How did the supernatural impacted Macbeth? Essay

The supernatural reflected the atmosphere and the beliefs of Scotland and much of Europe in the sixteenth century. Macbeth is a story that is completely engulfed with supernatural elements. It is more a supernatural story than it is drama. Madness, mayhem and horror are all words that best describe this play. Three hideous witches, a floating dagger and apparitions are all supernatural elements that the reader finds in Macbeth. Most importantly, these elements are major causes of Macbeths path of ambition, murder madness and his ultimate downfall. As the story progresses we see the supernatural events change location starting from the witches cavern to Macbeths castle. All this shows that Macbeth is highly dependent and seduced by the supernatural. The opening scene of Macbeth begins with the three witches meeting on the heath and describing the atmosphere, where Fair is foul, and foul is fair (Act 1 scene 1). This implies that what appears good is bad and what appears bad is good. It also shows that witches will become a central figure in setting the tone of the play which hovers through the fog and filthy air. Throughout the story, the witches prophesy and foreshadow everything that will happen to Macbeth and what he will do. Macbeth will eventually come to them more and more to know what lies ahead for him in the future. From a heath near the forest, the witches give prophesy and the reader clues in what destiny lies for Macbeth. It is the witches who tell him that he will be Thane of Cawdor and shalt be King hereafter! (Act 1 scene 3). Macbeth is shocked at this news considering the Thane of Cawdor is still alive at the time. This shows that Macbeth was not yet showing ambition or hunger for power but the witches had planted the seed that would lead to his eventual destruction. The witches also prophesy in this scene that Macbeths friend and comrade Banquo will have sons who will claim the throne after Macbeth and be lesser than Macbeth and greater (Act 1 scene 2). This gives the clue that Macbeths line might be short-lived and that once he is gone there will be no more of his descendants on the throne. When Lady Macbeth learns of all this news through a letter sent by her husband, she immediately sees a promising future but fears her husband is  too full of the milk of human kindness (Act 1 scene 5) to destroy those who lie in his path to ultimate power. It is Lady Macbeth who really triggers the evil side of Macbeth. As the story progresses however, we see the tables turn as she becomes tormented by her own guilt while her husband kills without conscience. We do not see the witches again until the end of Act 3 when their leader, Hecate, is angry with them for telling Macbeth his future without her permission. In order to make amends she orders the witches to create more spells to give Macbeth overconfidence as you all know security is mortals chiefest enemy (Act 3 scene 5). Another supernatural element that Shakespeare uses in the play represents Macbeths guilt and beginning of his madness is through the floating daggers in Act 2, which occur in Macbeths own home whilst King Duncan was guest. Before Macbeth commits the murder of King Duncan, he sees a bloody dragger that leads him to Duncans room. Macbeth questions if the dagger is real or a dagger of the mind, a false creation (Act 2 scene 1), in other words it is a hallucination. This dagger makes it so Macbeth cannot resist killing Duncan. It also brings the supernatural from outside to inside the castle. Shakespeare uses the influence of apparitions twice in his story. One of the apparitions is of the recently murdered Banquo. This ghost visits Macbeth at the banquet right after Macbeth learns that Banquos death was successfully committed by one of the hired murders. Macbeth is shocked and badly shaken by this apparition and looks like a fool to his party guests. The dominating Lady Macbeth tries to calm him down and reassures the guests telling them Think of this, good peers, but as a thing of custom, tis no other, (Act 3 scene 4). This is a turning point in the story as it shows the beginning of Macbeths descent into Madness. Macbeth continues his obsessive dependence on the witches predictions as he once again in a cavern in Act 4. The witches conjure up three apparitions. The first is an armed head that tells Macbeth to Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife. The scond apparition is a bloody child that says that none of  woman born shall harm Macbeth. The third is a child crowned with a tree in his hand that predicts Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him (Act 4 scene 1). All of these apparitions give Macbeth a sense of overconfidence which untimely leads to his downfall. From these Macbeth comes to the conclusion that all men are born of women, so therefore he thinks that nobody can kill him. He also assumes that forests cannot literally move, so that should not be a problem to him either. The story shows however, that the soldiers fighting against him camouflage themselves with boughs from trees looking like a moving forest, and that Macduff was from his mothers womb untimely ripped (Act 5 scene 8). From all these examples it can be seen that the supernatural has a great influence on Macbeths rise to power and his fall from power. We see that his growing obsessive reliance on the witches prophesies causes him over confidence which leads to his ultimate demise. We also see Macbeth descend into evil and being seduced by the supernatural, by having supernatural events change location. All of these elements show the causes of Macbeths path of ambition, murder, madness and finally his total self-destruction. Bibliography Macbeth (William Shakespeare)Oxford companion to Shakespeare (Dobson)

Health Disadvantages Indigenous Australians Essay

Socioeconomic factors are associated with education, employment, and income, and each, has a substantial influence on the health of Indigenous Australians. Education, which is inaccessible for many Indigenous people, allows for the greater knowledge of health issues, and the increased understanding of both protective behaviors and risk factors. It is a known fact that with a lack of education or one that is poor, there is a increased risk that there will be less employment opportunities – ultimately leading to little or no income. Hence, the vicious poverty cycle is born. Education enables Indigenous Australians to develop a sense of empowerment, and in turn increases the probability that they will take steps to improve their health. If an Indigenous child has had an insuffienct education, they will not have had any opportunities that assist them in evaluating health information and products. Research has shown those with higher levels of education have a reduced chance of smoking, being inactive and suffering from obesity. It’s the absence and inequality of education that has led to obesity among Indigenous Australians – with 28% of those over 15 being overweight, and 29% diagnosed as obese. Obesity increases the risk of developing health problems including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, injury and certain cancers. The individual may not be aware of which foods are healthy, may not be able to afford it, may not take part in physical activity daily, use tobacco and abuse alcohol – and this occurs from deficient education. Additionally, environmental factors influence the health of Indigenous Australians in the areas of geographic location and access to health services and technology. Approximately 24% of people living in remote areas and 45% of those living in very remote areas are Indigenous. Aboriginals living in remote areas will experience negative impacts on their social, emotional and physical health. Indigenous people in these rural areas experience a greater risk of injury due to the dangers associated with travelling on country roads that are often of poor quality, long distances and fatiguing. Indigenous people are 3 times more likely to die from traffic incidents than non-Indigenous people. Aboriginals in remote areas will also face harsh living and working circumstances such as; drought and floods. From this, injury, disease, emotional distress and financial hardships occur. Aboriginal Australians in remote communities with large distances between other people and society may find it difficult to maintain and create social support networks. The inability to make and prolong relationships leads to a sense of isolation, and contributes to poor mental health and depression. Hospitalisation rates for self-harm are representative of mental illness, depression and stress – and in 2006, Indigenous Australians were 3 times more likely to be hospitalized for severe self-harm than other Australians. In 2011, 80% of suicides of the ages 19 to 24 were Aboriginals. This occurs due to isolated geographic location. Evidently it is of utmost importance that there be a strategy put into place to help improve the health of Indigenous Australians in regards to the Socio-economic factor of education, and the environmental factor of geographic location. This strategy must be effective and realistic, to ensure that the gap begins to be closed before 2030. A proposed action that should be put into place is the development of a â€Å"Community Centre†, in the mid point of a rural township. This centre would feature a shuttle bus service, picking up and dropping off the person when wanting to commute to the facility. The shuttle service would hopefully reduce the injury experienced from traffic incidents on rural roads. This community centre would be a hub, where Aboriginals could come, in order to receive educational courses or classes; on the topics of drug awareness and abuse, mental health issues, domestic violence, healthy eating and much more. As well as educational classes, there would be fun activities that they would be able to participate in, such as sports, healthy cooking, arts and crafts and other alternatives. Whilst being at the community centre, there is the opportunity to receive an education, and also forge friendships. The opportunity to receive an education, especially on the topics listed previously would increase the awareness of health issues and knowledge of protective behaviors, fundamentally attempting to break the poverty cycle and enabling empowerment to flourish within the Aboriginal. Whereas the possibility to create friendships, and returning to the â€Å"Community Centre† on a regular basis would assist in the reduction of Indigenous Australian’s in rural area’s feeling isolated and depressed – further reducing the number of hospitalization rates from self harm, mental illness and suicide. In conclusion, it is perceivable that something MUST be done soon in order to close the gap by 2030 to create greater equity between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. There is NO excuse!

