thus, the authors utilize state panel administrative employment data to arrive at their finding. Reportedly, the finding is in agreement with a number of other empirical findings. This journal article does not seem to agree with the position outlined in the thesis statement. However, a source, it will help in the development of the argument by bringing in the perspective of those opposed to minimum wages or their increase. A comprehensive and fully developed argument is one that pays attention to the opposing sides argument. This article and others that make similar arguments will serve to create this balance. Neumark, D., Salas, J. I., Wascher, W. (2014). Revisiting the minimum wage-employment debate: Throwing out the baby with the bathwater? ILR Review, 67(3 suppl), 608-648. This article revisits the minimum wage employment debate, apparently after a period of the authors abstinence from this area of focus for some time. According to the article, the minimum wage debate is age old, but in recent times, emergent literature is increasingly propagating the idea that new research in this area is inaccurate. The reason behind such claims is that the new research employs methods that critics say do not consider spatial heterogeneity. The article explores the research designs more closely and concludes that indeed, there is a cause for concern with these new researches. The research designs they employ are faulty. Through such designs, the studies indicate that minimum wage has not interfered with employment noticeably. In contrast, a link exists between minimum wages and employment rates. This article achieves its purpose by considering a number of other studies in the minimum wage debate. The studies it examines are those that claim to find no significant relationship between minimum wage and employment and those that criticize such studies. Insofar as the minimum wage debate is concerned, this article is informative due to fact that it gives the debate a historical context that many article fail to capture. It explains when and how the debate started as well as how it has developed over the years. Despite not taking a clear stand on whether minimum is bad or good, it is a great resource for the upcoming paper due to its informative nature. Orrenius, P. M., Zavodny, M. (2008). The effect of minimum wages on immigrants employment and earnings. ILR Review, 61(4), 544-563. In this article, the relationship between minimum wage laws are examined with the intent of determining the nature of impact such laws have on minimum wage earners. In contrast to natives, immigrants, who constitute the majority of minimum wage earners, are likely to be impacted more by minimum wage laws. Immigrants are often less educated, possess limited English language skills, and less connected socially. Although no direct indications of adverse effects of minimum wage laws on employment among minimum wage earners were established, there is a possibility that such laws influenced the settlement decisions of some immigrants. Trends seem to indicate that they preferred states in which the minimum wage bar was not high. In this article, the minimum wage debate is approached from a new perspective, the perspective of the minimum wage earner. Evidence suggests that although many may assume that minimum wage earners would rush to high minimum wage states, they actually tend to prefer low minimum wage states. The rationale behind this kind of disharmony is that when the minimum wage is high, employers tend to seek experience or higher levels of education. Based on what the article was investigating, immigrants will obviously shy away from such states. Thus, since this whole debate is about minimum wage, the article does well to approach it from the perspective of those groups that fall in the category of minimum wage earners. In other words, it is possible to determine how they feel about the whole issue. This unique approach will help diversify the argument. Pollin, R., Wicks-Lim, J. (2016). A $15 US minimum wage: How the fast-food industry could adjust without shedding jobs. Journal of Economic Issues, 50(3), 716-744. In this article, the possibility of adjusting from the current minimum wage to a minimum wage of $15 per hour without reducing the labor force is examined with fast food restaurants in mind. Apparently, fast food restaurants are the leading employers of minimum wage earners and those who earn below minimum wage. Thus, if they can adjust from the current minimum wage of $7.25 to $15 hourly, then any other employer can. This scenario is projected over a 4-year period with a two-step increment. It is achievable through turnover reductions, trend increases in sales growth, and modest annual price increases over the four-year period (p. 717). And fast food restaurants will not need to lower their profits to make the adjustment. The article is also unique in its approach to the debate. It does not preoccupy itself with whether the increase of minimum wage is bad or good. Instead, it seeks to demonstrate through a breakdown of relevant figures that it is possible for fast food restaurants to accommodate a minimum wage of $15 per hour without eating into their profits. The authors make an effort to be quite thorough in their analysis as well as breakdowns. The practical nature in which tackle this issue proves beyond doubt that a higher minimum wage is possible in America and stands in support of the argument of this project. Highly paid employees are prone to working hard and more effectively. Watanabe, M. (2013). Minimum wage, public investment, economic growth. Theoretical Economics Letters, 3(05), 288. In this article, the author argues in favor of minimum wage increases citing poverty reduction, and reasonable living as its direct outcomes. Despite there being divergent views on the same, through a two-period overlapping generation model, (p. 288) the author endeavors to show that the negativities associated with minimum wage increment can be countered with increased productivity among workers. Moreover, the study establishes that minimum wage increases have a positive on economic growth. This article also argues in favor of the position that is outlined in the thesis statement. This means it will in the development of a strong argument to show that despite the widespread claims that minimum wage increment has negative effects, there is actually a lot of good it can help achieve. The level of language and engagement with the technical economics in this article demonstrates the authors expertise in this field. As a consequence, this article gives an authoritative argument backed by facts and adequate examples. This will serve as a very important resource during the actual writing of the final paper. References Meer, J., West, J. (2015). Effects of the minimum wage on employment dynamics. Journal of Human Resources. Retrieved from http://people.tamu.edu/~jmeer/Meer_West_Minimum_Wage.pdf Neumark, D., Salas, J. I., Wascher, W. (2014). Revisiting the minimum wage-employment debate: Throwing out the baby with the bathwater? ILR Review, 67(3 suppl), 608-648. Orrenius, P. M., Zavodny, M. (2008). The effect of minimum wages on immigrants employment and earnings. ILR Review, 61(4), 544-563. Pollin, R., Wicks-Lim, J. (2016). A $15 US minimum wage: How the fast-food industry could adjust without shedding jobs. Journal of Economic Issues, 50(3), 716-744. Watanabe, M. (2013). Minimum wage, public investment, economic growth. Theoretical Economics Letters, 3(05), 288.

