Performance Management - Assessment item 1 (Essay) Essay

Performance Management - Assessment item 1 ( ) - Essay Example Performance appraisals are used to determine the quality of performance of each employee in his job. An idea as to those who have talent or need training and those who may be promoted, demoted, retained, or fired will be obtained. The transitional differences in organizations over the recent years have influenced the performance appraisal systems too to accommodate larger business opportunities and priority in the aims (Sonnentag, 2002, p. 115). Sonnentag has described performance appraisal as a â€Å"generic term covering a variety of processes whereby an individual’s work performance is assessed, usually by that person’s line manager and discussed with a view to solving problems, improving performance and developing the individual appraised† (2002, p.116). He has detailed three perspectives contributing to employee performance: the individual, situational and performance regulation. The behavior, motivational personality and the interpersonal relationships of the employees play a role in the success of the appraisal systems. The appraisal would materialize based on the organizational politics and conflict avoidance of the appraiser, the appraisee’s behavior and the relationship between the two parties. The appraisee’s differences in behavior change his views on the â€Å"need for achievement, goal orientation, self awareness and self efficacy, self esteem, locus of control and feedback attitudes† (Sonnentag, 2002, p. 115). His performance level would depend much on his personality and mental make-up, the situational aspect where events may facilitate or obstruct his functional performance and the organizational performance regulations of goal setting (Sonnentag, 2002, p. 8). â€Å"declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and skills and lastly motivation† (1990). Campbell’s model was considered proficient. The

Poverty Relief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Poverty Relief - Essay Example A weakness of both approaches is their sensitivity to the choice of (necessarily somewhat) arbitrary poverty lines and of peculiar value judgements regarding the social welfare objectives of the government—for instance, that the government cares equally for all the poor, regardless of how far from the poverty line they may be. For instance, the analysis of targeting errors focuses typically on sharp 0/1 indicators, and arguably tends to differentiate too drastically between the poor and the non poor, in particular between those in similar circumstances but who just happen to lie on opposite sides of some poverty line.The working tax benefit is available to anybody aged 25 or over who works sixteen hours a week or more. There is a basic element and a range of additional elements for single parents and couples, for people who work for thirty hours a week or more, and for people with a severe disability; there is also an element to contribute towards the costs of child care. A pe rson earning below a threshold level of income receives the full benefit. For earnings above that, benefit is withdrawn at a rate of 37 pence per pound of earnings. Benefit is normally awarded on an annual basis; thus an increase in earnings, unless large, will not lead to a reduction in benefit until a person is reassessed. Other difficulties in the assessment of program changes come from their differential effects on average deadweight losses. Such differential effects can occur when the programs are funded from different revenue sources.: differences in the cost of public funds that arise from differences in those revenue sources must then be taken into account (Slemrod and Yitzhaki, 1996)2. Differences in the effects on average deadweight losses can also arise from the differential behavioural changes that different program reforms can generate among program beneficiaries. These differential behavioural changes can in general also affect the direct disaggregated welfare impact o f program reforms. None of these categories can readily be dealt with by private insurance; and none except the first can be helped by raising national-insurance benefits or by extending their coverage. Much poverty is associated with children and/or high housing costs, neither of which is an insurable risk. Two conclusions emerge: private insurance is not possible in most of these cases; nor is extending national insurance a complete answer. The state could, of course, do nothing, and let people face the risk of starvation, but, even ignoring equity arguments, this has a range of efficiency costs, including social unrest/ crime among those facing starvation; the death by starvation of dependants including children (the future labour force);

Colgate pursues low cost strategy

Colgate pursues low cost strategy CP has a large and efficient distribution network. Its distribution channels are located all over Pakistan (Moore, E.R) It caters to a broad customer base. It has developed itself in almost all the categories which are associated with customers on the daily basis. Colgate pursues low cost strategy. Its plant is automated. Only one plant is used for the manufacturing of three different detergents like bonus, express, brite The whole process is repeated for each of the detergent. By automating the plant, CP is able to save a lot of cost. CP value delivery network does not have any delays in it which helps CP to save cost. CP targets all segment, it has products for the lower class, middle class and the upper class. Its pricing is done accordingly. It has cost leadership in the detergent and the surface care category CP forecasting is very accurate which helps them to reduce cost because if estimated are accurate then it helps the company to avail cost advantages CP is allowed to deviate only 5% from its forecast both upwards and downwards CP has concentrated more on process efficiencies CP has access to large capital that is required to make significant investment. CP never compromises on the development expenditure. It is always ready to improve its production processes. Being a low cost producer it helps CP to better compete to its rivals. Being the low cost producer it has helped CP to insulate themselves from powerful suppliers who nowadays demand increasing prices due to rising inflation. Being he low cost producer, it has also helped to attract powerful buyers whom CP sells directly like MAKRO, DMART, IMITAZ, AGHAS, and NAHEED etc (Moore, E.R). Economic Factor The overall economy of the country is showing a stable growth. Therefore this industry is also showing a growth of 10%. But the inflation is growing rapidly