Children and Youth Essay

The study of children and youth—or childhood studies—involves researchers from diverse disciplines who theorize and conduct research on children and adolescents. Woodhead (2004) aptly explains, Interest in Childhood Studies is for many born out of frustration with the narrow versions of the child offered by traditional academic discourses and methods of inquiry, especially a rejection of the ways psychology, sociology, and anthropology traditionally partition and objectify the child as subject to processes of development, socialization or acculturation. (P. x) sociologists use these four perspectives, childhood scholars trained in other disciplines also use these perspectives. I will then consider the usefulness of childhood studies as an interdisciplinary area of study and present a vision for the future of childhood studies within sociology. CONTRIBUTIONS OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO CHILDHOOD STUDIES Historical Approaches to Childhood Studies Historical research informs what the concept of childhood means. Arià ¨s ([1960] 1962) made the first argument that childhood is socially and historically constructed. He did not view it as a natural state defined by biology. By examining works of art dating back 1,000 years, he noted a difference in the rendering of children prior to the 1700s, wherein children were depicted as little adults and not as a distinctive group. In agreement with Arià ¨s, Demos (1970) put forth a similar argument using evidence gathered on the Puritans of the Plymouth Colony in the 1600s, noting that children were not considered a special group with shared needs or status. These researchers asserted that the shift from treating children as small adults to children as valuable individuals to be protected goes hand-in-hand with other societal shifts such as the spread of schooling and the decline of child mortality. While Arià ¨s’s hypothesis has been challenged and criticized by historical research and empirical evidence (see Gittins 2004; Nelson 1994), his ideas have inspired social scientists to study ordinary children, and many studies have been produced as a result. As a dialogue w ith the Since the late 1980s, sociologists have made sizable contributions to the study of children and youth, and the field of childhood studies has become recognized as a legitimate field of academic enquiry. Increasingly, childhood is used as a social position or a conceptual category to study. Like women’s studies, the study of children has emerged as an interdisciplinary field. Researchers of children from established disciplines, such as anthropology, education, history, psychology, and sociology, have found a meeting place in this emergent interdisciplinary field of childhood studies. In the following sections, I will first outline the relative contributions of different approaches to the field of childhood studies. Some approaches find a home within one discipline, while other approaches are used by more than one discipline. Specifically, I will examine approaches outside sociology, such as historical, developmental psychological, and children’s literature, and then I w ill discuss four perspectives used by sociologists, namely the cultural approach, the social structural approach, the demographic approach, and the general socialization approach. While 140 Bryant-45099 Part III.qxd 10/18/2006 7:43 PM Page 141 The Sociology of Children and Youth– †¢ –141 work of Arià ¨s, De Mause ([1976] 1995:4) developed a psychogenic theory of history, which asserted that parentchild relations have evolved to create greater intimacy and higher emotional satisfaction over time. De Mause explained that parent-child relations evolve in a linear fashion and that parent-child relationships change incrementally and, in turn, fuel further historical change. In response to this, Pollock (1983) dismisses the findings of researchers such as Arià ¨s, Demos, and De Mause, who assert the modern or incremental approach to childhood, arguing that â€Å"parents have always valued their children: we should not seize too eagerly upon theories of fundamental change in parental attitudes over time† (p. 17). While Pollock specifically counters the conclusions of Demos on children living in the 1700s in the Plymouth colony, his conclusions respond to all prior research positing that childhood is a modern concept. Historical research documents that the idea of c hildhood emanates from the middle class as members of the middle class first advanced laws to limit child labor and promoted education and protection of children (Kehily 2004). The shift of children from economic to emotional contributors of the family after the seventeenth century took place first among middle-class boys and later became the expectation for all children, regardless of social class or gender (Zelizer 1985). A good example of this middleclass perspective is illustrated in the writing of Mayhew, a social commentator from the nineteenth century (1861, in Kehily 2004), who writes about a disadvantaged eightyear-old street vendor from the working class who has â€Å"lost all childish ways† in the Watercress Girl in London Labour and the London Poor. While Mayhew calls attention to the plight of workingclass children in the mid-nineteenth century, other research (Steedman 1990; Gittins 1988) indicates that it is not until the early twentieth century that the childhood concept is redefined for working-class children in the United Kingdom. Child poverty and ill health were viewed as social problems and resulted in a shift away from economic to increased emotional value of children and altered expectations that children should be protected and educated (Cunningham 1991). The idea of lost or stolen childhood continues to be prominent in popular discussions of childhood (Kehily 2004:3). With this, historical approaches offer a great deal to the field of childhood studies because they allow us to view the concept of childhood as malleable. The childhood concept does not have the same meaning today as it did 300 years ago in a given culture, and it does not have the same meaning from culture to culture or even across social classes during a historical moment. Most historical research focuses on Western forms of childhood, yet these constructs may be useful for understanding certain aspects of childhood in non-Western contexts, especially when similar socioeconomic factors, such as industrialization, and a shift from an agrarian to a cash economy, may frame conditions. Ideas about how childhood is bound by culture, political economy, and epoch continue to be played out today in many non-Western contexts. For example, Hollos (2002) found that a new partnership family type emerged alongside the lineage-based system as a small Tanzanian community underwent a shift from subsistence agriculture with hoe cultivation to wage labor. These family types exhibited two distinct parental perspectives on what childhood should be and how children should spend their time. Partnership families emerging with a cash economy tend to view their children as a means of enjoyment and pleasure, whereas lineage-based families typically see their children as necessary for labor needs in the near term and as investments and old-age insurance in the long term. In this way, historical perspectives have the potential to inform contemporary cultural and social constructive theories on children and childhood studies. The next step is to move beyond Arià ¨s and the dialogue he cre ated to address the persistence of current social issues that involve children such as child poverty, child labor, and disparities across childhoods worldwide (see Cunningham 1991). Developmental Psychological Approaches to Childhood Studies Sully’s Studies of Childhood (Sully [1895] 2000, quoted in Woodhead 2003) notes, â€Å"We now speak of the beginning of a careful and methodological investigation of child nature.† By the early twentieth century, developmental psychology became the dominant paradigm for studying children (Woodhead 2003). Developmental psychology has studied and marked the stages and transitions of Western childhood. Piaget’s (1926) model of developmental stages stands as the foundation. Within the developmental psychology framework, children are adults in training and their age is linked to physical and cognitive developments. Children travel a developmental path taking them in due time to a state of being adult members of the society in which they live (Kehily 2004). Children are therefore viewed as learners with potential at a certain position or stage in a journey to child to an adult status (Verhellen 1997; Walkerdine 2004). Social and cultural researchers have critiqued the developmental psychological approach, largely faulting its treatment of children as potential subjects who can only be understood along the child-to-adult continuum (Buckingham 2000; Castenada 2002; James and Prout [1990] 1997; Jenks 2004; Lee 2001; Stainton Rogers et al. 1991). Qvortrup (1994) notes that developmental psychology frames children as human becomings rather than human beings. Adding to this, Walkerdine (2004) suggests that while psychology is useful in understanding children, this usefulness may be bound to Western democratic societies at a specific historical moment. Still, Lee (2001) cautions that we should not give developmental psychology a wholesale toss, noting, â€Å"What could growing up mean once we have distanced ourselves Bryant-45099 Part III.qxd 10/18/2006 7:43 PM Page 142 142– †¢ –THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE LIFE COURSE from the dominant frameworks’ account of socialization and development?† (p. 54). Likewise, Kehily (2004) notes that considering differences between sociology and developmental psychology is useful, yet it is also useful to consider what is shared or complementary across the two. Developmental psychologists have not reached consensus on the relative importance of physical, psychological, social, and cultural factors in shaping children’s development (Boocock and Scott 2005). Gittins (1988:22) urges social scientists studying children to bear in mind the nature versus nurture debate. Bruner (2000) explains that both biological and social factors are important because babies are born with start-up knowledge, which they then add and amend with life experiences. Concurring with this approach, Chomsky (1996) explains that a child’s biological makeup is â€Å"awakened by experience† and â€Å"sharpened and enriched† through interactions with other h umans and objects. Walkerdine (2004) considers developmental psychology as limited because of its deterministic trajectory and sociology as limited because of its omission of psychological factors alongside sociological or cultural factors. Walkerdine (2004) points to several developmental psychological approaches to consider the social production of children as subjects, namely situated learning (Cole and Scribner 1990; Haraway 1991), acquiring knowledge through practice or apprenticeship (Lave and Wenger 1991), actor network theory (Law and Moser 2002), and the idea of assemblages as children learn to fill a child role in society (Deleuze and Guattari 1988). These approaches allow the researcher to include children’s internal and external learning practices and processes. As such, developmental psychology can continue to contribute to childhood studies. In the 1990s, sociologists helped cull and identify useful concepts and tools for childhood studies by criticizing develop mental psychology. As the field of childhood studies continues to grow into a defined and recognized discipline, useful tools and concepts from developmental psychology should be included. Likewise, Woodhead (2003) asserts that several concepts and tools from developmental psychology— notably scaffolding, zone of proximal development, guided participation, cultural tools, communities of practice—are also relevant for childhood studies (see Lave and Wenger 1991; Mercer 1995; Rogoff 1990; Wood 1988). Psychologists’ concern with the individual child can complement sociological research that considers children as they interact within their environment. worlds are created. Hunt (2004) notes that children’s literature may be unreliable for understanding childhood because children’s books typically reflect the aspirations of adults for children of a particular epoch. Hunt (2004) holds however that children’s literature remains a meeting place for adults and children where different visions of childhood can be entertained and negotiated. In agreement with historical research on the concept of childhood, children’s books were first produced for middle-class children and had moralizing purposes. Later, children’s books were produced for all children, filled with middleclass values to be spread to all. There is agreement and disagreement on the definition of childhood when examining the children’s literature of different time periods and different cultures. For example, several books of the 1950s and 1960s—including The Borrowers, Tom’s Midnight Garden, and The Wolves of Willoughby C hase—depicted adults looking back while children are looking forward (Hunt 2004). Likewise, Spufford (2002:18) notes that the 1960s and 1970s produced a second golden age of children’s literature that presented a coherent, agreed-on idea of childhood. Furthermore, an examination of children’s literature indicates different childhoods were being offered to children in the United States and Britain during the nineteenth century. British children were depicted as being restrained, while American children were described as independent and having boundless opportunity (Hunt 2004). In this way, culture and children’s material world coalesce to offer very different outlooks on life to children. The goal of books may change, from moralizing to idealistic, yet across epochs and cultures they teach children acceptable roles, rules, and expectations. Children’s literature is a powerful platform of interaction wherein children and adults can come together to d iscuss and negotiate childhood. Cultural and Social Construction Approaches to Childhood Studies Anthropological cultural studies have laid important groundwork for research on children, and sociologists have extended these initial boundaries to develop a social construction of childhood. Anthropological research (Opie and Opie 1969) first noted that children should be recognized as an autonomous community free of adult concerns and filled with its own stories, rules, rituals, and social norms. Sociologists then have used the social construction approach, which draws on social interaction theory, to include children’s agency and daily activities to interpret children’s lives (see James and Prout [1990] 1997; Jenks 2004; Maybin and Woodhead 2003; Qvortrup 1993; Stainton Rogers et al. 1991; Woodhead 1999). Childhood is viewed as a social phenomenon (Qvortrup 1994). With this perspective, meaning is interpreted through the experiences of children and the networks within which Children’s Literature as an Approach to Childhood Studies Childhood as a separate stage of life is portrayed in children’s books, and the medium of books represents a substantial part of the material culture of childhood. Books may be viewed as a window onto children’s lives and a useful tool for comprehending how and why children’s Bryant-45099 Part III.qxd 10/18/2006 7:43 PM Page 143 The Sociology of Children and Youth– †¢ –143 they are embedded (Corsaro 