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‘Nestle its financial reporting with Management Science’

Article Summary

This paper is a review of the article ‘Nestle its financial reporting with Management Science’ and it is written by Christophe Oggier, Emmanuel Fragniere, and Jeremy Stuby. The article was published in 2005 volume 35 issue 4, in the 271-280 pages. The company’s executive information system department collects data from its subsidiaries to offer operational, strategic, and financial information to the management. The company made a decision of improving its service by the application of tools of business analytics based on management science. This action was aimed at encouraging controllers and analysts to make maximum utilization of information offered. Four modules developed included forecasting, optimization, simulation, and sensitivity analysis. This has resulted to an increase in the number of managers familiarized with quantitative decision making through the application of management science models.

Firms need to develop analytics techniques that managers are able to handle directly without having to consult experts. This is what management science upholds although it has not always done so. In 1997, Nestle began a partnership between the Nestlé’s executive information system department and the University of Lausanne’s business school. The two courses offered in the university Operations Management and Business Quantitative Methods emphasized modeling instead of algorithms. Nestle is divided into several products and markets, being the largest food and beverage firm worldwide. Nestlé’s EIS department collects, checks, validates, and combines data before storing in databases. The department developed tools to give standardized tables and charts of results. In addition, it developed these tools to ensure the access of accurate and relevant information through a secured client-server by controllers and decision makers. Since the development of these tools, potential users were interested in using them. Modeling system is considered a simple and a quality approach despite arguments that it cannot visualize the mathematical formation of the models. However, due to its simple nature, it is used in most organization across the world.

The four modules developed by the company focus on all areas including regression and smoothing techniques, risk and uncertainty analysis, mathematical programming, and optimization techniques. The four modules are not used alone rather they are incorporated in a financial analysis framework. This enables the selection of the best investments with the highest returns. Economic profit is used as the indicator of value creation. Performance drivers that Nestle uses include profit margin, sales growth, income tax rate, fixed capital intensity, working capital intensity, duration, and cost of capital. The company relates economic profit to market value added. This is what the company uses to determine ways of ensuring sustainable profit growth.

The sensitivity analysis module is used in describing the best consensus or guess that is developed from the knowledge of the analyst, and used to study the effect on the solution of certain parameters by modifying their values. The company applies the system widely at the headquarters and subsidiaries to make investment decisions. On the forecasting module, regression analyses and time series are used in predicting of several indicators. Forecasts are given to financial analysts who then perform checks by applying techniques of management science to challenge or cross-check the data given to them. On the simulation module, the technique used is Monte-Carlo simulation to develop a variety of scenarios affected by random factors as per the probability distribution laws. The @Risk Software is used to generate and analyze the simulations. The Excel spreadsheet may also be used to perform these simulations. On the other hand, the optimization module applies the Excel Solver and mathematical programming. It is concerned with how to devise the problem that must be resolved by differentiating decision variables, a target variable, and constraints. The sensitivity report and the solver output are then analyzed. The company uses the four modules in a coherent and logical manner to calculate the NPV that is essential in making decisions on whether or not to make investments.

The EIS team in Nestle trains and gives support to users with the aim of offering accessible information in areas including corporate controlling, zone management, accounting and reporting, strategic business and reporting, mergers and acquisitions, treasury, insurance and pension, and technical. Nestle measures the effectiveness of capital budgeting by the application of the four MS modules, and interest in the application of these modules has increased. Despite challenges such as political interference, the company ensured the presentation of this approach in a way aimed at ensuring managerial efficiency and effectiveness. At Nestle, the EIS department plans to offer users with open models, as well as, training them on OR/MS tools rather than limiting them on a single model. The application of whatever model depends on the task being handled. This has proven effective in its application. Most departments of executive information are not acquainted with quantitative techniques. Courses in MS tools in 1996 made a difference to this. Nestle upholds the application of MS techniques and intends to spread them across other companies in the world. So far, the company has carried out presentations, training courses, and workshops of the company in various regions have been successful.

Article Critique

This article is essential in the management field for understanding new trends in the field, in the modern world. The selection of the article is first because Nestle is a leading firm in the food and beverage industry in the world. Second, the demand for application of MS techniques in companies across the world has increased. This article provides a clear explanation on the benefits associated with the application of such models for companies that have implemented then such as Nestle. In addition, the article discusses the four modules of the MS model and how they are applied for different functions. The authors of the article, Oggier, Stuby, and Fragniere provide the reader with a deeper comprehension on how the different modules may be applied for different purposes in organizations as illustrated by Nestle.

The main objective of the article is to discuss the significance of MS techniques in ensuring accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency in organizational functions. For instance, the EIS department of Nestle collects, checks, validates, and combines data before storing in the databases. The department tries to offer accurate information to the controllers and analysts in order for them to be able to monitor the performance of the firm and lead to appropriate decisions. This is the reason why Nestle developed MS tools to help controllers, decision makers, and analysts in accessing accurate and relevant information that is secure, and to offer standardized charts and tables of results. The MS techniques perform this task. The authors of this article use the company to explain the significance of applying MS tools and techniques. The article is aimed at illustrating that modeling using Excel Spreadsheets can be essential in organizations despite its criticism that it is difficult for users to visualize the mathematical structure in the model. However, the model has proven successful for Nestle. Areas such as sensitivity analysis, optimization, forecasting, and simulation are essential in all companies in order to decide on what investments to adopt and which ones to consider or wait for another time. This necessitates the application of techniques and procedures that can effectively and efficiently perform this task. Authors demonstrate that the MS techniques have worked for Nestle, and the company is advocating for other companies to apply them. The authors explain factors that are essential and are considered by Nestle in determining the company’s performance. These include profit margin, sales growth, income tax rate, fixed capital intensity, working capital intensity, duration, and cost of capital.

Firms need to establish small business analytic techniques that managers are able to handle directly without having to consult specialists, consultants and experts. The article, therefore, is focused on elaborating in depth how the process of determining the company’s performance and selection of the best available option of investment is made easier through the application of the four modules applied by Nestle in the executive information system department. The sensitivity module is concerned with smoothing and regression tools which are essential in performing correlations between variables. Simulation analysis is essential for identifying risks and uncertainties associated with various projects. These are essential in making significant decisions on what to do with a project. Optimization module is essential in resolving cash-management problems in organizations. This is why it uses mathematical programming that is vital for developing solutions to challenges that arise in organizations. Every organization performs forecasting of concerns that might arise for the companies. Forecasting analysis is, therefore, a crucial tool in forecasting different variables such as sales and profitability of a company. Therefore, these modules stand out not only for Nestle, but also for other companies that effectively implement them. The authors, being employees of the company elaborate the success of these modules in the company, as well as, the success of the company’s workshops, presentations and training programs. Although many executive information system departments are not familiar with the application of quantitative techniques in their organizations, many managers across the world are demanding the adoption and implementation of the MS tools in their organizational functions.

Many executive information system departments do not recognize the quantitative methods in their organizational operations. This to some extent has to do with the fact that there are no adequate courses offered in MS to ensure that individuals are acquainted with adequate knowledge and training on how to apply them in organizations. It is only until this is done that people in organizations would begin top realize the significance of the Management Science in improving efficiency and effectiveness in organizations. A good case has been demonstrated by authors in this article, the case of Nestle. The MS course at the University of Lausanne business school in 1996 has significantly meant success for the company. Managers at the company are able to apply tools of business analytics in order to improve their decisions in business. However, there was an assumption that individuals in the company could apply these simple techniques to improve the quality of business decisions. It is thus, difficult to measure the success of work on the basis of cost reduction or profit increase. This counts as part of the problems facing companies that apply the MS techniques. Therefore, quantitative expertise is essential in enabling companies maintain their leadership positions in whatever industries and regions of operation.

The authors argue that Nestle intends to spread the techniques to other regions farther, faster, continuously, and in a systematic manner in order to establish sharper and specific modules. These include linear programming, real options, and dynamic simulation for business and technical expertise as among the centers of expertise. This implies that the MS techniques may be extended to functions besides the finance roles and functions. Timing is one of the key factors that need to be considered to avoid early introduction of these techniques when organizational managers are not ready to adapt them. This is also essential to avoid late introduction of the techniques that could lead to the loss of competitive advantage of the company. The introduction of these techniques across other organizations will ensure improvement in efficiency and effectiveness at all levels of operations.

The article is of much beneficial because of a number of reasons. The management and business fields are faced with so many changes in the environment that come as a result of both internal and external factors that influence organizations. These changes require adjustments if companies are willing to maintain their positions in the industry and continue experiencing success. The choice by Nestlé to introduce management in order to improve its financial reporting is one of the ways of adjusting to environmental and technological changes in the managerial field. The article brings it clear to the reader that MS techniques, although not widely recognized have much benefits for organizations. This is demonstrated by the case of Nestle that the authors describe that uses these techniques in its operations. For anything to be successful in the business field, it must be tried to determine its practicability. Nestle is a leading company in food and beverages industry, and this implies that if the company has applied this technique and still holds its position in the market, the techniques are beneficial.

The article and subject of concern is important as it illustrates that quantitative modeling is effective if applied or taught in a user-friendly environment. Offering courses in Management Science is of great advantage for future managers to enable quality decision making. Managerial functions involve the decision making role of the management. These decisions might be short term or long term. In whatever case, the decisions made need to be quality ones. Therefore, imposing MS models in companies ensures quality improvement in the process of decision making. The article highlights on the importance of modeling as a process. The process involves steps of identifying and defining problems, gathering data, developing and solving models, and evaluating the results. The approach is not complicated if implemented effectively. Efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness are improved without wastage of crucial resources such as time. The MS areas such as forecasting, optimization, sensitivity analysis, and simulation are essential for decision making in organizations as illustrated in the article by the three authors.

The article states that Nestle gathers both primary and secondary data in a systematic way. This is done to determine the effectiveness of techniques applied in the company and ensure the techniques are practical. This is essential for organizations that have adopted techniques such as MS to demonstrate their applicability. For instance, Nestle carried out a survey to establish whether plans were logical. The main sections of the survey included EIS access tools, EIS data, and EIS training and information. The results implied that potential users were interested in the access of new tools and techniques that would ensure that thorough analyses were possible. The EIS department of Nestle collects data, checks before validating and consolidating data in order to store them in EIS’s databases. Both primary and secondary data are essential for the company to perform these analyses.

The quantitative techniques of analysis described in the article that are essential in management include the sensitivity analysis module. This involves the description of the best consensus or guesses from the knowledge of the analyst and is used to study the effect of the solution of certain factors by modifying their values. This is essential in understanding what to be invested to get a 12 percent internal rate of return or to break even. Conditions for the break even can thus be depicted using charts. In addition, there can be an assessment of the pricing policy, as well as, quantity sold on NPV. It is also possible to establish a chart of trade-offs between indicators and their impacts. These are essential for facilitating the decision making process. The forecasting module is essential in estimating future quantities. The simulation module is also essential and can be used to determine uncertainties associated with various projects. The optimization module identifies problems and solutions to these problems. The models work together to produce qualitative results that are used in making quality decisions. Important areas of focus include strategic business and marketing, technical, zone management, reporting and accounting, corporate controlling, pensions and insurance, and mergers and acquisitions. The implementation of these tools, however, requires some resources, both financial and non-financial. For instance, there is a need of knowledgeable and skilled human resources. In addition, time as a factor is also an essential resource required. Some costs related to financial expenses are also incurred in the implementation process. These and other resources are required in order to ensure successful implementations in organizations.

It is, however, essential to note that restricting managers to one model is not a good idea. Rather, managers should be able to choose the model that best suits their requirements. This ensures maximum profitability is attained as managers are knowledgeable enough in this field. It is not only profitability that is improved. Performance, efficiency, and effectiveness are also improved as illustrated in the case of Nestle where managers are allowed to use OR/MS model. Financial managers may use their skills of these techniques in many areas such as finance, decision making, sales and marketing. For instance, managers can apply the sensitivity analysis to calculate sale prices for finished goods and services. Managers in marketing may also adapt models that suit their needs and requirements. In addition, managers of the treasury department frequently apply the optimization module and risk analysis for cash management. On the other hand, departments of acquisitions and mergers apply risk analysis in calculating risks and opportunities related to a particular investment or project.