which is not a good sign for the new entrants. Change in the interest rate also affects the industry. Hence the new entrants are also threatened by the increasing interest rates. Economic factors do influence the bargaining power of buyers as inflation is the major factor that is affecting the consumers hard. Economic factors do not affect the availability of substitutes. But since inflation is growing, so it is hard for the poor people to switch to more modern products like washing powder, tooth paste. They would rather prefer oil to clean their clothes and use miswak to brush their teeth. Economic factors do have an affect on the bargaining power of suppliers as inflation is rising fast. Suppliers demand that they would provide the necessary raw material at a higher price. Exchange rate fluctuations also affect the cost of raw material. Economic factors do affect the rivalry among the competitors as all the players in the industry want to have cost leadership. The economic factors are favoring intense competition from the last five years. People have more money at their disposal. Also Pakistan is a consumption oriented society (Hiatt, Jeff.). Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) STRATEGY 1 STRATEGY 2 Weights AS TAS AS TAS STRENGTHS Market leader in surface care with 90% market share 0.15 Good Leadership 0.06 Employee commitment 0.12 3 0.36 2 0.24 Cooling crystal patent 0.1 Accurate forecast with respect to demand 0.07 4 0.28 2 0.14 High EPS 0.08 3 0.24 2 0.16 Strong advertisement and promotional campaign 0.08 2 0.16 3 0.24 WEAKNESSES IT not used optimally 0.13 4 0.52 2 0.26 No ecommerce 0.1 3 0.3 2 0.26 No proper use of forward integration 0.05 2 0.1 3 0.15 They are not exporting their products to other countries 0.06 1 OPPORTUNITIES Exploring into new categories like shampoo, hand wash , body wash, shower gel 0.14 2 0.28 4 0.56 Rural population switching from miswak to toothpaste 0.06 Gap in tooth brush market 0.08 2 0.16 3 0.24 Implementation of ERP(SAP) 0.14 4 0.56 2 0.28 People becoming hygiene and beauty conscious 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.3 No layoffs 0.07 THREATS(T) Raw material and energy prices are increasing 0.12 3 0.36 2 0.24 Inflation in the country 0.07 3 0.21 2 0.14 Competitors re launching their products 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.3 Competitors increasing their marketing budgets 0.06 2 0.12 3 0.18 Unstable law and order conditions. 0.06 1 TOTAL 4.05 3.69 Rivalry among existing competitors Yes (+) No (-) The industry is growing rapidly. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The industry is not cyclical with intermittent overcapacity. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The fixed costs of the business are relatively low portion of total costs. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ There are significant product differences and brand identities between the competitors. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The competitors are diversified rather than specialized. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ It would not be hard to get out of this business because there are no specialized skills and facilities or long-term contract commitments etc. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My customers would incur significant costs in switching to a competitor. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My product is complex and requires a detailed understanding on the part of my customer. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My competitors are all of approximately the same size as I am. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ 7 LOW MEDIUM HIGH INTERPRETATION: Threat of competitors is high because the product is not unique as there are no product differences. Same products are available with all competitors like Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Shield, Oral B. Therefore rivalry is also increasing as demand in the economy has also increased for the last 5 to years. Majority of the competitors are MNCs which means that they have the necessary resource and skill (Hiatt, Jeff). Government Factors: Government regulations do have an affect on the rivalry among the competitors. Political factors: Political factors do not affect the rivalry among the competitors Economic factors Economic factors do affect the rivalry among the competitors as all the players in the industry want to have cost leadership. The economic factors are favoring intense competition from the last five years. People have more money at their disposal. Also Pakistan is a consumption oriented society (Hiatt, Jeff). Social trends Social trends have changed, buyer are more aware of their purchases. So the players in the industry are always trying hard to increase their market share (Hiatt, Jeff). Technological change Technology is helping the companies to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Also research and development plays an important role in this (Hiatt, Jeff). KEY SUCCESS ACTORS FOR COMPETIVE SUCCESS Low cost production efficiency. CP has plants installed that take only 30 minutes for the plant to shift from the production of one product to the other. High quality manufacturing of products with very few defects. A strong network of wholesale distributors. Gaining ample space on retailer shelves. (Examples Naheed, Aghas, Makro and other small shops.) Attractive packaging and styling. Good length of product lines. Attractive commercials and advertising. Good reputation in the industry along with favorable reputation with buyers. Market penetration Colgate can do market penetration by increasing its advertising, people always associate Colgate with tooth paste and have no awareness that it produces personal and surface care products as well. They should show their logo on all its products so that people know the producers and this will increase customer loyalty and also when people will come to know that Colgate is the producer then new customers will also buy the product (Hiatt, Jeff). They should also increase their promotion efforts by going to school and doing health awareness programs, also they should go to residential areas and make women aware of their surface care and fabric care products such as max, bonus and express etc Product development: Colgate can also do product development by introducing new features in their already existing brands. They can improve their tooth brush quality and features by introducing flexi tooth brushes for special oral care. Also they can introduce whitening features in their feature in their tooth paste; different colors of tooth paste can also be introduced to attract the kinds