New Public Management (NPM) in Secure Training Centres

New Public Management (NPM) in Secure Training Centres 1. Introduction The management and organization of the public services in the UK became an issue of intense debate and discussion in the early eighties, coming under intense pressure for large-scale change. This demand to bring about wide ranging transformation in the working of the public administration arose mainly because of the negative perceptions of the conservative government about public sector working, especially concerning issues like bureaucratic inefficiency, lack of commitment, misallocation of funds, and overstaffing. The surfacing of new organisational configurations, roles, and cultures led to extensive questioning of well recognized and firmly established public sector patterns and to the challenging of standardised and professionalized welfare state agencies. Subsequent privatization and restructuring in numerous different public organisations led to the development of New Public Management, a broad based concept that spread to other states like the USA, Australia, and especially N ew Zealand, where its implementation became extensive. Over the years, the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) has come under increasing criticism. Public and media disillusionment at its failure to solve many problematic issues related to older methods of public governance, have tended to go hand in hand with the realisation that old fashioned public organisations also had several positive factors, which were necessary to the approach and working of public services.. These included a measure of stability, lack of personnel turnover, an insistence on required process, fairness in treatment, integrity, and answerability. Qualities like these, which constituted the other side of public sector working and had come to be largely accepted, and possibly ignored, during the debate on the need for change , came to the fore, especially in the case of public institutions or departments that dealt in areas of social responsibility, like, for example, the health, justice, and child welfare systems. One such area of increasing public anxiety and media debate concerns the working of Secure Training Centres (STCs) for young offenders under NPM methodology and practice. These institutes, which come under the purview and control of the Youth Justice Board, (YJB) are responsible for the secure custody, training, and rehabilitation of young offenders sentenced to custodial terms. STCs aim to ensure the smooth reintegration of their wards into society at the end of their custody periods, through required counselling, education and training. Their success is critical to (a) ensuring reduction of reoffending incidents, (b) rerouting the lives of disturbed young people, (c) motivating them to forsake criminal options, (d) building up their employment and earning skills, and (d) facilitating their reintegration with society. The area has come into sharp focus in recent months because of the introduction of rules empowering officials to use force under specific circumstances, and the suicid e of a young inmate following an episode of forceful restraint. This essay aims to study and analyse the use of NPM practices in the working of Secure Training Centres in the UK. The study of New Public Management, until now, has remained restricted to the domain of researchers and scholars of public administration, with business school professors preferring to focus on the working of private companies. While this is surprising considering the contribution of not-for-profit institutions and voluntary associations in the development of organization theory, a number of scholarly studies and research assignments on public sector organisations do exist. Some of these, along with information available on the internet and from media reports have served as information sources for this assignment. 2. Commentary a. Origins of New Public Management The public and private sectors constitute the two broad divisions of society, with their institutional separation evident on a global basis. The public sector comprises of organisations that belong to the entity known as the ‘state’ or the ‘government’. However, its scope is much wider than that associated with either of these two well-known concepts and contains, in its ambit, numerous kinds of governmental actions at diverse levels, varieties of public finance, as well as general public governance and regulation. Historically the role of the public sector in national life has moved through various stages, from being minimal in the nineteenth century, through a period characterised by social reformism and greater involvement of the government in public affairs, in the first half of the twentieth century, to that of the welfare state of the post war years. The welfare state functioned in the UK from the end of the Second World War, until well into the 1980s. It came into being on the assumption that private organisations, meaning charitable bodies, did not have either the resources or the competence to look after weaker sections and that the state needed to take care of its citizens from birth to death. These welfare services thereafter became the functions of professional public sector employees, specifically chosen and trained to handle their responsibilities. The concept of the welfare state came under severe criticism and pressure for change from the conservatives because of its many perceived deficiencies, chief among which were the rationing attitude of public servants, who (because of their war years mentality), were unable to respond to the needs of a changed citizenry, the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of public sector officials, and the greed of public sector trade unions, who put their own needs before those of their communities. Widespread changes in the role of public administration led to privatisation of numerous public sector organisations and their eclipse from the economic sector. In social and community sectors the conservatives pushed the concept of the enabling state, where planning and funding would remain within the responsibility of the state, while service provision would devolve upon private