Branded by Alissa Quart

Alissa Quart’s novel should have had a warning label on the front stating, â€Å"Would you like to know what’s really going on around you or just keep living your life. † While reading this novel I felt like I was being led by Morpheus, showing me the world after ingesting the red pill. Quart explaining the different pressures that society forces on young teens was very eye opening. Quart sparked a lot of childhood memories when explaining brand identification and the pressures peers put on each other. One memory that really sticks out is walking through the mall with my mom and buying clothes for the start of seventh grade. I insisted on only going to Abercrombie and telling her that I wasn’t shopping at Old Navy or Gap any more. Looking back made me realize how silly I was, but I understand why I felt this way. Quart explains how marketers bombarde magazines, commercials, billboards, etc with their advertisements. Back in seventh grade, Abercrombie was cool. Everyone wanted to be one of those sexy models in their ads. Quart did make me feel a little brainwashed; I didn’t choose the clothes because I liked them but only because advertisements told me too. So much of our daily lives has media exposure that its hard not to look, especially at young ages when your open to almost anything. CINEMA OF THE IN-CROWD This chapter was one of my favorites because going to the movies is something I’ve always enjoyed. However, I’ve never thought about how they were affecting me afterwards and the product integration that was taking place. Honestly what Quart describes really works. When you watch a movie your not thinking, â€Å"Oh this must be an advertisement,† or â€Å"There just trying to get me to buy that. The products and the people using them are apart of the movie and its very hard to decipher all of this when all you wanted was to watch a story. It did make me a little disheartened that something I really enjoy is getting provoked by marketers but now I feel a lot more aware and will try to not let them get to me. FACTS She’s All That, Bring It On, Clueless, Legally Blonde,Varsity Blues and Mean Girls. Mean G irls came out after this book was written but it perfectly fits into the mold these movies have created and further shows the power this genre holds. What has made these movies so popular and why were they all a must see when they came out? First, each of these movies has a popular crowd and one of these popular people has a problem. This doesn’t sound like a plot that would grab a lot of attention, but that’s only because its not about the plot. These movies bring large crowds because it’s the people in it. With out Alicia Silverstone’s smile in Clueless or Reese Witherspoon’s long blonde hair the movies would have definitely been different. So I am convinced that the first thing you need to make a blockbuster movie is attractive people. Second you need them to wear revealing or designer clothes. This is showcased in Bring It On when basically all they wear throughout the movie is revealing cheering outfits and workout wear. The Third aspect is particularly showcased within these films because of The Breakfast Club and the infamous Ally Sheedy transformation at the end. This aspect is the makeover. I never caught on to this until reading this chapter. Each of these movies has the main character go through some sort of change and of course the change only makes them better looking and more popular. The third aspect isn’t new but the film always tries to mask it as something that you wouldn’t expect. I feel that this is done so people, especially young people, don’t catch on. VALUES These movies â€Å"also has the ring of a diary entry, of what life is really like when our parents or teachers leave the room† (Quart 78). This is the key element when trying to decipher what the value is amongst these movies. What is really going on here when you strip the stars of their makeup, clothes, and posh attitudes? Sadly, it’s popularity, only because these teens will do anything to be popular. This is what motivates them throughout the entire movie and in fact is what gets them into most of their trouble. Also popularity is the one thing that they will throw away everything for. â€Å"If your not popular, your nothing† is the message young teens are coming away with. These movies get away with a value like this because there is so much covering it up. Amongst the comedy, drama, and violence it’s hard to figure out what all of this is means. I don’t feel like popularity is a good value for a movie to have. Before reading this chapter I pictured these movies as great, some even as a must see. But now I’m disgusted and look at them as shallow. Popularity is meaningless; however if I was writing this paper in middle school or high school I wouldn’t be agreeing with myself. This leads me to the question, â€Å"Do you only see the stupidity of it all when it’s over? † Right now I would have to say yes, because when these movies came out I was at the age they were targeting and this is very silly to say but, I admired all of the main characters in these movies. I once thought Elle Woods in Legally Blonde was courageous, it made me want to be a lawyer. But now I realize that I only looked at her this way because she was popular and she needed to maintain her popularity by going to law school. PRINCIPLES These movies need to be applied to Kant’s categorial imperative. What these movies have are good looking people. However, because their attractive people don’t look at what they are doing as much as just looking at them. In turn because their hot they get away with a lot more. When you apply Kant’s philosophy it tares down these