The article is well structured and easily understandable by most readers. The authors critically examine the benefits associated with the implementation of the MS model in organizations. The reader is able to gather sufficient knowledge on the model and the modules discussed in the article including simulation, optimization, sensitivity, and the forecasting module. These are essential in enabling the decision making process by managers in organizations. The authors illustrate the importance of these quantitative techniques by giving an example Nestle, a leading food and beverage firm in the world. Companies should adopt these techniques due to their efficiency and effectiveness in providing managers with quality decisions on what to invest in based on the NPV obtained. The modules perform a remarkable function when used jointly. Although a few weaknesses exist especially on assumptions about the performance of the techniques, the benefits outweigh the weaknesses. On data collection methods, secondary data should entail thorough investigations on the internet to determine the effectiveness of the techniques elsewhere. Managers should consider such assumptions bearing in mind that companies are different, and factors that might influence one company may not influence another company. Despite all the weaknesses, however, the application of MS model needs to be emphasized across all nations in the world as they improve the quality of the decision making process. The model may be used in other organizational areas apart from the financial area, and improves results in a similar manner. The article on Nestle has provided background and essential on the usefulness of the MS model and the four modules for managerial functions.

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Myth Writing Assignment

A myth of creation

Once upon a time before the world that people of Ilgris in was, there existed someone above, which was a symbol of heavens and another below representing the earth. They were sister and brother. These were not the way as they are in the present, but represented another nature. The world below was dark without the moon, sun, and the stars. The brother (heaven) brought light to the sister. The sun was the light. The brother wanted to have the sister as his wife, but the sister declined and wanted her brother to leave her in peace. However, they later married, and their union brought the earth and the sand that produced stones and rocks. There later came shrubs and trees, and then grass and herbs followed and later came the animals. Ultimately, one was born called Duot, an animated being. Duot’s parents were immortals. Duot bore children, both females and males. These were not rational beings. Duot’s children were like their parents, who represented a species distinct from any that live on the earth in the present. Duot became the king of this first family. The descendants of Duot multiplied and then earth increased in size.

As the king grew old, the eldest vassals created a conspiracy to destroy him. They argued that Duot was too old to rule as he could not keep up with their needs and wants. There was a consultation held to establish the execution method. The method decided was poisoning. They put poison in his beverage. Duot fell sick and left his home in the mountain to the sea shore. When the mother learned of the son’s danger, she mixed an antidote in a large shell. Ayok, was attracted by the scent of the fermenting antidote, and Duot died after Coyote overturned it. However, Duot said that he would return to life again. They could not decide on what to do with the corpse, whether to bury it into the ground or to burn it. Eventually, the elders decided to burn it upon a pile that was purposely made for the occasion. In fear that Coyote would eat the body, they burnt the retreat. Coyote ran away and brought himself at the place of sacrifice where he declared he would die with his king. Suddenly Coyote leaped on the corpse, tore a part of Duot’s stomach and ate it. The remaining part of the body got burnt. Coyote’s name was the second captain and since that time was known as Eno symbolizing a cannibal and thief.

Another person appeared, and people wanted to know if it was Duot. However, the person claimed that he was a king bearing the name Chichi of great power whose habitation was above. Chichi symbolizes almighty or all powerful and the people of Ilgris believe that he is always present and everywhere and is able to see all things, but no one can see him. Duot’s children spoke to Chichi and told him they no longer wanted to eat the earth’s clay as they used to since it was the only available food. Rather, they wanted the flesh of animals and seeds of the fields. Therefore, Chichi endowed some of children with the powers to bring rain, influence the dew, and create ducks, ducks, rabbits, and deer. Each had his own occupation.

Chichi then formed man, a male and female from white clay found upon the lake borders these represent the people of Ilgris of the present day. When the people of Duot saw the people created by Chichi, they disappeared to a place where no one knew or knows. It is believed there are no Duot’s descendants in existence today. Additionally, Duot has never returned as he had promised. Chich is known by three distinct names: Satr, Ayen, and Alwel. Satr means Chich when he is unable to dance, is Ayen when is able to dance, and is Alwel when he dances dressed in feathered attire and a crown upon his head, while his face is painted in red and black. At one time while he was dancing, he was taken into heaven, where the stars are. However, before his departure, he commanded that all the people of Ilgris should use this mode of dress during their grand feasts. This is an observance that is highly upheld by the people of Ilgris up to date.

Some people, however, claim to be the descendants of individuals endowed with the great powers. They are, therefore, often consulted concerning harvests, and during times of sacrifices. Offending these people implies destroying all the productions of grain and flesh. Chichi told the people of Ilgris that whoever does not obey him or does not believe in his teachings, he or she will be reprimanded. Chichi will send serpents to sting, bears to bite, infirmities, misfortunes, and death. Chichi taught the people rules and laws to observe, as well as, ceremonies and rites. The people of Ilgris consider Chichi as God. They hold that he has no parents and do not know his origin. He reprimands the wicked, and he is a friend to the good.

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Minimum Wage and Whether It Should be Raised

Introduction

The minimum wage refers to the lowest hourly payment rate that an employer can offer to an employee (Neumark and Wascher, 2008). The minimum wage can be determined on a daily, hourly, or even monthly basis. The minimum wage law states that it is unlawful for someone to pay employees a lesser amount of money for the work done than it is required. The function of the minimum wage is to assure a person is earning a relatively decent reward for the effort put. The minimum wage differs from one country to another. The institutions responsible for setting it may differ as well, depending on the law and traditions. For instance, in the U.S., a statute sets the lowest wage whereas, in the UK, it is set by the wage council of each industry (Waltman, 2008). The minimum wage for many countries is low, making the lives of the working population a bit difficult. There have been policies established to raise the minimum pay in a number of nations. At the same time, there are nations that are against raising the minimum pay due to the negative effects associated with this.

Positive implications of raising the minimum pay

Recently, there has been a demand by many states to raise the minimum pay. States in the US that are moving towards the achievement of this goal include New York, New Jersey, Missouri, and Connecticut. In fact, Iowa and Sen. Tom Harkin are pressing for the federal rise in the minimum income of up to 9.80 dollars per hour to be achieved by 2014 (Auerback, 2012). This is a good policy as it will improve the welfare for the citizens. However, if the issue is not handled carefully, it could lower the economic growth of a nation. There is much importance in raising the minimum earnings.

Raising the minimum pay will improve the welfare of families. If the lowest wage is raised, the income of at least 28 million Americans will be increased. Women specifically would benefit as they are more likely to work for lesser wages than men. Raising the minimum pay is, therefore, a good and friendly policy to the family. If the minimum pay is raised, some people who are working may wish to retire, go for training, or have children, and this means that opportunities for those looking for jobs will be available (Auerback, 2012). The working families would, therefore, have time for other things such as community life and politics. People would start to regain the middle-class political association they were in before. When the minimum pay is increased, definitely the pay roll and revenues from income tax would also increase. This will cause a decrease in the federal deficit and imply that issues of the social security matters will be resolved leading to a better life for the citizens (Waltman, 2008).

Another reason why it is important to raise the minimum income is that it is good for the recovery of the economy. Regular people should be integrated in the economic development process. This is important because the economy depends on those who really spend in the economy for its growth. Minimum wage does not only bring about issues of income inequality, but also focuses on other important aspects in a nation such as the economic system and equal distribution of resources (Auerback, 2012). The gap that exists between real wages and productivity is very high, and this has an influence on the relationship between real earnings and expenditure. There should be a comparative wage to the productivity of the workers. If the workers are paid a lesser wage as compared to their productivity, the economy will never recover. There should be policies and programs that are directed towards raising the minimum wage. This way, the economy will recover and go back to where it was before. The problem with the economy is not productivity but the lack of broader sharing of the gains from the productivity. Those at the top are in control of the Federal Reserve Board, the trade policy and the Wall Street bailout (Baker, 2012). They make huge profits at the expense of others not belonging to the top. Therefore, raising the lowest wage will bring trickle-down economics, which is more productive as it shifts resources to those that keep the economy moving.

Increasing the minimum wage helps people avoid debt. Debt makes people and the nation at large lag behind economically as compared to other nations. In 1950s and 1960s, free enterprise was focused on creating productive capacity and ensuring that workers are engaged in making things that are useful rather than using them as financial products. The economy is focused on improving the real estate, finance, and insurance sectors, and this has brought about migration of wealth to the top 1% (Waltman, 2008). In addition, real wages have decreased growth in productivity. This is shown by the decline in hours that employees work in the productive sector over the last decade. Before the 1970s, growth in real wages increased growth in productivity. Due to the increase in productive capacity, the consumption rates of the workers also increased. The high incomes that were gained brought about growth and development of the economy. The incomes came from success in structuring things and distributing the gains. In the modern times, large earnings come from the monetary sector which captures a large amount of the national income and uses it to invest in financial property, in the markets. This however, adds very little productive output (Auerback, 2012).

Huge improvements could be made if the minimum wage is increased. This will allow the poor workers to do away with debts and, therefore, use the financial resources gained to improve their lives. This way, they will at least rise into the middle-class, which is their desire. This might cause other negative implications, though the benefits outweigh the costs. For instance, corporate profits might be affected and suffer a bit, and some enterprises might disappear. Currently, the corporate profits are at a record high level. However, whether the profitability levels can be sustained or not is questionable. It is evident that many firms have a lot of unused capacity because people cannot afford to acquire their products and services. This implies that the sales growth is slow, which leads to lagging wage rates. There has been a rise in the reliance of food stamps, which is over 14 million. As Auerback (2012) explains, financial engineering has helped in the creation of a significant acceleration in debt creating a burden to consumers as they are the ones that bear the debts. This calls for a better model, which is the policy to raise the lowest wage.

Raising the minimum wage will help protect workers from abuse. Many workers are being exploited and abused at their places of work just because of their poverty situation. A rise in the minimum earnings will aid in alleviating the exploitative and abusive practices of particular employers who use their power and authority wrongly (Cunningham, 2007). Some employers take advantage of the low minimum wage that exists and, therefore, abuse their workers as they know that getting out of the situation for the workers is a bit difficult. They use informal methods such as undocumented labor to undermine the poor in the society.

An increase in the lowest wage will bring about justice for the workers. It would be compensation to the workers for their unrealized efforts. For instance in the American scenario, the class struggle has been undertaken with those in the top 1%. There has been a dramatic redistribution of personal and national income, which has favored the rich in the society over the past 30 years. The period in question has experienced a decline in the economic performance of the United States (Cunningham, 2007). There are those who have suffered the economic crisis and, therefore, raising the minimum income would be like compensating their losses. Those who have suffered the economic crisis are the working population. Raising the minimum pay will, therefore, bring justice to them.

Negative implications of raising the minimum pay

According to Baker (2012), the argument against raising the minimum pay is that it will decrease employment consequently hurting the people that are supposed to benefit from raising the minimum wage. Research has shown, however, that raising the minimum wage does not affect employment, and in a few cases where there is loss of employment, (Baker, 2012) states that the impact is small. According to Baker (2012), a 20% rise in the minimum pay leads to 2-3% reduction in employment of young people. To other people, however, this impact is not insignificant.

According to Gorry (2012), raising the minimum pay creates more jobless young Americans. The unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 19 years in the United States in August 2012 was at 23.8%. According to Gorry (2012), the calls to increase the minimum pay from 7.25 dollars to 10 dollars per hour will mean more jobless young people. High minimum wages create a tradeoff between higher salaries for those that are employed and higher levels of unemployment. This is because when the minimum pay is increased, workers who earn less than the new higher minimum pay are rendered jobless as firms decide to get by with a few workers instead of paying high levels of wages. Therefore, a higher minimum pay is specifically damaging for future prospects of young workers. According to Gorry (2012), the U.S. should focus on creating new jobs rather than increasing the minimum pay.