players. Privatisatisation, experts felt, would help not only in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of provisioning of services, but also in its responsiveness to individual requirement. (Ferlie, Mclaughlin and Osborne, 2002) This approach in public sector approach, which came to be known as NPM, owes its origins first, to a distrust of bureaucracy and public administration to provide public services with economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, and second, to an apprehension concerning the incorrect use of professional powers by bureaucrats, leading to the possible disempowerment of general community members. Although considerable debate and contention still exists over the exact implications of NPM, there is broad consensus over its seven important components. (a) a focus on hands-on and entrepreneurial management, as opposed to the traditional bureaucratic focus of the public administrator (b) explicit standards and measures of performance,(c) an emphasis on output controls, (d) the importance of the disaggregation and decentralization of public services, (e) a stress on private sector styles of management and their superiority, (f) a shift to the promotion of competition in the provision of public services, and (g) the promotion of discipline and parsimony in resource allocation (Ferlie, Mclaughlin and Osborne, 2002) One important spin off that arose from these tenets was the development of an enlarged emphasis upon outsourcing services by public sector organisations from private service providers in many sectors, including in those responsible for health, childcare, and prison management. b. Young Offenders and Secure Training Centres Statistics and information available from official websites and other information sources on crime and offending by young people in the UK reveal the issue to be one of great worry and concern. Young offenders come under the purview of the Youth Justice Board, (YJB) an established non-governmental public body, charged with preventing offending by young people and children through the formulation and use of measures for prevention of crime, identification and dealing with young offenders, and reduction of reoffending. YJB figures indicate that approximately 150,000 people enter the justice system each year, nearly half of whom are of school age. The percentages of young people coming into the purview of the YJB from black or mixed race backgrounds are significantly higher than their actual demographic distribution, especially in the under 16 groups. While nearly 75 % of the young offenders are let off with reprimands, curfews and fines, 17 percent are sentenced to community work while 4 %, i.e., around 600 young people receive custodial sentences. Custodial sentences vary from 4 months to two years and normally need serving in conjunction with a certain amount of community work. Custodial arrangements are of three types, Secure Children’s Homes, (SCHs) Secure Training Centres (SCTs) and Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). SCHs and SCTs house children aged between 12 and 17, whereas YOIs house young offenders aged 15 to 21, with people aged 15 to 17 and 18 to 21 held in separate enclosures. YJB officials decide upon the place of custody after considering relevant factors that include assessments of vulnerability, needs of other young people in custody, and availability of custodial accommodation. An overwhelming proportion of the young people who enter the youth justice system come from deprived and disadvantaged backgrounds and many have histories of substance misuse, mental health problems and economically weak, disturbed or disrupted family backgrounds. Their educational backgrounds, in comparison with the general population, are also extremely deficient. Surveys reveal that 81 % of the sentenced boys were not going to school, at the time of sentencing, and 41 % had not gone to school at all after 14. In fact, a startling 75 % of the offenders appearing before the youth justice courts have histories of temporary or permanent school exclusion. Many of them have special counselling and mental health needs that require urgent attention. (Background paper, 2000) While the young people who come into the custodial system share backgrounds of severe disadvantage, deprivation and exclusion from school, the people who exit from YOIs, SCHs and SCTs have a marked predilection to return to offending actions. The number of reoffenders is extremely high with approximately four out of five (78 %) young persons sentenced to custody reoffending within one year. Statistics reveal that the proclivity to offend in these people continues in later years and 40 % of ex prisoners have a history of being young offenders. (Background paper, 2000) Prima facie, it does appear that the custodial system currently in practice, (the result of policy changes, public private participation, NPM, and outsourcing of governmental activities to private players) has not only been unable to meet its objectives but is possibly worsening with time. Considering that it costs twice as much to educate a young person in custody than outside, the whole situation is nothing les than a scathing indictment of the NPM system in childcare, children’s education, and youth justice in the UK. Exclusion from school becomes a major causal factor in offending and the occurrence of crime, which in turn leads the state to arrange for dispensation of justice, housing of children in custody, and providing for their training and education. While considerable public effort and expense goes into this process, the continuance of reoffending indicates the occurrence and continuance of large-scale systemic failure, notwithstanding the laudatory comments of the YJB on the effectiveness of the youth justice system. The present custodial system, of which STCs are an integral part, is representative of NPM and public private participation, in which governmental departments, local authorities and private players play similar and overlapping roles. Vulnerable young people, aged between 12 and 17 stay in these institutions while serving custodial sentences. Apart from housing them in restricted secure surroundings these institutions are under