Risk Management among Older People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Risk Management among Older People - Essay Example The intention of this study is the concept of risk. McDonald argues that risk is quite a serious societal issue as demonstrated by more emphasis being placed in distribution of risks than in distribution of wealth. McDonald then explores several perspectives of the definition/concept of risk in the society as it relates to social work, beginning with the widely accepted legal view that risk is the likelihood of an event occurring and the existence of a duty of care that is owed to those who might be affected (in this case the elderly) by reasonably foreseeable consequences of another party’s actions. Another perspective of risk is the actuarial notion, where it is the probability of occurrence of certain events based on statistical analyses of whole populations or subgroups, where in this case we have the older people sub-group. McDonald also discusses the social constructivist aspect of risk, where certain risks have been granted cultural acceptance based on different societa l dynamics. An example concerning older people is where certain risk-taking behaviours are out of question in a manner different to young people who may not be limited by such events. For instance, although the risk of injury from engaging in sport is present for all sub-groups, older people are more constrained from it differently from young people. Across all these concepts of risk, it is discernible that the shared characteristic is in the probability of an event occurring, and for the purposes of social work, an opportunity to pre-empt the event from occurring which forms a vital dimension of social work. The functional definition is that risk involves calculation of probability of and description of the likelihood of a future event given certain conditions, while at the same time recognising duty of care. Risk assessment is an issue related to the probabilistic aspect of the social workers knowledge base; hence it involves balancing out the outcomes for the service user in ques tion (Hawkes 2003, p. 6). The role of the social worker here is to assess the probability of significant harm occurring, or assess that which has already occurred in a bid to prevent further/future harm from occurring. Assessment of risk occupies a pivotal position in social work since it occurs at the initial point of contact between the service user and the social worker, and hence the effectiveness of intervention mechanisms depends to a large extent on the outcomes of the risk assessment. Social Worker Duty, Reasons for Risk Assessment and Obsession with Risk Assessment The reasons behind the obsession of social work with risk assessment can be traced from the trends in the wider society. McLauglin (2008, pp. 3-6) first establishes that there is an ongoing preoccupation with risk in the society and its minimisation, with the primary concern of the contemporary society shifting from being after something good to instead preventing the worst (tendency towards self-limitation as op posed to pursuing self realisation). This shift is being driven by a shift from natural hazards to man-made ones especially in the developed world, where for example an older person

America Needs Its Nerds Essay Example for Free

America Needs Its Nerds Essay The socially and physically inept, the outcasts, often associated with computers and books- these characteristics constitute the stereotype of the average geek. Students are afraid to reveal their identities in an environment among their peers because of the fear of being an outcast among the idolized jocks. In an excerpt from America Needs Its Nerds Harvard student and writer Leonid Fridman expresses his disgust for the unjust treatment of individuals who are essential to our country- the geeks. He addresses the American public with a call to action to put geeks into their deserved positions, giving them hope and motivation to express their own identities. Fridman utilizes irony when discussing how even Harvard students are being picked on, as well as the compare and contrast between Americas discouraging treatment of the nerd to East Asia and Chinas praising of them, to represent how the fear of social rejection has forced these mistreated intellects to hide their academic capabilities. Leonid Fridmen is disappointment with the fact that even at Harvard, one of the top Ivy League colleges, students are still picked on because of their levels of intellect. It is ironic that even at one of the top colleges in America where nerds and geeks dominate the realm of the school that anti-intellectualism is rampant. Social standing competes with intelligence even at the most academic institution, showing America that students are ashamed of their intellect because of the negative stereotypes society degraded them with. Fridman also employs irony when referring to get[ting] wasted at parties by describing how nerds avoid damaging their brain and bodies, but are punished socially for not  physically hurting themselves. Fridmans call to action addresses the American public as being erroneous in their actions of idolizing the nonintellectual while demeaning the studious intellectuals when he compares Americas academic values to those of East Asias. In America, athletes and celebrities are rewarded and more prevalent in society then those interested in pursuing academics. With these characteristics of our society, it is impossible to compete in the technology rate or be a leading political and cultural force with other countries who encourage academics rather than reject the individuals who excel in it. Fridmans belief of demeaning the intellectual is a continual paradigm in our society today. In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to be the Governor of California; however, it was primarily for his name recognition as a body builder and film star, lacking any experience working in government. Although Schwarzenegger lacked the intellectual knowledge he needed, he was elected because the public idolized him. The public is more interested in the media and athletics and neglect to realize the important impact researchers and intellects have on our world. Colleges pay college athletic coaches more than the professors working at an institution. Americans pay more on professional sports then they do to fund cancer research or education. As USA Today wrote, You can get a Nobel Prize at your university and you wont get anywhere near that attention. And so I think between the public and the media, they are telling us what they value. The public is involved, and often times addicted, to athletes or social media and reject the academically motivated as outcasts from the ideal society. Unfortunately, this public is unaware of the capabilities of academic achievement and the progress it has brought us in our world.