1988). Researchers generally use ethnographic methods to attain reflexivity and include children’s voices. In this section, I will first discuss the social constructivist approach of childhood research in two areas, children’s lives within institutional settings such as day care centers and schools, and children’s worlds as they are constructed through material culture. Evidence suggests that young children actively add meaning and create peer cultures within institutional settings. For example, observations of toddler peer groups show preferences for sex emerge by two years of age and race can be distinguished by three years of age (Thompson, Grace, and Cohen 2001; Van Ausdale and Feagin 2001). Research also indicates that play builds on itself and across playgroups or peer groups. Even when the composition of children’s groups changes, children develop rules and rituals that regulate the continuation of the play activity as well as who may join an existing group. Knowledge is sustained within the peer group even when there is fluctuation. School-based studies (see Adler and Adler 1988; Corsaro 1988; Hardman 1973; LaReau 2002; Thorne 1993; Van Ausdale and Feagan) have added a great deal to our understandings of childh ood. Stephens (1995) examined pictures drawn by Sami School children of Norway to learn how the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and its nuclear fallout affected their lives. The children expressed themselves through their drawings to show how the depleted environment affected their health, diet, work, daily routines, and cultural identity. Van Ausdale and Feagan (2001) explain how racism is created among preschool children’s play patterns and speak. They find that children experiment and learn from one another how to identify with their race and learn the privileges and behaviors of their race in comparison with other races. Using participant observation of children in a primary school setting, Hardman (1973) advanced the idea that children should be studied in their own right and treated as having agency. She found that children represent one level of a society’s beliefs, values, and social interactions. The children’s level interacts as muted voices with other levels of society’s beliefs, values, and social interactions, shaping them and being shaped by them (Hardman 1973). Corsaro (1988) used participant observations of chi ldren at play in a nursery school setting to augment Hardman’s idea of a children’s level. He observed and described children as active makers of meaning through social interaction. Likewise, Corsaro and Eder (1990) conceptualize children as observing the adult world but using elements of it to create a unique child culture. A few studies (see Peer Power by Adler and Adler 1988 and Gender Play by Thorne 1993) show how the cultural world of children creates a stratification structure similar to that of the adult world in a way that makes sense for children. Thorne’s (1993) study of children’s culture is set in an elementary school setting, wherein children have little say in making the rules and structure. Still, she finds children create meaning through playground games that use pollution rituals to reconstruct larger social patterns of inequality as they occur through gender, social class, and race (Thorne 1993:75). Similarly, other studies show how behaviors within peer cultures—such as racism, masculinity, or sexism (see Frosh, Phoenix, and Pattman 2002; Hey 1997; James, Jenks, and Prout 1998) and physical and emotional abuse (Ambert 1995)—are taught and negotiated within children’s peer groups. In addition, childhood can be interpreted through the material makeup of children’s worlds, generally taking the form of toys (see Lamb 2001; Reynolds 1989; Zelizer 2002). Zelizer (2002) argues that children are producers, consumers, and distributors. Lamb (2001) explains that children use Barbie dolls to share and communicate sexual knowledge within a peer group producing a secretive child culture. Cook (2004) contends that the concept of child has been constructed through the m arket. Through a social history of the children’s clothing industry, Cook explains how childhood became associated with commodities. He contends that childhood began to be commodified with the publication of the first children’s clothing trade journal in 1917. By the early 1960s, the child had become a legitimate consumer with its own needs and motivations. The consuming child has over time been provided a separate children’s clothing department stratified by age and gender. As in Cook’s thesis, others (e.g., Buckingham 2004; Jing 2000; Postman 1982) provide evidence to add support to the idea that children’s consumption defines childhood. Jing (2000) explains how the marketing of snack foods and fast foods to children has dramatically affected childhood in China. Likewise, television (Postman 1982) and computers (Buckingham 2004) reshape what we think of as childhood. Children are argued to have a reversed power relationship with adults in terms o f computers because children are more comfortable with this technology (Tapscott 1998). In addition, access to the Internet has created a new space for peer culture that is quite separate from adults. Through chat rooms and e-mail, children can communicate and share information among peers without face-to-face interaction. As a result, the stage on which children’s culture is created is altered. Social Structural Approaches to Childhood Studies Social structural approaches to childhood studies can be divided into two areas, those that distinguish children’s experience by age status and those that distinguish children’s experience by generational status. Because age is the primary criterion for defining childhood, sociologists who study children have found aging and life course theories that focus on generation to be useful. Thorne (1993) argues for the use of age and gender constructs in understanding children’s lives as well as considering Bryant-45099 Part III.qxd 10/18/2006 7:43 PM Page 144 144– †¢ –THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE LIFE COURSE children as social agents. Therefore, it is how children actively construct their worlds as a response to the constraints of age and gender. Passuth (1987) asserts that age is the salient factor for understanding childhood based on her study of how children 5 to 10 years old define themselves as little and big kids in a summer camp setting. Passuth found that age was more important than other stratification markers such as race, social class, and gender. Likewise, Bass (2004) finds that children are active agents but also that age should be considered first as it may structure the opportunities open to children who work in an open market in sub-Saharan Africa; however, other secondary factors such as economic status and gender also structure the life chances of these children. Studies based on children in the United States suggest that age should be considered along with race, gender, and social class to explain how children negotiate power and prestige within their peer groups (Goodwin 1990; Scott 2002). For other sociologists, generation provides the most useful concept to explain the lives of children (Mayall 2000:120). Other researchers (Alanen 2001; Qvortrup 2000) assert that generational relationships are more meaningful than analyses focusing on gender, social class, or ethnicity. While the concept of childhood is not universal, the dichotomy of adult and child is universal and differentiated by age status. This age status patterns differential power relations wherein adults have more power than children and adults typically regulate children’s lives. Childhood is produced as a response to the power of adults over children even when children are viewed as actively shaping their childhoods (Walkerdine 2004). Adults write children’s books, create children’s toys and activities, and often speak on behalf of children (e.g., the law). In this way, the generational divide and unequal authority between adults and children define childhood. Mayall (2002) uses the generational approach to explain how children contribute to social interaction through their position in the larger social order, wherein they hold a child status. The perspective of children remains meaningful even through the disadvantaged power relationship they hold vis-à  -vis adults in the larger social order. It can therefore become a balancing act between considering structural factors or the agency of children in understanding childhood. The life course perspective holds that individuals of each generation will experience life in a unique way because these individuals share a particular epoch, political economy, and sociocultural context. Foner (1978) explains, â€Å"Each cohort bears the stamp of the historical context through which it flows [so that] no two cohorts age in exactly the same way† (p. 343). For example, those who entered adulthood during the Depression have different work, educational, and family experiences compared with individuals who entered adulthood during the affluent 1950s. Those of each cohort face the same larger social and political milieu and therefore may develop similar attitudes. The social structural child posits that childhood may be identified structurally by societal factors that are larger than age status but help create age status in a childhood process (Qvortrup 1994). Children can be treated by researchers as having the same standing as adult research subjects but also may be handled differently based on features of the social structure. The resulting social structural child has a set of u niversal traits that are related to the institutional structure of societies (Qvortrup 1993). Changes in social norms or values regarding children are tied to universal traits as well as related to the social institutions within a particular society. Demographic Approaches to Childhood Studies Much of American sociology takes a top-down approach to the study of children and views children as being interlinked with the larger family structure. It is in this vein that family instability leading to divorce, family poverty, and family employment may affect children’s experiences. For example, Hernandez (1993) examines the American family using U.S. Census data from the twentieth century and notes a series of revolutions in the family—such as in decreased family size and the emergence of the two-earner family—that in turn affected children’s well-being and childhood experiences. Children from smaller families and higher incomes typically attain more education and take higher-paid employment. Hernandez (1993) contends that mothers’ increased participation in work outside the home led to a labor force revolution, which in turn initiated a child care revolution, as the proportion of preschoolers with two working parents increased from 13 percent in 1940 to 50 percent in 1987. More recent data indicate that about 70 percent of the mothers of preschoolers work outside the home (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2002). This child care revolution changes the structure of childhood for most American children. Time diary data indicate that the amount of children’s household chores increased from 1981 to 1997 (Hofferth and Sandberg 2001). Lee, Schneider, and Waite (2003) further note that when mothers work in the United States, children do more than their fathers to make up for the household labor gap caused when mothers work. Hence, expectations for children and childhood are altered because of a larger family framework of considerations and expectations. Family life structures children’s well-being. When marriages break up, there are real consequences in terms of transitions and loss of income that children experience. The structural effects on children of living in smaller, more diverse, and less stable families are still being investigated. Moore, Jeki elek, and Emig (2002) assert that family structure does matter in children’s lives and that children fare better in families headed by two biological, married parents in a low-conflict marriage. Some research indicates that financial support from fathers after a divorce is low (Crowell and Leaper 1994). Coontz (1997) maintains that divorce and single parenthood generally exacerbate preexisting financial uncertainty. These impoverished conditions may diminish children’s physical and emotional Bryant-45099 Part III.qxd 10/18/2006 7:43 PM Page 145 The Sociology of Children and Youth– †¢ –145 development and adversely affect school performance and social behaviors. However, this is not in all cases. Research (Cherlin et al. 1991) shows that children of separated or divorced families have usually experienced parental conflict and behavioral and educational problems before the family broke up. Hernandez (1993) suggests that the parental conflict and not the divorce or separation may provide more insight into children’s disadvantages. Hetherington and Kelly (2002) found that about three-fourths of children whose parents divorced adjusted within six years and ranked the same on behavioral and educational outcomes as children from intact families. Another study (Smart, Neale, and Wade 2001) finds positive attributes of children of divorce as children reported that they were more independent than friends who had not experienced divorce. The demographic study of children has taken place predominantly from the policy or public family vantage point with the assumption that there are consequences for children. Childhoods are typically framed with a perspective that views children’s worlds as being derivative of larger social forces and structures. Very little agency is noted or measured in these studies. While the demographic approach does not offer detailed explanation like research put forth by social constructivist childhood scholars (see James and Prout 1990), this approach provides a valuable perspective for framing and interpreting children’s lives. Socialization Approaches to Childhood Studies Research indicates that socialization may affect both children and parents. Developmental psychology allows us to consider how children are affected by the socialization provided by parents, and more recent research put forth by psychologists and sociologists suggests that this exchange of information may be a two-way process. LaReau (2002) puts forth a more traditional model of socialization as she details how American families of different races and classes provide different childhoods for their children. In her research, the focus is on how children and parents actively construct childhood even as they are possibly constrained by race and class. She found evidence for two types of child rearing, concerted cultivation among middle- and upper-middle-class children, and the emergence of natural growth among working- and lower-class children. LaReau’s study describes the process that puts lower- and higher-class children on different roads in childhood that translate into vastl y different opportunities in adulthood. Rossi and Rossi (1990) studied parent-child relationships across the life course and found that parents shape their children as well as their grandchildren through parenting styles, shared genes, social status, and belief systems. Alwin (2001) asserts that while rearing children is both a public and private matter, the daily teaching of children the rules and roles in society largely falls to parents. Furthermore, Alwin (2001) explains how American parental expectations