market. In their fabric care they can introduce in special features of protecting the color of the cloth while washing and also whitening enhancing surfs to give a good shine to while clothes (Hiatt, Jeff). develop systems to involve appropriate stakeholders in the introduction of change SIX THINGS REQUIRED TO EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENTING A STRATEGY According to Porter, to implement a strategy effectively six things should be followed: Create a formal plan: Distributor Quantity Item Price Negotiation, Inventory Reporting, Stock Details, Payment Terms HR Module Inventory / Store Sales Module Sales Module Stock Details Quantity item Price negotiation, inventory reporting, ex stock details, payment terms Finance Module Credit terms, payment procedures, Stock in out effect Inflow outflow of raw materials Procurement Module Create a multifunctional team: To effectively implement ERP, Colgate must first hire an independent resource firm. Acquire licensing for SAP Implementation. Establish an independent IT unit for the monitoring of ERP. This department will coordinate with all the other departments (Robbins S, Mukerji). Communication of strategy: inside and outside: All employees in the company should be made aware of the new automated system. Each employee must be provided a minimal insight of SAP but those employees who have to work on SAP the most should ofcourse be provided with proper training course of SAP. These include: Factory Manager Manager accounts Warehouse Manager Distribution team Consumer insight department Outside the company the strategy to implement ERP should be communicated properly to all the local and foreign suppliers of Colgate Palmolive (Hagberg). Consistency over time: As Information Technology is progressing day by day, new changes in ERP are expected after certain time periods. Therefore it would become very important for Colgate to cope up with the changes in the software. For this purpose it would need to update it employees by providing training whenever any change takes place in SAP (Hagberg). Use proper measurements: Other measures, not just financial measures would be required to test whether the system is working properly. These measures include: Whether the system is accurately forecasting demand, sales, price changes Whether or not there are any deviations in the actual versus projected sales Effectiveness of the internal processes after the strategy implementation (Robbins S, Mukerji). Test the strategy: Ask employees and senior management in all departments whether they are satisfied with the new system of working. Talk to suppliers and distributors whether they want any more improvements in the new system of working (Hagberg). EIGHT PILLARS OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION Allocating resources: Colgate has to invest around 50mn for which they have to make a separate IT department in which 1 trained personnel have to be hired so that it can be implemented in an efficient way. building capable organizaion: After the implementation of SAP, a capable organization would be established. It would help the company to coordinate all activities. CP can then expand into new markets and would develop innovative products. Exercising strategic leadership: SAP implementation will require an annual strategic audit to check whether the desired objectives have been achieved or not. This means a visionary leadership is required. Leadership should be exercised strategically in such a way that it helps the company to maintain its competitive advantage. Tying rewards: Rewards in maintaining the best MIS, highest no of transactions, successful employee in training face should be given in terms of recognition, increased in salary and gift vouchers. Installing support system: It is important to maintain MIS with in different department so they can work in a best possible way Benchmarking: In Pakistan very few organizations has implemented SAP. PSO and National Foods are some of them. Since PSO has very successfully implemented SAP so Colgate benchmarks them. Strategic supportive policies: They have to make strategies in which maintaining an MIS should be mandatory. There should be digital culture. They should have a centralize data base through which all department are interlinked and any transaction can be tracked down by any department. Every department should have access to only relevant information. Shaping corporate culture: Colgate should implement paperless. Digital culture where the records must be maintained through MIS and not manually .even communication should be done electronically. KEY DRIVING FORCES Industry growth: Now most of the people have knowledge about the different products and its advantages. The intense competition in industry and high demand enables the new entrants to compete in this market (Hagberg). Product innovation: Innovation in product, as Colgate has just introduced Max fresh in which the coolant crystals are present which none of the competitors has adopted yet. There is also room in innovation in washing detergents (Hagberg). Changing societal concerns, attitudes and lifestyle: Since social issues are really effecting the use of product just like the use of Miswak which is the Islamic mode of cleaning the teeth (Hagberg). Use of E-commerce and Internet: Usage of online ordering and maintaining the stock level through e-commerce can be driving force in the industry. By using that they can provide products to customer which is value addition for them (Hagberg). This report is purely based on the finding from the Colgate expert and the secondary data analysis, and the reason for writing the whole report is to find the obstacle / hindrance a business men face and how the organization can minimize it through implementing the different strategies and analysis. The whole report research draws attention to  the fact that any problem can be eliminate if proper investigation and consideration can be observed the success is easy to get, Pakistan market is mature market and the competition is tough here because most of the customer is price conscious and act like butterflies, so targeting this kind of customer is quite difficult, but on the other hand it can be managed if the you can understand the market effectively and efficiently (Robbins S, Mukerji). Hiatt, Jeff. The definition and history of change management. http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-definition-history.htm. Filicetti, John (August 20, 2007). Project Management Dictionary Moore, E.R., (accessed 1 April, 2001), Creating Organizational Cultures: An Ethnographic Study, Eastern Academy of Management Virtual Proceedings, Moore, E.R., (accessed 