Conclusion

Raising the minimum pay is of great importance, as it will lead to not only the well-being of citizens, but also to the welfare of the entire society. However, as much as the minimum pay is beneficial for a country, the negative effects of raising it should not be ignored as the youth are the future leaders. Some of calls to push for an increase in the minimum pay have a political connotation. As Mathur and Strain (2012) state, those who today push for higher minimum pay are very well planned. However, good plans and intentions do not necessarily make good policies. The reality is that raising the minimum pay would do more damage than good for the very group of people (workers) that most need help. This would Cause low-skill workers to have fewer jobs, lesser earnings, and more poverty while giving an income increase to higher-earning households is not only bad policy, but also, not fair. According to Schulz (2012) good intentions are not always good enough, particularly given the damage done to those Americans who most need a break.

 

 

References

Auerback, M. (2012). Five Reasons why we should raise the Minimum Wage. It’s Smart Economics and beneficial to society. What are we waiting for? , 4(3), 122.

Baker, D. (2012). Raising the Minimum Wage is Cheap and Easy. Making Markets Progressive, 6(17), 101.

Neumark, D., & Wascher, W. L. (2008). Minimum wages. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: MIT Press.

Waltman, J. L. (2008). Minimum wage policy in Great Britain and the United States. New York: Algora Pub.

Cunningham, W. V. (2007). Minimum wages and social policy: Lessons from developing countries. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Gorry, A. (2012, September 27). Raising minimum wage is sure bet to create more jobless young Americans – Economics – AEI. AEI – American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www.aei.org/article/economics/raising-minimum-wage-is-sure-bet-to-create-more-jobless-young-americans/

Mathur, A., & Strain, M. R. (2012, July 18). Are minimum wages fair? – Economics – AEI. AEI – American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www.aei.org/article/economics/fiscal-policy/labor/are-minimum-wages-fair/

Schulz, N. (2012, April 11). Raising Minimum Wage is Maximum Stupidity – Economics – AEI. AEI – American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://aei.org/article/economics/fiscal-policy/labor/raising-minimum-wage-is-maximum-stupidity/

 

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Marriage- sharing the Load

It is argued that quality relations in marriages today depend on sharing domestic work between the couple. During the early 1960s, women only found minor positions in organizations such as secretaries, but this required young, single, and beautiful women. Married women were not hired, and psychiatrists warned that if married women were allowed to earn their own income, then marriage would be strained. This belief was intense to the point that people believed that women should be subordinate as this was a feminine feature. It was not taken as illegal for a man to rape his wife. In 1963, there was light as women were urged to look for work outside the home. However, there was the question on the effect on marriage as educated women were seen as a threat to the stability of marriage. This was, however, challenged around the 1980s as more females joined the workforce and women’s movement challenged the earlier inequalities at home and in the job. The divorce levels started to fall.

Education is now seen as a must for marriage as the negative implications on marriage have been proven wrong. The selection studies by Whelan’s mate showed that men look for career and educated women for marriage partners than during the earlier times. The effect of independence tends to increase the quality and stability of marriage. In 1963, housewives were not entitled to any of their husband’s property in case they divorced. The pressure on men to take on home responsibilities was started by working women. This is good for children as they get to spend adequate time with both parents and good for couples too. This is, however, affected by differences in ethnic and racial status, values, income and occupation.

Women’s movement into paid work has had a positive impact on marital satisfaction. This has changed the earlier feminine mystique but not completely. The masculine mystique has caused some men to decline sharing of domestic chores as they feel threatened. However, those with positive attitudes even embrace the gender equality. The challenges to equality between genders could be curbed by establishing ways of allowing women and men to combine, integrate, and at times to alternate their roles in the family and the labor force.

It may be surprising that a significant number of households in the United States of America are headed by single women. Most of these women may be working, but earn lower incomes to cater for the household necessities. Becoming or being an unmarried woman implies higher economic vulnerability and economic control over the few resources she owns, creating a lot of hardships but also personal independence. This has made the institution of marriage become an institution for the advantaged or privileged. There is, therefore, a need for policies and programs to reflect on this issue as the number of unmarried women is considerably on the increase.

It is essential to note that a lot of people in America recognize that women must earn an income or a living just like men. This creates satisfaction in an honest day’s job. This is because there are no longer debates on whether women should work. This is evident in the half number of women in the U.S. workers. In addition, workplaces are starting to change and are allowing workers to earn income and still perform their family responsibilities. The number of educated women is higher than ever before, and institutions such as the religious ones provide accommodation for women. This has made women be able to make quality decisions on their own. Men wish to be present as fathers in the family, thereby increasing their responsibility at home.

The independence of women is represented even in immigrant mothers who courageously care for their families while at the same time working double shifts to provide education to their children and are also focused on upward mobility. This creates the implication that femaleness is about determination and dynamism. In the modern world, women can do anything they want just like men. To maintain this, policies that honor individuals’ ideals for their lives and assist their human rights such as economic stability, safe conditions of working, quality health care, economic stability, and time with family and society at large are necessary. Some of the organizations that have played a significant role in championing for shared responsibilities include labor unions. This has led to more gender balanced responsibility and leadership in the State.  Additionally, women movements cannot be left behind in discussing this issue.

Individuals should envision the more humane, equitable, and balances nation that they want to live in irrespective of their gender and fight hard to make it a reality. This can reform the government, workplace, and social institutions, but this requires a change in personal expectations to focus on the interest of everyone. These reforms are essential as they assist in quality and healthier decision making. In addition, the country’s ideas and opinions on leadership will also continue to emerge as the role of both parents as balanced between the family and the workplace. Balance in new ways of living and working improves individuals’ capacity at all levels. This is enabled by the leaders at the highest levels who fundamentally and symbolically assist individuals, both men and women in their search for meeting the responsibilities at work and at home.

The role of women is highly recognized in transforming the nation, both economically and socially. Research shows fundamental alignment between both genders in terms of what they believe about one another and what they want in life. Men are comfortable with their wives working outside the home as compared to earlier decades. This has given room for negotiations. Despite the sharing of responsibilities, most women have much burden in caring for their children than men. Most Americans believe that things have changed in work and living and are looking to their employers and the government to also embrace the same. Americans perceive the increase of women in the workforce as good for society, most men and women on most goals in life. Couples are happy with their relationships and marriages during the new era. Although there exist a few challenges, it is noted that individuals in America wish for a better equilibrium between life and work. This implies that they are now embracing the sharing of household responsibilities. A significant majority support changes in policy to improve life-work balance. This has to do with education and the effect of the modern woman. There are no longer responsibilities categorized as belonging to this or that gender.

 

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Mahabharata

        The Mahabharata refers to a tradition of religious epic, which has lived in various cultural niches including written, oral, vernacular, and Sanskrit. It has existed for over two thousand years in South and Southwest Asia (Fitzgerald, 52). It has played a chief role as a sacred scripture in defining the Hindu world and culture. The Mahabharata is dramatized by puppets, dancers, and actors for entertaining the audience. In addition, it serves as part of festivals and rituals of the Hindu community. During the 1990s, the Mahabharata was broadcast in the Indian Television and had many viewers (Fitzgerald, 52). The Mahabharata is centrally about three great Hindu “aims of life” these include dharma (social and moral law/duty/ ethic/responsibility), artha (profit, political power, material gain), and moksha (spiritual liberation from rebirth).

The written Sanskrit Mahabharata was promulgated in Northern India around 300 and 450 CE, about the time of the Gupta Empire. This written work is a regular topic of discussion. The Mahabharata went through the stage of the classical heroic epic and was partially transformed into a religious educational epopee. The Mahabharata is a unique epic as it combines the features of all key three main stages of historical development. The anti-Mauryan holds that proper reign should be brahmanya (Fitzgerald, 53). This implies that proper rule should be based on respect for the unique priority of Brahma in determining the cultural, social, and political concerns. Governance and its inherent violence are unsuitable for people of the most sophisticated natures and responsibilities.

The Mahabharata developed as a response to the damage that caused by the rise of empires at Pataliputra and the heathen religions between 300 and 100 BCE. The ‘aims of life’ described in Mahabharata inspire the basis for living a good life in society in a good polity. In Mahabharata, good polity is protected whether the king exists or not (artha). The king, in Mahabharata, exerts the rod of force as the imposition of punishment and his army. The king is self-restrained and energetic and follows the guidance of Brahmans, whom he preserves from harm and supports materially (Fitzgerald, 54). One of the ways that the King prevents Brahmans from harm is by ensuring that people in society make four different forms of contribution to the whole. The society is characterized by the existence of Brahmans, the unseen, essential reality of the world. The hymns of the Vedas elaborate this. The mode of the ruling is passed by a word of mouth from one generation to another. According to Fitzgerald (54), rulers guarantee the general welfare and prosperity of society in life and after death. In this case, the good society has special men known as Ksatriyas, who are the rulers and warriors (armed force). Rulers and warriors protect the society. The ordinary people are the basic economic producers of the society.

People are expected to use effective ritual formulas of the rites of divine worship of Brahmans Veda. Sudra is an order who do not necessarily use the religious services of Brahmans directly. However, they contribute to the general social role by obeying the services of the higher orders. The king is charged with the responsibility of keeping engaged in their own legitimate kinds of work. At times, people fail to perform their appropriate work by doing the tasks of others. This is opposite to the writings of Mahabharata. The legitimate work is referred to as (dharma). When people fail to perform their right work, the orders in the society become indistinct and break down. In fact, at times they cease to exist (Fitzgerald, 55). The outcome of the mixture leads to a disappearance of the Brahmans as a distinct group making a valuable and good contribution to the social wellbeing. When one performs what Vedic rites require, he or she accumulates   merit. This gives one benefits and guarantees good life after death. This is the vision by most people as life in a heavenly world, regarded as a good rebirth (moksha).

The rhetoric of the Mahabharata mostly directed as rulers and warriors, as well as, the good life for them involved gaining riches and glory, dying bravely of wounds in battles and wars, and going to heaven. The Mahabharata lays down the foundations of Hinduism. According to Bhagavad Gita, “as moths speeding full tilt to their demise fly right into a fire,” so have men rushed to the war. The war is the mouth of god eagerly devouring the whole world and everyone in it” (Fitzgerald, 74). This is a different opinion from that in Mahabharata.

Dharma is a subtle thing in the Mahabharata. Sometimes, dharma comes into conflict with artha, and the results are not good. The clan of Krishna Vasudeva illustrates this. After the end of the war, people slaughtered each other (Fitzgerald, 68). A similar case is represented by the plague of evil for Indra after killing Vitra.

Moksha is easy to define but difficult to achieve. There are different methods through which Krishna teaches Arjuna about how to gain moksha. One is that of action ((Karma Yoga). This means being intent on actions. Another method is that of knowledge (Jnana Yoga). This comes in the form of being able of differentiating between what is true and what is not. The other method is that of devotion (Bhakti Yoga). This comes in the form of an entire loving devotion to Krishna.

In the modern content, the salvaging the treatment of dharma by Mahabharata, as well as, Gita’s treatment of moksha is important as they would make individuals do what is right (ethics). They are all relevant in Hinduism.

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Argentina’s International Trade Disaster

Ian Mount states, “In March 2011, Argentina’s government decided that car importers would have to match their imports with exports of equal value”. This policy is essential especially for the nation as a whole as it ensures that there are no deficits in balance of payments leading to a development in their economy. However, it must be applied appropriately. The additional requirements for Argentina to export other products such as rice, leather, car parts, and other agricultural products are a good strategy for international trade. In 2010, the government of Argentina implemented a series of economic regulations to save central bank reserves, as well as, local jobs. Any good strategy aimed at protecting the local employment, saving the bank reserves ensures a growth in the economy of a nation, and this could lead to its development. This is seen in the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Argentina from 2003 through 2011. However, according to Mount, the growth has since stopped.