for their children have changed over the last half-century, noting an increased emphasis on self-discipline through children’s activities that help develop autonomy and self-reliance. Zinnecker (2001) notes a parallel trend in Europe toward individualism and negotiation, and away from coercion in parenting styles. In contrast, Ambert’s (1992) The Effect of Children on Parents questions the assumptions of the socialization perspective and posits that socialization is a two-way process. Ambert argues that having children can influence one’s health, income, career opportunities, values and attitudes, feelings of control, life plans, and the quality of interpersonal relations. She questions the causality of certain problematic children’s behaviors, such as clinginess among some young children or frequent crying among premature babies. Ambert contends that children’s behavior socializes parents in a patterned way, which agrees with the sentiment of de Winter (1997) regarding autistic children and that Skolnick (1978) regarding harsh child-rearing methods. Likewise, psychologist Harris (1998) argues that the parental nurture or socialization fails to ground the direction of causation with empirical data. She explains that parenting styles are the effect of a child’s temperament and that parents’ socialization has little influence compared with other influences such as heredity and children’s peer groups. Harris’s approach, known as group socialization theory, posits that after controlling for differences in heredity, little variance can be explained by children’s socialization in the home environment. Harris provides evidence that most children develop one behavioral system that they use at home and a different behavioral system for use elsewhere by middle childhood. Group socialization theory can then explain why immigrant children learn one language in the home and another language outside the home, and their native language is the one they speak with their peers (Harris 1998). Likewise, other studies (Galinski 1999; Smart et al. 2001) find evidence that children play a supportive role and nurture their parents. In a parallel but opposing direction, other studies suggest that having children negatively affects parents’ lifestyles and standards of living (Boocock 1976) and disproportionately and negatively affects women’s career and income potentials (Cri ttenden 2001). Indeed, research indicates that socialization may affect both children and parents. While most research concentrates on the socialization of children by parents and societal institutions, more research should focus on the socialization of parents. In this way, children may be viewed as affecting the worlds of their parents, which in turn may affect children. Interdisciplinary Involvement and Implications Childhood research benefits from the involvement of a diverse range of disciplines. On the surface these approaches appear to have disagreement in terms of methods and theoretical underpinnings, yet these approaches challenge more traditional disciplines such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology to consider what best interprets children’s lives. In some cases, the interaction across Bryant-45099 Part III.qxd 10/18/2006 7:43 PM Page 146 146– †¢ –THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE LIFE COURSE disciplines creates new approaches, such as those of sociologists who use general socialization theory from developmental psychology. Similarly, historical research on the value of children being tied to a certain epoch with a specific level of political economy can inform the valuation of children and their labor in poorer countries around the globe today. There is a need for continued interdisciplinary collaboration, and thought is being given to how children and childhood studies could emerge as a recognized interdisciplinary field of inquiry. Woodhead (2003) offers three models for interdisciplinary effort for advancing the study of children and childhoods: (1) a clearinghouse model, (2) a pick ‘n’ mix model, and (3) a rebranding model. The clearinghouse model (Woodhead 2003) would include all studies of children and childhood, all research questions and methodologies, and all disciplines that are interested. This clearinghouse model would view different approaches t o the study of children for their complementary value and would encourage researchers to ask â€Å"different but equally valid questions† (James et al. 1998:188). The pick ‘n’ mix model (Woodhead 2003) envisions that an array of child-centered approaches would be selectively included in the study of children. If this were to happen, the process of selection could complicate and hamper the field of childhood studies in general. Fences may be useful in terms of demarcating the path for childhood scholars but also may obstruct the vista on the other side. The rebranding model (Woodhead 2003) would involve researchers collaborating across disciplines on research involving children while informing and remaining housed within more traditional disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and psychology. In this scenario, children and childhood scholars remain within sociology while also being committed to interdisciplinary involvement. This scenario has served to strengthen sociological research in general. For example, James and Prout (1990) coined the term sociological study of childhood, and later James et al. (1998) developed the con cept of sociological child. More recently, Mayall (2002) has suggested the use of the term sociology of childhood to move children and childhood studies to a more central place within sociology. In turn, this strengthens children and childhood studies across disciplines by forging a place for children in the traditional discipline. The field of interdisciplinary childhood studies has the potential to widen its reach by creating constituencies across older disciplines. Additionally, childhood studies can learn from the development experience of other interdisciplinary fields such as women’s studies or gerontology. Oakley (1994:13) asserts the shared concerns across the academic study of women and children because women and children are socially linked and represent social minority groups. In a similar vein, Bluebond-Langner (2000) notes a parallel in scholarly potential for childhood studies of the magnitude of women’s studies, predicting that childhood studies will aff ect the twenty-first century in much the same way as women’s studies has the twentieth century. Weighing the contributions across disciplines, it is clear that developmental psychology has laid the groundwork for the field of childhood studies, yet the resulting conversation across scholars and disciplines has produced a field that is much greater than the contributions of any one contributing discipline. Therefore, childhood scholars have much to gain through conversation and collaboration. CONSIDERING SOCIOLOGY AND CHILDHOOD STUDIES Within sociology, scholars approach the study of children in many ways. Some sociologists take a strict social constructivist approach, while others meld this approach to a prism that considers social structures that are imposed on children. Some sociologists focus on demographic change, while others continue to focus on aspects of socialization as childhoods are constructed through forces such as consumer goods, child labor, children’s rights, and public policy. All these scholars add to the research vitality and breadth of childhood studies. In addition, children and childhood studies research centers, degree programs, and courses began to be established in the 1990s, most of which have benefited from the contributions of sociologists and the theories and methods of sociology. Childhood studies gained firm ground in 1992 in the United States when members of the American Sociological Association (ASA) formed the Section on the Sociology of Children. Later, the section name wa s changed to the Section on the Sociology of Children and Youth to promote inclusiveness with scholars who research the lives of adolescents. In addition to including adolescents, American sociologists are also explicitly open to all methods and theories that focus on children. The agenda of the Children and Youth Section has been furthered by its members’ initiation and continued publication of the annual volume Sociological Studies of Children since 1986. In agreement with the ASA section name addition, the volume recently augmented the volume name with and Youth and became formalized as the annual volume of ASA Children and Youth Section. The volume was initially developed and edited by Patricia and Peter Adler and later edited by Nancy Mandell, David Kinney, and Katherine Brown Rosier. Outside the United States, the study of children by sociologists has gained considerable ground through the International Sociological Association Research Group 53 on Childhood, which was established in 1994. Two successful international journals, Childhood and Children and Society, promote scholarly research on children from many disciplines and approaches. In particular, British childhood researchers have brought considerable steam to the development of childhood studies through curriculum development. Specifically, childhood researchers wrote four introductory textbooks published by Wiley for a target Bryant-45099 Part III.qxd 10/18/2006 7:43 PM Page 147 The Sociology of Children and Youth– †¢ –147 class on childhood offered by the Open University in 2003. The books are Understanding Childhood by Woodhead and Montgomery (2003), Childhoods in Context by Maybin and Woodhead (2003), Children’s Cultural Worlds by Kehily and Swann (2003), and Changing Childhoods by Montgomery, Burr, and Woodhead (2003). The relationship between the discipline of sociology and childhood studies appears to be symbiotic. Even as sociologists assert that the study of children is its own field, this does not preclude the development of childhood studies across disciplinary boundaries. Sociologists capture the social position or status of children and have the methods for examining how childhood is socially constructed or situated within a given society. Sociologists can also continue to find common ground with other childhood scholars from other disciplines to develop better methods and refine theories that explain children’s lives. Advances in the interdisciplinary field of childhood studi es serves to strengthen the research of sociologists who focus their work on children. Likewise, sociological challenges to the interdisciplinary field of childhood studies since the 1990s have provided useful points of critique and improvement to the study of children’s behavior and children’s lives. CURRENT AND FUTURE RESEARCH: SOCIAL POLICY AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS Current and future research on children falls into two main areas, social policy and children’s rights. Arguably, there is some overlap between these two large themes. Indeed, Stainton Rogers (2004) maintains that social policy is motivated by a concern for children, yet children have very little to no political or legal voice. Children do not vote or decide what is in their best interests or what children’s rights are. Social policy requires us to consider the intersection of children as dependents or not yet adults and children as having certain rights. It has previously been noted that children are citizens and should be treated as citizens but with their own concerns (James and Prout 1997), yet there is still much to be clarified. Public policy can be used to improve the lives of children. Research has established that poverty matters in the lives of children, as measured in child well-being indicators, and public policies have been enacted to help families rise out of poverty (Hernandez 1993). Research on the impact of increased income after a casino opened on a Cherokee reservation indicates that Native-American children who were raised out of poverty had a decreased incidence of behavior disorders (Costello et al. 2003). At other times, public policies affect children as a byproduct or consequence. One example is the 1996 Welfare Reform Law (or PRWORA), which made work mandatory for able-bodied, American adults and put time limits of five years and a day on receiving public assistance. Still, much is to be learned as to the effect, if any, of this legislation on children (Bass and Mosley 2001; Casper and Bianchi 2002). In addition to income, public policy shapes the experience of family life by recognizing some forms while ignoring others. A substantial number of children will experience many family structures and environments as they pass through childhood, regardless of whether the government legitimates all these forms (Clarke 1996). Likewise, examining children’s experiences in various family forms is a useful area of current and future study. Children’s rights can be examined in terms of protecting children from an adult vantage point or in terms of providing children civil rights (or having a legal voice). The view of protecting children is a top-down approach positing that children are immature, and so legal protections should be accorded to keep children safe from harm and abuse and offer children a basic level of developmental opportunities. In contrast, the civil rights approach asserts that children have the right to participate fully in decisions that may affect them and should be allowed the same freedoms of other citizens (Landsdown 1994; Saporiti et al. 2005). In addition, the framing of children’s rights takes different forms in richer and poorer countries around the globe. For richer countries, granting children rights may involve allowing children civil and political voice, whereas in poorer countries, basic human rights bear out as more important. Child labor is an issue that has been examined in terms of the right of children to learn and be developed and the right of children to provide for oneself (see Bass 2004; Neiwenhuys 1994; Zelizer 1985). Future studies wil l also need to consider the relationship between children’s rights as children become study subjects. Innovative approaches are being used to include children’s voices and input in the research process (Leonard 2005), yet there is still much to be done in this area in terms of developing methodologies that allow children to participate in the research process. Indeed, incorporating children in the research process is a next logical step for childhood studies. However, childhood scholars are adults and therefore not on an equal footing with children (Fine and Sandstrom 1988). Furthermore, there is momentum to include children’s perspectives in the research process at the same time that there is a growing concern for children’s well-being, which may be adversely affected by their participation as subjects in the research process. Future research on children should focus on the children’s issues through social policies yet also consider childrenâ€⠄¢s rights in tandem or as follow-up studies. It is generally the matter of course to take children or youth as a definitive given and then seek to solve their problems or create policies for them. Future research should focus on practical children’s issues and use empirical research projects to increase our knowledge of the nature of childhood. The last 15 years provide evidence to support the idea that childhood researchers should continue to bridge disciplines and even continents to find common ground.