1 April, 2001), Creating Organizational Cultures: An Ethnographic Study, Eastern Academy of Management Virtual Proceedings, , R. Ph.D. Heifetz, D.Ph., 2000 (accessed 4 April, 2001), Corporate Hagberg Culture/Organisational Culture: UnderJerryding and Assessment, Robbins S, Mukerji D (1994). Managing organisations. Prentice Hall of Australia, McPhersons Printing Group, Australia. Sergiovanni, T.J. (1984) Educational Leadership, Leadership and excellence in schooling, Volume 41, Number 5, United States of America, page 4-13 Kent State University 2000 (accessed 28th March, 2001), Kent State University Cultural Self-Study Internal Communication of Change By Dagmar Recklies Circling the Pyramid Building Lasting Commitment to Change  Ã‚   (pdf-file) by Edmond Mellina What Makes a Good Change Agent? by Dagmar Recklies The Role of the Change Master From Change Agent to Change Master By Ruth Tearle Managing Change Definition and Phases in Change Processes by Oliver Recklies Problems in Managing Change by Oliver Recklies AuditNet.org provides a downloadable PDF of change management best practices. Fred Nickols wrote Change Management 101: A Primer. SearchCRM.com provides resources on handling change management following a CRM upgrade. Neglecting your change control process can kill an IT disaster recovery plan.

Lives of Women in the Renaissance Essay -- European History Feminism F

Lives of Women in the Renaissance The renaissance began a momentous time in the history of Western Europe. Many new forms and styles of arts, literature, and customs emerged during this period. Economic, social, and cultural changes affected the lives of everyone. Particularly the role of women in society was affected. There were four categories of women: wives, mothers, widows and daughters. Within each of these categories, certain duties were expected. Jacob Burckhardt once wrote, 'to understand the higher forms of social intercourse in this period, we must keep before our minds the fact that women stood on a footing of perfect equality with men.'. It is a widely known fact that this in no way was true. Inequalities between men and women have always affected society. Men were constantly gaining up on women and spoke of them with contempt. They believed that woman was more sinful than man. This belief goes back to original sin when Eve had been seduced by the devil. Eve's actions made men assume that women deserved to suffer. However, the Renaissance helped to narrow the gap between the two sexes. All women whether they are of noble blood, a shopkeeper?s sister, or a farm worker?s daughter, were placed on a higher pedestal then they had expected during this time. Women?s positions in society had effects on the Renaissance period just as great as any mans. Noble women don?t appear to have a hard life, but when you look between the lines they have it just as rough as any other women of that time. From the beginning, young women were required to learn the basic household skills that they would be expected to execute as wives and mothers. These women did perform textile work, but they did it for luxury, they did not actu... ...his time. The highest praise which could then be given to a woman was that she had the mind and the courage of men. Although they did earn some rights, women were still forbidden to hold office, paternal powers in the family, receive inheritance and many other things. The wealthy women who were fortunate enough to receive a small form of education potentially could have done much more if they were given the same opportunities that men were given. Labor class women who did everything around the house, from shearing the sheep to raising the children, were also highly depreciated. The Renaissance in Western Europe brought forward new ideas and as Renaissance is defined, ?the revival or rebirth? so was the circle of society surrounding the women. Women were given the chance to take the higher step in society, which they tried jumping on, but were often pushed back down. Lives of Women in the Renaissance Essay -- European History Feminism F Lives of Women in the Renaissance The renaissance began a momentous time in the history of Western Europe. Many new forms and styles of arts, literature, and customs emerged during this period. Economic, social, and cultural changes affected the lives of everyone. Particularly the role of women in society was affected. There were four categories of women: wives, mothers, widows and daughters. Within each of these categories, certain duties were expected. Jacob Burckhardt once wrote, 'to understand the higher forms of social intercourse in this period, we must keep before our minds the fact that women stood on a footing of perfect equality with men.'. It is a widely known fact that this in no way was true. Inequalities between men and women have always affected society. Men were constantly gaining up on women and spoke of them with contempt. They believed that woman was more sinful than man. This belief goes back to original sin when Eve had been seduced by the devil. Eve's actions made men assume that women deserved to suffer. However, the Renaissance helped to narrow the gap between the two sexes. All women whether they are of noble blood, a shopkeeper?s sister, or a farm worker?s daughter, were placed on a higher pedestal then they had expected during this time. Women?s positions in society had effects on the Renaissance period just as great as any mans. Noble women don?t appear to have a hard life, but when you look between the lines they have it just as rough as any other women of that time. From the beginning, young women were required to learn the basic household skills that they would be expected to execute as wives and mothers. These women did perform textile work, but they did it for luxury, they did not actu... ...his time. The highest praise which could then be given to a woman was that she had the mind and the courage of men. Although they did earn some rights, women were still forbidden to hold office, paternal powers in the family, receive inheritance and many other things. The wealthy women who were fortunate enough to receive a small form of education potentially could have done much more if they were given the same opportunities that men were given. Labor class women who did everything around the house, from shearing the sheep to raising the children, were also highly depreciated. The Renaissance in Western Europe brought forward new ideas and as Renaissance is defined, ?the revival or rebirth? so was the circle of society surrounding the women. Women were given the chance to take the higher step in society, which they tried jumping on, but were often pushed back down.