Gaston Rossi says that in trying to regain what was there during the early times, a nation should not ignore what is happening in the rest of the world. Some economic policies may have short-term benefits while in the long run; they may mean serious implications for the people as well as the nation at large. This is because the problem that the country is trying to solve is very simple, yet the policies being implemented are inappropriate. According to Mount, high inflation in Argentina has increased prices for products and services in the nation. High inflation, in turn, makes consumers turn into imports, which endangers the local jobs as well as the dollar reserves in the United States. When import cartels were imposed, imports fell in the country. Blocking a country’s import rates is not the solution, as its part in international business is challenged. This affects many sectors of a nation’s industry especially the biggest industries and the trading partners, who may retaliate from trading with the nation. In fact, other trading partners might take advantage of the situation to their own benefits. The author blames the government currency restrictions as they have caused all the economic problems, and people have no say concerning the matter. The author’s ideas are economically proven as they explain the major economic tools in economic theory.

Japan’s Pain Is Wal-Mart’s Gain

It is clearly known that when the economy of a nation is at boom, many businesses flourish, and the returns are plentiful. This is what is described by Miyakawa who earned about 50,000 dollars in selling golf club memberships in the 1980’s. In economic theory, businesspersons may take advantage of a nation’s poor condition to their own benefit. According to Yuki Yamaguchi, Japan’s economy has been on the cusp of a recession since 2008. Incomes have been falling for the last three years. When an economy is not doing well, the products are expensive, and this makes it difficult especially for low-income earners. However, if there are stores that offer discount rates to consumers, they gain a lot, as is the case of Wal-Mart as described by Yamaguchi. In this case, it leads to its expansion as the net sales increase. Yamaguchi’s economic ideas are correct and are in line with economic theory as described below.

There are strategies that can be applied to maintain the high sales such as increasing acquisitions. Although the company faces obstacles in other parts of Asia such as India and China, it is more enthusiastic, which is a requirement in economic theory. Wal- Mart takes advantage of the budget stress facing the Japanese family. Low incomes also have given way to expansion of other local and foreign retailers. The pledge by Seiyu to cut down the price of items by the end of December is good news to consumers, as they are the ones mostly affected by high prices in the market. People are the major constituents of the economy of a nation. Their welfare is important before looking at other aspects. This means that when people can afford prices for their wellbeing, then the other aspects such as economic growth will follow.

 

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Identifying mass murderers through profiling

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Abstract

The process of Criminal profiling in identifying mass murderers is exceedingly interesting and common than it is thought. This occurs mostly at developmental and psychological levels in identifying the criminals. There is no one that wants to think about it, but the truth is that people always walk and live with mass murderers. It is however, comforting that we have criminal profilers who work in societies to identify the criminals. The process of criminal profiling however requires vast knowledge and massive talents (Turvey, 2012). Without such educated persons, people could be living beside people such as Jeffery Dahmer and Ted Bundy pretending to be the perfect neighbors. Criminal profilers have a lot of knowledge and training. Before the criminal profilers obtain all this knowledge, they have to go on a pure basic instinct like we all do, meaning that all of us have the ability to become criminal profilers. The only thing that should be added on this capability is fine-tuning the skills that exist. The process of criminal profiling is mostly used when there is a violent homicide, but not in all cases. The process of criminal profiling can assist in reducing the number of victims. This study looks at the techniques of criminal profiling in identifying mass murderers.

Introduction

A mass murderer is a dissatisfied, angry psychopath and disordered individual who dislikes everyone in the world and picks a group to target. The target group according to mass murderers justifies their crime and they feel comfortable committing the crime. Mass murderers get a lot of media publicity (Bowers et al. 2010). A mass murderer is different from a terrorist. A terrorist works on behalf of a terrorist organization, who selects the target for political reasons. The effect of the terrorist attack on the political issue is that the terrorist is sent on an assignment to kill, and also gets a lot of media publicity for the actions. Therefore, mass murderers are different from terrorists and the labels should not be confused. Mislabeling mass murderers as terrorists promotes hostility between groups of people when the ire should only be directed towards the individual and the development of psychopaths in society. Examples of places where mass murder has occurred include Oklahoma City, Columbine Virginia Tech Fort Hood, Norway, Aurora, Colorado and Wisconsin Sikh temple.

Criminal profiling, also known as offender or psychological profiling refers to the development of presumptions regarding an offender from aspects of the offense that he or she has done. This is possible through information available from a crime and the site of the crime, which points out to a psychological picture of the unknown perpetrator, deducing such things as motivation of the offender for the crime and the production of an explanation of the kind of person possibly responsible for the crime. Identifying mass murderers through criminal profiling entails use of technique and investigative experience by the profiler who examines relevant information from a particular crime scene including crime scene photographs, photos of any maiming proof, photos of physical injuries to victims, information concerning whether the scene was altered or not, and any other information that is related to murder (crime). Other additional information used in identifying mass murderers involves ecological analysis of the offenses and the regions past the direct offense scene. This involves maps and important aspects of the inhabited settings of the victim. Based on the technique of profiling used, data is then categorized to yield prognostic data concerning the offender’s likely sex, age, race, height, weight, physical and psychological condition (Turvey, 2012). The murderer’s residential locality as well as issues such as the relationship between the murderer and the victim, whether the offender had a previous criminal record can also be established by the profiler using the data gathered. Although there are different techniques used in profiling, the main and common objective is to gather adequate personality, behavioral and physical traits about an offender suspected of murder to enable apprehension by the authorities. Criminal profiling helps the police in reducing the list of possible offenders who may have been involved in the crime (Kocsis, 2006). However, seldom will a profile be so precise to point to a particular person.

Common characteristics of mass murderers

There are certain characteristics that are exhibited by mass murderers, which can be used to identify them. Mass murderers have trouble especially when relating to the authorities such as the police. They also have trouble in managing or controlling their anger. They often write or talk about obsessively being outsiders in journals or even blogs. They have weapons or have access to weapons that they use in executing their actions. In most cases, mass murderers have had training on how to use weapons and make threats to authority people. In some cases, mass murderers have a strong history of mental diseases and appear to be alienated or withdraw in most cases. They make notes on their perceptions of being weak and feelings of powerlessness, thus, they always feel inferior, and have violent fantasies, and identify or relate to violent groups. In this case, they have delusions and tendencies of aggression towards others. They do not have the capability to handle stress and rejection.  These are some of the characteristics that are used by profilers in identifying these types of criminals (Bowers et al. 2010).

Nature of criminal profiling

The process of criminal profiling in identifying mass murderers is exceedingly interesting and common than it is thought. Criminal profiling procedure requires cautious assessment of physical proof, gathered and properly organized and analyzed by a group of specialists from various regions. This is done for the purpose of systematically and logically restructuring the crime scene, developing a policy to assist in the incarceration of offenders and aiding persecution or trial thereafter. According to Turvey (2012), criminal profilers are not just psychiatrists or psychologists. These people can carry on clinical assessments for the purpose of diagnosis, cure, and courtroom sanity assessment, but only a few are competent to perform the work of a profiler. Although they are only one member of a team, they can certainly contribute to establishing criminal profile. The same case applies to police officers, investigators of crime scene, medical examiners, sociologists, criminalists, and detectives.

Profilers are part of the criminal investigation procedure. They advise the cops on how to relate certain aspects of crime to an offender. They aid in solving offense cases and making arrests. The focus in criminal profiling is capturing murder suspects and developing investigative policies and strategies that link crimes to the offenders as well as assessing risks involved. In simpler terms, it is about capturing the offenders, but not analyzing them. Techniques used in profiling range from socio-psychological to geographical profiling, which are used to set up and determine patterns of solving criminal issues. They also predict and classify the behavior traits of offenders, particularly murderers (Turvey, 2012).

History and case studies of criminal profiling

Criminal profiling technique is not a new method, but has existed for a long period of time. The only thing that has changed is the application of advanced methods in the process, which is meant to improve the effectiveness of the process. The origin and history of criminal profiling can be traced in the early 1800s (Kocsis, 2006). Contributions of significant figures such as Cesare Lombrosso, Jacob Fries, Alphonse Bertiollon, Ernest Kretschmer, and Hans Gross, are very important in discussing this issue. Their contributions are significant in the present day field. The first case of the process of criminal profiling was the analysis made by Thomas Bond on the serial murderer Jack the Ripper (Becker, 2012). This was done in the 1890s when Dr. Thomas Bond, a police surgeon performed an autopsy on the last victim of the murderer, Jack. From the findings of the autopsy, Dr. Bond inferred that the perpetrator did not have anatomical or scientific knowledge of a surgeon. Dr, Bond restructured the murder and tried to construe the behavioral trends of the offender. After much assessment, he later developed a profile for the police to investigate. The profile described the assailant as being quiet and harmless looking man, physically strong, and composed and having no real occupation. Bond deduced that all earlier crimes were committed by the same person. The technique of criminal profiling was successful, and this led to declaring of Dr. Bond as the first offender profiler.

The other major case of criminal profiling was made to analyze Adolf Hitler (German Chancellor), in 1943. Dr. Walter C. Langer was charged with the task of developing a profile of Hitler by Office of Strategic Services. Langer studied the works of Hitler, and interviewed people who knew Hitler. From these examinations, he began to put together major components of his analysis. He then developed a profile of Hitler that noted that the perpetrator was of good health, but he was weakening mentally. The profile also included the oedipal complex of Hitler, which Langer stated that the perpetrator was showing his masculinity to his mother by performing the crime actions. The report also noted that the possible outcome was that Hitler would commit suicide, which was true following the end of the Second World War. Many other experts of profiling have influenced the field. Much work has been done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with important figures such as Howard Teten (the first criminal profiler in the FBI) and others such as John Douglas and Robert Ressler (Kocsis, 2006).

Types of profiling

The process of criminal profiling in identifying mass murderers is not one definite type of practice. There are two main types involved that is crime scene analysis and investigative psychology. The two types of criminal profiling have however, developed independently although they employ the procedures that are similar in nature. Crime scene analysis (CSA) was popularized by the Behavioral Science Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in their attempts to resolve specific violent offenses such as mass murders, child molesting cases and rapes in 1970s. This is what most people reflect of when they think or talk of criminal profiling. However, for this to be effective, agencies of law enforcement had to meet certain standards for a case to be investigated. For instance, the case had to entail violent crime, the perpetrator had to be unfamiliar, and the main investigatory authorities were supposed to be exhausted.

Investigative psychology (IP) on the other hand was developed by British psychologists Dr. David Canter (Becker, 2012). This type of criminal profiling uses a practice of connecting the main themes in offenders’ crimes to trait aspects of their way of life, and offending history. Profilers that use this type of criminal profiling to identify murderers work strongly with the police to identify and establish an empirical basis for offender profiling, rather than intuitive basis. There are other two lesser techniques, also used in criminal profiling (diagnostic assessment and geographical investigation). Diagnostic evaluation relies entirely on the clinical judgment of the practitioner. For instance, it may rely on clinical assessment of a trained psychiatrist. This process has therefore, remained assorted in its arrangement of significant behavioral demonstrations and related interpretations. Early efforts of this method were based on psychoanalytic ideologies and conclusions based in on larger amounts of intuition by clinical practitioners. Geographical profiling on the other hand observes the spatial decision making procedure of criminals as related to their choice of offense victims and offense scene localities (Bowers et al. 2010). Developing geographical profiles helps in establishing hints to how murderers look for their victims and search for appropriate targets.

Crime Scene Analysis

The use of criminal character profiling in identification of mass murderers and other criminals such as bombers, rapists and hijackers has been publicized by written works of various former profilers such as Roy Hazelwood, Robert Ressler and John Douglas. These works offer knowledge on the types of data collected and examined by the profilers. However, there is very little information concerning the exact methodology or procedure that was applied. Successful profilers of identifying mass murderers are experienced in criminal research and investigations in addition to possessing intuition, common sense, and the capability to separate their approach about the offense, the offender and the casualty (Turvey, 2012). Also, profilers are able to reflect and reason like the offender who was involved in the crime. This proposes that a few things other than the systematic technique are at the root in obtaining psychosomatic profiles of offenders that could be of importance in their eventual apprehension by the authorities. In real meaning, FBI profilers do not imply that their methods are completely scientific, rather they depict analytical profiling as a policy enabling the police lower the ground of alternatives and create guesses about the offender.