Grant/Lee a Comparison and Contrast Essay

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee are two of the most effective military leaders in American history. These men have become symbolic of the two nations at conflict during the Civil War. Both had very different backgrounds and personalities that caused them to differ in their military leadership and accomplishments. Even though General Lee would surrender his army to General Grant, Lee throughout the course of the war proved himself to be a better military leader. The childhood of Robert Edward Lee played a pivotal role in the way he would see the world as a man. Lee was born into an aristocratic family of Virginia with a deeply rooted American history. Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee, Robert E. Lee’s uncles, helped draft resolutions that would lead to the Declaration of Independence, both would sign it1. Lee’s father, Henry â€Å"Lighthorse Harry† Lee III was a revolutionary war hero and one of George Washington’s most dependable fellow countrymen . In 1771, Washington, also from Virginia, wrote: â€Å" I know of no country that can produce a family all distinguished and clever men, as our Lees.†2 Lee’s mother and father were strong influences in his life for very different reasons. Lee’s father would define everything Lee did not want to be. Lighthorse Harry lacked self-control and failed to take care of the family. Ruined by failed financial ventures, Lee’s father would be sent to debtor’s prison. His mother, Anne Hill Carter Lee would raise young Robert to love God, to serve God and to serve his country. Lee’s rearing helped him to develop the highest standards of honor, self-denial, self-control and duty that would earn respect from both friends and enemies.3 Ulysses S. Grant came from a more humble upbringing. Like Lee, Grant traces his ancestry deep into American history in his memoirs. Grant’s ancestors settled in Massachusetts in 1630.4 Grant’s father, Jesse R. Gran t came from a broken family and was fostered by the parents of John Brown. 5 The same John Brown that would attempt to start a slave rebellion by attacking the United States armory at Harper’s Ferry in 1859. Men under the leadership of then Colonel Robert E. Lee ended that raid.6 Grant, was not born into the land owning aristocracy like Lee, his family was frontier men. Grant â€Å"†¦had come up the hard way†¦No man was born to anything, except perhaps to a chance to show how far he could rise. Life was competition (Catton, para 5).†7 Grant’s competitive upbringing would give him the motivation to push forward and the demand results needed to defeat Lee. Robert E Lee would carry the lessons he learned as a child with him to the Military Academy at West Point. While attending West Point, Lee was very studious and did not join 8other cadets for evenings at the local taverns. General Lee graduated second in his class at West Point and received no demerits for misconduct. This record has never been matched and will not likely ever be achieved again. By graduating with honors, Lee was assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The time Lee spent with the Army Corps of Engineers gave him valuable knowledge of different types of terrain and fortification constructions that would serve him well in the Civil War.9 The childhood of Ulysses S. Grant would also affect him at West Point. Grant was not interested in a military career; he was more interested in agriculture.10 It was Grant’s father who requested his appointment to West Point.11 Grant stated in his memoirs, â€Å"A military life had no charms for me, and I had not the faintest idea of staying in the army even if I should be graduated, which I did not expect (Grant p19).†12 Grant spent most of his time at West Point reading novels and avoiding â€Å"†¦books related to the course of studies (Grant pg 20).†13 Unlike Lee, Grant would not excel at West Point. Grant graduated 21 out of 39 in his class, just below average.14 The Mexican American War would be both Lee and Grant’s first battle. Lee and Grant would both serve un der General Winfield Scott, a man whom they both admired, during his campaign to Mexico City. General Scott saw greatness in Lee and stated his â€Å"†¦success in Mexico was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted energy of Robert E. Lee.†15 Scott was also heard commenting a few years later that; â€Å"Lee is the greatest military genius in America.† 16 Grant, only a first lieutenant, did not get an opportunity to show much leadership. Grant did however serve with valor. At the Battle of Monterey, Grant would gain some respect among his peers by successfully carrying much needed ammunition to his regiment while under fire.17 During the Civil War, Lee and Grant would implement skills learned while under the command of General Winfield Scott. In the spring of 1861 as the nation leaned toward Civil War, both Grant and Lee would be forced to make very difficult decisions. Grant would only have to decide between being a patriot or a traitor. In a letter to Grant’s father he wrote: â€Å"There are but two parties now, Traitors & Patriots and I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter. . . (Grant p 957)†18 Lee was torn between a successful career in the United States Army, his devotion to the Union, an appointment as commander of the Union forces and the love he had for his family and homeland. In a letter to his sister , Lee wrote: â€Å" With all my devotion to the Union†¦I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. 19 The decisions these two men made would send them on a collision course in one of the most costly wars the country has every waged. Throughout the Civil War, Robert E Lee would prove himself to be unmatched in leadership. When Lee took control of the Army of Northern Virginia in June of 1862, the Union army â€Å"†¦was thundering at the city gates†¦(Lee p150)†20 of the Confederate capital of Richmond. In three months, Lee would achieve what his predecessor General Joseph E. Johnston could not. Lee defeated the invading Union army and turned the war in favor of the South. It would take President Lincoln almost one year to find any competition for General Lee. That competition would be General Grant and the vast resources the North offered him. The vast resources and the advanced railroad system of the North would give Grant the advantage he needed over Lee. In a letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Lee expressed his concern that â€Å"†¦Every train brings recruits, and it is stated that every available regiment at the North is added to it†¦(Lee p108)†21 The Army of Northern Virginia’s lack of provisions were â€Å"†¦so great†¦I cannot see how we can operate with our present supplies (Lee, p 108).22 Before Lee ever met Grant on the battlefield he was trying to prepare for multiple retreats that would allow him to resupply his army. Lee pleaded with Jefferson Davis that â€Å"Every exertion should be made to supply the depots at Richmond and at other points (Lee, p 108).† 23 Grant carelessly used his resources to attack Lee and â€Å"†¦after thirty days of marching†¦fighting and a with a loss of more than sixty thousand men, General Grant†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 24 arrived at Petersburg, â€Å"†¦which he could have done†¦without the loss of a single man.† 25 The sixty thousand men that were expendable to Grant was more than Lee had in his entire Army of Northern Virginia. Lee eventually was forced to surrender his army of â€Å"†¦less than eight thousand men†¦to Grant’s army of 150,000†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 26 Prior to the surrender Union officers had â€Å"†¦always estimated your [Lee] force at about seventy thousand men.†27 The leadership displayed by Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee throughout their military careers is directly related to their childhood and education at West Point. Grant’s childhood made him competitive but his lack of interest in the curriculums at West Point would set him back militarily. If Grant did not have the expendable resources that were available to his Union Army, he would have failed against Lee’s ability to fight with such limited resources. Lee’s self struggle to lead by example combined with his devotion to duty and the men in his army resulted in many victories over impossible odds. Lee did not surrender to Grant’s leadership traits; Lee â€Å"†¦was compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources (Lee p 138)†28 1 James A. Henretta, David Brody and Lynn Dumenil, America: A Concise History, 3rd Edition, 3rd ed. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005), 157-58. Bibliography Henretta, James A., David Brody, and Lynn Dumenil. America: A Concise History, 3rd Edition. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. Lee, Fitzhugh. General Lee. BiblioLife, 2009. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. CreateSpace, 2009. Lee, Robert. Recollections and Letters. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble, 2004. Bruce Catton Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts, available from http://users.ipfw.edu/ruflethe/grantandlee.html ; Internet; accessed 16 August 2010. Allen, Walter. ULYSSES S. GRANT. Houghton Mifflin,1901. Long, Armistead Lindsay. Memoirs of Robert E. Lee: His military and personal history [embracing a large amount of information hitherto unpublished]. University of Michigan Library, 1886. Grant, Ulysses S. Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865 (Library of America). First Edition ed. New York, N.Y.: Library of America, 1990.