Identifying Key Factors for New Product Success

Identifying key factors for new product success It is well known for us that new product development is always the key for companies’ success or even survival. And the new products don’t need to be the totally new products, companies can just make some improvements, improve customers’ experience, or exchange a new color, shape to bring to customers new satisfaction and benefit. Then customers will not be tired of something, and customers are always the focus of marketing.But new product development process is not a simple process. It is a very complex process needs many correlative departments such as marketing, designing, developing, and manufacturing departments work together. What’s more, a new product takes a high risk, because nobody can guarantee that this is going to be sold well. It is very important to follow a scientific development process, this can reduce the risk as much as we can. At the beginning, we need some ideas, some kinds of inspiratio n.When customers have some new needs or new technology is invented, there could be an opportunity for company’s new products. These ideas may also come from one of employees, competitor’s new product, or government’s new policy. In other word, the opportunity maybe in everywhere, whenever we think customers need something new, we can develop a new product. Second, the company needs to estimate and analyze those ideas, compare with them by each advantages or disadvantages. And then choose the most hopeful one from many ideas.Try to find a potential profitable project. And the way to pick it is building a model that can measure technology advantage, marketing attraction and earning power. A good opinion is a kind of right direction, can lead the following process. Third, since we got the idea, I think it’s time to set a market strategy before the deign part. We need to analyze the target market, see what are the size, structure and behavior, and what the le vel that customers need it, the frequency of Purchase.Describe who would be the potential customers, and then set the cost based on it, and the general price strategy, promotion strategy, marketing budget, and the possible product mix for the new product. Fourth part is design and testing part, the reason why I put them together is that I think after a fail testing, the prototype always need to be redesigned. And before the final product, there always be lots of testing and redesign job to do to transfer the idea to a real valuable product. It can also be called the key of the entire new product development process.Fifth, when the new product is ready, all tested by engineers and employees. It’s time to be introduced to market. However, sometimes we need to do the Test Marketing, this is a real final testing, and the testers are customers. In general, company would choose a small place, like a small town, and try to sell the new products to those customers, and analyze the fe edback. Then market department can adjust its market strategy based on the feedback. The test marketing always lasts several months, or can be one year.After the final test, the new product can be introduced to the whole market. This is a scientific way to develop a new product. But as I said before, nobody can guarantee that this is going to be successful, even if it did a great job in test market. But what reasons cause a fail product? I think one of those reasons is fail to estimate the true potential of the market, if exaggerating the market potential, in which can bring some very serious problems like over-investment, over-manufacture, and product backlog.Another reason to fail could be the wrong design. Design part is the key of the whole development process, because customer is the key of market. If the design of new product can not satisfy customers’ need, the product would be fail, no question about it. Company would lose market share. But if company set a wrong pric e level, higher than the value of product, or made to much high cost, the profit would go down. A product can’t create profit would be fail too. And some people may not notice that a good promotion helps the new product a lot.A good and impressed promotion process can really fly a product, on the other hand, a awful promotion process can be a disaster for a new product. In short, developing a new product is a required process for a company. A new product’s success in market may indicate corporation’s bright future. But new products mean high risk, we need to do everything to do to reduce the risk. Like following the scientific development process, try to get the key need of customers. And a very important one, company needs to have self-confidence for the new product.

European Tourism effects on the Environment Essay

European Tourism effects on the Environment - Essay Example The UK for example has been a leading tourist destination for the past years and this trend never seems to wane. Although much of its natural, cultural sites suffered at first the UK has started various policies regarding the preservation of nature and in doing so, tourists help maintain their tourist spots indirectly. Other EU member country worth noting in terms of tourism is Italy and France which are located conveniently along the coasts of the Mediterranean. These two countries and others have accommodated millions of tourists annually, and some of the repercussions of these enterprises are evident right now. These areas are currently experiencing the drawbacks of past tourism ventures and are now seeking to rehabilitate their tourist spots which are situated near the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean itself is a prime tourist destination, but due to its peculiar characteristics, it been a victim of reckless, abusive tourism. Much of its marine life is suffering the effects of eu thropication and unmanaged solid and liquid wastes being dumped to it. When this carelessness continues, the Mediterranean will cease to be and there is a possibility that this unfortunate situation will also occur to other tourist spots. Tourism has not only made it big in Europe but also the rest of the world. ... In today's modern lifestyle, a vacation is viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury, as many international companies offer tourism packages to their employees as part of their wok benefits. Also, tourism has been more accessible today to the lower economic classes more than ever (Council of Europe, 2004). Tourism and the state of a nation's environment have a delicate relationship with each other. Sure tourism brings in a lot of revenues from tourists, but without an efficient means of environmental preservation the country's ecology and natural resources will suffer. The issue as to whether tourism affects the environment positively or negatively is put to debate recently (Kozyr, 2000). An excellent tourism program depends mainly on the soundness of a country's environment. There are guidelines set upon by the Fifth Programme as to what transport means, water supply, waste management practices etc. are to be taken up to by a tourism delegated area so that damage to the environment would be decreased (European Commission, 2005). Tourism is given special attention by the European Union for its future expansion and worker status. The E.U. has about 8 million people working on various sectors of tourism, a decent 5% of the whole workforce and GDP and an estimated 30% outside service trade. Cumulatively, if the transport and trade sectors are taken in consideration, tourism accounts for about 12% of GDP. The Tourism Unit of Directorate General Enterprise stresses the significance of tourism in Europe's economic success and it aims at tourist satisfaction, employee status, care for the environment and many more. The unit works closely with an Advisory Committee made up o f representatives from the various Member States and other associations such as

Rhetorical Analysis of an Organizational Website Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of an Organizational Website - Essay Example These include latest movies that are produced in Hollywood and videos as well as top stories on top actor lifestyles. The website meets its aim by using a simple and professional design. It uses an artistic design to the name of their website that is well colored to draw the reader’s attention. This is appealing to the eye, and at a glance, one is able to know the website’s name. According to Hunt (2011), a reader is likely to revisit a website if it contains all the information it claims to contain and does not provide or refer to unsolicited information. The Hollywood website has user-friendly navigation; there are clear links to the various sections as described in the initial outline on the homepage. The content is arranged categorically in such a way that whatever one is looking for can be obtained at a glance, hence aiding to achieve its goal. Websites should be created with the viewer in mind, this implies that the time for browsing should be minimal and the content should be simple and easy to interpret and understand by the targeted viewers. Its simplicity in design of the Hollywood website has contributed immensely to its popularity among the young people (OConnell, 1994). For instance, if one is looking for movies, they would go directly and click on the so-named icon, hence getting the desired item. On other websites, there are many popup windows and links to unrelated websites which not only waste the viewer’s time but also contribute to infection of personal computers by internet viruses. Lawrence, & Tavakol, (2007) in their book â€Å"Balanced Website Design: Optimizing Aesthetics, Usability, and Purpose.† Propose that the use of carefully designed graphics on websites makes them more appealing and easier to browse than those with text.

Globalization and African Education Research Paper

Globalization and African Education - Research Paper Example The evaluation of the degree of globalization forms the discussion content to this essay. The basic aspects of argument include the changing population development and settlement expansion. Globalization effects attract the world attention as a widely debated issue. This forms significance in the world affairs through spiking passionate critics and cohorts. This paper aims to survey the varying facets and complex matters within globalization. This context also presents the debates on the global economy with translated implications for the contemporary society. Â  Globalization entails about five core primary economic aspects. The economic dimensions include employment, investments, abet, population migration and thoughts. The evaluation of the facts presents a direct connection to the alleviation of global poverty. Globalization also relates to cultural influence and political impacts. The cultural view depicts the developing apprehension between amalgamation and separation. This forms the basis of international relations with relevance to population growth and impact. Economic globalization affects the environment within the population establishment scale. This emerges from rising concentration of the atmospheric pollutants. Higher levels of these pollutants damage ozone layers. The resultant effects result in inconsistent climatic changes and global warming. The developing trade issue point to the changing trends in global status. Recent years depict a change in the gaps between rich countries and poor nations. This assessment builds gr ound from the human progression index. The increasing range in longevity and expansion translate to a gap between capital incomes.

Social impact of Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social impact of Facebook - Essay Example Likewise, Wilson (2009) reported in The Australian that the negative effect of Facebook in students grades is due to putting off schoolwork; because of the addictive nature of scrolling through photos, reacting to messages and viewing video clips, a student’s attention is diverted from his schoolwork onto Facebook skimming without noticing the passing of time. While many studies prove the negative impact of Facebook on grades, there are, however, also those that disprove this relationship. A more recent study by Pasek, More and Hargittai (2009) found that based on data gathered from a nationally representative sample of American 14- to 22-year-olds, there was no significant relationship between the use of Facebook and the level of grades and that changes in academic performance were no different from non-users. The Pasek study noted that â€Å"if anything, Facebook is more common among individuals with higher grades†. Those who have formed an obsession with the service and are constantly connected to it could not be healthy nor helpful to a student’s studies, but anything overdone is likely to be harmful. Used in moderation as it was intended to be used, there is little connection between grades and the usage of Facebook. There are other broader effects that the use of Facebook has not only on students but society in general. It seems that the particular attraction of Facebook compared to other online services is the relative lack of commercial advertisements, making the interaction feel personal (McConnell, 2009).

Critical analysis of minimum wage Research Paper

Critical analysis of minimum wage - Research Paper Example Definition of Minimum Wage The minimum wage is the lowest level of pay that an employer can pay to the employees as stipulated by law. It is defined by the International Labor Organization as â€Å"the lowest level of remuneration †¦ which each country has the force of law and which is enforceable under threat of penal and other appropriate sanctions. Minimum wages fixed by collective agreements made binding by public authorities are included in this definition†1. This indicates that the minimum wage is the level of pay or compensation given by employers to their employees as stipulated by the laws of the land. The minimum wage is included in the laws of a given nation and it has the force of law. Hence, if an employer decides to pay his employees below the lowest minimum wage level, the government and law enforcement authorities can take action against the employer and subject him to prosecution. The minimum wage include wages that are fixed by collective agreements. Thi s include various interest groups and stakeholders who come together to fix the minimum wage through various agreements. Once the government gives it the assent, it becomes law and no employer can pay a salary below the minimum wage. The minimum wage is the price floor that sets the minimum hourly rate for employees2. The minimum wage is meant to promote equal opportunities in a country and help to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. There are two main implications of the minimum wage3. First of all, it is a way of fighting poverty because it guarantees the price floor, below which it would be illegal to pay an employee. In other words, it prevents employers from exploiting the extremely poor people in society. This is because such persons are vulnerable and are willing to do almost anything to get paid and to survive. Hence, they are susceptible to manipulation and exploitation by the rich employers. Due to this, the minimum wage is seen as a tool that is used by the gove rnment to prevent the poor and the less skilled from being exploited by the rich capitalists and business owners. On the other hand, it can reduce employment amongst the low-skilled since there is the tendency that businesses would fold up when they are forced to pay a minimum wage. In effect, there is the risk that more low-skilled persons could get out of work due to the minimum wage. Thus, a government would need to blend the two implications and come up with an appropriate minimum wage that would protect the rights of the extremely poor in society and also prevent job losses in the economy. History of the Minimum Wage The minimum wage was established in the laws of the United States through the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 19384. This law is described as the basis and the bedrock of labor protection regulations and social welfare provisions for the less skilled workers. This is because it came into force to protect the American people who were less skilled and stood the gr eatest risk of being exploited by their employers. In effect, the Act was issued to protect the least powerful section of the United States' society. This protected them from exploitation by their respective employers. The FISA was meant to cover full time and part time workers in private sector, federal, state and local government positions throughout America. This means that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 was designed to have a universal application and it