Early efforts of the Behavioral Science Unit integrated techniques that were based on the methodical compilation of huge amounts of data about known mass murderers and their crimes (Becker, 2012). For instance, the study of violent murderers by the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime in Virginia (Quantico), has resulted in efforts to improve the assessment of chief crimes by the assessment of hints and crime scene indicators that are universal to each kind of offense. The crime scene analysis type of criminal profiling relies on the assumption that crime site reveals the individuality of the offender. Profilers have identified the traits of organized/structured and disorganized murders, especially murders that involve a large number or group of people (mass). In identifying mass murderers, profilers use information gathered at the site of the crime and study the nature of the offense. According to Turvey (2012), There are agents that have built psychosomatic profiles of the murderers, categorized as either organized or disorganized. An organized mass murderer is one that is regarded as being socially competent and charismatic, as well as highly intelligent. On the other hand, a disorganized mass murderer is regarded as being socially immature, of average intelligence and a loner. There also exist disparities between the two categories of murderers in the level of planning (assortment and handling of victims, means of death, and the crime scenes of both types. Organized mass murderers reveal systematic models of behavior and well structured plans, cautiously choosing strangers as victims, commanding victims to be compliant, taking much care in the actual schemes of death and often leaving little proof at the site of the crime. Disorganized mass murderers on the other hand commit their crimes more impulsively with little or no planning. In most cases, disorganized murderers know or are aware of the victims, and often kill in surprise attacks (Turvey, 2012). There crime scenes or sites often reveal a huge deal of physical proof.

Crime scene analysis profiling methods in murder cases involve a six-stage process. The first stage is the profiling inputs, where profilers are involved in collecting information related to the case. This includes such things as photographs and diagrams of crime scene, reports from police department, victim and forensic data. Decision process model is the second stage, and it involves examination and organization of all data and information collected. A preliminary analysis is then done at this second stage. The nature of homicide is categorized at this stage, that is whether the murder is single, mass or serial. The aim of the criminal and the nature of the casualty are also established at this stage.  The level of threat that the criminal subjected himself or herself in committing the crime is also established and analyzed in the decision process models. The location and time of crime are identified. Crime assessment is the third stage, and this is where the profiler attempts to put herself or himself in the position of the wrongdoer. That is it is the stage where the profiler tries to reason and think like the offender. In this stage, the profiler addresses things as the inspiration of the offender, the choice of the victims, and how the crime was carried out. According to Turvey (2012), the profiler also addresses the nature and types of injuries on victims, and whether aspects of the site of the crime were altered.

In the fourth stage, criminal profile, the profiler combines all the information gathered, and uses his or her experience to create a criminal profile. The account that is given at this stage describes the kind of individual who most likely was involved in the offense (murder). It includes the physical features such as gender, race and sex as well as likely occupation and location of the offender. There are also projections about the character of the criminal made at this stage. The profiler gives approaches for discovering, questioning, and apprehending the offender. Investigation is the fifth stage, and involves the giving in of the profile account to the particular authority investigating the criminal offence. The profile is regarded as successful if the offender is identified and admits to the crime (Harris et al. 2012). If new information is obtained regarding the offense, the profile is considered open. In this case therefore, a reassessment of the original profile occurs. The sixth and last stage of the crime scene investigation is apprehension of the perpetrator. The precision of the profile is evaluated, and the case data added to the existing body of knowledge to be used in future by other profilers.

Investigative Psychology (IP)

This type of profiling involves the introduction of scientific basis to formerly slanted aspects of unlawful discovery, crime scene analysis, inquiry, apprehension and trial of the criminal. Investigative psychology characterizes a compilation of hypotheses, theories and results of previous studies and models of actions as they relate to certain character traits, rather than giving a comprehensive methodology. As crime is an interpersonal characteristic between the lawbreaker and the victim, criminals’ actions reflect all sorts of transactions with other people. Investigative psychology role is to establish which aspects of criminal transactions can be connected to other phases of the murderer’s earlier and current life. It identifies the characteristics that are termed to be unique to the individual as contrasting to the societal grouping that he or she belongs.

In investigative psychology, there area five approaches that profilers can use that hopefully lead to successful apprehension. The first approach is the interpersonal coherence, which is based on the premise that criminals select victims with characteristics that are alike to important people in their lives external to their misdeed. For instance, research findings on serial murder in the US, suggest that the murderers generally choose their victims of their ethnicity.  In the same way, target groups may have other special implication for the offenders (Harris et al. 2012). A good example of this was elaborated by an African-American seaman, Mark Essex, who thought of himself unable to move through the positions in the United States Navy because of him being black. His killing binge targeted kinds of individuals, mainly whites, as they looked like those who were prejudiced against him. The second strategy that can be used by profilers to identify mass murderers is the importance of time and place. In this approach, the place and time for a mass killing has a special connotation for the executor. For instance, offenders who have an occupation that lets them to watch possible fatalities in due course in their own surroundings are a major chasing ground for the possible targets. In addition, the knowledge of an offender of the spatial patterns of a region has a specific bearing on their opinion of where it is likely to commit particular types of crimes such as mass murder. Individuals make such conclusion based on internal representations of the environments that they work in (Stefoff, 2010).

The third strategy is referred to as criminal characteristics, which involves systematically examining typology of offenses and criminals as well as developing classification schemes that are based on behavioral, psychological and other kinds of variables. Many recent classifications of mass murderers rely greatly on psychological clinical type of categorization. Criminal career is the fourth approach used by profilers. This approach looks at the longitudinal series of crimes committed by an offender overtime in an attempt to observe a variety of aspects of the murder. For example, it looks at the selection of the target, technique of committing the crime, location and consistency over time. According to Turvey (2012), it has been noted that an afterward offense may vary depending on what occurred to the murderer in the action of earlier offenses. The succession of criminal careers enables profilers to extrapolate back to previous crimes, and to examine proof, which can be used in solving present offenses. The fifth approach, forensic awareness on the other hand, reflects the fact that murderers who have committed previous offences, and have immediate contact with the techniques of investigation may be very smart leaving no forensic proof at a crime site (Stefoff, 2010).

Geographical profiling

A current addition to the history of profiling has been geographical profiling. While it could be argued that offense mapping has a wide history, possibly dating back to the birth of criminology in the first place modern-day profilers draw upon environmental criminology, and its emergence up through behavioral topography, hot scene analysis, close neighbor investigation, and the criminology of place. It is a fallacy that Kim Rossmo invented geographic profiling (Bowers et al. 2010). As Maurice Godwin states, it was the late Dr. Milton Newton, a geographer in Baton Rouge region who firstly developed geographical profiling in 1985.
The most essential theory in geography and geographic profiling is closeness which has the equivalent concept of nearness. The principle holds that a person bearing in mind all the possibilities for action will probably select the course of action which involves the least outlay of attempt. When distance or space is involved, one also has to account for psychological and subjective perceptions of distance, which differs by knowledge of the terrain, among other things.

Human beings tend to move through ecological regions using cognitive plan, commonly referred to as mental maps which, in the individual’s mind, have imagery of pathway, landmarks and borders among other things. Habitual areas are called in geographical profiling are known as activity spaces and in those spaces are anchor points, and offenders, like anyone else, who operate within the limits of those spaces and points, no matter how steady or wandering they are. It is important to note that nomadic offenders have lesser anchor points than stable offenders. A number of sophisticated arithmetical or statistical techniques can then be applied to standard offense maps and used to forecast criminal residence locality. Proximity data include the spatial mean, standard distance, closest neighbor, mean interpoint, and furthest neighbor. Linking nearest neighbor analysis to a Poisson probability distribution allows for an examination of variation from uncertainty, so at the very least, non-random patterns can be uncovered, theoretically, from any random pattern (Bowers et al. 2010). This method is beneficial as it is commercialized into computer applications, therefore providing accurate data. Despite the type of profiling applied in identifying mass murderers, the objective is common to all types. The objective of profiling is the capture of offenders and their persecution as well.

Examples of mass murders

Mass murder is the slaying of people at the same time within similar event. There is a clear difference between mass murderers and serial killers. Serial killers execute a number of people over a period of time (extended), which may be months or years. Mass murderers are also different from spree killers, who kill people in a short period of time in a connected and separate series of incidents. In most cases, mass murderers die in police hands or commit suicide after committing the crime of murder. At times, mass murder is driven by racial, religious and ethnic conflicts. An example of mass murder took place in 1915-1917 (Turkish genocide o Armenians. This was the mass murder of Jews by Germans, and their partners in the Second World War. In 1970s, there also occurred mass murder of intellectuals by the Khmer Rouge communist regime of Cambodia. The current mass murder occurred in Sudan between the government and militias in Darfur. These types of murders are however classified as organized mass murders, and are driven by ideological and political motives (Charles, 2012).

The mass-murdering individual and their motives

Most of the individuals involved in mass murders often commit suicide after committing the acts. This therefore becomes a challenge especially when data involving their motives is of great concern. Several motivations that have been identified as causing individuals to commit mass murder include revenge, perverted love, sexual homicides, politically motivated hate and psychosis. According to Harris et al. (2012), individuals involved in mass murder use firearms and their victims are deliberately chosen. There is always a precipitating event before the mass murderer performs the act. Others commit murder due to reasons such as financial difficulties and mental illness or perceived persecution by one’s society. The motives of mass murderers are sometimes outlined in diaries journals or videos. Mass murderers feel great pain, rejection or loss, and this is why they feel the desire to express it in a public manner. They chose to gain attention by executing their acts publicly, since they lack the positive attention that they crave for privately. These offenders are usually predatory and calculating, and in most cases are aware that they will not get away with their actions. A firearm in their hands gives them power and control, thus, they have a way to execute their plans (Charles, 2012).

Discovering mass murder in the US

There was an increase in the rate with which mass murders have occurred, since the mid-1960s. Since that time, the focus has been on the high rates of mass killings that have been occurring in the society. Before the massacres in 1966 involving Speck and Whiteman, there were very few mass murders in the United States (Turvey, 2012). Research however, shows that mass murders have gradually declined since 1991. This is shown by statistics of FBI. There is however an estimated 18,000 lives claimed by homicides each year. The United States has relatively high rates of homicide when compared to other nations with similar levels of economy. After the incidences of shootings at Virginia Tech, Columbine High and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ political event at Tucson, the United States has tried to come up with ways to stop and identify the perpetrators of the crimes. Some researchers hold that establishing criminal profiles is the way out, and may prove elusive. This has been due to the limited knowledge that exists, calling for additional information regarding the issue of mass murder (Bowers et al. 2010).

Current trends in criminal profiling

Computerized profiling

            There has been contemporary application of computerized profiling techniques especially in homeland security. This takes place especially as a form of passenger profiling, to prevent any attacks of murder on other passengers. Computerized profiling employs the use of programs such as CAAPS, which is an automated system that tries to identify or detect people that may pose a threat to the mass. Mass murderers can be people travelling from other regions, but have their targets in other areas, requiring them to board means of transport (Becker, 2012). The system records the profile of each passenger in identifying those that may pose a threat to others, and taking the immediate action. Apart from identifying people that might be killers, the system also has a network referred to as Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) that monitors drug mentions in hospitals and police records. The use of computerized profiling is popularized in New York with the HALT (Homicide Assessment and Lead Tracking Network) system. In Michigan the system applied is known as Homicide Investigative Tracking System (HITS). The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) system Violent Criminal Apprehension Program cannot be left behind in this, due to the role that it plays in the fight against crime in the United States. These programs have been available since the 1980s, but have continued to advance due to improvement in science and technology. The FBI’s alerts are even posted in this program, so as to enable people have a wider and broader understanding of the issue of crime.