governmental mandate to provide counselling, education and training in order to (a) facilitate their reintegration into the broader community, (a) increase their earning ability, (c) help them to disengage from criminal actions and (d) eliminate their proclivity to reoffend. While Secure Training Centres, Secure Children’s Homes and Young Offenders Institutions all come under the purview of the YJB and form part of the custodial system, their control falls under different institutions. While all of the seventeen YOIs are run by the prison service, all bu t one of the fifteen SCHs are run by local authorities, and the four SCHs are run by private service providers. c. Management and Administration of SCTs Secure Training Centres are establishments specially built for housing young offenders up to the age of 17 and are representative of NPM concepts, which while keeping planning and funding of public service with the state, call for service provisioning by the private sector. Private agencies, appointed after appraisal and selection, run these institutions under contracts that contain detailed terms and operational requirements. At present, there are four STCs in England, at Oakhill in Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, at Hassockfield in Consett, County Durham, at Rainsbrook in Rugby, Northamptonshire, and at Medway in Rochester, Kent. These establishments have accommodation for 58 to 87 persons with not more than eight places in each house. The total population of STCs is currently about 270. The formation of STCs represents a major governmental initiative in bringing about much needed reform in the youth justice system. Conceived in the initial years of the 2000s, STCs aim to play a major role in rehabilitating young offenders and ensuring their integration in normal community life. While the original plan envisaged the progressive establishment of 31 STCs, only four are in operation, with the functioning of some of them coming in for trenchant criticism. STCs are responsible for housing vulnerable young people sentenced to custody or remanded to secure accommodation and have a wide ranging and demanding set of responsibilities, which include (a) provisioning of secure housing, (b) taking care of the individual and collective needs of the trainees, including nutrition, hygiene, cleanliness, physical activity, medical aid, and absence of substance misuse, (c) providing focussed and tailored programmes for education and vocational development (d) ensuring appropriate couns elling and treatment for disturbed children and (e) fostering links with their home communities. Their responsibilities are not just onerous but critical because of their enormous potential to influence the lives of young people, who, because of socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, commit offences that involve custodial sentencing. Many of the trainees are vulnerable, have lived traumatised lives in environments of economic deprivation, substance misuse, and domestic violence, and need help from expert and trained professionals. â€Å"The report accepts that many of the 10 to 17-year-olds held in young offender institutions, secure training centres and local authority secure childrens homes have had chaotic and abusive childhoods and lack clear boundaries to their behaviour.† (Child jail restraint criticised, 2006) The effectiveness of these institutions is causal in the trainees choosing to enter normal society or returning to their familiar environs of socia l exclusion, repeated offending, and criminality. STCs are contractually bound to provide these services effectively and all employees require undergoing specific training programmes. Counselling, social and medical services are available from the local social and medical infrastructure. All secure training centres are also required to undergo periodic checks from external governmental agencies as well as watchdogs like Ofsted for assessment of actual service levels. While STCs are undoubtedly fulfilling a vital need in custodial requirements, their major failure relates to their inability to reduce reoffending, which at 79 %, points to a gross failure in their major objective of rehabilitation. Inspection reports also point to disparities in the efficiency and effectiveness of different STCs, the absence of improvement between periodic inspections and non-implementation of recommendations. This is also supported by intermittent incidents involving the use of forceful restraint, which in the recent past was possibly causal in the su icide of an inmate, (with a history of mental disturbance), and attracted significant media attention and debate. The running of STCs is especially difficult because it involves functions that on occasion contradict each other and exert immense pressure on the people running these institutions. Secure custody, on one hand, involves dealing with young people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, have committed serious offences, and possess attitudes that are possibly brutalised and dangerous, necessitating the use of restrictive custodial measures and force, if the situation so demands. On the other hand, trainees need to care, empathy, and deep understanding of the reasons that have led them to their current states. These functions, of prison keepers and social workers, are mutually contradictory and create significant tensions when required of the same group of people. Private organizations, when faced with these demands, respond with systems designed to meet these differing requirements but remain inherently flawed because of their inherent contradictions. These organisations are also not f unded by open-ended or liberal funding schemes and have both cost constraints and profit motives that are bound to influence their working. Employees who work in such organisations generally to the profiles of members of marketised institutions, give their careers and individual progress preference, and lack both the commitment or ideology of charitable workers, and the job security of public sector employees. Expecting these private sector managers and employees to adapt to such challenging needs creates enormous tensions. A number of inspection reports have pointed