Helping in Schools Essay

1. Identify the current legislation relating to equality and inclusion aspects. (LO 1.1) 2. Write up your â€Å"Anti-discrimination Application/ Assessment Worksheet†, completing one row independently. (LO 2.1, 2.2) 3. Briefly reflect on your how your own attitudes, values and behaviour might impact on your work with children and young people by completing the following statements: a. It is important to support the rights of all children and young people to participation and equality of access because†¦.(LO 1.2) b. It is important to support anti-discriminatory practice in schools because †¦(LO 2.4) c. I could challenge discrimination by†¦(LO 2.5) d. Avoiding stereotyping groups of people is particularly important in school because†¦(LO 2.3) e. It is important to be a role model in the area of equality and inclusion because†¦..(LO 2.3) f. It is important to value and celebrate Cultural Diversity because†¦I can contribute to this by†¦ (LO 1.3, 2.3) g. As a volunteer I have a particularly important role to play in promoting equality and inclusion because†¦(LO 2.3) 4. Briefly describe a display in your school and say how you feel it celebrates diversity and equal opportunities or challenges discrimination. Alternatively you could suggest a plan for a display which would celebrate diversity, promote equal opportunities or challenge discrimination in school.

Homeless Symposium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homeless Symposium - Essay Example Poor people are not able to pay for housing, and the situation is caused by the increased lack of employment opportunities and a decline in public assistance. Inadequate housing facilities have led to homelessness, as the available housing is too expensive thereby becoming unaffordable to the low- income households. Most women have run away from domestic violence together with their children leading them to homeless housing. Many families have ended in homelessness because of lack of affordable health care. The elderly poor individuals have landed in homeless apartments as their health decline and lack of public assistance increases. Drug abuse especially among the youths has made it possible for them to run away to homelessness as the society acts against their behavior. Homelessness in Indiana has adversely affected families and children in substantial levels. The trends depicted in national levels are trickling down to the local levels. Indiana has been ranked 24th in the number of homeless children in the entire nation. Moreover, Indiana has the high rates on the child homelessness making it 29th in the national ranking according to the National Homeless data. According to the national homeless data, in Evansville and its surrounding areas, more than 400 people are homeless of who one third of them are children. In these locales, at least 120 families are homeless daily. During the census of 2000, Evansville and its environs recorded the highest percent of homeless individuals per capita as compared to the numbers in the Indian county. Access to care that provides financial assistance to the target group would prevent them from eviction and will bolster public assistance thus enabling people to live with others. Access to care will enable a person to afford a rent of $ 457 per month if his or her wage earnings are at 30% Area Meridian Income (AMI). In Evansville and its

MODULE 1 DISCUSSION Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MODULE 1 DISCUSSION - Article Example Thus the consumer can save more that he/she spends in other utilities helps increasing the spending power in the economy which is useful for economic growth (Georgescu and Nicholas, 2014). Giving the license to FPL may lead to monopoly supply in Florida and thus exploits the households. Addition of the two plants will make the firm to produce more units than the rest and become a dominant player in the market (Georgescu and Nicholas, 2014). Thus they will influence major decisions in the market such as prices hence can charge more, than if the firms were in competitive market. The firm however, can exploits as other means such as wind, geothermal, biomass and even solar. This means are quiet cheap and less harmful to the environment. Thus if well harnessed, can provide a good choice to nuclear energy. FPL should cater for the external costs due to harmful exposure of the public e.g. by constructing hospitals (Georgescu and Nicholas, 2014). Put measures to prevent occurrences such as earthquake due to construction of the firm into water bodies. The benefits that come with excess plants are more than demerits. More supply of energy into the economy reduces manufacturing costs of many firms. This translates into low prices to consumers which eventually helps the economy to grow. Thus I will vote for the plants to be

Destiny After Brokenness Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Destiny After Brokenness - Term Paper Example   This may lead him to â€Å"break away† from his own reality; hence, his brokenness. It is hoped that whatever conclusions that may be made by the writer at the end may contribute to the enrichment of the body of knowledge currently proliferating on the subject. It would be useful for easy understanding to check out what could be the different connotations that have been attached to the word â€Å"destiny.† Indeed, there are many, given the depths that this word has assumed. Simmons (1) defines destiny as â€Å"that place to which a person is meant to be.† The American Heritage Dictionary is more explicit: â€Å"a predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power and control.† In this sense, it gives an understanding of destiny as something that pertains to an ending that has been present from the beginning and which cannot be changed by any means. This belief is maintained by the scientific advocates of evolution or even the atheists who do not believe in a Supreme Being and who support the thesis that everything evolves. Although science has not proven the evolution of man and continues to figure out how the planetary system is kept in suspension, many still doubt the existence of a God (Lasiter). But any discussion of destiny can only be understood in a wider perspective when seen from the point of view of evolution or the origin of things, as aptly put by Lasiter in his online programming discourse on Man’s Ultimate Destiny. Lasiter looks at evolution as the determinant of the end-point of things, which idea presupposes that matter with no ability to make choices would follow the line that destiny is that which has been present from the beginning, whatever it is.   This thinking, however, takes a wider deviation when destiny is analyzed in relation to human beings who have the ability to make choices because of their free will.  

Letter of Complaint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter of Complaint - Essay Example Despite the urgency of the situation, I could not move the car. I have to confess that it was embarrassing, and I did not anticipate this to happen to me while driving such a well-established car brand. I was also extremely disappointed since none of the cars I have driven over the last years has given me this kind of problem. We called, in a tow truck, to help us move the car to the Auto-world Frontier service station. Our conversation with the dealership’s advisor went well enough as she accepted that the company had, indeed, neglected to carry out ground clearance and that this model was meant for German roads. I left the car there for the replacement of the oil chamber. The insurance company will cover this bill. I was informed to pick the car up after two days. As I returned to pick up the car, the advisor informed me that while the chamber’s replacement had gone off smoothly, the oil was still leaking when the engine was started. I was asked to call at two PM since the mechanics were still on the car. When I called, his phone was off. The landline number went through, only to be informed that the advisor was on a two-week leave and that I should get in touch with a Mr. Brandon. Brandon, for his part, told me that he would call me back after twenty minutes with the status on my car. When he did, he informed me that my car was badly damaged and that the engine required repair. The insurance company, apparently, would not cover the cost for repairs. No one between the insurance company and the service centre seems willing to take responsibility for my car’s damage. I would like to ascertain that the fault lies directly with VW and its ground clearance design for the model of my car. It is also worth noting that my car was not running when my misfortune occurred, and thus, the incident might not have been caused by an engine trouble before the incident. I would

Security issues associated with Social Media Essay

Security issues associated with Social Media - Essay Example Similarly, social medical security concerns have dominated the highlights in the last few decades, (Ludlow, 1996). With various social media products, the default setting spread everything and clients have to set their views to privatize their accounts. These practices open up various security concerns because various people gains access to personal information. With modern cases of malware, phishing and spam, social media products create various security issues. Cybercrime can hack information about a user from his social networking posts or profile and shape his attacks in accordance to his like and interests. Experts define this as social engineering, an act that makes security risks increasingly hard to recognize. Some social media users share large private information amount in their social media products such as Facebook and MySpace. Such information entails personal, demographic and other information, pictures and videos. Various clients publish their information publicly and any careful thought. Therefore, social media has turned out to be a main pool of sensitive information. Additionally, users of social media are mainly confident on their colleagues. They constantly incline to friend requests and entertain sent items. This may compromise personal details that hackers may take advantage of to attack users. Similarly, inadequate physical contact on such social media products can reduce the natural defenses of users, resulting into people revealing private information to strangers and enemies, (Dhillon, 2002). Sharing private information such as passwords, contact details, images and other confidential information in social media products is increasingly dangerous. Theoretically, a person can find out the city you reside and your whereabouts at a certain hour of the day. With the help of the pictures, the person can show up and pretend to be a long lost relative who is lucky and need some financial assistance. Inadequate physical contact allows false pr ofile creation, for instance, a user may think he is chatting with his family member (brother or sister) while he is chatting with a stranger from another place. Excessive chatting on social media sites can create unnecessary gossips about the organization that an employee works and its strategic goals and plans, while unscrupulous rival can engineer workers into disclosing company’s intellectual property, (Quigley, 2005). In some cases, hackers go direct to the source and inject malicious passwords or codes into social media sites such as internal advertisements and third-party applications. For instance, in Twitter, summarized URLs are utilized to trick clients into opening malicious sites, which can extract individual or organizational data if accessed via office computer. Similarly, Twitter is mainly vulnerable to this mechanism as it is possible to tweet a posts to be posted and revealed to a million of people. Hacking of accounts is not mainly a security issues from the friends circles angle, it is extremely risky to workers and users too. Poor management of accounts passwords and unencrypted connections are a risky mix that may result to hijacks of accounts and the possibility for adverse reputational