This has also been helpful for the criminal justice system in the United States, since it enables the actors involved in strengthening their activities in dealing with crime. This in turn has led to the strengthening the criminal justice system, which has bee weakening in its effectiveness. Computerized profiling is reliable as compared to human profiling, due to the high accuracy and effectiveness involved. According to Stefoff (2010), there have been empirical and scientific studies concerning the effectiveness of computerized profiling. It is of great significance to note the fact that computers are just tools, but not human intelligence substitutes. Their competence in handling (organizing and analyzing) data cannot be overlooked. Computerized profiling is very interesting for researchers. The introduction of computers in identifying offenders such as serial and mass murderers is efficient as well as effective.

DNA profiling

Recently, there has been emergence of trends in criminal profiling due to improvement in science and technology. The emergence of DNA profiling in identification of suspects of mass murders has been helpful especially for the authorities. This is a technique where a sample of DNA is run in a laboratory test to generate data about it. It looks particularly for DNA that could identify the source of the sample to be used to compare to another sample. This technique can utilize the DNA of a known or unknown person, and it can be used in various ways from genealogy to law enforcement. This technique however, relies on the presence of short tandem repeats (STRs) which are in the genetic code of every organism. According to Harris et al. (2012), the repetitive strings can provide information about an individual, as they tend to be unique. Various methods can be used to extort the DNA and look at the areas of interest. DNA profiling technique relies on a reference sample. For instance, DNA from a person who is missing or even DNA from a crime site, with a contrast test being taken from a person of concern to obtain a match. The process of profiling is done by a technician who has maximum training and knowledge on a variety of tests. The process of DNA profiling is effective as it is based on biology (Charles, 2012). In other cases however, samples can be difficult to work with, and may take a longer time than expected leading to contamination of the samples.

Examples of regions that have used DNA profiling

Sri Lanka is one of the regions where DNA profiling has been use to identify suspects of mass murders. This has been due to the fact that the rate of crimes in the region is high, and has upset the peaceful way of life and development of the country. The authorities in concern with handling crime are burdened, and it is often questionable whether the existing methods are effective in handling crime. Eyewitness evidence is not sufficient in conducting investigations, as the memory can be unreliable. This has called the need for other advanced methods in identifying mass murderers such as forensic DNA profiling. This technique is changing all aspects of the criminal justice system of the regions that apply it. This has been due to the fact of its accuracy and extreme sensitivity. The first application of this technique took place in 1986 in the United Kingdom. During the same time, the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) in the US as well as the laboratories in the US began using this technique. DNA profiling was used in Sri Lanka to identify suspects of mass murder in Hokandara. This technique is popular in Sri Lanka (Charles, 2012).

In September, 2001 the eleventh, the technique has been applied to identify suspects of terrorist attacks in New York, on the World Trade Center. This has been the most difficult investigation because of total tissue destruction of the bodies of victims. The technique of DNA profiling is effective if suspects of mass murders are identified and convicted or even executed. It is of great significance to note the other roles that the technique performs. Apart from identification and conviction of offenders, DNA profiling is also used in identifying missing persons, establishing paternity, identifying military personnel as well as victims of mass murders and other violent crimes (Charles, 2012).

Conclusion

If one believes that somebody he or she know fits the profile of someone who could carry out severe violence, whether it be fellow friend or partner, a family member, or someone off the street who walks into your place of occupation, one should notify someone in the authority, like the police, a mental health agency. Bringing it to one’s attention could be the first step in avoiding a tragedy. Due to the improvement in science and technology, there is need to embrace new and effective methods of profiling in identifying mass murderers. These include computerized as well as DNA profiling. According to Harris et al. (2012), DNA profiling and creating databases for all citizens would be the perfect and fairer policy than profiling only certain individuals, but the cost factor, ethical and legal hurdles might arise. However, strong leaders must guarantee the citizens that these databases will be used only for criminal investigations and the rights of all citizens will be respected.

Over the next decade, it will be increasingly significant for all of us to comprehend the works of these technologies and this will result to a peaceful society, free from mass murders and other crimes. In order to protect society and individuals from potential abuses, all nations should request their government to pay attention towards using DNA based proof. Scientists and technicians must be given suitable training before their enrollment. Indirectly, this will open up a new opportunity of employment in all nations. Police, lawyers, judges and the public must be informed of the potential and drawbacks of forensic DNA profiling so as to assess it and question it astutely. In addition, adequate financial support must be billed by the government to guarantee that all suspects have full and impartial access to this powerful new technology and that everyone is constitutionally protected. This way, the issue of mass murders and other violent crimes will become history in many States (Harris et al. 2012).

 

References

Turvey, B. E. (2012). Criminal profiling: An introduction to behavioral evidence analysis. Amsterdam: Academic Press.

Bowers, T. G., Holmes, E. S., & Rhom, A. (2010). “The Nature of Mass Murder and Autogenic Massacre. Journal of police and criminal psychology , 25(1), 59-66.

Harris, J., John, M., & Robin, B. (2012). “Rampage Violence Requires a New Type of Research”. American Journal of Public Health, 102(6), 1054-1057.

Charles, C. (2012). Hegemonic Masculinity and Mass Murderers in the United States. The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice, 8(2), 542-590.

Kocsis, R. N. (2006). Criminal profiling: Principles and practice. Totowa, N.J: Humana Press.

, R. (2010). Criminal profiling. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.

Becker, R. F., & Dutelle, A. W. (2012). Criminal investigation. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Stefoff, R. (2010). Criminal profiling. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.

  

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To What Extent Is Hinduism Constructed?, and How Do European Orientalists, And Modern Scholars Have Difficulty Defining Hinduism

A very interesting development in the realm of modern scholarship is the perception that there ceases to exist an unbroken tradition of Hinduism. What is left is simply a set of discrete traditions and practices that are restructured to form a larger entity known as Hinduism. There current disagreement on this scholarship revolves around whether Hinduism is completely a construct of western scholars who undertook academic studies in India or of anti-colonial Hindus who purpose to attain the systemization of incongruent practices meant as a recovery process from a pre-colonial national identity.

Scholarly research indicates that in the nineteenth century, the royal colonial powers constructed Hinduism. They rendered it as a single religion that did not exist in any way before the colonization of India. The process of construction was mainly carried out through the enactment of religious laws and the classification of the Indian society into varying aggregate categories. The various categories included the ‘Hindus’, ‘Buddhists’, and the ‘Jains’. This was carried out to serve the administrative requirements of the imperial rule. This construction was also facilitated by the some of the Indian natives such as the Brahmins. The collaboration of the above led to the creation of a homogenous religion resulting into a constructed entity that mirrored the utilitarian motives, social suppositions and religious beliefs of both groups.

Most of the accounts forwarded by the constructionist base the construction of Hinduism on the colonial collaboration between the natives and the imperial rulers. They suggest that the imperial government under the assistance of the Brahmins imposed a biased perception of the social-cultural phenomena and extended their perception to the entire Indian society. The tendency is therefore focused on blaming the native collaborators for the construction of Hinduism by the imperial masters.

Hinduism fails to conform to any reality in the world. This phenomenon fails to exist in the present contemporary India than it existed during the colonial era. However, this “religion” thrives purely as an experimental entity that basis its structure and conforms to the European experience of the Indian social cultural practices and beliefs. That is, the western civilization has created a Hindu religion in the region of India based on the region’s nature as a religious people. Thus the answer to the extent of construction of Hinduism is that Hinduism as a religion has been constructed to the extent that it is a concept (Lorenzen, 102).

Hinduism exists as a construct because it serves to unify the western experiences based on its aspect as an experiential entity. Although both European Orientalists and modern scholars modeled this experiential entity into an object of study, the imperial rulers did not create this socio-cultural entity. It is the colonial masters who regarded these entities as though they were in existence. The European Orientalists and modern scholars acted as if these entities were realistic. The imperial rulers established laws, policies and legal categories based on the perception that these entities were fundamental aspects of the Indian culture. However, these entities had never been in existence either before or after the colonial era.

The apportionment of the blame on the construction of a westernized conception of a religion and the prevailing denial of the cultural diversity among the Indian civilization serves no fundamental good. The necessary path to follow is the global acceptance that Hinduism as a religion does not exist and is primary a construction of the colonial rulers who perceived the socio-cultural practices of the Indian civilization and consequently attempted to define it as a unitary religion based on the westernized  concepts and standards of what a religion is supposed to be.

One of the fundamental reasons as to why scholars both European Orientalists and modern scholars have had difficulty in defining Hinduism is due to their predisposed inability to perceive Hinduism on its own terms. Philosophers have argued that one of the best forms of approach in studying culture and a people is through perspectivism. Under perspectivism, one does not judge a given cultural practice based on other cultures, but primarily considers the concerned culture in its own analysis. This is also the reason why Forster failed to appreciate the Hindu culture at the beginning. Forster resorted to western aesthetic standards in the evaluation of Hinduism (Flood, 25).

It is essential to approach a different culture with a “tabular rassa”. The culture or religion in question ought first to be given a clean slate before comparison is made with other religions and cultures. This failure led to the limitation in Forster’s personal odyssey in framing a realistic experience of Hinduism. The attempt to define Hinduism is by no means a modern event. The lack of a clear scholarly definition on the subject is also not very surprising. Since the colonial era, the individuals who experienced the phenomena and gave it the name, “Hinduism” have been plagued with the inherent difficulty in the attempt of precisely defining the phenomena. This is probably because most of the scholars who undertake the task of defining it lean on definitions that are generally inclusive whereas others still remain determined to have specific definitions.

In the consideration of the inherent history and complexities of the religion, we find that most attempts by scholars such as Brian K. Smith tend to be expedient, problematic and inaccurate. These definitions are expedient because they still insist on terming the phenomena as a religion. Although they acknowledge that it is not a unitary entity and an illusion that is termed as a religion as a result of the colonial empire’s attempt to establish and control the complex configuration of people and their customs, the insistence on terming the phenomena as a religion renders the definitions as expedient (Smith, 33).

Hinduism is not a religion. This has been widely accepted after taking into account that from the history of the phenomena, this was a geographical referent that resulted into a religious connotation as a means of identifying the non-Muslim religions and customs in the region. The connotation still serves to categorize ‘enormous configuration of people’ on the basis of who they are not. Thos however, fails to infer on the historic existence of a unitary religion referred to as Hinduism.

It is proposed that the inherent limitation in the concise definition of Hinduism lies on the fact that scholars are insistent on perceiving it as a unitary religion. This problem would cease to exist if the scholars took the approach of taking Hinduism to signify a socio-cultural unit or civilization that comprises of various distinct religions. The acceptance of Hinduism by various scholars seems to serve the purpose of academic convenience as opposed to that of scholastic integrity.

The definition is also challenging because scholars such as Brian K. Smith, have put Hinduism in the frame of a unitary religion. This makes them perceive that it should conform to the westernized model of religion. The lack of Hinduism to conform to the westernized standards of the model of a religion then creates a challenge for both European Orientalists and modern scholars. Insisting on modeling the phenomena based on the same standards of westernized religion is not a way of concisely defining the socio-cultural unit but a means of changing it.

It is therefore wrong to categorize the phenomena as a religion with respect to the standardized customs and cultures of the western religions. Such westernized standards include the perception that belief tends to be focused on primacy as opposed to practice and the belief that an individual can only serve a single religion. This approach stems form the perception that religion is primarily coherent.  In this way, the challenge is that both European Orientalists and modern scholars are not engaging in the concise definition of the phenomena but attempting to make the phenomena to become compliant with the Christian prototype.

With this regard, it is therefore impossible to concisely define Hinduism by first terming it as unitary religion. This is because the approach is purely westernized and therefore highly inefficient because a foreign perspective cannot be used to define a local phenomenon. The conglomeration of numerous religious traditions and then sheltering them under a unitary umbrella will obviously bring about inherent challenges in the study of this phenomenon. At best, the approach is to speak about a variety of Hinduism as opposed to a unitary religion.