movies even more. This is because Kant states that its not whose doing it but what the action is in itself. So take away Alicia Silverstone, Reese Witherspoon, Lindsay Lohan, Kirsten Dunst, Rachael Leigh Cook, and James Van Der Beek. Now all you have are their actions trying to uphold their value. Since their value is popularity most of their actions are aimed towards how to become more popular. This is the most apparent in Mean Girls and the lead Lindsay Lohan. Taking Lindsay Lohan out of the picture and only reading the script it is very apparent that the main character Cady Heron is a liar. All of these lies are aimed towards trying to make herself more popular than Regina George. At the end Cady gets sort of a wake up call but everything still comes together for her. When this movie came out it was huge; it was all over TV, the internet, and in school. For this movie to have such a big opening I know it impacted alot of teenagers and I know it influenced them to do what ever it takes to be popular. Especially when there was a string of movies right before it that glorifies popularity its nearly impossible to tell teenagers that popularity doesn’t matter. These movies have created a society of young adults that only care what others think of them and completely twisting their feelings regarding themselves. If a student isn’t viewed as popular among their peers they are going to dislike their body, their clothes, or whatever it is that they feel is holding them back from being well liked. LOYALTIES Each main character has one main loyalty, this is themselves. All of them throughout the movie try to better themselves, sometimes through buying designer clothes, wearing makeup, or the extreme of going to law school. The conceited nature in all of these characters makes the viewers very aware that this is acceptable. None of these movies help others in a way that is selfless. Yes, Cher in Clueless tries to make over Ty, Brittany Murphy’s character, but Cher admits that its only for her own enjoyment, she even goes far enough to call Ty her project. The characters loyalties also extends to their brand names they use, but I feel that this loyalty is only to uphold their loyalty to themselves because the brand names make them cooler. I feel that these movies have been a catalyst for plastic surgery. When someone gets plastic surgery it is to better themselves. These movies showcase that it’s acceptable to do this through the characters actions. Most of the characters go to the mall to make themself feel better or they start putting on makeup so their peers like them more. The characters even backstab each other to make themself more popular. I feel that these story lines not only increase plastic surgery but also fights in school. I feel like students pay more attention to what each other are doing than the school work. Young minds are easily influenced and its especially hard to erase the well put together images that these movies create. Although teenagers wouldn’t openly admit that their using these characters as role models its hard to argue their not. Most teenagers actions are completely mimicking the main characters of these movies and honestly I feel like its not their fault, especially because I used to do the same thing. CINEMA OF THE IN-CROWD CONCLUSION Overall not every movie is like this but the handful that are do a lot more damage than the society realizes. Although, of course, if these movies were removed from theaters teenagers will always act sort of like this but I strongly feel that these movies don’t help the situation. These movies also glorify the actions that teenagers are supposed to be learning not to do. Since these movies are teaching kids to be popular no matter what and to only think of yourself I’m not surprised about the reports of what happens in todays middle and high schools. The bottom line is teenagers need to be educated on what is right and wrong. If they are aware that you should lways try to be themselves and to help others selflessly these movies messages won’t be brainwashing them as badly as they could. UNBRANDED/ DIY KIDS This section of the book was particularly interesting because I wasn’t aware of all of the ways kids are rebelling. I thought this section was a nice conclusion to the first half because it gave me hope that some students do think for themselves. It actually mad e me really proud that some had the courage to stand up to their own principles and faculties. I know that I wouldn’t have had the guts to do something like that, especially alone. I thought it was really cruel the way they were teased by their peers. When did conforming start to be cool? I also has no idea about students going to schools with no grading system. I think this is great and I really liked the quirky concepts that the home schooled students had. It was a very relieving section, the contrasts between the way the kids conform to other nonconformists could be it’s own book. FACTS â€Å"An estimated 850,000 American kids or 1. 