to the high incidence of turnover, a phenomenon that automatically leads to breaks and discontinuities in relationships between the workers and trainees and results in the emergence of destabilizing conditions, especially where mentally disturbed children are involved. Services at Oakhill Secure Training Centre are inconsistent, with evidence that poor practice is being institutionalised, inspectors concluded yesterday. A Commission for Social Care Inspection probeof the centre for 80 young offenders in Milton Keynes last June found its progress had slowed since a previous inspection in May 2005. While safeguarding had improved since the previous inspection, where this area was criticised, progress was reliant on one particular manager. The inspection also found services at the facility, run by Group 4 Securicor, were ran in isolation with considerable scope for integrating health, education, substance misuse and other services (Samuel, 2007) Investigations into the suicide of thirteen-year-old Alisha Ishmail, the child prostitute who died of a drug overdose in a Camden Town after escaping from a secure home, link her mental state to the number of homes she had to move to during her period in care, and to the consequent breakdown of helpful relationships. Philip Haynes, in his treatise on â€Å"Managing Complexity in the Public Services† refers to the contradictions and tensions that arise when general management ideas used in profit oriented private businesses are imported and applied to the running of public service organisations. While their use is possibly effective in the running of utilities, enormous contradictions and tensions arise on the application of these tenets in public service institutions like the one under study. Policy makers need to realize that the business policies used by Unilever executives are not usable in looking after their disturbed teenagers, and that furthermore these very executives, however effective they may be in their functions, will never apply the strategies used with business suppliers to solve issues in home environments. Public officials who insist upon the need for using force for dealing with these children need to realise that these children do not fill the profiles of errant suppliers who need taming and that the suicides of 15 year old Gareth Myatt and 14 year old Adam Rickwood could have been avoided if STC officials gave adequate attention to their mental health needs, instead of using heavily built workers to restrain them and twist their noses in order to cause painful and temporary incapacitation. 3. Conclusion New Public Management, in its essence, involves the import of private sector management methods, perceived to be competitive, efficient, economic, objective and effective into public sector organisations. While these methods do have relevance in certain public undertakings, especially where they concern issues like utilities and transport, they prove to be of limited relevance in institutions that deal with servicing the community, childcare, health services, and the care and rehabilitation of young offenders, as well as mentally disturbed adult prisoners being prime examples of such areas. As Haynes points out the introduction of methods based upon economic and practical considerations in such people oriented sectors leads to the development of numerous contradictions and the generation of enormously complex situations that debilitate the working and structure of involved organizations. (Haynes, 2003) Policy makers need to consider these issues seriously and realise the inadequacy of catchall solutions and detached systematic working in areas that need individual attention for effective results. In the case of STCs appropriate solutions would include the introduction of far more detailed mental health examinations of new entrants, especially in consultation with relatives, greater emphasis upon communication with trainees, increased interaction of trainees with social workers, separation of custodial and rehabilitation functions, measures to reduce staff turnover and increase monitoring of staff behaviour, and strict vigilance on use of forceful restraining measures. The private sector argument of most of these suggestions leading to cost ineffectiveness and inefficient working needs outright rejection considering the enormous financial and social costs of the current, ostensibly â€Å"efficient† system. References Background Paper, (2000) Education of young people supervised by the youth justice system, Retrieved August 3, 2007 from www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/BACKGROUND PAPER -finaldraft (1).doc – Box, R. C., Marshall, G. S., Reed, B., Reed, C. M. (2001) New Public Management and Substantive Democracy. Public Administration Review, 61(5), 608. Child jail restraint criticised, (2006), BBC News, Retrieved August 3, 2007 from news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/4722652.stm Doherty, T. L., Horne, T. (2002). Managing Public ServicesImplementing Changes: A Thoughtful Approach to the Practice of Management. London: Routledge. Ferlie, E., Ashburner, L., Fitzgerald, L., Pettigrew, A. (1996). The New Public Management in Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press Hood, C., Peters, G. (2004). The Middle Aging of New Public Management: Into the Age of Paradox?. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 14(3), 267+. Lane, J. (2000). New Public Management. London: Routledge. Mclaughlin, K., Osborne, S. P., Ferlie, E. (Eds.). (2002). New Public Management: Current Trends and Future Prospects. London: Routledge. Haynes, P. (2003) Chapter 1, Management, professions and the public service context in Managing Complexity in the Public Services Maidenhead: Open University Press, Samuel, M, 2007, Services at Oakhill Secure Training Centre inconsistent, warn inspectors, Community Care, Retrieved August 3, 2007 from www.communitycare.co.uk Thomas, C. J. (1999). Managers, Part of the Problem? Changing How the Public Sector Works. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Van Slyke, D. M. (2002). The Public Management Challenges of Contracting with Nonprofits for Social Services. International Journal of Public Administration, 25(4), 489+.