Does Living in a Same Sex Home Effect How a Child Will Grow Up

Winters 1 Jynai Winters 16 November 2012 Psychology 100 Sabrina Does Same-Sex parenting affect a child? I choose this topic because I love children and I don't like to see children hurting. I also choose it because I always wondered if it made a difference if a child grows up in a heterosexual home or living in homosexual home.Another reason why I choose to do this topic is because a lot of people believe that homosexual parents are not fit to rise their children if they come from a heterosexual relationship however, they do not have any proof that they are unfit for parenting their children and people do not like the fact that a child is growing up around homosexual activity and they also believe that if they grow up with a homosexual parent that they will not have choice about their sexuality.The earliest known idea about developmental psychology was presented by Jean Jacques Rousseau around the late 18th century. Developmental psychology studies the human growth and development th at occurs throughout the entire life span. Most people that studies this field focuses on one stage of development. There are seven stages of life that they could choose from; they are Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, Early Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, Other Adults and Developmental Disabilities. To become a psychologist you must earn a Bachelors degree in psychology.However you must have a Master's or doctoral before you start working as a psychologist. Most psychologists often work in schools and learning centers. They could also work in hospitals, mental facilities and nursing homes. They are even a few psychologists that work at colleges and for the government as teachers or to do perform research. Winters 2 A developmental psychologist salary depends on their training, geographic location and the work setting. Usually psychologist make between $69,007 and $90,326 a year.There are also those few that make more than $101,088 per year. As a psychologist some of their task will inc luded evaluating children to determine if they have a developmental disability, investigating how language skills are acquired, studying how moral reasoning develops in children and finally exploring ways to help elderly individuals remain independent. Most developmentalists study and research contextual influences that impact change such as socioeconomic conditions, culture, and genetics.There are many other changes that developmentalists study which are family, parenting style, divorce, friends, religion physical and mental abuse and educational levels. My research will focus on the Boswell vs. Boswell case of 1998, the Bottoms vs. Bottoms case of 1995 and also the Huggins interview of 1989. I will also talk about the Wainright, Russell, and Patterson 2004 study, the King and Black study of 1994, the MacCallum & Golombok of 2004, Vanfraussen study of 2002, the Fulcher of 2008, and finally the Patterson study of 1992 and 2000.The first study I will talk about is Huggins's 1989 and O'Connell of 1993. The small body of research that has focused on adolescent offspring of families headed by same-sex couples includes Huggins's (1989) study of 36 adolescents (13–19 years old, 18 with divorced heterosexual mothers and 18 with divorced lesbian mothers), which reported no differences in adolescent self-esteem as a function of mothers' sexual orientation. In another early study, O'Connell (1993) studied 11 young men and women, 16–23 years old, were the offspring of divorced or separated lesbian mothers.Participants expressed strong love, loyalty, and protectiveness toward their mothers and a desire for others to understand the benefits of having a lesbian mother. Participants, however, also Winters 3 described concerns about losing friends, and some described attempts to control information about their mothers' sexual orientation. These two studies were about how the child felt after their parents divorced. The Huggins's study reported that the children that they had no difference in their self-esteem.While the O’Connell study reported that the children showed strong love, loyalty and protectiveness towards their mother's. However, both studies showed that the children lost friends and some children even tried to hide their mother's sexual orientation. Wainright, Russell, and Patterson (2004) reported a study of family and relationship variables on the one hand, and adolescent personal and social adjustment on the other. They studied adjustment in a sample of 44 teenagers (12–18 years old) with same-sex parents and a matched sample of 44 teenagers with opposite-sex parents.On a range of psychosocial outcomes including depressive symptoms, anxiety, and school adjustment, Wainright and her colleagues found no significant differences as a function of family type same-sex or opposite-sex parents. Among their findings they found that there were no significant effects for family type on adolescent reports of sexual behavior or romantic relationships. Wainright and her colleagues did, however, find significant associations between parental perception of parent–adolescent relationship quality and adolescent school adjustment.Similar findings were reported for delinquency, substance use, and victimization by Wainright and Patterson (2006). The Wainright, Russell, and Patterson study talks about family and relationship vs. adolescent personal and social adjustment. The results to the study was that there was no significant difference as a function as a family, there was also no significant effect for the family type with sexual behavior or romantic relationship. However, they did find that there was difference between parental perception and school adjustment. Winters 4The few negative findings for children with two mothers were equivocal. Teachers in a Belgian study (Vanfraussen et al. , 2002) reported more attention and behavior problems for such children (about a half standard deviation differen ce), but this did not match teachers' ratings of the children's adjustment, and neither the children nor their mothers concurred. A second more plausible finding was that such children reported being teased about their families more, but this speaks to social disapproval of their parents' sexual identity rather than their gender.Researchers consistently find that children with lesbian parents contend with homophobia among their peers, but disagree over whether these children suffer more teasing overall or if the teasing focuses on their parents' sexual identity (Bos et al. , 2008; Tasker ; Golombok, 1997; Wainright ; Patterson, 2008). The only clear negative finding appeared in the first wave of the UK study of fatherless families described above (Golombok et al. , 1997).Six-year-old children in mother-only families (whether lesbian or heterosexual) described themselves as less competent physically and cognitively than their peers (0. 