7 percent of U. S. students from five to seventeen† (Quart 203) are home schooled. Or as John Holt calls it â€Å"unschooling. These unschooled kids are not a big part of the population and most of them never go to mainstream schools. I thought that the contrast between their outlook on schools and the Logo U chapter was very appealing. Both sides were extremes and I being in the middle realized how silly they both were being. I don’t think its healthy to be either of them. I think kids should be enrolled in school because they get interaction with other kids their own age. On the other side, when you are enrolled in a mainstream school the child needs to be aware of what’s going on around them and not get stressed out like the Logo U kids. I especially feel this way about unschoolers because I’ve met home schooled kids and their usually out there. You can easily tell that these unschoolers aren’t the normal. Now this isn’t bad now when their young but will an employer higher them. Since these unschoolers need to go out into the world eventually they will have to conform one way or another. Also, these days, you need a college degree so never going to college just because you’ve never gone to a regular school has it’s set backs when trying to find a career. Quart also explains the punk scene. I have never been into punk but I’ve always liked the way they rebelled. I think that doing your own thing. if thats how you feel, is very healthy and schools should be more accepting to this. Especially when this rebelliousness only lasts during the youth years. There’s no reason to stifle something like ripped jeans, flannel, and loud music; it doesn’t hurt anyone. VALUES The core value that both of these unschoolers and punk kids have is to be yourself. Which is the complete opposite of the blockbuster movie value, popularity. I have to give both the unschoolers and punks credit because in a world where mostly everyone wants to be Alicia Silverstone or Freddie Prince Jr. its takes a lot of courage to do your own thing. I feel that in alot of ways its easier to just conform and not go against the grain. Quart entitled this chapter â€Å"do it yourself kids† because thats what these two groups have in common. When everyone else goes off to school the unschoolers stay home and do it themselves. On the other hand the punks may go to school but they do their own look, their own music, their own lifestyle; which completely contradicts the mainstream preppy is cool mantra. In a lot of ways these kids are going to turn out as better adults. This is because they will be better parents. I feel strongly about this because my parents were punk like in a lot of ways when they were young. When they were teenagers in the 70’s it wasn’t called punk, it was hippie. Hippie and punk are basically the same thing except two different generations labeled it with different names. My parents were always telling me to be myself, and as a public school student I feel this took some pressure off of growing up. I knew that they would back me no matter what. Also, when it came time for college they told me straight out you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. This was completely contradicting what my friends parents were saying and it took a lot of anxiety off of my shoulders when acceptance letters came in. LOYALTIES The loyalty that each group has is to their own cliques that they have created. I think this because unschooled kids look at schooled kids as different and by them not wanting to be in a clique they have created their own. Through the home schooled kids i have known, they told me how they would meet other unschoolers and would create their own groups within that. So actually they are forming what they tried to avoid. Home schooled kids in some ways can have pompous attitudes, acting like their better because they don’t do what everyone else does. I’ve even met unschooled kids here, at MU. When I asked him what high school he went to he cockily stated â€Å"I didn’t go to high school, I didn’t have to. † It’s not fair to say that all home schooled kids are like this but its definitely out there. For the punk kids they have their own loyalty to each other. It was very apparent in my high school because they would always walk together in the hallways and smoke cigarettes in large groups on the curb. No one bothered them but they made it very obvious they were their own group and they all identified with each other. This is something Quart didn’t discuss. She made each group sound very independent but in fact they are dependent within each other. PRINCIPLES John Stuart Mill’s utility principle can better explain the do it yourself kids perception. The utility principle emphasizes the outcome. The outcome that both groups want is to not have a mainstream. Also stated in the utility principle is an act’s rightness and how this is determined by it’s contribution to a desirable end. I feel that both groups have a desirable end in mind. The punk kids, especially just want to do their own thing. Their basement concerts show this because they are just trying to have fun, theirs no marketing involved, no celebrities, just kids in a band. I have gone to a few local shows like this and its a completely different vibe than at a mainstream high profile band. The local shows shows the joy of music with out all of the fluff the mainstream music throws in. The outcome is more genuine than anything I’ve seen at Madison Square Garden. Unbranded showed me that it is possible to live within this society and not be lured into everything you see. These kids show how you can think for yourself and do what you want. All of my life I have been a basically mainstream person. However, this book as a whole as taught me to open my eyes and realize what’s going on around me. it truly is a lot more evading than I thought. At times while reading this book I felt like I was completely brainwashed. I think every parent should read this book so that their aware of what’s going on around their children. It’s a lot different then when my parents grew up and most of the time they don’t realize the impact of these changes. I feel that the most important lesson a parent can learn from this book is to be aware and don’t be afraid to talk about it. Communication is defiantly what kept me grounded in my household and I plan on sharing that with my children as well.