Proof of haven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proof of haven - Essay Example As he gives his narration, he tries to prove that what he experienced through the journey was purposeful, an experience never witnessed before. Taking a stance on whether the account given is true or not, it is important to consider the kind of evidence presented in the book. Nobody has ever been to heaven, and as such, it is difficult to deduce the reality of what heaven is like. While the bible explains how heaven is likely to be, the fact remains that neither of the bible accounts describes vividly of what heaven is like. Jesus himself gave insights of what life in heaven would be like. As he warned sinners of eternal suffering, he promised non-sinners eternal happiness, one that would never end. Jesus, being the son of God was the best source of such information; he lived in heaven with his father God before coming down to rescue God’s children from the evil one, he sat at the throne and was part of the trinity. Therefore, when he promises of peace, joy and unending happin ess, he means of exactly what he witnessed in heaven. Other accounts are through prophets, who prophesied of the events that would characterize the second coming of the son of God (Mawungwa, 15). At the time of his second coming, prophesies say, all dead will resurrect, and will ascend to heaven (Royalty 48). In heaven, the road is narrow; it is times narrower than the highway of hell. The road will not be an easy one, as biblical accounts hold. It will be rocky and thorny; it will be full of challenges, contrary to the road leading to hell, which will be full of happiness. However, in heaven, the joy that the faithful will have has no comparison with any worldly happiness (Royalty 49). People will bow down in front of his majesty. He will be sitting at the throne, in his white robe, and Jesus on his side. With the promise of heaven being a hot topic among Christians, different people try to visualize what it would be like in heaven (Mawungwa 15). It is a place we long to be, an exp erience we would like all to have. With every person having hopes of ever stepping into heaven, different people have come up with claims of having been to heave. The recent case is Dr. Eben Alexander’s account of his journey to heaven and his near death experience. Many people, especially the medical practitioners and physicians have strongly refuted his claims, terming them as baseless and false. In fact, some believe that during the entire coma, he was hallucinating, something they doubtfully have proven. Others believe that he actually was not in a coma as he alleges, but was rather faking it. The credibility of his professionalism have also come up, with different professionals accusing him of having tried to forge documents to cover up flaws and messes he had committed in his medical career. Personally, I do not base my assertions on the credibility of his medical career or whether the coma was self-induced or not. I base my arguments on the fact that he cannot prove be yond reasonable doubt that he was in heaven. Additionally, his account is flawed with things that do not add up, regardless of the chronology of events as he highlights them. Dr. Eben Alexander, in his account explains what happens when a person dies. After his death, he first went to the underworld before his ascension to the sky. In his description of the underworld, he gives what appears to happen in horror movies,

The Prince of Los Cocuyos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Prince of Los Cocuyos - Essay Example He is presented as a father, an older brother and domineering Abuela. All these personalities in real sense appeared to be part of me as a freshman. This was largely due to cultural diversity and above all naivety. Secondly, social-cultural mischief has been additional experience in the college as a freshman. Uncultured behaviors such as homosexuality, heterosexuality and lesbianism are some of the major experiences in colleges common to freshmen such as myself. The Prince of Los Cocuyos portrays all these vices through Riqui. Naturally, through this book, Riqui’s homosexuality greatly affected his personality. As a freshman, this book could not have been any better concerning its explanation of tolerance to different personalities we meet in this life. College life is an extremely challenging though enjoyable. For instances, in the college, I meet various personalities, which I must liberally scrutinize to be socially and psychologically upright throughout the entire college

Censoring Pleas for Help Essay Example for Free

Censoring Pleas for Help Essay In Dwight Lee’s essay, â€Å"Censoring Pleas for Help,† the Georgia-based economics professor notes the strange contradiction between popular opposition to censorship and widespread support of price controls. Lee’s primary contention with this political dissonance is that it is not only ethically inconsistent, but reflects an oversight of how markets help communicate economic needs, particularly with regards to the sudden needs which emerge in the wake of natural disasters. Much of the support for price controls stems from fear of â€Å"price gouging,† which is essentially occurs when suppliers attempt to take advantage of sudden demand by raising prices to maximize profit during the period of demand. Lee notes that in his home state, there exists a price gouging law which is designed to prevent such a situation from happening by forbidding suppliers from charging more for their goods than they did the day before a disaster strikes. Lee notes that: â€Å"[†¦] building contractors and construction supplies from several states had poured into Atlanta immediately after it suffered massive tornado damage. Can anyone seriously believe that this help would have poured in from far away if the â€Å"price gouging† law had been perfectly enforced, or that the help was not reduced by the enforcement that had occurred?† (Lee 1999) The crux of Lee’s argument is that price controls are essentially a form of economic censorship which restricts the ability of prices to communicate market demands. To that end, he argues that prices are better understood as the most efficient means by which markets, such as disaster victims, communicate their need for help in the form of resources and supplies. This is not to devalue the contributions and assistance that some have provided for free, but the economic distinction made above between humanitarian aid and supply-demand response is not a trivial one. While those who provide supplies for free are to be commended, it is important to recognize the potential mistake in relying on altruism and humanitarian sensitivity as the primary forces driving resource redistribution. Such a view presumes that humanitarian aid is an objective force that responds to the needs of disaster victims efficiently. In effect, Lee’s argument is that while high prices should not be raised to wildly disproportionate levels,   allowing them to fluctuate free of price controls ensures that they can communicate needs more efficiently, for â€Å"high prices [†¦] insure that pleas for help will be met with a quick and effective response.† Complementary to his point, Lee observes that price controls censor this economic communication and effectively disrupt the ability of customers to express their needs. He notes that in Charleston, price controls prevented a local hardware store from legally being able to sell generators at a higher price nor could the locals communicate their demand to outside suppliers of generators. The result was that one hardware store owner sold one of only two generators in his possession to a friend, at the expense of groceries with a greater demand in the form of thousands of dollars worth of food that needed refrigeration. Simply put, humanitarian aid relies on the initiative of those with the resources and the sense of philanthropy to contribute to disaster relief, which is all well and good, but does not compare to the efficacy of free moving prices in expressing the demands that emerge in the wake of a natural disaster. As far as economics are concerned, price controls merely censor the ability of these sudden emergent markets to communicate those demands. Works Cited Lee, Dwight R. â€Å"Censoring Pleas for Help.† The Freeman, January 1999. Retrieved online on February 25, 2009 from: http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/censoring-pleas-for-help/

Strategic HR Approach Essay Example for Free

Strategic HR Approach Essay A HR Director has many job responsibilities throughout the work day. They ensure that payroll and accounting are done properly; they are in charge of the hiring and training of new employees. They must also keep up to date information and training for current employees who wish to continue to work for the company. Also HR directors also have to deal with the termination of employees. One other task which HR directors must deal with is employee safety. They must ensure the company and the employees are following all federal and state guidelines. By following all safety and security measures maintains the employer and employee have proper balance within the workplace. Listed below are four case scenarios in which I, as the HR director, must ensure all federal guidelines are being met by the company to offer the best outcome for the employees involved. Case Scenario 1: Medical Bills This employee has been a dedicated employee within the company for the past 25 years of service. They have been diagnosed with cancer which has required them to be hospitalized for two months. While in the hospital, they have accumulated a numerous amount of medical bills due to different treatment options. With the mounting amount of medical bills and no work, this employee is seeking additional help from the employer with additional medical costs and to help cover the cost of these bills. The company is already following state and federal guidelines by covering their 80% coverage and the individual pays the remaining 20% coverage. Also the employee has paid into disability insurance and the company is complying with that additional coverage as well, as the employee takes an extended leave of absence. It has been deemed the employee’s cancer was not due to working and hazardous materials from the company, so the employer is under no obligation to cover anymore medical expenses. Another step which can be taken for the employee to help offset the cost of treatment is the company can host several fundraisers for the employee and their family. All the money either donated or raised through the fundraiser can be set up in account which will cover the cost of current and any additional medical bills. Although not required by the company to take these extra steps, it can bring coworkers together to help in times of need and boost employee morale around the office as well. Case Scenario 2: Accidents with New Management â€Å"Accidents have been occurring in a department of 10 employees under a new supervisor. With the change in management, employees who worked for the company for more than 4 years complain that the new supervisor frequently micromanages, whereas the supervisor complains that the employees do not respect him because he is new and younger than his subordinates. Aside from the accidents, the supervisor thinks the team performance is below average† (University of Phoenix, 2012). The HR Director has many options which they can choose from to handle this rather difficult situation which are legally legit. One of the first things the HR Director needs to do is have a mandatory meeting with the supervisor in charge. There is a proper way to manage and lead a team to achieve results. Talking down to them and micromanaging them over every move is not the proper way. With constant micromanagement, the employees may feel like they are being babysat and hounded. They will not be able to get any work done which in turn will increase the low production rate and not only frustrate the employees but the supervisor as well. To earn respect of the employees, the supervisor also needs to give some respect to them and not talk down to them. The HR Director’s next step is to explain to the supervisor and the employees of the company’s safety guidelines and their accordance with OSHA (Occupational Safety Health Administration). â€Å"Under the OSH Act, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace. OSHAs mission is to assure safe and healthful workplaces by setting and enforcing standards, and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. Employers must comply with all applicable OSHA standards. Employers must also comply with the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act, which requires employers to keep their workplace free of serious recognized hazards† (United States Department of Labor, 2012). All workplace safety and health standards must be in compliance of OSHA. Any company that is not in compliance with OSHA can face severe penalties. Also the HR director needs to inform the supervisor and employees that if all OSHA guidelines are met this will lower the illness and injury prevention. With a lower injury and illness prevention more work can be done and increase productivity for the entire company. â€Å"Most successful injury and illness prevention programs are based on a common set of key elements. These include: management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification, hazard prevention and control, education and training, and program evaluation and improvement† (United States Department of Labor, 2012). Following these guidelines and programs will prevent more injuries and illness at the workplace. This will also lower the cost of sick pay leave and insurance premiums can also remain relatively low. Also a company does not what and a reputation as an unsafe and hazardous workplace. This will cost the company billions of dollars as more people will not be willing to either work for the company or consumers will not want to purchase products from this company as well. The supervisor, who follows and implements these new changes will gain more respect from their employees as well, will have increase in productivity, and also employee morale will increase throughout the company. Case Scenario 3: Workplace Tardiness * â€Å"A recently hired female employee was late more than eight times during her * employment and was terminated because of the tardiness. The employee came back with a union representative asking to be rehired. She claims that some male employees and another female employee have been late many times. None of these employees have been terminated. The other female employee has not been fired because she is the manager’s wife† (University of Phoenix, 2012). This terminated employee is allowed to have a union representative review the case as deemed acceptable by OSHA guidelines. Since the company and HR director refused to terminate the other two employees who also were tardy on numerous occasions, the fired employee has the right to file suit for being terminated due to discrimination. The company was following proper procedure for this one employee but not for the others and this one employee was singled out. All the employees should have been terminated immediately for their tardiness. Under OSHA guidelines â€Å"If you have been punished or discriminated against for using your rights, you must file a complaint with OSHA within 30 days of the alleged reprisal for most complaints† (United States Department of Labor, 2012). Once the complaint was filed a proper investigation between an OSHA investigator and HR Director will be conducted to ensure all policies are adhered to by the employer. * Case Scenario 4: Employee returns to work after baby * A once high performing employee has returned to work after only taking a three week maternity leave. Since her return, her work productivity has drastically decreased; she has been distant with co-workers and at times to melancholy to work with. She has lost interest with her professional work attire and has become discombobulated with her daily work functions and duties. With her decrease in performance has had a great impact on the company as well. The company needs to let her know that she is able to take the full six week leave of absence which they provide and will not affect her job standing. The employee also has the option to file a â€Å"12 week leave of absence in the event of a birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth† (United States Department of Labor, 2012). This will give the new mother the needed rest she needs and then can return to work and be more productive again. This will not only help her and her family but also the company as well. * These scenarios occur daily throughout our lives. Many times they may not be handled properly and result in investigation and lawsuit. A properly trained HR director will be able to sort through these scenarios and take the necessary steps that are legal and beneficial to both employee and employer. Following proper legal rights and laws will increase work productivity and morale for all parties involved. * References United States Department of Labor. (2012). Family Medical Leave Act. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/ United States Department of Labor. (2012). Injury and Illness Prevention Programs. Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/safetyhealth/index.html United States Department of Labor. (2012). OSHA Laws Regulations. Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov/law-regs.html University of Phoenix. (2012). University of Phoenix: Individual Strategic Approach. Retrieved from http://https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom/coursematerials/hrm_552/20120925/OSIRIS:43038327