75 SD averaging the two), but the difference dis appeared when the children were interviewed again 6 years later (MacCallum ; Golombok, 2004). Because this study did not control for the number of parents in mother-only families, it could not help us determine whether the absence of a male parent or just of a second parent contributed to the lower self-esteem the younger children expressed.The Vanfraussen study of 2002 was one of the two studies that show that the children will misbehave if they live with a homosexual parent. However, when asked by the teachers they said the child is a good child and does not misbehave, they asked their parent too and they give the same answer. So this study is not a really good study because their results did prove the opposite of what they stated. Should a parent’s sexual identity be considered relevant in deciding a child’s best Winters 5 interest, for purposes of child custody and visitation?Answers to this question have shown tremendous variability from one jurisdiction to anothe r. In some states, such as Massachusetts and California, parental sexual orientation is considered irrelevant to custody and visitation disputes. In these states, a connection, or nexus, must be demonstrated between a parent’s sexual orientation, on the one hand, and a negative outcome for the child, on the other. Because a connection of this type can be difficult to establish, nexus rules have often resulted in judgments favorable to lesbian and gay parents.For instance, in Boswell v. Boswell (1998), a Maryland visitation case, the court refused to limit children’s visitation with their gay father in the presence of his same-sex partner because there was no evidence of harm to the children from such visitation. The Boswell vs. Boswell case of 1998 a father was limited to see his children because of his sexuality, so he took his wife to court and the judge agreed with him because there was no evidence that the child would be harm because of their father's sexuality. In a custody case involving a lesbian mother ( Bottoms v.Bottoms, 1995), for example, the Virginia Supreme Court reiterated its earlier holding that a lesbian mother is not unfit as a matter of law but included the mother’s sexual orientation among factors considered to make her an undesirable parent. Thus, in some states, lesbian and gay parents must overcome formal or informal presumptions that their sexual identities make them less than ideal parents. With the case of Bottoms vs. Bottoms the judge agreed in the favor of the mother because her sexuality did not make her unfit parent, it just made her an undesirable parent.I know has nothing to do with a child but I just wanted to show how a parent is sometimes looked upon as an unfit parent just because of their sexuality. In connection with this bias, Patterson, who would later serve as sole author of the Winters 6 2005 APA Brief’s â€Å"Summary of Research Findings on Lesbian and Gay Families†, reported: Despi te the diversity of gay and lesbian communities, both in the United States and abroad, samples of children and parents have been relatively homogeneous†¦. Samples for which demographic information was reported have been described as predominantly Caucasian, well-educated, and middle to upper class.In spite of the privileged and homogeneous nature of the non-representative samples employed in the studies at that time, Patterson’s (1992) conclusion was as follows: Despite shortcomings in the studies, however, results of existing research comparing children of gay or lesbian parents with those of heterosexual parents are extraordinarily clear, and they merit attention†¦ There is no evidence to suggest that psychosocial development among children of gay men or lesbians is compromised in any respect relative to that among offspring of heterosexual parents.Patterson’s conclusion in a 2000 review was essentially the same: Central results of existing research on lesb ian and gay couples and families with children are exceptionally clear. The home environments provided by lesbian and gay parents are just as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to enable psychosocial growth among family members. The Patterson study was about showing if homosexual parents make a difference with how the child is raised or affected.There results showed that there was no evidence that showed that the development among children of gay or lesbian is compromised compared to the offspring of heterosexual parents. Then they looked back at the study in 2000 and found that home environment is just as likely to have the same problem no matter if the parents are lesbian, gay or heterosexual. Associative stigmatization of children with lesbian mothers might be expected, based on the degree of stigmatization directed toward the parents. Although there seems to be a growing willingness among Americans to extend basic civil liberties to gay Winters 7 en and lesbians (H erek, 1991), stigma is still associated with same-gender sexual orientations (Herek, Kimmel, Amaro, & Melton, 1991), and researchers agree that negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians are widespread (Kite, 1994). This study talks about stigmatization against children whose parents are homosexual and also how Americans still have attitudes against homosexual. It was also saying that people attitudes towards to homosexual affects the child because the child is thinking that their parent is not liked be anyone because who they are.Other researchers have noted that children brought up in a two-adult home, regardless of the gender of the adults, are in better emotional health than those raised by single parents, and that lesbian mothers who live with a partner are at a psychological advantage over single lesbian mothers. In addition to these indications that custody contingent on the absence of a live-in partner for the mother is not in the child's best interests, there is no evid ence in the current study that potential stigmatization is increased by the presence of a female partner.Some researchers have shown that children that are brought up in two-adult homes