Cause and Effects of the Great Depression

The Causes and Effects of The Great Depression In America Few Americans in the first months of 1929 saw any reason to question the strength and stability of the nation's economy. Most agreed with their new president that the booming prosperity of the years just past would not only continue but increase, and that dramatic social progress would follow in its wake. â€Å"We in America today,† Herbert Hoover had proclaimed in August 1928, â€Å"are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. â€Å"1 In mid-October, 1929, the average middle-class American saw ahead of him an illimitable vista of prosperity. The newly inaugurated president, Herbert Hoover, had announced soberly in the previous year that the conquest of poverty was no longer a mirage: â€Å"We have not yet reached our goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and we shall soon with the help of God be within sight of the day when poverty will be banished from the nation. † This was the economic promise interwoven with what a popular historian would call the American Dream. More complacently, Irving Fisher and other economists in the confidence of Wall Street assured the citizen that he was dwelling upon â€Å"a permanently high plateau† of prosperity. 2 Only fifteen months later, those words would return to haunt him, as the nation plunged into the severest and most prolonged economic depression in its history. It began with a stock market crash in October 1929; it slowly but steadily deepened over the next three years until the nation's economy (and, many believed, its social and political systems) approached a total collapse. It continued in one form or another for a full decade, not only in the United States but throughout much of the rest of the world, until war finally restored American prosperity. 3 In the autumn of 1929, the market began to fall apart. On October 21, stock prices dipped sharply, alarming those who had become accustomed to an uninterrupted upward progression. Two days later, after a brief recovery, an even more alarming decline began. J. P. Morgan and Company and other big bankers managed to stave off disaster for a while by conspicuously buying up stocks to restore public confidence. But on October 29, all the efforts to save the market failed. â€Å"Black Tuesday,† as it became known, saw a devastating panic. Sixteen million shares of stock were traded; the industrial index dropped 43 points; stocks in many companies became virtually worthless. In the weeks that followed, the market continued to decline, with losses in October totaling $16 billion. Despite occasional hopeful signs of a turnaround, the market remained deeply depressed for more than four years and did not fully recover for more than a decade. 4 The sudden financial collapse in 1929 came as an especially severe shock because it followed so closely a period in which the New Era seemed to be performing another series of economic miracles. In particular, the nation was experiencing in 1929 a spectacular boom in the stock market. 5 In February 1928, stock prices began a steady ascent that continued, with only a few temporary lapses, for a year and a half. By the autumn of that year, the market had become a national obsession, attracting the attention not only of the wealthy, but of millions of people of modest means. Many brokerage firms gave added encouragement to the speculative mania by offering absurdly easy credit to purchasers of stocks. It was not hard to understand why so many Americans flocked to invest in the market. Stocks seemed to provide a certain avenue to quick and easy wealth. Between May 1928 and September 1929, the average price of stocks rose more than 40 percent. The stocks of the major industrials, the stocks that are used to determine the Dow Jones Industrial Average, doubled in value in that same period. Trading mushroomed from two or three million shares a day to more than five million, and at times to as many as ten or twelve million. There was, in short, a widespread speculative fever that grew steadily more intense. A few economists warned that the boom could not continue, that the prices of stocks had ceased to bear any relation to the earning power of the corporations that were issuing them. But most Americans refused to listen. 6 The depression of the stock market impressed the general public with the idea that it would depress general business. Because of a psychological consequence, it did, but it should not have. There are 120,000,000 persons in the country and at the maximum not more than 10,000,000 were involved in stock market transactions. The remaining 110,000,000 persons suffered no loss. The bulk of the population may not have suffered the loss of stock investments, but there were plenty of other ways to calculate loss, and by the end of 1929, with unemployment rising, with shops and factories ornamented by closed or out of business signs, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the closing of the nations banks, taking with them millions of dollars in deposits. More than 9,000 American banks either went bankrupt or closed their doors to avoid bankruptcy between 1930 and 1933. Depositors lost more than $2. 5 billion in deposits. 