The Power of Love in Wuthering Heights Essay -- Literary Analysis

Wuthering Heights is a novel which deviates from the standard of Victorian literature. The novels of the Victorian Era were often works of social criticism. They generally had a moral purpose and promoted ideals of love and brotherhood. Wuthering Heights is more of a Victorian Gothic novel; it contains passion, violence, and supernatural elements (Mitchell 119). The world of Wuthering Heights seems to be a world without morals. In Wuthering Heights, Brontà « does not idealize love; she presents it realistically, with all its faults and merits. She shows that love is a powerful force which can be destructive or redemptive. Heathcliff has an all-consuming passion for Catherine. When she chooses to marry Edgar, his spurned love turns into a destructive force, motivating him to enact revenge and wreak misery. The power of Heathcliff’s destructive love is conquered by the influence of another kind of love. Young Cathy’s love for Hareton is a redemptive force. It is her love that brings an end to the reign of Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Catherine have loved each other since their childhood. Initially, Catherine scorned the little gypsy boy; she showed her distaste by â€Å"spitting† at him (Brontà « 27). However, it was not long before Heathcliff and Catherine became â€Å"very think† (Brontà « 27). They became very close friends; they were practically brother and sister (Mitchell 122). Heathcliff is intent upon pleasing Catherine. He would â€Å"do her bidding in anything† (Brontà « 30). He is afraid of â€Å"grieving† her (Brontà « 40). Heathcliff finds solace and comfort in Catherine’s company. When Catherine is compelled to stay at Thrushcross Grange to recover from her injury, she returns as â€Å"a very dignified person† (Brontà « 37). Her association with the gente... ...d to Cathy. He desires to be accepted by her. Cathy willingly loves and accepts Hareton. It is this love which reforms Hareton and dispels the tyranny at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff’s love brought about destruction; Cathy brings redemption to the Heights through her love. Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Wuthering Heights shows the real effects of love; love has the power to create evil or good. Primary Source Brontà «, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1996. Print. Secondary Sources Berg, Maggie. Wuthering Heights: The Writing in the Margin. New York: Twayne, 1996. Print. "Characteristics of Victorian Literature." Homewood City Schools. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. . Mitchell, Hayley R., ed. Readings on Wuthering Heights. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1999. Print.

Essay examples --

1. There are many different reasons that are out there that tend to make businesses and business people feel portrayed. Business owners tend to be a very unique group of people but they all exhibit the same kind of characteristics that allow them to be very successful in what they do. Business owners need to be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to be successful with their jobs. Once they identify all of their weaknesses they need to make strategic plans that will help them turn them into strengths or limit the amount that the weakness brings them and their organization down. One of the most common overlooked traits of businesses and business people are their fascination with learning. These people always want to be able to know how things work and learn about new ways to do things. A lot of business owners feel also like they are never given enough credit where they feel like credit is due. They feel like the ability to be publicly recognized for doing a good j ob ends up going along way and a lot of them feel like they never have this happen to them. Business o...

History of Private Security

History of Private Security Cortez Jefferies Introduction to Security: Operations and Management Gayle Fisher-Stewart University Of Maryland University College 23 October 2011 Private security industry in the United States can be traced as far back as the mid nineteenth century, where they were primarily used to help fill the gaps created by public police forces in major cities that were just forming. Over the years the role of private security has changed, from its simplest form of protecting people, property, and information to a more complex form, of individuals and businesses that provide, for a fee, services to clientele to protect their persons, their private property, or their interests from various hazards. Early in its existence training for private security was non-existent or inadequate at best, over the years training has evolved and with that evolution came strict standards and guidelines. Unlike in Europe, where public law enforcement emerged out of private security, in the United States private security emerged out of public law enforcement. Europeans brought many of the methods they used to protect people and property with them when they immigrated to the United States in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The positions of constable, watchman, and sheriff were borrowed from the English and were used to establish the first system of public law enforcement in the United States. As rapid growth occurred in the West throughout the early 1800s, it became clear that constables and watchmen weren't going to be able to provide the expansive services necessary to protect people and their property (Stone, 2002). It wasn't until the late 1700s that municipal police agencies were implemented in major American cities. Established in 1844, the New York City police department provided twenty- four-hour police protection to its citizens. Thirty years later, most large cities had a similar system of public law enforcement; yet this system was not enough to keep pace with the rapidly growing American society (Stone, 2002). One of the first private security agencies to come into existence was Pinkerton's North West Police Agency in 1855. The agency offered private watchmen services for rail yards and industrial complexes. In 1859, Perry Brink started Brink's Inc. as a freight and package delivery service. A few decades later, Brinks Inc. evolved into the country's first armored car and courier service. By the early 1900s, numerous former federal agents and detectives had opened up their own private security companies to include the first burglar alarm service (Maine, 2011). Between 1929 and 1939, private security employment declined as a result of the Great Depression but rebounded between 1940 and 1945, due to the need to protect the United States infrastructure and military and industrial facilities during World War II, the use of private security increased. After World War II, private security once again began to grow, due to many returning veterans, with military police experience selecting police work and private