Analysis Of The Pharmaceutical Industry Economics Essay

Analysis Of The Pharmaceutical Industry Economics Essay The most important definition of industry was given by Michael Porter in 1979: a group of competitors producing substitutes that are close enough that the behavior of any firm affects each of the others either directly or indirectly. Later, Porter defined the term more precisely as a group of companies offering products or services that are close substitutes for each other, that is, products or services that satisfy the same basic customers needs. This new definition emphasizes the importance of industry borders and industrys role as a market supplier or producer of goods and services, as distinguished from a market, defined as a consumer of goods and services. Furthermore, inside every industry there are groups of companies that follow similar strategies, defined by Michael S. Hunt in his unpublished 1972 Ph.D. dissertation as strategic groups. Between these groups there are differences in entry barriers, bargaining power with buyers and suppliers and skills and resources . Strategic groups compete against each other within the industry as a result of these differences. 1.2 Models to Analyze the Industry and Its Environment The literature agrees that comprehension of the industry structure is essential to developing a firms strategy and has a greater effect on the firms performance than whether it is business-specific or corporate-parent. The comprehension of the structure requires analyses of the industrys life cycle. It also requires step-by-step political, legal, technological, social and economic analyses as well as the five driving forces of business, provided by Michael Porter. By utilizing these analysis techniques, it is also possible to anticipate changes in industry competition and profitability over time. 1.2.1 Industry Life Cycle Analysis There are different phases during the development of an industry. Every phases is characterized by a different environments which make competition assumes different the form. Through studying the life cycle, the industry realizes its stake in the market and its influence on consumers. The industry life cycle model includes four different phases: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. The first phase, called introduction, is characterized by a low demand, whereas prices are high as a consequence of firms inability to realize economies of scale. For this reason profits are low and losses are possible due to high amount of investments in new categories. Barriers to entry are primary based on technologies and competencies. Strategy is focused mainly on RD and production, with the goal of enhancing novelty and quality. Competitors, attracted by the rising demand, attempt to replicate the new product. In the second phase, growth, the use of the product is extended, demand grows, prices decline due to economies of scale, barriers to entry are lower and the threat of new entry is high. At this phase the technology is usually not exclusive property of one or more firms, and the primary reaction to competition is marketing expenditure and initiatives; profits are not very high because prices decline as competitors enter the market. There is a transition period, or shakeout, between the second and the third phases. The shakeout involves finding and using all investment opportunities, because the market is near saturation and demand grows more slowly. In the third phase, maturity, market growth is low or nonexistent, and the focus shifts to gaining market share; demand is represented only by the substitution of products, investment in RD decreases and there is little innovation. In this phase firms seek cost reductions, and competition is based primarily on advertising and quality because of the low differentiation between products. Big firms acquire smaller players, while others are forced to exit. As a conseguence of high barrier to entry, the threat of new entrants are low. The last phase is decline, so called because of the continued decline in demand. Industries arrive at this stage for a variety of reasons. These include a change in social behaviors, demographic changes, international competition, technological innovations and increased customer knowledge. The buying process is based primarily on price rather than innovation. As a result, profit and revenues decline, and the industry as a whole may be supplanted. 1.2.2 PEST Analysis The word PEST is an acronym of several aspects that influence business activities at any given moment. An industry operates under Political, Economic, Social and Technological conditions. These conditions are identify and analyzed using the PEST Analysis technique. Due to their independent influence on any industry, it is essential that each be considered individually. The political aspect of analysis encompasses various factors that influence business activities in a given country at several levels: national, subnational and supranational levels. These include trade policies control imports, exports and international business partners, government ownership of industry, attitude toward monopolies and competition and trade policies. Hence, failure to consider these policies may result in loss of revenue due to taxes or penalty fees. Government stability is also very important, because it eradicates the risks associated with wars and conflicts. For an industry to thrive, political stability must be uncompromised; otherwise, sales and business activities will be uncertain, and investors will lose interest. The internal political issues in any country influence the running of industries. Politics based on race or religion may define the course for certain industries, especially if an industry falls short of political expectations. Elections and changes in leadership also influence an industrys strengths and opportunities and thus should be considered during the analysis. In addition to internal issues, international pressures and influences may affect some industries, such as environmental degradation or product safety. Another factor is terrorism. Though uncommon in many countries, poor or unstable governance may attract terrorist activities, vengeful or otherwise, which can have adverse effects on the industries operating in that country. All these issues may influence industry and firm expansion and industry attractiveness from stakeholders point of view. The economic aspect of analysis includes many factors. The first factor to consider is the current economic situation and trends in the country in which the industry is based. Companies should note inflation and economic decline so that when it comes to investing, they can avoid being financially affected. Failure to do this results in an economically blind platform that may cause the industrys sudden collapse. Another factor to consider in analysis is taxation rates. When there are high taxation rates in a given country, price-based competition may affect a given industry in the international market. International economic trends are also very important, because they define currency exchange rates, imports and exports. Other factors to consider are consumer expenditure and disposable income and, finally, legal issues, including all trade legislation in a given country and other legal regulations that inhibit or encourage expansion of business activities. Also to be considered are co nsumer protection laws, employment laws, environmental protection laws and quality standardization regulations. Industrial laws regulating competition, market policies and guidelines also play an important role in influencing industrys stability and future expansion possibilities . When considering the social aspect, factors including demographic changes, shifts in values and culture and changes in lifestyle are important to note so as to strategize on expansion and growth . Certain factors, such as media and communities, influence an industrys growth and returns. Brand name and corporate image are also very important in influencing growth and returns since they shape customer loyalty and shareholder investment. The medias views on certain industrial products should be incorporated into the analysis, as should consumer attitudes and sensibility to green issues, that is, issues that affect the environment, energy consumption and waste and its disposal. A companys information systems and internal and external communications should also be analyzed to ensure that it keeps pace with its competitors. Other factors are the policies regulating education, health and distribution of income, all of which, in the long run, influence consumer use of products . The technological aspect of analysis encompasses a variety of factors. In addition to developing technologies, all associated technologies, along with their innovation potentials, speed of change and adoption of new technology, should be analyzed for a proper evaluation of the industry. Other technological factors are transportation, waste management and online business. The level of expenditure on RD should also be considered in order to secure the industrys competitive position to prevent losses and collapse . 1.2.3 Porters Five Competitive Forces Analysis Porters model, as described by Kay, is an evolution of the Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm conceived by Edward Mason at Harvard University in the 1930s and detailed by Scherer in the 1980s. , The model aims to determine the intensity of industry competition, major issues in determining strategy and whether an industry is attractive or not. Porter identified five competitive forces that act on an industry and its environment: threat of entry, intensity of rivalry among existing competitors, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers and bargaining power of suppliers. The first competitive force, threat of entry, refers to the threat of new entrants in an established industry or acquisition to gain market share. Reactions of participants and barriers to entry are the main factors used to establish whether the threat is high or low. Six major entry barriers have been identified: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ capital required to compete in the industry (especially in risky industry, such as advertising or RD) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ switching costs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ access to distribution channels à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ economies of scale à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ cost disadvantages independent of scale, such as patents, access to know-how, access to limited resources, favorable locations, government subsidies or policies and learning or experience curves à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ product differentiation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ expected retaliation from existing firms against the new entrants Strong barriers to the entry of new firms enable a few firms to dominate the market and thereby influence prices. The second force is intensity of rivalry among existing competitors. Rivalry takes place when one or more firms inside an industry try to improve their position using tactics such as price competition, new product introduction or new services. Rivalry depends on several factors: number and size of competitors, industry growth, product characteristics (which determine whether the rivalry is based on price or differentiation), cost structure, exit barriers, diverse competitors, operative capacity and high strategic stakes. If an industry is inhibited, then firms will experience difficulties when trying to expand. The growth of foreign competition and the corporate stakes should also be included in the analysis. Threat of substitutes is the third forces. Substitutes are those products manufactured by other industries but serving the same purposes as the initial product. These substitute products cause the demand to decline. The implications are reduced profits and reduced market command by the original capital investor. This is of particular importance when the buyer has no switching costs and can easily compare products in terms of price and efficiency. Bargaining power of buyers is the fourth force. High bargaining power positions weak firms inside the industry, forcing price down, enhancing competition between industry players and resulting in bargaining for higher quality or services. This power is particularly high under certain conditions, such as few and specific buyers, undifferentiated products, low switching costs, the possibility of backward integration and information about demand and the availability of market price to the buyers. Furthermore, bargaining power is high if product quality is not a crucial factor of decision-making and if what the buyer is acquiring is a modest fraction of his total costs. Bargaining power is even higher when the buyer is a retailer or a wholesaler able to influence the consumers purchasing decision. The fifth and last force is the bargaining power of suppliers. This can act on the industry in several ways: raising prices, lowering quality or privileging some buyers. Supplier power can be divided into several elements. One of these elements is supplier concentration. Suppliers are in a stronger position when there are few suppliers, switching costs are high, the industry they are serving account for a small fraction of their business or their products are an important part of the buyers business. The bargaining power of suppliers is low or nonexistent when there are substitute products. Lastly, purchase volume and the suppliers influence on cost are very important. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™ 2. Pharmaceutical Industry Analysis A general overview of the pharmaceutical industry is the primary objective of this chapter. First, this chapther will define the industry in order to identify the main players in the pharmaceutical market. Second, using the instruments and models described in the first section, it will highlight the main characteristics of the industry and the factors that influence it. 2.1 Definition of Pharmaceutical Industry The pharmaceutical industry is composed of companies developing, manufacturing and marketing products licensed for use as medications. Their goal is to prevent, diagnose or treat diseases. A medicinal product, also called a pharmaceutical, according to the EU, is an exogenous substance or a combination of exogenous substances that can be organic or inorganic, natural or synthetic, and able, once inside the human or animal body, to modify physiological functions or to make a medical diagnosis through physical, chemical or physicochemical action. This industry is subdivided into two sub-industries characterized by different business models and players: prescription and OTC pharmaceuticals. Prescription pharmaceuticals, also referred to as Rx, are medicines that are available to the consumers for purchase in a pharmacy or drug store only with a prescription from a physician or administered only in hospitals. These medicines target specific diseases and, therefore, are prescribed for and used by one person only. OTC pharmaceuticals are instead used by more than one person which present the same symptoms in the same or in different time. These medicines are available to the consumer at every time and the consumer dont need any prescription from a physician for purchase. Furthermore, inside this industry there are two types of firms: Big Pharma and Biotech. These two types, despite being in the same business, vary in several ways: IP, drug methodology, expenditure and productivity of RD . The primary drug RD techniques used by Big Pharma firms are chemoinformatics and in silico screenings. Biotech firms are companies that use biotechnology in RD . Biotechnology, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is the application of science and technology to living organisms, as well as parts, products and models thereof, to alter living or nonliving materials for the production of knowledge, goods and services. Generally, Biotech firms tend to have a strong academic culture, are more risk treatment and spend less than half what Big Pharma spends on R&D; in 2004, Biotech firms spent $20 billion, versus $50 billion spent by Big Pharma. Generally, a Biotech product has multiple IP covering manufacture, formulation and stability, a s opposed to Big Pharma IP, which covers only the product, allowing generics to be produced quickly. While they may appear to have the same phenotype, their genotypes are distinct, so much so that they can be considered two industries, as stated by Arthur D. Levinson, Chairman and CEO of Genentech. Nevertheless, this distinction is not always clear, as many Biotech and Big Pharma firms are hybrids to varying degrees. The focus of this thesis are Big Pharma involved in the development of prescription pharmaceuticals to treat and prevent human diseases in the EU market. 2.2 Analysis of the Pharmaceutical Industry The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the pharmaceutical industry lifecycle and investigate the major force acting inside it . 2.2.1 Industry Lifecycle Analysis People over the years have always tried to discover diseases causes and to find remedies against it. The most complete medical test, the Ebers Papyrus, is dated 1550 BC and it was written by Egyptians . However, the industrial production of drugs dates back to the year 1827 when Heinrich E Merck in Germany founded the first company for the production of cocaine and morphine . This event started the introduction phase of the pharmaceutical industry in Europe. In Europe, this industry was born in different way, reflecting the different strategic groups inside it. In the German-speaking countries, pharmaceutical companies were born as a branch of the chemical industry, with firms like Bayer and Hoechst in 1863, BASF in 1865 and Schering in 1871 in Germany, and CIBA in 1884 and Sandoz in 1886. Only Hoffman-La Roche in 1894 in Switzerland was originally a drug firm. On the other hand, in Italy, France and the UK companies were born from small shop pharmacies, such as Glaxo which traces it s origins to a pharmacy in Plough Court in 1715 . During the 1800s many compounds were already being isolated, but none was being synthetically produced. The first synthetic drug was Phenacetin, produced by Bayer and commercialized in 1888 . Ten years later Bayer commercialized Aspirin, which marked a milestone in the pharmaceutical industry. Many firms rose to prominence in the 1920s-30s with these kinds of pharmaceuticals, but also with a new class of pharmaceuticals: vaccines and serums . During the Second World War II the demand for drugs increased and mass production started, primarily with drugs such as antibiotics (penicillin, streptomycin and neomycin) and sulphonamide . The availability of these drugs dramatically changed the quality and the average life-span of people. In this period the German pharmaceutical industry, a leader along with the Swiss in pre-war times, was taken over by American firms who came to Europe to taking advantage of the condition of the continent after the war. The period 1950-60 was the start of the industrys growth phase , and this saw a proliferation of new drugs and high return to drug discovery. New drugs included tranquilizers such as MAO inhibitors in 1952, anti-tuberculosis drugs such as Isoniazid in 1952 and oral contraceptives in 1956. Other discoveries included Librium in 1960 and Valium in 1960. The latter was sold from 1963 and later became one of the most prescribed medicines in history before controversy emerged over its link to habituation and dependency. In the 1950s, legislation was put in place to regulate the industry, mainly touching on labelling and approval by health authorities as well as drawing distinctions between non-prescription and prescription medicines. In this apparently unstoppable process of pharmaceutical progression and optimism the industry was stalled by a drama concerning one drug sold in Europe and Japan, Thalidomide. This drug, synthesized in Germany in 1954, was introduced to the market to treat the symptoms of morning sickness and nausea in pregnant women. Between 1954 and 1960, it caused around 5,000 and 10,000 severe deformities in infants. In fact, the drug had not been sufficiently tested on animals to assess its safety, and after this revelation, in an attempt to better regulate the industry, drug oversight authorities were established to exercise control over the industry. The World Medical Association met in Finland and issued the Declaration of Helsinki, setting the standards for clinical research. Among other things, the declaration stated that pharmaceutical companies must prove the efficacy of a new drug in clinical trials before releasing it to the market, and subjects must consent to experiments done to test the efficacy of drugs in clinical studies. The industry remained small up to the late 1970s . Two events characterized the 1970s. First, chemical production for raw materials and early intermediates shifted out of Europe to low cost destinations such as India and China which later began producing active pharmaceutical ingredients and finally non-patented pharmaceuticals . Second, there was the birth of biotechnology. This new science had its roots many years before with the discovery of the double helix in 1953 by Watson and Crick, which followed the advances in molecular genetics, recombinant DNA technology, and molecular biology. Until then, drugs in commerce were produced by extraction from natural substances or chemical synthesis. These new techniques of molecular biology marked the birth of a new industry which became a competitor to and a substitute of the pharmaceutical industry. This new industry was pioneered by firms like Genentech and Amgen which introduced revolutionary drugs such as Epogen and recombinant human i nsulin. In the 1980s, legislation was passed in most European countries requiring adherence to strong patents for both the pharmaceutical products and their production processes. There were also new regulations such as the introduction of the Good Clinical Practices, which were guidelines regulating ethics and the reliability of clinical studies. In Europe, several states also initiated health maintenance organizations and managed care in an effort to limit rising medical costs, and a preference for preventive rather that curative medication took root. As the industry entered the 1990s, new discoveries and projects, such as the Human Genome Project 1990, changed the business environment. Also, there was a huge wave of MA to build on synergies. This included Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz forming Novartis, Hoechst and Roussel-Rhone Poulenc-Rorer forming Aventis and Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline forming GlaxoSmithKline. In this way, the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals came to be concentrated in Western Europe and North America, with dominant firms and a few small companies that produced drugs in each country. The major European companies are still the dominant players not only in Europe but also in the global market. They include Novartis of Switzerland, Bayer of Germany, GlaxoSmithKline of the UK, Hoffman-la Roche of Switzerland and AstraZeneca of UK/Sweden. As the European pharmaceutical industry entered the 21st century, signs of the growth phase have become even more evident. This has been characterized by intense marketing to physicians and internet commerce. This, in part, has been facilitated by the liberalization of marketing rules requiring presentation of risks as well as the advertising message. Internet has enabled the direct purchase of raw materials by the manufacturers. The development of drugs has moved from the hit-and-miss approach to research and informed discovery. Alternative medicines and lifestyle medicines have presented new challenges and opportunities and have raised the level of competition in the industry. The aging population in western European economies has increased opportunities for raising revenues. In fact, because of the ageing population in the developed economies, drug consumption will increase since the aged have a higher frequency of contracting diseases than younger people. New epidemics, such as t he recent H1N1 flu outbreak, continue to batter the world population, and increased globalization makes them spread more quickly than ever. As the industry advances through the growth phase, companies are undertaking research and development initiatives both to develop new drugs and improve production processes. Further, the increased role of state-supported medical schemes across Europe, as well as other state-managed health programs around the world will greatly increase the reach of healthcare, extending it to more of the middle class and the poor who constitute the larger part of the population in most countries. As the medical programs continue to gain efficacy, the sales of pharmaceutical firms are expected to grow. In addition,, the emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India, China, Turkey, Mexico, and South Korea will add to potential consumer numbers in the industry for European manufacturers. Together, these countries constitute a huge percentuage of the worlds population, meaning that their entry into the high income category will no doubt present an enormous potential market for pharmaceutical products. In fact, the growth in these markets is expected to reach 14-17% by 2014, compared with only 3-6% growth in the developed markets. Thanks to agreements signed by the Asia-Pacific and Europe governments concerning liberalization of the Asia-Pacific pharmaceuticals and investments market, many companies have already started to establish relationships with emerging markets. An example is GlaxoSmithKline, who partnered in 2009 with Indias Dr. Reddy Laboratories. GlaxoSmithKline will distribute the drugs manufactured and supplied by Dr. Reddy in Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Even with these last considerations, the European pharmaceutical industry has only a limited chance of entering the maturity phase of the cycle. The barriers to entry are so great that they choke any new entrant in almost every facet of operation: in research and development, in product distribution, and in compliance with rules and regulations. In fact, this industry has complex manufacturing capabilities which are hard to replicate, and are protected by way of patent, as well as huge consumer attachment to preferred brands from specific companies, often informed by experience. Furthermore Europe generic penetration is very low (less than 10% in total). Thus the industry might remain in the growth phase for a considerable time.