On the other hand, it is impossible to study a fictitious aspect created by the colonial rulers as if it were reality. What first needs to be done is travel back and right the wrongs committed in the past in the depiction and definition of the phenomenon from a westernized perspective. This will work to ensure that the consequent studies are founded on an established foundation hence the results will cease to be expedient, problematic and inaccurate.

 

Works cited

Flood, Gavin D. The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2003. Print.

Lorenzen, David N. Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History. New Delhi: Yoda Press, 2006. Print.

Smith, Brian K. “Questioning Authority: Constructions and Deconstructions of Hinduism.” International Journal of Hindu Studies. 2.3 (1998): 313-339. Print.

 

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ROMANTIC LOVE AND HAPPINESS

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Introduction

The concept of  romance and love is least understood in the human psyche because many psychologists believe that it just happens but there is a supportive fact that it clearly resists understanding or it is impossible to express. There are concepts that we can present in romantic love and happiness and by its ideas about romantic love empowers us rather than corrupting love through measured examination.

According to Kai and Jens (2010), many people face a problem in interpreting ambiguous situations that relates to love and romance (p.1017).   Many people use different hints to start a relationship. These include looks, smiles, and gestures among many other cues. However, these cues are not appropriate instruments of determining whether the relationship once formed will sail on smoothly.  Lust is one of the factors that drive people into relationships and in most cases such relationships does not last long (Jens, Amina, & Kai, 2010, p. 237). Those relationships that are formed as a result of lust do not last longer and parties are unhappy because they do not understand the needs and interests of the other partner. According to Gian, Martie, Julie, Mari sian, & Joshua (2008) a partners that feels romantic love to another partner suppresses the thinking of an alternative attractive mates (p. 119). A partner that loves or has feelings of love will not be carried away by the beauty or attractiveness of another person. The reason behind this is that such a partner is engrossed and is psychologically occupied by his/her lover. Romantic love therefore, contributes to the commitment and reduction of infidelity among couples.  Partners who trust one another as a result of the feeling of romantic love have higher chances of sticking to one another and in the long run they live comfortable and happy.

 

 

Romantic love is a sense of clarification. Romantic love has several definitions from how people view its application. Psychologists have analyzed romantic love and happiness using different criteria on theories and types of love. What are the ideas related by romantic love? In 1978 a psychologist Elaine Hatfield commented on two perspectives of passion and love as the state of longing union and compassionate love as the affection towards these whom we are intensely entangled. The concepts support the ideas on romantic love and happiness. The reason as to why we understand romantic love and happiness is because there are cultural scripts that introduce anxiety, self-consciousness, affection and overwhelming disillusionment.

We have heard these scripts since our childhood. According to Lieberman (2002) gives examples on the importance of the fairy tale story for instance they shaped a girl with all the expectations required as a woman. But there is one of the essays he wrote about romantic love  on the fairy tale stories and expressed that some of this stories had a happy ending therefore they link with the romantic love concepts that meaning that it leads to happiness. The main theme in the fairy stories is that partners are happy when actions are good even though not fully happy because the happiness is emphasized but never shown.  Johnson (1983) explores some Cultural fundamentals of romantic love on the basis of psychological essence and meaning.  He points on some, structural ideas of love, for instance he asserts that being in love gives us the status of being complete (p.52).

For any relationship to develop mutually, romance is an important factor. A relationship build without the support of romantic love is truly not worthy.  According to Johnson (1983), romantic love is only true in relationships when it is only maintained. Couples that have been together for long have something to comment on the encounter of romantic love which represents the willingness to include the ordinary life with a partner. According to this, it is true because love can be evaluated. If romantic love is destructive and irrational, then why does it happen? Kai and Jens (2010) explain this perspective as a biological reaction as we set standards of attraction to the desirable sexual partners. Therefore, there is a sense for a person to lust on the desirable partner but the question is why we don’t become lime rant over the partners?

This question is explained by the way we view the dimensions of romantic love and happiness. Limerence is triggered through generic fitness and setting such as physical attractiveness in which every person has a different view. For instance, we can be attracted or repelled because on the basis of our relationships or closeness that people have since our hormones  or body odor are significance as to why sex exists with a genetic variation. Therefore this means that lime race us an evolutionary adaption. Many of us have experienced the dynamics of irrationality of limerance in its worse condition, but in the roots of romantic love happiness is represented in all paradoxical ways. Culture defines all the fundamentals of romantic love: and may be they have evolutionary keystones it does not mean we get stuck to such ideologies. If we decide to incorporate some certain ideologies in our partners to assume that romantic love is expressed in the form of the fairy tales then I believe that our partners will not be in an a position to make us happy. Limerence may be a concept of starting a relationship but at some point the partners should be willing to view each other’s individualism. The basic of a strong relationship is through love that comes from the weaknesses we have as human beings.

Theory of love

Psychologists and researchers have developed different analysis that shows the concepts of love. Love is an emotion towards something. Theories have been explored to explain the dynamism of love in different perception. According to Psychologists Zink Rubin, love consists of three different compositions, caring, intimacy and the attachment. Attachment in romantic love results to giving and receiving care through physical contact with another person. Caring is the way a person values another person in terms, of needs and happiness. Intimacy is the strategy used in the sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings.

Love has two concepts that are passionate and compassionate love (Lopez, 2011). Mutual respect and attachment are the characteristics of compassionate love. Compassionate love results as a process of mutual feelings and understanding.  Emotional features and sexual attraction are characteristic of passionate love. When emotions are included in love field the partners feel fulfilled and elated. Passionate love occurs as a result of cultural expectations that encourage people to fall in love and is not long lasting. The road to love starts with passionate love that leads to compassionate love (Lopez, 2011). Most people desire a secure and stable relationship with a lot of passionate. Hartsfield assets that this concept is not defined by the human love dynamism, therefore it is very rare.

According to John Lee book, The Clouds of Love (1973), he introduces love to the colors of wheel, for instance the three primary colors and secondary colors. The three primary colors of love include; Eros represents loving a perfect person, ludos is love being a game, and storge love as relationship. These colors become complementary colors in the secondary colors are developed. Mania, meaning compulsive love and pragmatic meaning faithful and practical love and agape meaning generous love

The triangular theory of love was defined by a psychologist known as Robert Sternberg who expressed three ideas of complete love, intimacy, commitment and passion. The combination of these components results to a variety of kinds of love for instance, when intimacy is combined with commitment then compassionate love is developed. Therefore, his argument was development on structuring relationship with more than two elements for durability that described a single component. Therefore when the three components are included in a relationship then perfection is developed; therefore this type of love according to Sternberg is very rare.

Culture and close relationship on Psychology applied to modern life:

Cross cultural perspectives on relationships are distinguished by romantic love. Romantic love is experienced in all cultures but there is a variance in the cultural romantic love on happiness. According to Robin & Pamela (1994) marriage for love is a representation of expression of individualism (p.315). Culture views romantic love and marriage as a link to the countries values and economic health. According to a research done to college students from different backgrounds, they were asked to explain if they would get married to a man despite the fact that they were not in love but the fact that the man had all the qualities.  The results showed that most students who have a higher standard of living probably gave a negative answer while students from collectivist values and lower standards of living gave the answer as a yes. According to some cross cultural investigation for instance the American and the Italians fairness love and happiness with various emotions. The western countries hold a view of collectivist cultures on romantic love and happiness on arranged marriages resulting to marital relationship. Marriages that are based on romantic love are mostly practiced by the western culture whereas marriages based on the arranged marriage are among the collectivist cultures.

People have different life satisfaction and happiness in relation to love.  Shiri & Hadassah (2011) notes different people have different views when falling in love but  hope is one of the key attributes that many people have in their relationships (p.1050).   Before falling in love and even after entering into a relationship, people wish or hope for the best, they yearn to lead a happy life with their spouses or lovers.

Types of love

Love is viewed as a diverse concept supported by different opinion to relate its ideas to meaningful positions. There are different types of love, include romantic love, limerance, consummate love and unrequited love.  Romantic love is one type of love and it involves strong emotions and having the basic components of passion and intimacy. Consummate love includes passion, intimacy and commitment. Unrequited love is expressed by a partner and rejected by another partner. Limerance love is the love that occurs between people with the urge to fulfill intimacy and desires.

The question is how personality plays a role in romantic love and happiness? Physical attractive is an attribution to a partner. It is not an important element in romantic love but simply because a person is attractive there are possibly positive characteristics attributed to them. Research shows that physical attractiveness of a person represents a choice of the persons section of a romantic partner. Men consider looks more than women and more likely figure on physical attractive more than psychological attributes. Research indicates that looks are not enough for romantic love but as one expects on romantic love personality and psychological qualities play a critical love. Romantic love is a complex idea, understanding the ideas supporting romantic love and happiness predicting the facts that about romantic love march remains a wide field to be versed on (Robin & Pamela, 1994, p. 316).

Does the way individual differ have an impact on romantic love? This can be answered by the personality theory that illustrates the significance of a relationship between perceived attractiveness and personal factors.  The questions of personality on romantic love and happiness are diverse and have different views on psychologists. For instance, romantic love can be shared when and the same personality or different personality is shared. Are the personality traits basic components of values and compatibility, demographic factors? Are all these traits important? Well, researchers tried to answer this questions in different opinions, for instance there is a view that supports partners similarity that leads to positive results.  This is contrary to the significance of people who have different opinion on the difference on personality in partners. Such a contradiction occurs as a result of inaccurate knowledge of the qualities that they consider in partners. Relating the increase on decision making in the choice of partners, online dating has become a trend where people are searching for romantic love. In this case people read the profiles of the partner have a wide choice of the partner they want and they make the decisions on what to consider.

Many people have included all the dimensions used in the search of perfect partner for romantic love and happiness and most likely the internet has become the most popular means that promises the perfect match. Websites have been created in the middle of creating and enhancing awareness to people that through the use of a particular link the person is subjected to the perfect match. The question still remains, I whether the sprouting internet dating websites have an impact on romantic compatibility. There is a reason to up come with different ideas about romantic compatibility and personality.

Romantic love in teens

Romantic love in teens is a batter in the files. How does romantic love in teens occur? Well, deep in the nature of human being, development of sexual feelings and desire to the opposite sex starts at the adolescent stage and grows worse as a person becomes a teenager at this stage control, counseling is required. Many high school teachers can testify that it is a challenging idea when dealing with romantic love and happiness in teens. For instance, you can find that a girl named Ann loves Steve in one week then next week Ann loves Tonny and the other week she hates both Tonny and Steve and loves Charles. This is the issues that most teens face on romantic love and happiness, most probably you can find girls chatting about the best romantic places and having the best candle lit dinner with the most romantic man in the world. The idea that every teen has in mind is that romantic love is true and it leads to a long term commitment (Shiri, & Hadassah, 2011, p. 1056). It is not a bad idea when they sit and chat about the best romantic picnics in the world, romantic men and women and the emotional fireworks but the question is where such information is retrieved.

The fact is that the media has acted as a link to the teen’s romantic love and happiness.  The television programs have become diverse and most teenagers prefer the life of the actors especially when they see that the actors are facing the same experiences they are facing. Just as we say that violence in media works can increase real life e violence therefore it is all the same, romance on television can affect the views of real life romantic love and happiness. In order to understand romantic love and happiness in teenagers it is important we focus on the major important aspects that drive them in such a position. Teen’s relationship is basically convincing meaning that they show few signs of emotional intimacy. Intimacy in teens is only attainable at the later stage of adolescent and is characterized by commitment, trust and effectiveness communication. Romantic relationship in teens is egocentric and motivated by gratification recreation and status attainment. The basic idea of romantic love and happiness in teens is to date the most popular individual in world and have fun.

What are some of the concepts that make people fall in love?