security as occupations (Ortmeier, 2009). In 1955, a group of security professionals formed the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS). Today, ASIS International’s membership exceeds 37,000, making it the preeminent organization for security professionals (American Society for Industrial Security [ASIS], 2011). Private security is a fast-growing industry. The Department of Labor predicts a healthy double-digit growth rate through 2016. Statistics on the number of individuals involved in this market are difficult to ascertain because of an extremely high turnover rate and because the term â€Å"security worker† admits of different interpretations. However, there are some credible approximations (Maine, 2011). The U. S. Department of Labor estimated the number of private security workers in 2007 at slightly over one million-about twice the number of police officers in the United States. Private security agencies themselves are often quite large. The largest security firm operating in the United states is Securitas, whose employees number more than 125,000 worldwide and whose revenues exceeded $7 billion in 2002. Human-Rights First estimate that there are almost 180,000 security workers in Iraq alone (Maine, 2011). The median wage for security workers in the United states is $10. 85 per hour ($22,570 per year), this might account in part for the high turnover rate. Salary seems to be proportional to risk. Blackwater security employees are alleged to have earned close to $1000 per day to guard U. S ambassador to Iraq Paul Bremer (Maine, 2011). Although training for the private security sector has come a long way over the years. Many of the personnel working as private security agents and guards are inadequately screened, trained, and supervised to ensure effective police work. Due to these reasons, there has been a big push for improvements in the quality of private security training. Private security organizations are being encouraged to pursue accreditations for the company as well as its employees. Private security organizations are being required to carry general liability insurance or that security personnel be bonded following a minimum level of training and certification, with the amount of training and size of bonding dependent on the degree of risk associated with the nature of the job (Forst, 2002) . Virginia Security officers are required to be licensed by DCJS (Department of Criminal Justice Services). To be licensed as an unarmed security officer one must go through 18 hours of classroom training from a licensed instructor in order to obtain this card and it must be done by the end of their 90 days after hire with a Security company. Every two years the card must be renewed, by completing an in-service with a licensed instructor. To be licensed as an armed security officer one must complete an additional 16 hours of firearms training, 6 hours of training n conducting a lawful arrest, and qualification with the type and caliber of weapon they intend to carry. Firearms endorsements must be renewed annually by completing an in-service and passing a firearms qualification. Licensed armed security officers are authorized under state code to arrest for any offense committed in their presence while they are on duty at the location they are hired to protect. They may also be granted t he authority by the chief law enforcement officer in their jurisdiction to issue summons to appear in court for felonies and misdemeanors. As the security field diversified in the 1980s and became more responsive to the needs of business, a management model quickly began to dominate how security was perceived and what its functions would be. Security practitioners and innovative business managers began to view the functions of security as an essential component of business. As a result, security departments were incorporated into the organizational culture of many companies, and security managers were hired to oversee the security department and work collaboratively with other department managers. Security managers began to be perceived as professionals in their field, and this helped to enhance the image of security personnel, giving them greater credibility with their colleagues and the public (Stone, 2002). Given this long and varied history, it is not surprising that private security continues to undergo significant changes in its form and function. Still, agreement among academicians and practitioners about what its form and function should be remains elusive. References Stone, Mischelle Taylor. (2002). Private Security. Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from http://sage-ereference. com. ezproxy. umuc. edu/view/crimepunishment/n327 Forst, Brian. (2002). Police Privatization. Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from http://sage-ereference. com. ezproxy. umuc. edu/view/crimepunishment/n307 Ortmeier, P. J. (2011). Introduction to Security: Operations and Management (3rd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Maine, E. W. (2011, March 6). Private Security Industry. American Business Organization. Retrieved from http://maerican-business. org/

How does Shakespeare Create Atmosphere Essay

William Shakespeare creates atmosphere in this scene by using a number of effective techniques, in this essay I will be discussing how these techniques create such a tense and suspenseful atmosphere that truly captures and engages the Elizabethan audience. Firstly, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in this scene by the entrance of Romeo, the audience are aware that he has just came from marrying Juliet, however the characters on stage are not. The fact that the characters are unaware of this information has a strong influence over their actions that would be different if they knew the truth. This thought will raise the tension in the audience. Another example of dramatic irony being used in this scene is when Romeo tries to explain to tybalt that he loves him and wants to make peace,† But love thee better than thou canst devise , till thou shalt know the reason of my love.† Here the audience understand why Romeo loves Tybalt because he has just married his cousin, however T ybalt thinks Romeo is being sarcastic and this angers him further, while Mercutio perceives Romeos words as giving into tybalt and not defending the family name, he finds this disgusting. â€Å"O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!† Shakespeare shows how words can be interpreted in many different ways, another clever device. Dramatic irony is also used when Tybalt says â€Å"Here comes my man,† as Romeo enters, this reveals that Tybalt has no interest in conflicting with Mercutio, he is here to fulfil his revenge against Romeo for crashing the party. The audience realise this because they have heard Tybalt plan his revenge in Act 1 scene 5, â€Å"Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.