My Philosophy of Teaching Essays -- Philosophy of Education

Philosophy of Education Throughout the history of education, there have been many different philosophical views. The views have varied from Plato's "The Republic," to Rousseau's "Emile". Plato believed that the purpose of education was to create a perfect city-state, while Rousseau believed that the purpose was to develop people, who freely choose good. Both of these philosophies cooperate with my beliefs; however, my beliefs do differ in some aspects. Through my philosophies covering the nature of humans, curriculum, and teaching methods I hope to better educate the students and America a better place to live. First, I believe that humans are naturally good. The environment that a child grows up in affects the way that they act. Children are easily manipulated and I believe that the people in their early years are the ones that influence them the most. I believe the most important influences in a child's life are his parent and his teacher. In my own experience, I remember my kindergarten teacher spanking me when I was younger for no apparent reason. I could not figure out why she was doing this to me and it hurt my self-esteem, which made me not even want togo to school. However, my parents helped me Iovercome these problems. My parents influenced me to work harder and be myself no matter what. I would have to say that my parents were the biggest ~nfluence of my life; the things they taught me will stick with me the rest of my life. Secondly, I believe that everybody is born in certain classes. Like Plato, I believe there are classes with into which you are born. I believe that there are born leaders and then the children who do not have the same opportunities. I think you have to separate the two as soon as po... ...uate assistant on the Baseball field, while getting my masters in sports management. After that, I plan to coach college or high school baseball and teach physical education, hopefully for my alma mater Southeast High School. My goal is to become an athletic director, teacher, and coach at the same time because we all know that is where the money is. If a graduate assistant job does not open up, I plan to coach high school baseball and take night classes at Kent State for my masters. Furthermore, all aspects of teaching are important. As teachers, we hold the future of America in our hands with educating the youth. All aspects of teaching are important in shaping the youth of America. With the philosophies of some of the worlds greatest thinkers ever and with some philosophies of our own, I hope we can bring theeducation of America's youth to a higher level.~

Benito Mussolinis Rise and Fall to Power :: World War II History

Benito Mussolini's Rise and Fall to Power Benito Mussolini had a large impact on World War II. He wasn't always a powerful dictator though. At first he was a school teacher and a socialist journalist. He later married Rachele Guide and had 5 children. He was the editor of the Avanti, which was a socialist party newspaper in Milan. Benito Mussolini founded the Fasci di Combattimento on March of 1919. "This was a nationalistic, anti liberal, and anti socialist movement. This movement attracted mainly the lower middle class."1 Fascism was spreading across Europe. Mussolini was winning sympathy from King Victor Emmanuel III. Mussolini then threatened to march on Rome. This persuaded King Victor Emmanuel III to invite Mussolini to join a coalition, which strongly helped him gain more power. Benito Mussolini brought Austria on Germany's side by a formal alliance. "In 1937, he accepted a German alliance. The name of this alliance was the Anti Comntern Pact. On April 13, 1937 Benito Mussolini annexed Albania. He then told the British ambassador that not even the bribe of France and North Africa would keep him neutral."2 The British ambassador was appalled and dismayed. On May 28, 1937, Mussolini strongly gave thought to declaring war. He then attacked the Riviera across the Maritime. "On September 13, 1937 he opened an offensive into British-garrisoned Egypt from Libya."3 On October 4, 1937, while the offensive still seemed to promise success, Benito Mussolini met Adolf Hitler at the Brenner Pass, on their joint frontier. "The two of them discussed how the war in the Mediterranean, Britain's principal foothold outside its island base, might be turned to her decisive disadvantage. Hitler suggested to Mussolini that Spain might be coaxed on the axis side, thus giving Germany free use of the British Rock of Gibraltar, by offering Franco part of French North Africa, and that France might be persuaded to accept that concession by compensation with parts of British West Africa".4 Mussolini seemed enthusiastic and very understandable why this was the case, since this scheme included the gaining of Tunis, Corsica, and Nice (annexed by Napoleon III in 1860) from France. Hitler then hurried home to his house in Berlin to arrange visits to Franco and Petan. "Back in the capital Hitler created a letter to Stalin inviting Molotov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, to visit early, when Germany and the U.S.S.R. might then agree among themselves how to profit from Britain not having a defense.