MNEs and Globalizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MNEs and Globalizations - Essay Example Global marketing means a fully integrated worldwide strategy based on consistent brand selling. These companies are progressive. The dynamic forces inherent in all progressive companies are logically directed toward growth and expansion. When the opportunities for growth become limited in domestic markets, for whatever reason, there is no place to turn but to foreign areas. Controlling the far-flung global corporation-communicating with distributors and suppliers, operating 24 hours a day in different national environments, servicing local and international reporting needs-is a major business challenge that requires powerful information system responses (Buckley & Ghauri, 1999). Contemporary developments show that MNEs is that part of the process of global management that is concerned with the maintenance of human relationships and ensuring the physical well being of employees so that they give the maximum contribution to efficient working. Back in the industrialized nations, however, there is an increasing sense of social distress as workers see their plants close and jobs shipped out of the country. Also, MNEs support cultural globalization and integration dictating new patterns of consumption and buying. For instance, McDonald's Corporation is one of the best examples of MNE's impact on the global scale. ... Fried chicken is on the menu in many Asian countries. Other offerings include banana fruit pies in Latin America, Kiwiburger (served with beet root sauce) in New Zealand, beer in Germany, McSpaghetti noodles and a sweeter Burger McDo in the Philippines. In some countries, McDonald's changes its food preparation methods to comply with religious customs. This consumption culture creates new forms of control known as 'global colonialism' (Banerjee & Linstead, 2001, p. 683). MNEs created standardized products driving value and customer's taste. For many MNEs, the changing environment combines elements of both new products and HRM policies aimed to improve organizational performance and global position. The process of global HRM, however, is typically much more complex, and interesting, than traditional one. MNEs must deal with a number of key differences in foreign environments as compared to home environments (Black, 1999). The improvement of economic and social well-being is influenced by the simultaneous interaction of political, social, economic, and cultural factors-the level of resource endowment, the extent of industrialization, prevailing cultural norms about family size, and the ability and willingness of governments to make often politically costly development decisions. Also involved is the degree of penetration of rich countries in the economies of poor countries. According to Lodge & Wilson (2006): "MNC involvement is crucial to poverty reduction for two reasons: the reduction of poverty depends on the growth of business, and poverty reduction requires systemic change, and MNCs are the world's most efficient and sustainable engines of change". Meanwhile, a dispersal of productive wealth is

Egypt and Mesopotamia Comparison Essay Example for Free

Egypt and Mesopotamia Comparison Essay Egypt and Mesopotamia not only differed in their trade and culture, but also in their politics and form of government. Despite the differences though, one is able to notice several similarities between the two civilizations. First of all, Mesopotamia was ruled by kings and queens and nobles could usually attain power as they attained a higher economic status. In Egypt, it was the pharaohs who the authoritive power. In Mesopotamia, the state also had supreme power in the economy and agricultural affairs. Pharaohs were the supreme judges and law makers, as were kings in Mesopotamia. They did have advisors and religion influenced their policies, for example, religion in Egypt is the bureaucracy and actions as did in Mesopotamian civilizations. An example of how morals had an influence in the Mesopotamian laws and policies is Mesopotamian king Hammurabi’s Codes Laws on family relationships. In these codes relied heavily on the principle of lex talionis, or â€Å"the law of retaliation† basically meaning an eye for an eye. Egyptian law was based on truth, order, balance and justice in the universe. This concept allowed that everyone, with the exception of slaves, should be viewed as equals under the law. One can notice, however, that when Egyptians carried out punishment in their people, they would be relatively unfair. Both civilizations had politics centered around cities or populated areas. This is true because areas or centers that were more populated were more likely to support differences in ideologies, so there would tend to be more conflicts requiring a higher authorative power. The people of these two civilizations were pretty loyal to the policies, especially when they considered the consequences that they would face if they didn’t. For pharaohs in Egypt, their successors were usually their offspring and they carried the empire. In many Mesopotamians though, the kings that ruled didn’t necessarily have to be relatives of the previous kings, though they did take the ways of ruling of the previous kings to learn from them and make sure to be more efficient, as did the pharaohs.