8 Two-hundred and fifty six banks failed in the single month of November 1930, and further yet on December 11, when the United States Bank, with deposits of more than $200 million, went under. It was the largest single bank failure in America history up to that tim e, and contributed no little portion to an economic hangover in which, in the words of banker J. M. Barker, â€Å"cupidity turned into unreasoning, emotional, universal fear†. 9 The misery of the Great Depression was, then, without precedent in the nation's history. 10 The most searing legacy of the depression was unemployment, which mounted steadily from the relatively low levels experienced between 1922 and 1929. The percentage of the civilian labor force without work rose from 3. 2 in 1929 to 8. 7 in 1930, and reached a peak of 24. 9 in 1933. The estimates of unemployment amongst non-farm employees, which include the self-employed and unpaid family workers are even higher. These are horrifying figures: millions of American families were left without a bread-winner and faced the very real possibility of destitution. 11 Within a few months after the stock market collapse of October 1929, unemployment had catapulted from its status of a vague worry into the position of one of the country's foremost preoccupations. Unemployment increased steadily, with only a few temporary setbacks, from the fall of 1929 to the spring of 1933. Even a cursory reference to the several existing estimates of unemployment will amply show the rapidity with which unemployment established itself as an economic factor of the first order of importance. 12 By 1932, a quarter of the civilian labor force was unemployed and the number was still rising. State and local relief agencies lacked sufficient funds to meet the demands of families for bare sustenance. Discouraged by continual turn-downs, the unemployed had stopped looking for jobs. On good days in the great cities the jobless sat on park benches reading discarded newspapers, and many who had lost their homes slept in the parks. While some families managed to stay in their homes and apartments, even though they failed to pay the rent or mortgage interest, others were evicted. To keep some semblance of a home, families built shelters from discarded crates and boxes on vacant land or in the larger parks. Municipal authorities, unable to provide adequate help, were forced to adopt a tolerant attitude against these squatters. As time passed the structures became more elaborate and habitable, but older children were inclined to wander away and look for opportunities elsewhere. 13 Fifty years after his presidency and twenty after his death, Herbert Clark Hoover remains the person most Americans held responsible for the economic calamity that struck after 1929. Few of our political leaders have been more ridiculed and vilified during their tenure in office. By 1931, new words and usage based on his name had entered the country's cultural vocabulary: Hooverville†: a temporary bivouac of homeless, unemployed citizens. â€Å"Hoover blankets†: the newspapers used by people to keep warm at night while sleeping in parks and doorways. â€Å"Hoover Flags†: empty pants pockets, turned inside out as a sign of poverty. â€Å"Hoover wagons†: any motor vehicle being pulled by a horse or mule In the heat of the 1932 election, hitchhikers displayed signs reading â€Å"If you don't give me a ride , I'll vote for Hoover. â€Å"14 From the New York Times, October 22, 1932 Fifty-four men were arrested yesterday morning for sleeping or idling in the arcade connecting with the subway 45 West Forty-second Street, but most of them considered their unexpected meeting with a raiding party of ten policemen as a stroke of luck because it brought them free meals yesterday and shelter last night from the sudden change in the weather. From the New York Times, September 20, 1931 Several hundred homeless unemployed women sleep nightly in Chicago's parks, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Conkey, Commissioner of Public Welfare, reported today. She learned of the situation, she said, when women of good character appealed for shelter and protection, having nowhere to sleep but in the parks, where they feared they would be molested. â€Å"We are informed that no fewer than 200 women are sleeping in Grant and Lincoln Parks, on the lake front, to say nothing of those in the other parks,† said Mrs. Conkey. â€Å"I made a personal investigation, driving park to park, at night, and verified the reports. † The commission said the approach of winter made the problem more serious, with only one free woman's lodging house existing, accommodating 100. These are just two of the many stories that came of the poverty of the depression. 