Bilingual Education Essay

Now, it seems to be universally accepted that increased education is a good thing. Thousands of colleges and millions of students spend vast amounts of time and money chasing pieces of paper. But what is the value of these qualifications? This essay will discuss whether education has been devalued. Supporters of education (usually teachers or educators, or those who have an interest in stopping people thinking for themselves) say that increased levels of education will open doors for students. Certificates, diplomas, and degrees are held up as a status symbol, a passport to a private club of money and power. However, the truly powerful are not those who have taken degrees, but people who have stood back and looked at what is really important in life. They have seen opportunity and followed dreams. These people are found in every part of society. Like many brilliant people, Einstein was a weak student at math. Like many successful businessmen, Bill Gates never completed college. Like many inventive and creative people, Edison never went to school. The greatest religious teachers do not have letters after their name, but have looked into their hearts for meaning. Similarly, the world’s political leaders do not have master’s degrees or doctorates. These are the people who shaped our century, and they are too busy with real life to spend time in the paper chase. Students in college are being sold an illusion. They are made to believe that self-understanding and society approval will come with the acquisition of a piece of paper. Instead of thinking for themselves, and finding their own personality and strengths, they are fitted like square pegs into round holes. The role of education is to prepare masses of people to operate at low levels of ability in a very limited and restricted range of activities. Some of these activities are more challenging than perhaps the assembly lines of the past, but still the ultimate purpose is equally uninteresting. More worryingly, despite the increased level of education, people are still not genuinely expected to think for themselves. In fact, the longer years of schooling make the job of brainwashing even easier. There is still a role for study, research, and education. However, we need to examine our emphasis on education for the sake of a piece of paper, and to learn the real meaning and revolutionary challenge of knowledge. mean by education from the outset. That might make it easier for you to sharpen your arguments against it. You need to better deal with the opposing arguments. It is true of course that some people become millionaires by dropping out of school to become entrepreneurs. But, if one looks at the average income of dropouts compared to the average income of people who graduate high school, and then compare those rates to the average income of people who graduate from university, we see quite clearly that better education leads, on average, to greater career success (you could even do research and cite sources, using empirical evidence to back up your points! ) Also, education, especially liberal arts (or even liberal science) tends to improve people, giving them a capacity for critical thought that makes them more interesting and worth listening to. You even seem to acknowledge, in your conclusion, that people who do well without formal education may yet be considered self-educated. So, perhaps you should define what you mean by education from the outset. That might make it easier for you to sharpen your arguments against it. I am not sure that I am following your argument here. Education is devalued because it is akin to brainwashing and drains people of the ability to think for themselves. Truly powerful people have never been to college. The role of education is to transform people into automatons performing a limited range of activities. As an argumentative essay, you’ll need to back up those opinions. Your examples can help, but Einstein did attend university and had a doctorate degree from the school of mathematics and natural sciences at Zurich University. I don’t think you can make the claim that Einstein had difficulty with math he was studying calculus at the age of twelve but he did have trouble with speech. Edison did not attend university, but at that time a mere 1% of the population attended college so the example loses impact. Bill Gates attended Harvard. He didn’t graduate, but he still considers his Harvard experience valuable (it is where he learned that there are people smarter than he is and met business partner Steve Ballmer). Besides, Harvard gave Gates an Honorary Degree in 2007. Gates also blows the theory that brilliant people struggle with math he scored near perfect on the SAT. Steve Jobs quite college after a semester (I know that you didn’t use him as an example, but I thought it was interesting Michael Dell is another computer guru who never finished college). Who are the world’s religious teachers and political leaders that you are referring to?. Here’s an article that I found interesting: http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/29445201/ It talks about different things than your essay, but I can see where everyone getting a college degree would devalue those degrees . . . forty is the new thirty and a college degree is the new high diploma, blah, blah, blah. With 68% of high school graduates in the US enrolling in collage (2008), do we have a future with an over-educated, under-employed workforce? I could also see the argument that not everyone is suited for college life and we, as a society, need auto mechanics, plumbers, and grocery store clerks.