Computers Insiders Threat

Computers Insiders Threat While attacks on computers by outside intruders are more publicized, attacks perpetrated by insiders are very common and often more damaging. Insiders represent the greatest threat to computer security because they understand their organizations business and how their computer systems work. They have both the confidentiality and access to perform these attacks. An inside attacker will have a higher probability of successfully breaking into the system and extracting critical information. The insiders also represent the greatest challenge to securing the company network because they are authorized a level of access to the file system and granted a degree of trust. A system administrator angered by his diminished role in a thriving defense manufacturing firm whose computer network he alone had developed and managed, centralized the software that supported the companys manufacturing processes on a single server, and then intimidated a coworker into giving him the only backup tapes for that software. Following the system administrators termination for inappropriate and abusive treatment of his coworkers, a logic bomb previously planted by the insider detonated, deleting the only remaining copy of the critical software from the companys server. The company estimated the cost of damage in excess of $10 million, which led to the layoff of some 80 employees. An application developer, who lost his IT sector job as a result of company downsizing, expressed his displeasure at being laid off just prior to the Christmas holidays by launching a systematic attack on his former employers computer network. Three weeks following his termination, the insider used the username and password of one of his former coworkers to gain remote access to the network and modify several of the companys web pages, changing text and inserting pornographic images. He also sent each of the companys customers an email message advising that the website had been hacked. Each email message also contained that customers usernames and passwords for the website. An investigation was initiated, but it failed to identify the insider as the perpetrator. A month and a half later, he again remotely accessed the network, executed a script to reset all network passwords and changed 4,000 pricing records to reflect bogus information. This former employee ultimately was identified as the perpetrator and prosecuted. He was sentenced to serve five months in prison and two years on supervised probation, and ordered to pay $48,600 restitution to his former employer. A city government employee who was passed over for promotion to finance director retaliated by deleting files from his and a coworkers computers the day before the new finance director took office. An investigation identified the disgruntled employee as the perpetrator of the incident. City government officials disagreed with the primary police detective on the case as to whether all of the deleted files were recovered. No criminal charges were filed, and, under an agreement with city officials, the employee was allowed to resign. These incidents of sabotage were all committed by â€Å"insiders:† individuals who were, or previously had been, authorized to use the information systems they eventually employed to perpetrate harm. Insiders pose a substantial threat by virtue of their knowledge of, and access to, employer systems and/or databases. Keeney, M., et al (2005) The Nature of Security Threats The greatest threat to computer systems and information comes from humans, through actions that are either malicious or ignorant 3 . Attackers, trying to do harm, exploit vulnerabilities in a system or security policy employing various methods and tools to achieve their aims. Attackers usually have a motive to disrupt normal business operations or to steal information. The above diagram is depicts the types of security threats that exist. The diagram depicts the all threats to the computer systems but main emphasis will be on malicious â€Å"insiders†. The greatest threat of attacks against computer systems are from â€Å"insiders† who know the codes and security measures that are in place 45. With very specific objectives, an insider attack can affect all components of security. As employees with legitimate access to systems, they are familiar with an organizations computer systems and applications. They are likely to know what actions cause the most damage and how to get away with it undetected. Considered members of the family, they are often above suspicion and the last to be considered when systems malfunction or fail. Disgruntled employees create mischief and sabotage against systems. Organizational downsizing in both public and private sectors has created a group of individuals with significant knowledge and capabilities for ma licious activities 6 and revenge. Contract professionals and foreign nationals either brought into the U.S. on work visas to meet labor shortages or from offshore outsourcing projects are also included in this category of knowledgeable insiders. Common Insider Threat Common cases of computer-related employee sabotage include: changing data; deleting data; destroying data or programs with logic bombs; crashing systems; holding data hostage; destroying hardware or facilities; entering data incorrectly, exposing sensitive and embarrassing proprietary data to public view such as the salaries of top executives. Insiders can plant viruses, Trojan horses or worms, browse through file systems or program malicious code with little chance of detection and with almost total impunity. A 1998 FBI Survey 7 investigating computer crime found that of the 520 companies consulted, 64% had reported security breaches for a total quantifiable financial loss of $136 millions. (See chart) The survey also found that the largest number of breaches were by unauthorized insider access and concluded that these figures were very conservative as most companies were unaware of malicious activities or reluctant to report breaches for fear of negative press. The survey reported that the average cost of an attack by an outsider (hacker) at $56,000, while the average insider attack cost a company in excess $2.7 million. It found that hidden costs associated with the loss in staff hours, legal liability, loss of proprietary information, decrease in productivity and the potential loss of credibility were impossible to quantify accurately. Employees who have caused damage have used their knowledge and access to information resources for a range of motives, including greed, revenge for perceived grievances, ego gratification, resolution of personal or professional problems, to protect or advance their careers, to challenge their skill, express anger, impress others, or some combination of these concerns. Insider Characteristics The majority of the insiders were former employees. †¢ At the time of the incident, 59% of the insiders were former employees or contractors of the affected organizations and 41% were current employees or contractors. †¢ The former employees or contractors left their positions for a variety of reasons. These included the insiders being fired (48%), resigning (38%), and being laid off (7%). Most insiders were either previously or currently employed full-time in a technical position within the organization. †¢ Most of the insiders (77%) were full-time employees of the affected organizations, either before or during the incidents. Eight percent of the insiders worked part-time, and an additional 8% had been hired as contractors or consultants. Two (4%) of the insiders worked as temporary employees, and one (2%) was hired as a subcontractor. †¢ Eighty-six percent of the insiders were employed in technical positions, which included system administrators (38%), programmers (21%), engineers (14%), and IT specialists (14%). Of the insiders not holding technical positions, 10% were employed in a professional position, which included, among others, insiders employed as editors, managers, and auditors. An additional two insiders (4%) worked in service positions, both of whom worked as customer service representatives. Insiders were demographically varied with regard to age, racial and ethnic background, gender, and marital status. The insiders ranged in age from 17 to 60 years (mean age = 32 years)17 and represented a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Ninety-six percent of the insiders were male. Forty-nine percent of the insiders were married at the time of the incident, while 45% were single, having never married, and 4% were divorced. Just under one-third of the insiders had an arrest history. Thirty percent of the insiders had been arrested previously, including arrests for violent offenses (18%), alcohol or drug related offenses (11%), and nonfinancial/ fraud related theft offenses (11%). Organization Characteristics The incidents affected organizations in the following critical infrastructure sectors: †¢ banking and finance (8%) †¢ continuity of government (16%) †¢ defense industrial base (2%) †¢ food (4%) †¢ information and telecommunications (63%) †¢ postal and shipping (2%) †¢ public health (4%) In all, 82% of the affected organizations were in private industry, while 16% were government entities. Sixty-three percent of the organizations engaged in domestic activity only, 2% engaged in international activity only, and 35% engaged in activity both domestically and internationally. What motivate insiders? Internal attackers attempt to break into computer networks for many reasons. The subject has been fruitfully studied and internal attackers are used to be motivated with the following reasons [BSB03]: †¢ Challenge Many internal attackers initially attempt to break into networks for the challenge. A challenge combines strategic and tactical thinking, patience, and mental strength. However, internal attackers motivated by the challenge of breaking into networks often do not often think about their actions as criminal. For example, an internal attack can be the challenge to break into the mail server in order to get access to different emails of any employee. †¢ Revenge Internal attackers motivated by revenge have often ill feelings toward employees of the same company. These attackers can be particularly dangerous, because they generally focus on a single target, and they generally have patience. In the case of revenge, attackers can also be former employees that feel that they have been wrongfully fired. For example, a former employee may be motivated to launch an attack to the company in order to cause financial losses. †¢ Espionage Internal attackers motivated by espionage, steal confidential information for a third party. In general, two types of espionage exists: Industrial espionage Industrial espionage means that a company may pay its own employees in order to break into the networks of its competitors or business partners. The company may also hire someone else to do this. International espionage International espionage means that attackers work for governments and steal confidential information for other governments. Definitions of insider threat 1) The definition of insider threat should encompass two main threat actor categories and five general categories of activities. The first actor category, the â€Å"true insider,† is defined as any entity (person, system, or code) authorized by command and control elements to access network, system, or data. The second actor category, the â€Å"pseudo-insider,† is someone who, by policy, is not authorized the accesses, roles, and/or permissions they currently have but may have gotten them inadvertently or through malicious activities. The activities of both fall into five general categories: exceeds given network, system or data permissions; conducts malicious activity against or across the network, system or data; provided unapproved access to the network, system or data; circumvents security controls or exploits security weaknesses to exceed authorized permitted activity or disguise identify; or non-maliciously or unintentionally damages resources (network, system or data) by destruction, corruption, denial of access, or disclosure. (Presented at the University of Louisville Cyber Securitys Day, October 2006) 2) Insiders — employees, contractors, consultants, and vendors — pose as great a threat to an organizations security posture as outsiders, including hackers. Few organizations have implemented the policies, procedures, tools, or strategies to effectively address their insider threats. An insider threat assessment is a recommended first step for many organizations, followed by policy review, and employee awareness training. (Insider Threat Management Presented by infoLock Technologies) 3)Employees are an organizations most important asset. Unfortunately, they also present the greatest security risks. Working and communicating remotely, storing sensitive data on portable devices such as laptops, PDAs, thumb drives, and even iPods employees have extended the security perimeter beyond safe limits. While convenient access to data is required for operational efficiency, the actions of trusted insiders not just employees, but consultants, contactors, vendors, and partners must be actively managed, audited, and monitored in order to protect sensitive data. (Presented by infoLock Technologies) 4) The diversity of cyber threat has grown over time from network-level attacks and password cracking to include newer classes such as insider attacks, email worms and social engineering, which are currently recognized as serious security problems. However, attack modeling and threat analysis tools have not evolved at the same rate. Known formal models such as attack graphs perform action-centric vulnerability modeling and analysis. All possible atomic user actions are represented as states, and sequences which lead to the violation of a specie safety property are extracted to indicate possible exploits. (Ramkumar Chinchani, Anusha Iyer, Hung Ngo, Shambhu Upadhyaya) 5) The Insider Threat Study, conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and Carnegie Mellon Universitys Software Engineering Institute CERT Program, analyzed insider cyber crimes across U.S. critical infrastructure sectors. The study indicates that management decisions related to organizational and employee performance sometimes yield unintended consequences magnifying risk of insider attack. Lack of tools for understanding insider threat, analyzing risk mitigation alternatives, and communicating results exacerbates the problem. (Dawn M. Cappelli, Akash G. Desai) 6) The insider threat or insider problem is cited as the most serious security problem in many studies. It is also considered the most difficult problem to deal with, because an insider has information and capabilities not known to other, external attackers. But the studies rarely define what the insider threat is, or define it nebulously. The difficulty in handling the insider threat is reasonable under those circumstances; if one cannot define a problem precisely, how can one approach a solution, let alone know when the problem is solved? (Matt Bishop 2005) Five common insider threat Exploiting information via remote access software A considerable amount of insider abuse is performed offsite via remote access software such as Terminal Services, Citrix and GoToMyPC. Simply put, users are less likely to be caught stealing sensitive information when they can it do offsite. Also, inadequately protected remote computers may turn up in the hands of a third-party if the computer is left unattended, lost or stolen. 