15 Not quite three and a half years had passed since the stock market crash, had plunged the United States, and most of the world, into the worst economic debacle in Western memory. Industrial output was now less than half the 1929 figure. The number of unemployed, although difficult to count accurately, had mounted to something between 13 and 15 million, or a recorded high of 25 per cent of the labor force-and the unemployed had 30 million mouths to feed besides their own. Hourly wages had dropped 60 per cent since 1929, white-collar salaries 40 per cent. Farmers were getting less than 50 cents a bushel for wheat. The stark statistics gave no real picture of the situation-of the pitiful men selling apples on city street corners; of the long lines of haggard men and women who waited for dry bread or thin soup, meager sustenance dispensed by private and municipal charities; of the bloated bellies of starving children; of distraught farmers blocking the roads to dump milk cans in a desperate effort to drive up the price of milk. â€Å"They say blockading the highways illegal,† said an Iowa farmer. â€Å"I says, ‘Seems to me there was a Tea Party in Boston that was illegal too. 16 The suffering extended into every area of society. In the industrial Northeast and Midwest, cities were becoming virtually paralyzed by unemployment. Cleveland, Ohio, for example, had an unemployment rate of 50 percent in 1932; Akron, 60 percent; Toledo, 80 percent. To the men and women suddenly without incomes, the situation was frightening and be wildering. Most had grown up believing that every individual was responsible for his or her own fate, that unemployment and poverty were signs of personal failure; and even in the face of national distress, many continued to believe it. Unemployed workers walked through the streets day after day looking for jobs that did not exist. When finally they gave up, they often just sat at home, hiding their shame. 17 An increasing number of families were turning in humiliation to local public relief systems, just to be able to eat. But that system, which had in the 1920s served only a small number of indigents, was totally unequipped to handle the new demands being placed on it. In many cities, therefore, relief simply collapsed. New York, which offered among the highest relief benefits in the nation, was able to provide families an average of only $2. 9 per week. Private charities attempted to supplement the public relief efforts, but the problem was far beyond their capabilities as well. As a result, American cities were experiencing scenes that a few years earlier would have seemed almost inconceivable. Bread lines stretched for blocks outside Red Cross and Salvation Army kitchens. 18 Thousands of people sifted through g arbage cans for scraps of food or waited outside restaurant kitchens in hopes of receiving plate scrapings. Nearly 2 million young men simply took to the roads, riding freight trains from city to city, living as nomads. The economic hardships of the Depression years placed great strains on American families, particularly on the families of middle-class people who had become accustomed in the 1920s to a steadily rising standard of living and now found themselves plunged suddenly into uncertainty. It was not only unemployment that shook the confidence of middle-class families, although that was of course the worst blow. It was also the reduction of incomes among those who remained employed. Economic circumstances forced many families, therefore, to retreat from the consumer patterns they had developed in the 1920s. Women often returned to sewing clothes for themselves and their families and to preserving their own food, rather than buying such products in stores. Others engaged in home businesses taking in laundry, selling baked goods, accepting boarders. Many households expanded to include more distant relatives. Parents often moved in with their children and grandparents with their grandchildren, or vice versa. 19 The public did not understand the causes or solutions of unemployment, but people could judge polices by results. They had little tolerance for anyone who said current polices were working when, in fact, more jobs were being lost. One indication of how desperate the situation was came in June when Chicago mayor told one House Committee that it still had a choice: it could send relief, or it could send troops. 20 With local efforts rapidly collapsing, state governments began to feel new pressures to expand their own assistance to the unemployed. Most resisted the pressure. Tax revenues were declining along with everything else, and state leaders balked at placing additional strains on already tight budgets. Many public figures, moreover, feared that any permanent welfare system would undermine the moral fiber of its clients. 21 People never enjoy paying taxes. With the lower incomes of the depression came widespread demand for retrenchment and lower local taxes. Indeed, many local citizens and property owners were quite unable to pay their taxes at all. Since a large part of the revenues of local government is spent for public education, it was perhaps inevitable that the tax crisis should produce cutbacks in schools. Many communities decreased their school spending severely. In effect, they passed the burden on to the teachers, the students, or both. No one will ever be able to calculate the cost to American civilization that resulted from inadequate education of the nation's children during the Great Depression. The colleges' problems were somewhat different. Although the budgets of almost all colleges, public and private, were not what they should have been, a greater problem was that of students who were destitute. Rare was the college that did not have several cases of severe student poverty. Thousands of students in the 1930's made important sacrifices to stay in college. Because the students of the depression constituted, on the whole, a hungry campus generation they gave college life a new and earnest tone. The goldfish gulpers may have got the big headlines in the late 1930's, but they were not typical depression undergraduates. 