European Beleif Towards Native Americans essays

European Beleif Towards Native Americans essays The belief of many Europeans towards the Native Americans was incorrect because the Native Americans were smart people. They were good hunters and had kills of many kinds of animals. They were good/excellent builders of there time and were organized. Some tribes like the Olmecs made accurate calendars. And were very good at mathematics. The Native Americans had highly developed agricultural system, had unique hieroglyphic writing, irrigations stone drain systems. Rubber ball games and made fine pottery and carved jade jewelry (mostly Olmecs). The Native American Cultures had high spiritual meaning to plants and animals. Some cultures were master architects and engineers and built/controlled a huge empire. They built complex cliff dwellings and some cultures could survive a drought. They were excellent traders and some of there trading items were wood, pottery, clothes, baskets, and turquoise. Many cultures built mounds to buried there leaders with all their wealth, and many some cultures built towns on river flood plains for excellent farming and trade. They spoke many different languages and had many different societies. Celebrated there spiritual connections through stories, dances, art, prayers, and songs. They were aggress ive fearless warriors (mostly Aztecs). Cultures started to get more developed at about 2000 B.C.E period; they started raising crops including the three sisters, and started building canals and dams for irrigation. And the people of the north, Eskimos, survived the cold weather with no farming, and no sun for weeks. They had to survived on wild life; polar bear, caribou, sea mammals. And almost all the Native American Cultures based there technology on wood. The Indians had many festivals and the Algonquin culture lived in wigwams and the Iroquois lived in the long house. The league of Iroquois was based on the great law of peace, democratic government, and women and childrens rights were included in the...

Mairine Organism DNA essays

Mairine Organism DNA essays The Ocean Genome Legacy (OGL) is a not-for-profit organization set up in 2001 by New England Biolabs. The goals of OGL are to assemble a team of scientists dedicated to: The long-term preservation of marine organism DNA The development of tissue culture techniques for marine invertebrate cells The construction of genome libraries and their distribution for research purposes Studies of evolutionary genomics, with an initial focus on marine transition organisms Much of the worlds biodiversity is in the oceans and provides an important resource for mankind. Equally much of this diversity is endangered and OGL aims to help in the global effort to preserve and study the organisms of the ocean. Initially, OGL will focus on endangered marine organisms especially those that represent important evolutionary transitions. Oversight for OGL is provided by a Board of Trustees including Dr. John Benzie, Dr. Sydney Brenner, Dr. Donald Comb, Mr. Douglas Foy, Dr. Richard Roberts and Dr. Wolfgang Sterrer. Isolated from a recombinant source Description: Taq DNA Polymerase is a thermostable DNA polymerase that possesses a non-processive 5 -> 3 polymerase activity and a double-strand specific 5 -> 3 exonuclease activity. Source: An E. coli strain that carries the Taq DNA Polymerase gene from Thermus aquaticus YTI. Reaction Buffer: 1X ThermoPol Reaction Buffer 10 mM KCl, 10 mM (NH4)2S04, 20 mM Tris-HCl, 2 mM MgS04, 0.1% Triton X-100, pH 8.8 @ 25C. Quality Assurance: Purified free of contaminating endonucleases and exonucleases. Unit Definition: One unit is defined as the amount of enzyme that will incorporate 10 nmol of dNTP into acid-insoluble material in 30 minutes at 75C. Unit Assay Conditions: 1X ThermoPol Reaction Buffer, 200 Â µM each dNTP including [3H]-dTTP and 200 Â µg/ml ...