are better in emotional health than those raised by single parents. It also showed that lesbian mothers that live with a partner are at a advantage over a single lesbian mother because there is no evidence that shows that the potential of stigmatization will increased by the presence of a female partner. Children may indeed be stigmatized or embarrassed at times because of characteristics of their parents — not just children of lesbians, but children of a variety of non-traditional parents.That a parent is of a racial, political, or religious minority, is poor, has a physical impairment, or is otherwise different is not usually considered sufficient reason for denying that parent custody of a child (Falk, 1989). The same stigmatization argument that was used by courts 20 years ago to deny cust ody to women who married interracially after a divorce is now being used to deny custody to lesbian mothers. Winters 8 However in this study did show that children will be stigmatized and embarrassed because of their parents characteristic, but not just children f lesbians any child can be embarrassed or stigmatized by someone. Another thing is that with the custody of a child a mother or father could not be denied custody just because of their sexuality. The Falk study founded that perceptual stigmatization of children of divorced lesbians does occur; it was not designed to address the magnitude of that stigmatization. In related work on relational stigmatization, Falk have found that a majority of college students are willing to interact in relationships with children of lesbians, although willingness decreases as intimacy of relationship increases.As Falk has pointed out, legal decision-makers may be overemphasizing the severity of stigmatization toward children in the custody of lesbian mothers. Two types of studies would be informative in addressing this concern. One would seek to identify the number of participants in any given sample who are likely to stigmatize children of lesbians and would explore characteristics of these individuals that may be correlated with a tendency to engage in stigmatization. Another would compare attitudes toward children of lesbian mothers with actual interaction with these children.Future research on this topic should also utilize samples that are more demographically diverse, particularly In terms of age and education. Community samples, for example, may differ from college samples in their likelihood to stigmatize lesbians and their children. Even though a few of the studies of stereotyping and attitudes toward homosexuals that used both college and community samples found little difference between groups, this finding may or may not extend to children of lesbians.Based on the published science, one could argue that two women parent better on average than a woman and a man, or at least than a woman and man with a traditional division of family labor. Lesbian co parents seem to outperform comparable married heterosexual, biological parents on several measures, even while being denied the substantial privileges of marriage. This seems to be attributable partly to selection effects and partly to women on average exceeding men in parenting investment and skills. Family structure modifies these differences in parenting.Married heterosexual fathers typically score lowest on parental involvement and skills, but as with Dustin Hoffman's character in the 1979 film Kramer v. Kramer, they improve notably when faced with single or primary parenthood. Winters 9 The science world has shown that two women can out parent a married heterosexual couples on several different measures, even though being denied the privilege of getting married. In a heterosexual relationship the father usually scores the lowest in pare ntal involvement and skills however, in a homosexual relationship both parents pass parental involvement and skill part.One thing they did notice was that the father usually increased his score when he is faced with single or primary parenthood. In conclusion, from my research it has shown that a child can live in a same sex home and not be affected by his or her parent’s sexuality. The only thing they will have to deal with is being teased however; ever child is teased at some point in their life. The only thing that is being learned is that you cannot judge a parent because of their sexuality. I would also say that you cannot judge a child because of their parent’s sexuality.A child really does not really understand what the difference is between homosexual and heterosexual relationship. The child only knows that they have two parents that love them, so why would you try to change their vision of their family, if the child is happy let them be because they are innoce nt. Finally future research should focus on how the parent is affected. They could also survey the children when they get older and see how they felt growing up in a same sex home. Another thing they could do is see how they raise their children and how they grow up helped them choose on how they raise them.These are just some things they could do in the future if they ever research this topic again. Winters 10 Works Cited Biblarz, Timothy J. â€Å"How Does Gender of Parents Matter. † ProQuest. Pro Quest, Feb. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. Cherry, Kendra. â€Å"What Is a Developmental Psychologist. † Psychology. About. com, n. d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. â€Å"Developmental Psychology Careers. † CareersInPsychology. org. CareersInPsychology. org,64ed n. d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. â€Å"Developmental Psychology. † The Psychology Career Center. AllPsychologyCareers. com, n. d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. King, Beverly R. College Students's Perceptual Stigmatization of the Children of Lesbian Mothers. † ProQuest. Pro Quest, Apr. 1999. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. Loren, Marks. â€Å"Same Sex Parenting and Children's Outcomes: A Closer Examination of the American Psychological Association's Brief on Lesbian and Gay Parenting. † ScienceDirect. com. ScienceDirect. com, July 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. Patterson, Charlotte J. â€Å"Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents. † ProQuest. Pro Quest, Nov. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. Wainright, Jennifer L. â€Å"Peer Relations among Adolescents with Female Same-sex Parents. † ProQuest. ProQuest, Jan. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2012.