22 During the first two years of the depression the schools did business about as usual. By September, 1931, the strain was beginning to tell. Salary cuts were appearing even in large towns, and the number of pupils per teacher had definitely increased. Building programs had been postponed. In a few communities school terms had been considerable shortened, and in others some of the departments and services were being lopped off. But, on the whole, the school world wagged on pretty much as usual. During the 1932-33 term the deflation gathered momentum so rapidly that many communities had to close their schools. By the end of last March nearly a third of a million children were out of school for that reason. But the number of children affected, shocking as it is, does not tell the story so vividly as does the distribution of the of the schools. Georgia had 1,318 closed schools with an enrollment of 170,790, and in Alabama 81 percent of all the children enrolled in white rural schools were on an enforced vacation. In Arkansas, to site the case of another sorely pressed state, over 300 schools were open for sixty days or less during the entire year. By the last of February more than 8,000 school children were running loose in a sparsely settled New Mexico. And over a thousand west Virginia schools had quietly given up the struggle. 23 The downswing which began in 1929 lasted for 43 months. The ‘Great Depression' has the dubious distinction of being the second longest economic contraction since the Civil War, second only to that which began in 1873 and continued for 65 months. The length of a depression, however, can only give a limited indication of its impact; the amplitude and national ramifications of 1929-33 give those years a special importance. 24 Economists, historians, and others have argued for decades about the causes of the Great Depression. But most agree on several things. They agree, first, that what is remarkable about the crisis is not that it occurred; periodic recessions are a normal feature of capitalist economies. What is remarkable is that it was so severe and that it lasted so long. The important question, therefore, is not so much why was there a depression, but why was it such a bad one. 25 America had experienced economic crises before. The Panic of 1893 had ushered in a prolonged era of economic stagnation, and there had been more recent recessions, in 1907 and in 1920. The Great Depression of the 1930s, however, affected the nation more profoundly than any economic crisis that ad come before not only because it lasted longer, but because its impact was far more widely felt. The American economy by 1929 had become so interconnected, so dependent on the health of large national corporate institutions, that a collapse in one sector of the economy now reached out to affect virtually everyone. Even in the 1890s, large groups of Americans had l ived sufficiently independent of the national economy to avoid the effects of economic crisis. By the 1930s, few such people remained. 26 Some economists argue that a severe depression could have been avoided if the Federal Reserve system had acted more responsibly. Instead of moving to increase the money supply so as to keep things from getting worse in the early 1930s, the Federal Reserve first did nothing and then did the wrong thing: Late in 1931, it raised interest rates, which contracted the money supply even further. 27 At the time, a substantial majority of Americans and nearly all foreigners who expressed opinions on the subject believed that the Wall Street stock market crash of October 1929 had triggered the depression, thereby suggesting that the United States was the birthplace of the disaster. The connection seemed too obvious to be a coincidence. Many modern writers have agreed; for example, the French historian Jacques Chastenet says in Les Annees d'Illsions: 1918-1931, â€Å"After the stock market crash on the other side of the Atlantic came an economic crisis. The crisis caused a chain reaction in the entire world. 28 Many years after it ended, former President Herbert Hoover offered an elaborate explanation of the Great depression, complete with footnote references to the work of many economists and other experts. THE DEPRESSION WAS NOT STARTED IN THE UNITED STATES,† he insisted. The â€Å"primary cause† was the war of 1914-18. In four-fifths of the â€Å"economically sensitive† nations of the world, including such remote areas as Bolivia, Bulgaria, and Australia, the downturn was noticeable long before the 1929 collapse of American stock prices. 