2.) Sending out information via e-mail and instant messaging Sensitive information can simply be included in or attached to an e-mail or IM. Although this is a serious threat, its also one of the easiest to eliminate. 3.) Sharing sensitive files on P2P networks Whether or not you allow peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Kazaa or IM on your network, odds are its there and waiting to be abused. The inanimate software in and of itself is not the problem its how its used that causes trouble. All it takes is a simple misconfiguration to serve up your networks local and network drives to the world. 4.) Careless use of wireless networks Perhaps the most unintentional insider threat is that of insecure wireless network usage. Whether its at a coffee shop, airport or hotel, unsecured airwaves can easily put sensitive information in jeopardy. All it takes is a peek into e-mail communications or file transfers for valuable data to be stolen. Wi-Fi networks are most susceptible to these attacks, but dont overlook Bluetooth on smartphones and PDAs. Also, if you have WLANs inside your organization, employees could use it to exploit the network after hours. 5.) Posting information to discussion boards and blogs Quite often users post support requests, blogs or other work-related messages on the Internet. Whether intentional or not, this can include sensitive information and file attachments that put your organization at risk. Views of different authors about insider threat 1) Although insiders in this report tended to be former technical employees, there is no demographic â€Å"profile† of a malicious insider. Ages of perpetrators ranged from late teens to retirement. Both men and women were malicious insiders. Their positions included programmers, graphic artists, system and network administrators, managers, and executives. They were currently employed and recently terminated employees, contractors, and temporary employees. As such, security awareness training needs to encourage employees to identify malicious insiders by behavior, not by stereotypical characteristics. For example, behaviors that should be a source of concern include making threats against the organization, bragging about the damage one could do to the organization, or discussing plans to work against the organization. Also of concern are attempts to gain other employees passwords and to fraudulently obtain access through trickery or exploitation of a trusted relationship. Insiders can be stopped, but stopping them is a complex problem. Insider attacks can only be prevented through a layered defense strategy consisting of policies, procedures, and technical controls. Therefore, management must pay close attention to many aspects of its organization, including its business policies and procedures, organizational culture, and technical environment. Organizations must look beyond information technology to the organizations overall business processes and the interplay between those processes and the technologies used. (Michelle Keeney, J.D., Ph.D. atal 2005) 2) While attacks on computers by outside intruders are more publicized, attacks perpetrated by insiders are very common and often more damaging. Insiders represent the greatest threat to computer security because they understand their organizations business and how their computer systems work. They have both the confidentiality and access to perform these attacks. An inside attacker will have a higher probability of successfully breaking into the system and extracting critical information. The insiders also represent the greatest challenge to securing the company network because they are authorized a level of access to the file system and granted a degree of trust. (Nam Nguyen and Peter Reiher, Geoffrey H. Kuenning) 3) Geographically distributed information systems achieve high availability that is crucial to their usefulness by replicating their state. Providing instant access at time of need regardless of current network connectivity requires the state to be replicated in every geographical site so that it is locally available. As network environments become increasingly hostile, we have to assume that part of the distributed information system will be compromised at some point. The problem of maintaining a replicated state in such a system is magnified when insider (or Byzantine) attacks are taken into account. (Yair Amir Cristina Nita-Rotaru) 4) In 2006, over 60% of information security breaches were attributable to insider behavior, yet more than 80% of corporate IT security budgets were spent on securing perimeter defenses against outside attack. Protecting against insider threats means managing policy, process, technology, and most importantly, people. Protecting against insider threats means managing policy, process, technology, and most importantly, people.The Insider Threat Assessment security awareness training, infrastructure reconfiguration, or third party solutions, you can take comfort in knowing that you have made the right choice to improve your security posture, and you will achieve your expected Return on Security Investment. (Presented by infoLock Technologies) 5) The threat of attack from insiders is real and substantial. The 2004 ECrime Watch Survey TM conducted by the United States Secret Service, CERT  ® Coordination Center (CERT/CC), and CSO Magazine, 1 found that in cases where respondents could identify the perpetrator of an electronic crime, 29 percent were committed by insiders. The impact from insider attacks can be devastating. One complex case of financial fraud committed by an insider in a financial institution resulted in losses of over $600 million. 2 Another case involving a logic bomb written by a technical employee working for a defense contractor resulted in $10 million in losses and the layoff of 80 employees. (Dawn Cappelli, Andrew Moore, Timothy Shimeall,2005) 6) Insiders, by virtue of legitimate access to their organizations information, systems, and networks, pose a significant risk to employers. Employees experiencing financial problems have found it easy to use the systems they use at work everyday to commit fraud. Other employees, motivated by financial problems, greed, or the wish to impress a new employer, have stolen confidential data, proprietary information, or intellectual property from their employer. Lastly, technical employees, possibly the most dangerous because of their intimate knowledge of an organizations vulnerabilities, have used their technical ability to sabotage their employers system or network in revenge for some negative work-related event. (Dawn M. Cappelli, Akash G. Desai ,at al 2004) 7) The insider problem is considered the most difficult and critical problem in computer security. But studies that survey the seriousness of the problem, and research that analyzes the problem, rarely define the problem precisely. Implicit definitions vary in meaning. Different definitions imply different countermeasures, as well as different assumptions. (Matt Bishop 2005) Solution: User monitoring Insiders have two things that external attackers dont: privileged access and trust. This allows them to bypass preventative measures, access mission-critical assets, and conduct malicious acts all while flying under the radar unless a strong incident detection solution is in place. A number of variables motivate insiders, but the end result is that they can more easily perpetrate their crimes than an outsider who has limited access. Insiders can directly damage your business resulting in lost revenue, lost customers, reduced shareholder faith, a tarnished reputation, regulatory fines and legal fees. With such an expansive threat, organizations need an automated solution to help detect and analyze malicious insider activity. These are some points which could be helpful in monitoring and minimizing the insider threats: Detecting insider activity starts with an expanded log and event collection. Firewalls, routers and intrusion detection systems are important, but they are not enough. Organizations need to look deeper to include mission critical applications such as email applications, databases, operating systems, mainframes, access control solutions, physical security systems as well as identity and content management products. Correlation: identifying known types of suspicious and malicious behavior Anomaly detection: recognizing deviations from norms and baselines. Pattern discovery: uncovering seemingly unrelated events that show a pattern of suspicious activity From case management, event annotation and escalation to reporting, auditing and access to insider-relevant information, the technical solution must be in line with the organizations procedures. This will ensure that insiders are addressed consistently, efficiently and effectively regardless of who they are. Identify suspicious user activity patterns and identify anomalies. Visually track and create business-level reports on users activity. Automatically escalate the threat levels of suspicious and malicious individuals. Respond according to your specific and unique corporate governing guidelines. Early detection of insider activity based on early warning indicators of suspicious behavior, such as: Stale or terminated accounts Excessive file printing, unusual printing times and keywords printed Traffic to suspicious destinations Unauthorized peripheral device access Bypassing security controls Attempts to alter or delete system logs Installation of malicious software The Insider Threat Study? The global acceptance, business adoption and growth of the Internet, and of Internetworking technologies in general, in response to customer requests for online access to business information systems, has ushered in an extraordinary expansion of electronic business transactions. In moving from internal (closed) business systems to open systems, the risk of malicious attacks and fraudulent activity has increased enormously, thereby requiring high levels of information security. Prior to the requirement for online, open access, the information security budget of a typical company was less then their tea and coffee expenses. Securing cyberspace has become a national priority. In The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the Presidents Critical Infrastructure Protection Board identified several critical infrastructure sectors10: banking and finance information and telecommunications transportation postal and shipping emergency services continuity of government public health Universities chemical industry, textile industry and hazardous materials agriculture defense industrial base The cases examined in the Insider Threat Study are incidents perpetrated by insiders (current or former employees or contractors) who intentionally exceeded or misused an authorized level of network, system, or data access in a manner that affected the security of the organizations data, systems, or daily business operations. Incidents included any compromise, manipulation of, unauthorized access to, exceeding authorized access to, tampering with, or disabling of any information system, network, or data. The cases examined also included any in which there was an unauthorized or illegal attempt to view, disclose, retrieve, delete, change, or add information. A completely secure, zero risk system is one which has zero functionality. Latest technology high-performance automated systems bring with them new risks in the shape of new attacks, new viruses and new software bugs, etc. IT Security, therefore, is an ongoing process. Proper risk management keeps the IT Security plans, policies and procedures up to date as per new requirements and changes in the computing environment. To implement controls to counter risks requires policies, and policy can only be implemented successfully if the top management is committed. And policys effective implementation is not possible without the training and awareness of staff. The State Bank of Pakistan recognizes that financial industry is built around the sanctity of the financial transactions. Owing to the critical role of financial institutions for a country and the extreme sensitivity of their information assets, the seriousness of IT Security and the ever-increasing threats it faces in todays open world cannot be overstated. As more and more of our Banking Operations and products services become technology driven and dependent, consequently our reliance on these technology assets increases, and so does the need to protect and safeguard these resources to ensure smooth functioning of the financial industry. Here are different area in which we can work and check insider threat, but I chose textile industry as in textile industry there is less awareness of the insider threat. If an insider attack in an industry then industrialist try to cover up this news as these types of news about an industry can damage the reputation of the industry. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITRATURE S, Axelsson. ,(2000) Anonymous 2001 Continuity of operations and correct functioning of information systems is important to most businesses. Threats to computerised information and process are threats to business quality and effectiveness. The objective of IT security is to put measures in place which eliminate or reduce significant threats to an acceptable level. Security and risk management are tightly coupled with quality management. Security measures should be implemented based on risk analysis and in harmony with Quality structures, processes and checklists. What needs to be protected, against whom and how? Security is the protection of information, systems and services against disasters, mistakes and manipulation so that the likelihood and impact of security incidents is minimised. IT security is comprised of: Confidentiality: Sensitive business objects (information processes) are disclosed only to authorised persons. ==> Controls are required to restrict access to objects. Integrity: The business need to control modification to objects (information and processes). ==> Controls are required to ensure objects are accurate and complete.