† As the characters on stage do not know of this plan, the dramatic tension is increased. Secondly, Shakespeare emphasises the contrasting themes of this play to create atmosphere within this scene; the first example is the stark contrast between the calm and loving cool night setting and the tense, violent, stifling hot setting of this scene. The sharp change of setting would automatically create a sense of uncertainty and give the play more suspense and the audience have now witnessed that the play coul d twist unexpectedly. The main themes of the play, love and hate, contrast heavily in this scene. We witness Romeo tenderly approach Tybalt with love and peace â€Å"And so, good Capulet, which name I tender as dearly as mine own, be satisfied.† The  harshly contrasting words of Tybalt help to emphasise how deep the feud is between the two families â€Å"Thou art a villain.† Romeo enters the scene in a bubble of bliss and new love for his bride but he flees the scene after slaying Tybalt in a state of blind furious revenge. As Mercutio dies, Romeo blames his love for Juliet for making him weak and unable to save his friend.†Thy beauty hath made me effeminate†, this reflects the view of women at the time, as Elizabethan’s believed that if a man was too much in love this made him weak. The importance of masculinity in those times is also shown in Mercutio’s disgust when Romeo refuses Tybalt’s challenge for a duel- a traditional masculine act of protection and defence of nobility. This would create atmosphere as masculinity and femininity are another contrasting theme. Shakespeare uses the role of fate to create atmosphere throughout the play, it appears as fate has choreographed the ev ents to happen in a certain way to result in the tragic end to Romeo’s and Juliet’s love story. Romeo mentions fate and fortune frequently he seems have trust in it and hopes he will be guided into something good. â€Å"But he hath the steerage of my course direct my sail!† After Mercutio’s death Romeo refers to the incident as â€Å"This days black fate.† Again the belief that this greater power has control over the sequence of events is presented to the audience. If fate is this ruthless who will be its next victim? This question of the audience will contribute to the suspenseful atmosphere. Fate is personified when Romeo cries after slaying Tybalt â€Å"O, I am fortune’s fool.† This shows that Romeo feels that fortune is playing around with his life and he has no control over his actions and choices, I think Romeo’s belief in fortune relates to how his character is revealed in this scene. Relating to fate, some of the characters seem to have premonitions of the future, Romeo feels that there will be more trouble to come â€Å"This days black fate on Moe days doth depend.† This gives an eerie hint to the audience on the black fate that will strike Romeo and his Juliet. Benvolio at the beginning of the scene ca n sense that trouble will start because of the heat and suggests to Mercutio that they retire â€Å"And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl, for now these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.† The reference to â€Å"mad blood† hints of the blood that is shed in a Romeo’s mad frenzy of violence, and gives the audience the effective image of the heat and anger boiling Romeo’s blood. Finally, fate seems to find a voice in dying  Mercutio who claims â€Å"A plague a’ both your houses!† which ominously forecasts the plague of death which strikes the lovers at the end of the play. Atmosphere is visually created by the quick and action packed fight scene, two lives are lost in a relatively short time this would have been very dramatic and emotional too watch, having a dazed effect on the audience. The fight scene would have presented Tybalt’s swords skills and Romeo’s furious passion, showing that the battle could go either way, creating a very excited but suspenseful atmosphere. One of the main contributions to the atmosphere is Shakespeare’s choice and style of language; we must remember that Elizabethans went to hear a play and how effective the language was had a key role in gaining their support of the play. Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets to creative an effective atmosphere, when lady Capulet discovers that Romeo has killed tybalt she says â€Å"I beg for justice which thou, Prince, must give: Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.† This is effective because rhyming couplets conclude a thought and seal it as definite; this foreshadows the future as Romeo does not live, as a result of killing tybalt, because if not for this action the next sequence of events leading to his death wouldn’t have occurred. Atmosphere is also created by Mercutio’s style of lines, Mercutio speaks in prose a line that is usually given to a common or small character, but Mercutio is a gentlemen from a wealthy background therefore he is not using prose to reflect his social class, but to reflect a negative and lowly view of a subject. In this case Mercutio describes Benvolio’s temper â€Å"Thy head is as full of quarrels is and egg is full of meat.† The audience will realise that it is not the peacemaker Benvolio Mercutio is describing, but that he is describing his own troublemaking characteristics. Talking in prose shows that he feels this lowly and shameful part of his characteristics. Wordplay was another technique used to create atmosphere that was very popular with the Elizabethans, Shakespeare inputs this in Romeo’s response to Tybalt’s challenge as Romeo answers changing the words only slightly. â€Å"The love I bear thee† Romeo responds with â€Å"the reason that I have to love thee†, while â€Å"Thou art a villain† becomes â€Å"villain am I none†. â€Å"Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is met with â€Å"I do protest I never injured thee†. Finally the direct challenge: â€Å"Therefore turn and draw† is countered with â€Å"And so†¦be satisfied†. The revelation of characters in this scene is a one  of the aspects of the atmospher e created, firstly Romeo reveals his impulsive and irrational nature when he chooses to avenge over a friends death rather than spare Juliet the loss of losing him and her cousin. It is also revealed that Romeo is very immature and cannot handle the concept of taking responsibility, only has he just been married and he blames Juliet for his weakness causing Mercutio’s death, linking back to his quote on fortune, Romeo seems to think he cant control anything and that it is all fates fault. Never once does he admit his mistake in killing Tybalt, instead he says fortune is controlling him for fun â€Å"O, I am fortunes fool.† He also personifies fury as if it is not his own actions but as if they are being controlled by fury. â€Å"And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!† In conclusion all of these techniques I have discussed, tie together a fantastic knot of suspenseful and captivating atmosphere, that advances the plot and provides the first exciting twist of the play.