American Indian Stories: Native Americans Essay

In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. â€Å"Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition† (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will discuss the major themes of the book and why the author wrote it, it will describe Native American society, its values and its beliefs and how they changed and it will show how Native Americans views other non-Natives. Before the introduction of the â€Å"pale face† Native Americans lived a calm and serene life. They lived in big communities and help one another in order to survive. They had a form of religion, poly-theistic, that would be their main form of salvation. They had chiefs and warriors. They had teepees that would allow them to quickly pack up and move. The Native Americans were a nomadic, primitive people that did not live up to the whiter man’s view of â€Å"civilization†. However, the white man, pale face, felt the need to change the Native Americans barbaric ways of life. The Americans were smart in their efforts in trying to convert the Indians. They would go after the kids because they were still young and gullible. â€Å"Yes, my child, several others besides Judewin are going away with the palefaces. Your brother said the missionaries had inquired about his little sister†¦ â€Å"Did he tell them to take me, mother† (40). The children were impressionable. In this first story, the daughter gets hooked on going with the missionaries because they said they had apple trees and being that she has never seen an apple tree, she begged her mother to go not knowing that her mother did not want to send her away. Some Indians enjoyed leaving with the Americans; others did not because of what the Americans had done to the Indians. The mother in this story had told her daughter stories of what the paleface had done and how they had killed most of her family. â€Å"There is what the paleface has done! Since then your father too has been buried in a hill nearer the rising sun. We where once very happy. But the paleface has stolen our lands and driven us hither. Having defrauded us of our land, the paleface forced us away† (10). Having knowing this, the little girl still persisted and wanted to go with the paleface. Many of the Indians that left with the missionaries were gone for many years and did not know how much had changed back at home. In the story The Soft-Hearted Sioux a young man comes back home after receiving an education from the missionaries. He had left before he was taught how to survive out in the wild. He came back to dying and starving parents. He was brainwashed by the missionaries because he went against his family’s customs and told the medicine man never to come back and that God will save his father. He started preaching God’s words to his people and they left the community. His father was growing sicker and sicker and he needed food. His son went out everyday trying to get something but had no skills in hunting. His father had told him to go two hills over and he could find meat. With no concept of ownership, the son went and killed a cow that belonged to an American. Upon leaving with the meat he was chased down and attacked by the â€Å"owner† of the cattle. The son accidentally killed the man and fled back to his father’s teepee only to realize that he was too late and that his father had died. He was so conditioned by the white man that he had forgotten his ancestors’ ways of survival. The book suggests that Native Americans were not savages and that they had a normal lifestyle before the Americans came in and changed everything. Their society was based upon helping one another out. It was also based upon mobility. They would have to make homes in such a way that they could just pack up and leave whenever they needed to. The Native Americans had a values based on nature, life and death. The believed that you must respect nature, respect the living and put a special emphasis on the dead. In The Dead Man’s Plum Bush the little girl walked by a plum bush that had just blossomed out beautiful plums. When the girl had reached to grab one of the plums her mother had told her not to and explained that â€Å"the roots are wrapped around an Indian’s skeleton. A brave is buried here. While he lived he was so fond of playing the game of striped plum seeds that, at his death, his set of plum seeds were buried in his hands. From them sprang up this little bush† (32). The fact that the bush was there because of a man’s fascination with plum seeds and that no one can enjoy its fruits shows how much respect for the dead is played through the Native Americans’ beliefs. Zitkala-Sa’s main motives for writing this book was to show â€Å"one of the first attempts by a native American woman to write her own story† (back cover). Another main motive was to inform people of the way that the Americans came and took over the Indians’ land and people; the land was taken by force and the people by bribing little kids. The main theme for the book was to show how the Indians felt about the Americans. Going by the book, there is no set way of showing how many people liked or disliked the Americans. However, it is noticeable that the parents clearly did not like the Americans because they knew what the Americans had done to them in the past and what they are doing to them presently. They knew that the Americans came in and killed their ancestors and forced others to leave their lands. They knew that they were taking their children away and brainwashing them into thinking that their families were savages and that the Americans had more to offer them. They knew that the Americans were making their kids forget about their ways of living and their beliefs. The children, however, saw the Americans invitation as a way to better themselves and their families. The children would happily go away with the American strangers thinking that everything would be better for them. Zitkala-Sa tried to show how her people were treated by Americans in her book American Indian Stories. She showed how the Indians life was before the Americans and how it had changed after the introduction of the Americans. She proved that not all of the Indians liked the white people. She proved that most of the children that left did not remember their family’s way of life. She proved that when the Americans came they not only took the Indians’ land, they also took their people. Works Cited Zitkala-Sa. American Indian Stories. University Of Nebraska Press. Lincoln and Lo.