Chinas Relationship with North Korea

Chinas Relationship with North Korea Table of Contents: Introduction Hypothesis statement Research Questions Literature Review Theoretical framework (Defensive Realism-Kenneth Waltz) Sino-Korean alliance Mutual gain between China and North Korea Beijing’s influence Conclusion Introduction: North Korea is the state that is being considered as the most isolated state in the world. China is the only state that is supporting North Korea since Korean War. At the period of Korean War USSR and China backed North Korea. South Korea and North Korea are on the same peninsula whereas; North Korea shares its borders with China, Russia, Japan and Mongolia but does not have good relations with any state except China. Trade impediments have been put on North Korea but China supported them throughout and acknowledged as the biggest trade partner of North Korea. During the Korean War, Soviet Union provided military assistance to North Korea but circumstances are quite different now. As we are living in unipolar world and US is the super power, China is threat to US because of its emerging economic and military power. US supported South Korea in Korean War and they still have ample relations with each other. The reason of fragmentation of Korea is shift in ideology, North Korea was a Co mmunist state and that is again a threat to US because US didn’t want several states that follow Communism. On the other hand China was and still is a Communist state and a cause of having a soft corner for North Korea. South Korea is the Democratic state and has been backed by US. [1] China is aiding Pyongyang in terms of both soft power and hard power but does not want them to have their own military weapon. Proliferation of Nuclear weapon may lead towards unhealthy relations between China and North Korea and off course US silently supporting this particular act of China against North Korea. From 2006-2013 Pyongyang’s tried Nuclear Tests for the three times but it turned relations in tensed situation and settled afterwards when North Korea agreed on denuclearization at Six Table Talks. For now North Korea does not afford disturbed relations with China because it’s the only state that is providing economic and military trade to them. When Korea split North Korea had better economy and GDP than South Korea but now South Korea is more developed and flourished because of Democracy and support of US whereas North Korea being the follower of Communism and have Dictatorship has poor economy plus have non friendly relations with its neighbors. [2] Hypothesis: North Koreas alliance is important to Beijing as an important tool of balancing power in the region with the US its allies, especially South Korea rising Japan. Research Questions: The purpose of the study is to find out the answers of these questions: Why North Korea is important for China in the regional context of Asia Pacific? Will Sino-Korean alliance be able to balance power with the United States its allies in the region? What is the Western Perception of Sino-Korean alliance? Literature review: As China and North Korea’s relationship is one of the ongoing debates for the world since Korean War so scholars like to write about it and by giving different analysis on the particular issue makes the topic more interesting. The Congressional Report has been published on December 2010 by Dick. K. Nanto and Mark. E. Manyin. The main crux of the report was that US being the opponent of China still highlighted the mutual interests of China’s foreign policy towards North Korea. The reason behind that is China wants to see North Korea as a stabilized state in terms of strong economy but does not want North Korea to become a Nuclear power and this is the point where US is with China. The Book â€Å"North Korea and North East Asia† edited by Samuel. S Kim and Tai Hwan Lee talks about Beijing’s continuous support to Pyongyang is its own interest because if it will stop the economic assistance to North Korea, then the complete dependence on China would affect the economy of China as well. Weak economy of North Korea means less job opportunities and facilities of life. As North Koreans are not in good terms with their neighbors except China they will start moving towards it, this fear is making China to provide soft power to North Korea so they stay in their own state and not become the refuges of China. There is a report from Washington named as China’s North Korean Policy by Gates Bill published in 2011 and another report â€Å"Balancing Chinese interests on North Korea and Iran† by Lora Saalman (April 21013). In this report author has discussed that US, South Korea and Japan are allies but somehow they are agreeing on China’s foreign policy towards North Korea as it discussed about: To stable the regime and political system of North Korea Development of their economy A book called â€Å"China and North Korea† by Andrew Scobell has discussed what terror PRC and DPRK faced after 9/11. In China’s point of view after Iraq it was North Korea’s turn to be attacked by US so in that case it was imperative for both states to come together on one table and maintain their National Security, the article China’s North Korean Pivot published in 2013 by Yoon Young-Kwan added that China’s perception was that Pyongyang’s would agree on the issue of denuclearization when Prime Minister Wen Jibao visited North Korea in October 2009 and made sure the continuity of economic services. Theory: Defensive Realism-Kenneth Waltz In this study, I have applied the defensive realism school of thought. Defensive realist basically believes that power is the most important element in the international relations. Also, defensive realists argue that states are genuinely obsessed with security because they feel insecure and thus always seek to maximize its security capabilities. This is how China is developing and maintaining its relations with other states including North Korea in the region. China is insecure and doesn’t trust US and its allies, and with the growing US presence in the Asia Pacific region in return has increased China’s concerns, thus China is seeking to find a way to balance the power by supporting US rival North Korea. Sino-Korean alliance As it is observed that China is of the strongest allied state of North-Korea, few things are being come under consideration in last few years. Some tensions have been occurred between China and North Korea relationship due to continuous nuclear development by North Korea, China and US are on the same platform to stop North Korea to become a Nuclear power. It is thought that US partnership towards North East Asia is a gateway to bring stability in Korea peninsula. Since Obama’s pivot to Asia the previous policy (regional partnership) has been confronted, and the changing policy of US is creating suspicion among Chinese Government. North Korea’s approach is aggressive towards China and US, now North Korea is applying realistic approach as according to North Korea US is the only actor with maximum nuclear power and Pyongyang is trying to balance the power by developing their own Nuclear weapons. U.S-China policies are divergent in key areas such as anti-terror and anti WMD institutes, democracy and human rights. The U.S alliance system and the U.N system contribute on stable patterns of power balancing in Asia-Pacific. I conclude that Sino-U.S policies on the regional order result in patterns of power balancing not undermined by co-existence and order that may be called â€Å"Stable Instability†, because it is likely to remain in place as the regional order of the Asia-Pacific for the foreseeable future. Western perception of Sino-Korean alliance Since China is the biggest trade partner of North Korea but its policy towards denuclearization of North Korea is very clear and supports US on this particular issue. Though US consider China as a threat but also realize that China is only providing soft power to North Korea and has a very firm stance on the issue of denuclearization of North Korea. At the start of the Obama’s administration first term in 2009, there were many expectations that the United States must pursue direct talks with North Korea in order to break a two decade long standoff over its nuclear program. President Obama promised in his inaugural address that he would offer an outstretched hand to those who will unclench their fists. Making a public offer to dictatorial states of willingness to abandon adversarial relations.[3] However North Korea responded to this offer with a multi-stage rocket launch and a nuclear test in April and May 2009.These actions meant that president Obama’s first North Korea related policy decisions would be defined by the need to uphold the international non-proliferation regime against North Korea’s challenge and would involve winning international support for sanctions against North Korea at United Nations security council. The resulting UNSC resolution 1874 condemned North Korea’s nuclear and multi stage rocket tests and subjected suspected North Korea related shipments to international inspections. [4] By the time Obama’s administration had the political space to pursue direct dialogue with North Korea; it had decided on an approach that secretory of United State Clinton described as strategic pastime in close consultants with our six party allies. The emphasis alliances coordination has been the first principle of any Obama administration discussion policy towards North Korea and it was greatly aided by the fact that Obama and Lee Myung-bak (former ruler of South Asia) administrations largely saw eye to eye on the priority and importance of North Korea’s denuclearization.[5] The policy of â€Å"strategic patience†, a policy that suggested that the U.S could offend to wait for North Korea to make its decision to denuclearize, aligned well with political reality in light of North Korea’s alleged sinky of a Korean warship and shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeons Island in March and November 2010. The Obama administration held three rounds of direct talks with North Korean counterparts from July 2011 to February 2012. The U.S intended these statements to bind North Korea from provocative actions such as nuclear and missile tests and to secure Pyongyang’s commitment to return to the path of denuclearization, but they were upended less than three weeks after they were announced by North Korea’s March 16, 2012 announcement of its failed 12 April 2012 satellite launch. Thus, the Obama’s first term policy toward North Korea involved a mix of elements, including a strong commitment to coordination among some South Korean and Japanese allies, continued adherence to the objective of North Korea’s denuclearization. The Obama administration also involved a â€Å"rebalancing† policy towards Asia, popularly known as pivot to Asia. This policy strengthens U.S political, economic and military participation in and commitment to Asia, both through a host of bilateral dialogues with China that cover a wide range of economic and strategic issues and through a variety of hedging me asures designed to shape China’s rise, limit the affects of assertive Chinese policies and assure that China’s rise will not result in regional instability. This debate provides a backdrop to consider prospects for Sino-U.S cooperation on policy toward North Korea and highlights Chinese wariness and strategic mistrust of U.S policy intentions.[6] Mutual Gain North Korea is economically dependent on China. China is its major food source and the North Korea’s dependency on china is increasing day by day as its export is less than its import. It is not only North Korea that is benefitting from China but it’s a game of mutual gain North Korea is providing buffer zone between China and South Korea. More and more Chinese companies are investing in North Korea and gaining favorable interests. Importance of North Korea in Asia Pacific (China): Conclusion: China doesn’t believe in making alliances or allies. China only seeks mutual interests and cooperation amongst states. Also, China perceives a threat from US and its Allies and so in order to balance out, China has been supporting North Korea since the Korean War in early 1950s. Moreover, there has been a mutual gain relation between North Korea and China. North Korea’s economy is entirely dependent on China as China provided it with aid and energy supplies. Also, China is protecting and calming down its border against the Korean immigrants in China. However, China is surrounded by many challengers and so China sees North Korea as a buffer state against South Korea where 1000’s of US military troops are settled. Also, there has been a great number of investments and infra-structure building in North Korea by Chinese firms and companies. And in return China is extracting mineral resources from North Korea’s region. This way China is protecting and serving its own national interests while also helping out the North Korean interests and raising many of its people out of poverty. Bibliography A.Snyder, Scott. U.S. Policy Toward North Korea. Council on Foreign Affairs, January 2013. Armenian, Red. Soviet-Empire.com. 26 January, 2011. http://www.soviet-empire.com/ussr/viewtopic.php?t=49753start=100 (accessed April 15, 2914). Dingli, Shen. Scribd. 2006. http://www.scribd.com/doc/85548815/Coping-With-a-Nuclear-North-Korea-and-North-Koreas-Strategic-Significance-to-China (accessed April 8, 2014). G.Sutter, Robert. Scribed. 2012. http://www.scribd.com/doc/101616305/Chinese-Foreign-Relations-Power-and-Policy-since-the-Cold-War (accessed April 16, 2014). Henderson, Barney. Sreaves32. March 29, 2013. https://sreaves32.wordpress.com/category/asiapacific/south-korea/page/6/ (accessed April 6, 2014). Meredith, Charlotte. Sreaves32. April 9, 2013. http://sreaves32.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/north-korea-to-launch-missile-april-10-2013-after-warning-foreigners-to-evacuate-south/ (accessed April 5, 2014). Newsreview.com. March 15, 2014. http://www.newsreview.com/reno/newsview/blogs?date=2013-09-01?utm_source=luvcelebs.com (accessed April 10, 2014). NORTH KOREA SAYS IT WILL LAUNCH A NUCLEAR ATTACK ON THE UNITED STATES. March 11, 2013. http://sreaves32.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/north-korea-says-it-will-launch-a-nuclear-attack-on-the-united-states/ (accessed April 9, 2014). Odgard, Liselotte. The Balance of Power in Asia-Pacific Security. Routledge, January 2007. shree Bajoria, Beina Xu. Council on Foreign Relations. Febuary 18, 2014. http://www.cfr.org/china/china-north-korea-relationship/p11097 (accessed April 10, 2014). Xu, Jayshree Bajoria and Beina. Indias Strategic Studies. Febuary 21, 2013. http://strategicstudyindia.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-china-north-korea-relationship_26.html (accessed April 16, 2014). [1] Dingli, Shen. Scribd. 2006. http://www.scribd.com/doc/85548815/Coping-With-a-Nuclear-North-Korea-and-North-Koreas-Strategic-Significance-to-China (accessed April 8, 2014). [2] Armenian, Red. Soviet-Empire.com. 26 January, 2011. http://www.soviet-empire.com/ussr/viewtopic.php?t=49753start=100 (accessed April 15, 2914). [3] A.Snyder, Scott. U.S. Policy Toward North Korea. Council on Foreign Affairs, January 2013. [4] Henderson, Barney. Sreaves32. March 29, 2013. https://sreaves32.wordpress.com/category/asiapacific/south-korea/page/6/ (accessed April 6, 2014). [5] Newsreview.com. March 15, 2014. http://www.newsreview.com/reno/newsview/blogs?date=2013-09-01?utm_source=luvcelebs.com (accessed April 10, 2014). [6] A.Snyder, Scott. U.S. Policy Toward North Korea. Council on Foreign Affairs, January 2013.

Personality and Finding Out Who You Are Essay -- Personality Psycholog

Personality and Finding Out Who You Are Many people go throughout life not knowing exactly who they are. The personality of some one is who they are. Many psychologists have tried to define what they envisioned personality to be, and by analyzing their theories I will try to find out who I am. Carl Jung developed the concept of introverts and extroverts. Introverts are people who tend to be preoccupied with the internal world of their own thought, feelings, and experiences. Extroverts are people who tend to be interested in the external world of people and things. Personally I do not believe personality can be put into just two columns as Jung has filtered it into. I do not feel like I am extroverted or introverted. It all depends upon what mood and situation I am in. The Big Five theory has a better description of personality. It is based on five categories, openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Within these categories there are traits that people have, and personality can be based through the traits of the categories. I feel like this gives a better idea of some one’s personality because going through the categories I can tell that I am imaginative, conscientious, optimistic, good natured and sometimes relaxed, but also sometimes anxious. This gives a much better idea of what my personality is than saying my personality is somewhere in between introversion and extroversion. Sigmund Freud claims that personality ...