We are human beings and not only the idea of human beings can make is fall in love but the concept that we are either a male or female with intrinsic feelings that have the desire and need a fulfillment (Shiri, & Hadassah, 2011, p. 1055). What happens when we here a person say “why doesn’t he love me” remember the world love has different sequential analysis of its meaning. The dimension that lie such a significance are carried by the rejection of one partner to show love when another partner is giving enough love. We show love so as we can receive love, therefore the reason as to why people fall in love defines the chemistry of romantic love and happiness. If a person doesn’t fall in love with you doesn’t mean that you are an ugly or stupid or poor but the chemistry that underlies romantic love and happiness is not right.  There are three principles that support romantic love and happiness in partners, smell, love pheromones and the brain. The smell is the component of romantic love meaning that a person attracts a person with the smell, it is better you smell like a rose rather than mildew. Love pheromones are invisible signs that make people engage or fall in love (Moshe, & Iris, 2008, p. 1684). They are signals sent to the brain and makes is choose what we want in falling love. The brain is also another component because we majorly fall in love due to hormonal secretions. Specific hormones in the brain like oxytocin and vasopressin are present when partners fall in love. That is why there is a trigger in the brain that leads us to fall in love.  The significance of romantic love in marriage is broad. Married people have different opinions from single and divorced partners.

Partners that have are close to each other enhance their love and they are more likely to be happy with their relationships (Jens, Amina, & Kai, E. 2010, p. 237). Therefore it means that partners that are near to one another foster union or closeness hence enhancing their well being as opposed to those that are far from one another.

According to the arguments proposed by the divorced people and single people, romantic love and happiness is less satisfying and disappointing at some points. When a person engages in marriages full of love it makes a meaning that all the commitment has to be done despite of personality and other psychological aspects (Gina, Kenneth, & Carol, 2002, p. 839). It is different from the love at first sight, where by a person assumes that all the requirements and desires are fulfilled at the first glance. The basics of romantic love are the compassionate, love passion and commitment in all dynamics to ensure that the relationship lasts for long. It is very difficult for many people to stick in the dynamics that define real romantic love and happiness. Romantic love and happiness is defined by the methods that partners use to stick together.

Conclusion

Even though, there is no guarantee that romantic love leads to happiness, many researchers are of the opinions that most of people in the romantic relationships are happier compared to those outside relationships.  Finding time to engage in romantic life is difficult among many people as romantic love is time consuming and engaging. Anthropologist Robin Dunbar with his colleagues notes that romantic love/partnerships reduces a person’s support network as this new relationship requires a member to be pushed out to accommodate the new one.  Nevertheless, there is need for people to create time for dating. Hazan found out that people involved in secure romantic relationships are happier and healthier. They are also able to cope up with stress in an effective way than those that are not in the relationship. Therefore, love is one of the components or contributors of happiness (Novotney, A. (2011, para. 8).

References

Gian, C., Martie, G. , Julie, S., Mari sian,  D., & Joshua C. (2008). Love, desire, and the    suppression of thoughts of romantic alternatives. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29(2):           119-126.

Gina, E., Kenneth, O., & Carol P. (2002). The Personality of Love: Fundamental Motives and      Traits Related to Components of Love. Personality and Individual Differences, 32(5):           839-853.

Jens, F., Amina, O., & Kai, E. (2010). How love and lust change people’s perception of    relationship partners. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2):237-246.

Johnson, A. (1983). We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love. Harper San       Francisco.

Kai, E., & Jens, F. (2011). Seeing love, or seeing lust: How people interpret ambiguous      romantic situations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(5):1017-1020.

Lieberman, M.K. (1986). Some Day My Prince Will Come: Female Acculturation through             the Fairy Tale In Don’t Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North          America and England. Ed. Jack Zipes. New York: Methuen pp. 185-200.
Lopez, S. J. & Snyder, C. R. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology: Oxford        Library of Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Moshe, Z., & Iris K. (2008). Romantic love: What’s emotional intelligence (EI) got to do with it?              Personality and Individual Differences, 44(8):1684-1695.

Novotney, A. (2011). The dating dilemma: Do psychology graduate students know too much       about love and relationships for their own good? Or does that extra insight help?,   American Psychology association.

Robin, R., & Pamela, W. (1994). Predictors of happiness in married couples. Personality and        Individual Differences, 17(3):313-321.

Shiri, L., & Hadassah, L. (2011). All you need is love? Strengths mediate the negative      associations between attachment orientations and life satisfaction. Personality and           Individual Differences, 50(7):1050-1055.

 

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Mainstreaming kids with disabilities to regular classrooms

 Disability is any form of impairment that makes a person not to function normally, hence requiring support from other member of the society.   These disabilities may be innate or may be caused by the environment.   Disabled kids like any other kids are entitled to the right to education and any another assistance to help them grow and realize their dreams. Mainstreaming   refers to putting together children with special needs (disabled) with the normal ones in the regular classes.  Varied views and opinions have been postulated on whether these children with special need to be placed in regular classes or not.  Nevertheless, despite the criticism of mainstreaming, it is a good method of learning and should be encouraged.

According to Lisa, Peterson, Pope, and Jeon mainstreaming of kids with disabilities is done with the hope that it helps improve the self-esteem of children, boost academic achievement of the kid and at the same time such children are provided with special attention from their teachers (93).  Children at tender age are sensitive to things that happen around them. Furthermore, they like playing and doing things in groups. When children with disabilities are left alone, they feel that they are not loved and they may develop a feeling of inferiority complex triggering their cognitive development. Therefore, self esteem will not develop as they will always feel not complete like their fellow kids. Hence, by putting them in same class, such children feel that they are loved and appreciated and this helps them to overcome negative feelings about their conditions.  Mainstreaming is also helpful as it helps to boost the academic performance of disabled children. Such children will be challenged to compete favorable with their colleagues since regular classroom encourage competition. Therefore, the environment will provide a challenge forcing these kids adapt to hence triggering positive performance (Lisa, Peterson, Pope, and Jeon 93).  Another importance of mainstreaming of kids is that it helps the children with special needs or disabilities to be attended by their teachers like any other kids. The teacher can also assist the disabled kids by motivating them and encouraging, understanding and support form the other kids. This will help built a sense of understanding and appreciation among kids therefore, as they grow up the children will be able to take good care of the disabled colleagues and appreciate them.

Mainstreaming is the only way that fairness in education can be attained.  Disability is not necessarily inability. Kids who are disabled are not cursed but they have potentials like the normal kids and if this is nurtured they can perform better beyond expectations.  The motivation behind introduction of mainstreaming became evident in 1997 upon passage of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that allowed access of same education to all kids.   Furthermore, No Child Left behind Act passed in 2001 provided the opportunity for fairness and equal opportunities for the children. Therefore kids with disabilities are supposed to be incorporated in the normal system to avoid secluding them on basis of disabilities.

Mainstreaming of disabled kids helps in enhancing and embracing individual differences among kids in their class contexts.  This environment helps a teacher to accommodate or embrace the dynamic and different needs of kids instead of just focusing on the disabled kids. Further, this allows effective learning as individual differences among kids will not be the focus of learning. It therefore, requires a teacher that is flexible and who employees different approaches and methodologies such as auditory, tactile, visual and kinesics in the learning process as this experience improve the learning experience of the kids.

Mainstreaming also helps in increasing positive social and behavioral skills of the kids. Children in this environments are able to learn through interactions hence understand the importance of respecting each other. Therefore, kids will improve their social skills as they will engage in their activities like playing together, this helps in reducing stereotypical behaviours of kids at this early age as well as they grow to maturity. Furthermore, mainstreaming helps in reducing noncompliant and aggressive behaviours. Kids will develop appositive attitude and will gain understanding that they need to appreciate their differences and accommodate them in whatever they do.

In contrast, mainstreaming has been criticized by some stakeholders. According to Ruth teaching kids with disabilities is complex and therefore require teachers who have specialized training to be able to provide good learning environment (1149). The attitude of teachers varies and it is important that the teacher’s behaviours and interest to children with disabilities should be considered before planning on their inclusion in the program.  According to McLeskey & Waldron, schools are an impediment to the program of mainstream (23). Many schools have no infrastructures and policies that guide them or help them on how to deal or incorporate those students will disabilities.

Furthermore, Ruth asserts that fairness among teachers is cited as one of the limitations of mainstreaming (1149). Teachers believe that by including disabled kids to the general education classroom is unfair since it hinder other kids from performing well. This is because, such kids causes unreasonable demands on the teachers which causes distraction to the teaching process. The time that is allocated or used in attending to such kids with disabilities consumes the time that would otherwise been used in teaching the general class (Zambelli and Bonni 45). Others have criticized mainstreaming because it tends to slow down the class.  The pace of learning will be affected as teachers will be required to attend to special cases kids to be able to move at the same wavelength with the other kids hence making learning process slow.

Another criticism is that mainstreaming disabled kids with the general class will also lead to social rejections since these disabled kids may have social difficulties (Ruth 1154). Therefore, some kids my look down upon them and ridicule or despise on them as lesser human beings. This will make such children feel isolated from the larger community of kids. Furthermore, these kids will be an easy target of bullying as some kids with mischievous behavior will capitalize on their disability to mistreat them.  Another argument against mainstreaming is that this will tend to lower the self esteem of kids with disability. They will feel inferior to the environment of learning in which they are placed. They may feel a sense of different and loneliness which may affect their concentration in class and in their work. Therefore, the opponents of mainstream think that it leads to lowered self esteem.

Furthermore, mainstreaming is believed to lead to teachers neglect to other students (Ruth 1150). In these regular classes teachers are required to spend a long period in attending to the needs of disabled students. For instance, kids with problems with hearing will require more attention as compared to normal kids hence this will affect the learning of the general class. In addition, some critics argue that the costs of supporting such arrangements are costly in terms of the training of teacher and provision of learning materials. Therefore, schools will have to adjust their budget to be able to train their teachers on how to incorporate these students in their classroom to ensure that all the children benefit from the learning process without necessarily compromising on the situation of a kid.

Nevertheless, amidst all these criticism, the idea of mainstreaming is the best option that will enhance development of cognitive and social skills among kids with disabilities apart from gaining from the learning environment. The critics of mainstreaming cite reasons that are attainable if appropriate measures are put in place to mitigate the negative impacts. The problems of mainstreaming mainly revolve around teachers and the kids themselves. Teachers in the general education process just need to posses, attitudes, beliefs, skills and dispositions that can enable them to be effective, confident to teach both children with varying abilities and level of achievement including those with disabilities. For instance Ford, Pugach, and Otis- Wilborn provide suggestions in enhancing the teacher skills to be accommodative in their teaching of kids with disabilities (17). The teachers need to have an understanding of both the social, political and historical concepts of disabilities, know about requirement of special education system and characteristics of disability to be able to teach and accommodate those kids that require special needs, should be always committed to teach full range of learners with disabilities and be willing to work in collaborative structure.  This will help teachers to accommodate all kinds of kids regardless of their disabilities and abilities. The teacher will also be able to provide good instruction and guidance to other kids on the need to respect and accommodate those with disabilities. Therefore, based on the arguments mainstreaming of disabled children to the regular classes is preferred.

 

Works Cited

Ford, A., Pugach, M. C., & Otis-Wilborn, A. 2001. “Preparing general educators to work well      with students who have disabilities.” What’s reasonable at the pre-service level?           Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 24, 275–285.

Lisa, Knoche, Carla, Peterson, Carolyn, Pope, and Edwards, Jeon. 2006. “Child care for children             with and without disabilities: The provider, observer, and parent perspectives.”  Early           Childhood Research Quarterly, 21.1: 93-109. Print.

McLeskey, J., & Waldron, N. L. 2000. Inclusive schools inaction: Making differences ordinary.     Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Ruth, Wiebe. 2008. “Novice teachers’ conceptions of fairness in inclusion classrooms.”
            Teaching and Teacher Education, 24.5:1149-1159. Print.

Zambelli, F., & Bonni, R. 2004. “Beliefs of teachers in Italian schools concerning the inclusion     of disabled students.”  A Q-sort analysis. European Journal of Special Needs Education,

19, 351–366.

 

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