Free College Admissions Essays: A Rare Encounter :: College Admissions Essays

A Rare Encounter    Very rarely in life does one encounter an individual who impacts you in such a way that they not only become ingrained in memory, but also shape the type of person you want to become. For me, Mrs. Peggy Jeens was one of these very special and unforgettable people.    Although I only had the pleasure of knowing Mrs. Jeens for two of my high school years, she affected me in ways far beyond the educational scope. Through her teaching, she showed me what true happiness and satisfaction were. How else could anyone teach for so long and still begin each day with a smile? With exciting and thought-captivating lessons, Mrs. Jeens managed not only to pass the information along to her students, but also make them enjoy learning in such a way that they looked forward to her class every day.    Outstanding teaching abilities, although essential, are not the only characteristics of an unforgettable teacher. In order for a teacher to have that unexplainable spark, you must know them outside of the context of school and have the opportunity to see their true personalities. I was most definitely able to do this with Mrs. Jeens by accompanying her on trips to Italy, Greece, Spain, and Morocco. During these week-long trips, I was able to get to know Mrs. Jeens in a way that most students cannot. I learned that she was an incredibly generous and fun-loving individual who made each trip an exciting adventure for her students. Even though we did not always encounter the best of circumstances, Mrs. Jeens always managed to take the worst situations and make them bright.    Although I learned many things from my association with Mrs. Peggy Jeens, the one I value above all is the ability to be happy with whatever life throws at you. Mrs. Jeens always emanated a happiness that infected everyone around her through her smiles, kind words, and loving nature. It is my personal belief that the most important thing in life is to be happy, as if you are happy, you are content with your life and want for nothing.

Intertestament Period

Exploring the Bible 3 October, 2011 Inter-Biblical Period: 400 Years The Old Testament focuses on God’s covenant with his people and the stories of men of great faith and also men of prophecy, foretelling Christ coming. The New Testament, however, focuses on the redemption side. The Redemption side is Christ’s story here on Earth and his ministry to other people. Malachi, the last book written in the Old Testament, was written around 424 B. C. Then 418 years after, the book of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, was written.The Intertestamental Period is the period of history between the two testaments. Since God did not speak to his people directly through prophets, this period is also known as the 400 years of silence. Now, what happened in those four hundred years? The Intertestamental Period was a time where many empires came along, new religious groups formed, and where theological and literature pieces were developed that molded Israel going into the tim e of Christ. Politics in a nation help dictate and run the people, in Israel’s case, they had to deal with many empires coming in.During the Intertestamental Period, they had five key periods of leaders and kingdoms. The Persian Empire arrived around 430 B. C. and they ruled until 332 B. C. The Persian rule was recorded as being mild and tolerant. (Scott, 1783) The Persians were taken over by the Greeks. The Greek period went from 331 B. C. to 167 B. C. (Scott, 1783) Alexander the Great, son of King Philip of Macedonia, was given the control of the Greek army around the age of 20. (Halley, 402) With the control of the army, he was able to sweep over and take over Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia.Alexander the Great was very compassionate towards the Jews and he spared the city of Jerusalem. He established Greek cities in his conquered places and he did it with the plan to spread Greek culture and language throughout the world including Israel. After Alexander’s deat h, his empire was separated to his four generals. (Halley, 402) Egypt and Palestine was given to Ptolemy and under him the conditions of the Jews were at a peaceful state. In Egypt, Alexandria was the influential center of Judaism. In 167 B. C. was the beginning of the Period of Independence also known as the Maccabean period.Mattathias was a priest and he was upset at Antiochus motivation to destroy the Jews, so he gathered Jews and raised a revolt. Mattathias had five sons, Judas, Jonathan, Simon, John, and Elezar. (Halley, 404) The Maccabean period lasted until 63 B. C. and the Romans followed after. Palestine was conquered by the Romans under Pompey. Idumean was the first to be appointed ruler of Judea. His son, Herod the Great, succeeded him. (Halley, 404) Herod was a shrewd politician who wanted to get good with the Jews. He was very cruel and brutal towards his people.Politics and leaders are key roles in establishing a nation. In this case, these five empires helped develop rules and guidelines that led the people and that eventually grew and prepared Israel for the coming of Christ. During the 400 years of silence, religion was another area that grew in Israel. During this time, the religion was not set up was polytheistic or monotheistic but instead it was groups of people. For example the four main groups of the religions groups or parties are Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Herodians.These four groups followed what they believed and chose to do whatever they wanted to do. The Pharisees is the group most people probably know because of their role in the Gospels and the fact Paul was one. They took the Law and believed it was their job to take it and to put into new conditions. (Hester, 325-326) The accepted both the Torah and tradition. The Pharisees rejected anyone who didn’t live by the standards they did. On the opposite side were the Sadducees. They were the second main group and they had more power than the Pharisees until 70 A.D. whe n their temple was destroyed. (Hester, 325-326) The Sadducees consisted of the wealthy priests. They were a conservative group and they didn’t try to take the Law and put into a new situation but they instead took and limited themselves to the five books of Moses. After 70 A. D, the Pharisees were the leaders of the Jewish people by giving them a religious life aside from the temple. The other two parties were more political than religious groups. The Zealots were a nationalist group that opposed the Romans.Simon, one of Jesus’ disciples, was a Zealot. The other group, the Herodians, basically supported Herod and his dynasty and supported what he did for the nation. These four groups are the religious groups that developed the main teachings and guidelines people believe until Christ’s ministry began. Even though religion and politics are a big part of a civilization, another key role is the literature and writing of a nation. Literature and writing in Israel or any nation is an influential part because it is what the people follow and speak.In Israel, Hebrew was the language of the Old Testament. This was the main language of religion. Latin was the language of Roman and it was commonly spoken among the people. Greek was another language and it was the language that tied the Roman Empire together. The most common language of Palestine in Jesus’ day was Aramaic. (Halley, 410) Most writings are believed to have been written in Aramaic and translated into Greek. (Halley, 410) The Old Testament was written in Hebrew but was spoken in Greek. Septuagint is a translation of the Old Testament into Greek.The Torah was translated first. It was called the Septuagint because of the 70 translators and Septuagint means 70 in Greek. (Halley, 409) Another type of translation was Targums and they are translations of the Old Testament into Aramaic. They were first oral translations, paraphrases, and interpretations these types of languages and writi ng were influential in the development of the social status during the Intertestamental Period. Even though writing is important the question is what was the theology being taught during this period?Theology is important because it is what the people studied and how they viewed God. The Apocrypha, is writings which the writer assumed the name of a hero long since dead, and rewrote history in terms of prophecy. (Halley, 406) Some of this included, Books of Enoch, Assumption of Moses, Ascension of Isaiah, Book of Jubilees, Psalms of Solomon, and more. These books are the books that were written by people in the period of the 400 years of silence, and they preached about the prophecies that the prophets spoke and also the birth of Christ and the end times.This theology is the closest literature that the people had to connect to God and the prophecies that was spoken. All of these books spoke of Christ coming and his ministry that he will live for and preach. The Intertestamental Period consisted of political powers overtaking each other, religious groups, and theological books and literature that preached Christ coming and that developed the nation of Israel. The political side consisted of Persian, Greek, Egyptian, the Maccabees, and the Romans. The eligious side had the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Herodians and they all had different views and theories. And the language part consisted of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. The theology piece was the Apocrypha, which re-emphasized the prophets foretelling. All these pieces and parts put together made up the Intertestamental Period and it formed Israel and it carried over into the ministry of Jesus. The 400 years of silence at last was broken, and God sent his son Jesus Christ to testify the truth and overcome the world.Work Cited Scott, J. Julius Jr. â€Å"Time Between the Testaments. † ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 2008. 1783-1789. Print. Halley, Dr. Henry H. Halley’s Bible Handbook: with New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan Publishing House. 2000. 402-412. Print. Hester, H. I. The Heart of Hebrew History: A Study of the Old Testestament. Liberty, Missouri, The Quality Press, Inc. 1962. 313-330. Print.

Ethical Principles and Codes of Practice Essay

Ethical principles and codes of practice can provide guidance in day-to-day practice. Analyse Peter’s situation in the case study and come to a conclusion about what would be an appropriate response. This essay will analyse the ethical principles and code of practice in relation to the case study of Peter, a man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and will suggest a course of action for Peter’s situation based upon the application of these principles and the code. It will do this by examining the term ‘ethics’ and will focus on four ethical principles found to be relative to the kinds of ethical issues and challenges met within health and social care settings, these will be applied to the case study. Peter’s situation is that of a man, who, at the request of his family, unhappily (but apparently necessarily), moved to Parkside Manor, a small residential care home. Of late Peter’s condition of Alzheimer’s disease has advanced and he has become progressively uninhibited. His behaviour has caused the staff to question Peter’s placement at the care home, as some of the other residents are beginning to become troubled and distresse d by his behaviour. Some staff feel that with the number of residents needing attention, Peter’s needs require more time than they have to give. However Peter’s family are resolute in their decision for him to remain at Parkside. ‘Ethics’ are defined as ‘the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to govern it’ (Collins, 2006, p535). Individual values develop over time through socialisation, upbringing and experiences. These values when viewed on a personal level, guide individual actions. Individuals working in the health and social care setting also hold professional values derived from professional training and ideology. Decisions are made using both personal and professional values and all decisions will have an ethical dimension. Historically health and social care practitioners have been directed by principles and guidance, enabling them to develop what is described as a professional morality. Codes of practice have long been seen as regulations guiding practice, with clear standards of conduct (General Social Care Council, 2010, p 4). These usually include some exclusion’s such as disclosure of information but they mainly describe expected forms of conduct. In areas of health and social care ethical principles are used along with codes of practice to guide and enhance the decision-making process. These principles are related to a sense of doing the right thing or that which is moral and with ideas of what is good and bad practice (K217, Book 4, p28).This idea can be problematic and can be viewed both objectively and subjectively. If viewed from an objective point of view, who should be trusted to know what is the objective truth? If subjective, who is the one whose opinion should be listened to? Questions such as these are often at the core of dilemmas. Professionals working within health and social care environments do not just deal with decisions based upon the right and good. Consideration should also be given to ‘ethical dilemmas’, these are situations when two choices are apparent, both eq ual in morality and ethics (K217, Book4, p29). Pattison and Heller (2001) suggest, ethics and value issues thread their way through normal, daily health care practice, the interpretation of which is open to more than one explanation (K217, Offprints, p131). Although principles guide actions, there is still a need to assess a situation and devise an appropriate response. This assessment and response derive from an individual’s values and training as much as from principles. Ethical principles are important in the field of health and social care. Practitioners need to have the ability to make informed, ethical and justifiable decisions relating to the individuals in their care. This can be difficult when faced with a challenging case. Using a framework to develop a structured way of thinking through a particular ethical situation or challenge can be helpful. The ETHICS framework was developed to assist people working in care settings and offers a structured way of assessing a course of action in order to come to an ethically informed decision. It emphasizes the need to be able to select a course of action based upon guidance, information and established principles, as well as the individual’s beliefs. The framework requires practitioners to firstly, Enquire about the relevant facts of the case, Think about the options that are available to all involved, Hear the views of everyone (including service user, family members and relevant providers), Identify any relevant ethical principles and values which may help to guide the decision–making process, Clarify the meaning and consequences of any key values and finally Select a course of action offering supporting arguments (K217, Book4, p32). When taking into account the case study, four ethical principles will be examined. These are: respect for autonomy, non-malfeasance, beneficence and justice. The principles are seen as the starting points for the development of ethical approaches to care practice, providing a practical set of principles, which rather than offe ring direct answers to ethical dilemmas, set out useful guiding principles for practitioners when faced with controversial decisions (K217, Book 4, p34). In Peter’s situation, Autonomy or self-determination is complex. Respect for Autonomy refers to a commitment to respect the decision-making capability of an autonomous individual. Autonomy is the freedom to act as a person wishes, to be able to make decisions about their own life and not to be controlled by others. The case study points out that Peter ‘unhappily’ left his home, at the request of his family to move into Parkside Manor, indicating that Peter had no control over this situation. This lack of right to choose where he lives, directly impinges on Peter’s ability to be autonomous and make reasoned informed choices. Beauchamp and Childress (2009) identify two areas necessary for autonomy: Liberty or independence from control and Agency, the capacity for deliberate action (K217, Book 4, p39). When applying this principle to Peter’s case, it could be argued that a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s limits his capabilities to make decisions for himself, limiting capacity for intentional action and so reducing Peter’s ability to function as an autonomous individual. The codes of practice for social care workers (2010) state: ‘a social care worker must respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or others’ (General Social Care Council, 2010, p9, 4.2). This causes a conflict of interest between Peter’s rights to act in a manner that he chooses and that of the other residents, who deserve to be able to move freely about the home without the risk of being upset or distressed by Peter’s actions. Staff may wish to take steps to minimise the potential risk of Peter’s behaviour causing mental harm and upset to other residents and by following risk assessment policies could asse ss the potential risks in this situation (General Social Care Council, 2010, p9, 4.2). Identifying harmful behaviour is multifaceted and open to interpretation. The assessment of risk could have serious consequences for Peter perhaps leading to a limiting of his rights and liberty in the interest of protecting others from harm (K217, Book 4, p60). Therefore over protection or unnecessary limitation could be considered an infringement upon Peter’s human rights (K217, Book 4 p65). The case study does not accurately point out if Peter has the mental capability to understand that his actions could be disruptive and upsetting for others. This being the case it may also be appropriate to talk to both Peter and his family about the situation in order to find a solution. As the code of practice maintains, ‘care workers must promote the independence of service users and assist them to understand and exercise their rights’ (General Social Care Council, 2010, p8, 3.1). It is suggested, that in cases where decision making capacity is deemed to be impaired, respect for autonomy may involve the care worker acting appropriately in an in dividual’s ‘best interests’ (K217, Book 4, p40). The difficulty here is that Peter’s best interests cannot be viewed without taking into account the best interests of other residents, care workers and relatives. This shows the limits of the code of practice in taking a narrow â€Å"ethical† view rather than trying to take a wider and more balanced perspective. Beneficence and the promotion of welfare are concerned with the provision of benefits and the balance of these against risk in the care and treatment of service users. It requires that care providers make a positive contribution to help others, not just refrain from acts of harm. It could be argued that in Peter’s case, moving into a residential setting may be seen as ‘doing good’. The theory of beneficence or ‘doing good’ is embedded in health and social care practice. Although, rather than being straightforward in its attempts to solve ethical dilemmas, beneficence can be viewed as being rather vague (K217, Book4, p34). The application of beneficence in Peter’s situation could be seen as a controversial one. The need to ‘do good’ in this situation could be seen to be against Peter’s best interests, as in the case of consent. The case study alludes to the fact that Peter’s family are making decisions on behalf of Peter and that the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease means that he is incapable of contributing to decisions around his care and wellbeing. It could therefore be argued that this results in a paternalistic approach to care, whereby the family (who are making decisions on behalf of Peter) may be guided by practitioners views of what is in Peter’s ‘best interests’ and in doing so may neglect the choice and personal responsibility of the individual (K217, Book 4, p36). However paternalism may be viewed as acceptable if it is proved that Peter’s autonomy or decision-making capacity is compromised. In this case it may be advisable to initiate an assessment of Peter’s mental health capacity in order to justify the families’ involvement in the decision-making process. Beauchamp and Childress (2009) claim, the philosophy of non-malfeasance is an obligation to do no harm. Unlike beneficence, which promotes welfare and concentrates upon positively helping others, non-malfeasance focuses upon guiding health and social care practitioners to avoid harm-causing activities, this includes negligence. Having a duty of care for a person or persons in care is an ethical concept, neglect is an absence of ‘due care’ the lack of which would be seen as falling below the standards expected by the law and code of practice. The principle of non-malfeasance can be difficult to apply in practice (K217, Book 4, p37). Peter has not been physically harmed himself, although it could be disputed that his behaviour around Parkside Manor could be having a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of the other residents who are beginning to be upset by Peter’s uninhibited behaviour. Section 3 of the codes of practice for social care workers may guide staff in pr omoting the independence of other service users (residents) in assisting them to understand and exercise their rights to autonomy. Also for staff to use the appropriate procedures and protocols in which to keep other service users safe from harm (General Social Care Council, 2010, p8, 3.1). As stated, Peter’s ability to make decisions about his care could be impaired, as in the right to choose where to live (which was made at the request of his family). However, maintaining Peter in his own home, as was his wish, would require extra resources such as daily social care help. If this was unavailable, Peter’s wish to remain in his home could be seen as detrimental to his health and wellbeing as his condition deteriorated and this would not uphold the principle of non- malfeasance. The moral principle of justice according to Beauchamp (2006) is fairness in the distribution of benefit and risk (K217, Book4, p42). It can be viewed as fair, impartial and suitable treatment for the autonomous individual. This suggests that everyone has the right to participate in the decision-making process surrounding the ir own treatment. This clearly is not the case for Peter, as he may no longer be classed as an autonomous service user and may not be able to articulate his needs or desires in respect of his care. In this case the staff may wish to assign a person as an advocate to represent and support (where appropriate) Peter’s views and wishes (General Social Care Council, 2010, p6, 1.2). The case study also identifies the staffs growing concerns about their own abilities to be able to give Peter the care that he requires, with some suggesting that his needs demand more time than they have available. The code of practice sets out clear guidelines for staff in Section 3, stating that any resource or operational difficulties experienced by the care worker is to be brought to the attention of the employer or the appropriate authority (General Social Care Council, 2010, p8, 3.4). Staff working within the care home are under increasing pressure to cope with the demanding behaviour that Peter displays and in this case may feel that they are neglecting the other residents because of Peter’s growing needs. This highlights the problem staff have in distinguishing fairly between those that are seen to need support and those that are not. Discrimination such as this all be it without intention of causing harm, raises questions of inequality. As highlighted, codes of practice and other ethical guidelines are not without their limitations. These limitations are often down to an individual’s freedom of choice and their views of what is right and wrong. Codes of practice deal in respect of that is the ‘norm’ not the ‘usual’ and at this point common sense and a corporate view are necessary. Using the four principles to analyse Peter’s situation is far from simple as the principles themselves are open to individual interpreta tion. The task for those directly involved in Peters care, such as family, professionals and the care workers at Parkside, is to ascertain their legal, professional and ethical positions and balance these against the need to protect and care for other residents and staff within the care setting. This may involve identifying ways to reduce the risk to others and to Peter’s dignity and privacy. As the code of practice states ‘a social care worker must respect and maintain dignity and privacy of service users’ (general Social Care Council, 2010, p6, 1.4). Some of the staff at Parkside have begun to question if the placement is an appropriate one given Peter’s growing needs. Staff at Parkside Manor could begin to examine ways of improving the care and support on offer to both Peter and the other residents by firstly initiating an assessment of Peter’s mental health capacity, in order for staff to better comprehend Peter’s level of understanding and to further meet his needs. This will form part of a support plan that will identify resources necessary to meet his growing requirements. The case study does not adequately highlight if Parkside Manor is equipped to deal with mental health problems such as Alzheimer’s or if the population is that of older residents with general care needs. One solution for the family may be to investigate the possibility of an alternative placement for Peter. Placing Peter in a more suitable setting where the staff are more used to dealing with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease could enhance quality of care and increase Peter’s quality of life. Bibliography Collins, 2006, Collins Concise English Dictionary. Glasgow, HarperCollins Publishers. Open University (2010) K217, Adult health, social care and wellbeing, Chapter 14, Ethics in health and social care. Milton Keynes,The Open University Open University (2010) K217, Adult health, social care and wellbeing, Offprints, Swimming in a sea of ethics and values. Milton Keynes,The Open University General Social Care Council, 2010, Codes of Practice for social care workers. Available at: http://www.gscc.org.uk/cmsFiles/Registration/Codes%20of%20Practice/CodesofPracticeforSocialCareWorkers.pdf [Accessed 25/02/12] Gillon Raanan, 1994, Medical ethics : four principles plus the attention to scope. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2540719/pdf/bmj00449-0050.pdf [Accessed 09/03/12]