29 Unsolved economic and social problems, accumulated over many years, made the Great Depression more of a culture crisis than can be measured in new laws or economic statistics. Americans had always been confident that the unique virtues of their society-its stronger economic base, its more alert citizenry, and its higher moral principals-would protect it from the evils and failures of Europe and would inevitable lead to new levels of civilization. In spite of the derision of a few artists and intellectuals, this â€Å"American Dream† still persisted in the 1920's. Somewhere in the dark passages of the Great Depression, as the forces of world history weakened belief in the uniqueness of the United States as a nation set apart, the dream faded and became indistinct. While America would recover economically and would rise to new heights of material achievement scarcely thought possible in the 1929, the myth of a unique destiny would never regain its old force and certainty. Henceforth Americans would share some of the realistic disillusionment of Europeans, some of the sense that survival alone was an achievement in a world not necessarily designed for the triumph of the human spirit. 30 Endnotes 1. Richard N. Current, The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, Carlsbad, CA. : Comptons New Media McGraw-Hill 1995) p. 1 2. Dixon Wecter, A History Of America The Age Of The Great Depression, (New York, NY. : The Macmillan Co. 1948) p. 1 3. Current Opcit. p. 2 4. Ibid. p. 8 5. Ibid. p. 6 6. Ibid. p. 7 7. T. H. Watkins, The Great Depression America in The 1930s, (Boston, MA. : Little Brown and Co. 1993) p. 54 8. Current Opcit. p. 16 9. Watkins Opcit. p. 55 10. Current Opcit. p. 4 11. Peter Fearon, War Prosperity & Depression The U. S. Economy 1927-45, (Lawrence, KA. : University Press 1987) p. 137 12. David A. Shannon, The Great Depression, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ. : Prentice Hall Ins. 1960) p. 13. Thomas C. Cochran, The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, Glenview, IL. : Scott Foresman and Co. 1968) pp. 29-30 14. Michael E. Parrish, Anxious Decades America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941, (New York, NY. : W. W. Norton & Co. 1992) p. 240 15. Shannon Opcit. pp. 13-15 16. The Editors of TIME-LIFE BOOKS, This Fabulous Century 1930-1940, (New York, NY. : Time-Life Books 1985) p. 23 17. Richard N. Current, The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, (Carlsbad, CA. : Comptons New Media Inc. McGraw-Hill 1995) p. 20 18. Ibid. . 21 19. Ibid. p. 22 20. Robert S. McElvaine, The Great Depression America 1929-1941, (New York, NY. : Times Books 1984) p. 122 21. Current Opcit. p. 21 22. David A. Shannon, The Great Depression, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. : Prentice Hall Inc. 1960) p. 93 23. Ibid. p. 94 24. Peter Fearon, War Prosperity and Depression The U. S. Economy 1917-45, Lawrence, KA. : University Press 1987) p. 89 25. Current Opcit. p. 9 26. Ibid. p. 3 27. Ibid. p. 17 28. John A. Garraty, The Great Depression, San Diego, CA. : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1986) p. 4-5 29. Ibid. p. 4 30. Thomas C. Cochran, The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, (Glenview, Il. : Scott Foresman and Co. 1968) p. 1 Bibliography Cochran Thomas C. , The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, Glenview, Ill. , Scott Foresman and Co. , 1968 Current Richard N. , The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, Carlsbad California, Compton's New Media Inc. & McGraw-Hill, 1995 Editors of TIME-LIFE BOOKS, This Fabulous Century 1930-1940, New York, NY. , Time-Life Books, 1985 Fearon Peter, War, Prosperity, and Depression The U. S. Economy 1917-45, Lawrence, KA. , University Press, 1987 Garraty John A. , The Great Depression, San Diego, CA. , Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986 McElvaine Robert S. , The Great Depression America 1929-1941, New York, NY. , Times Books, 1984 Parrish Michael E. , Anxious Decades America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941, New York, NY. , W. W. Norton & Company, 1992 Shannon David A. , The Great Depression, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. , Prentice Hall, 1960 Watkins T. H. , The Great Depression America in The 1930's, Boston MA. , Little Brown and Co. , 1993 Wector Dixon, A History of America The Great Depression, New York, NY. , The Macmillan Co. , 1948

Relationship Between Art and Religion Essay

Humans have since the very earliest time of their existence questioned various fundamental facts about their existence and the world around them. They have tried to answer the mysteries of life such as how they came into existence and what happens after their death. These questions they discovered could be only answered through religion and science. Religion went about explaining that all things were there because of some greater spiritual being which brought everything and everyone into existence. Religion especially during ancient times put God as the master creator of all things and beings, having created men on all other creations. The average person doesn’t usually think of art as something that influences religion yet in true facts art helps us visualize our beliefs since as humans we at times find it easier to believe that which we see. Even in the Bible we find that humans have made sculptures, statues and paintings of their god in order for them to have something that reminds them of that greater force and act as intermediaries between them as moral beings and God as a divine spiritual being. For example Early Christians used the fish as a symbol of God which is now replaced by the symbol of the cross; Ancient Egyptians who worshipped numerous god’s used a falcons head as a symbol of their sun god Ra, and Muslims with the symbol of a moon and star. In Ancient Greece it was customary for artists to represent the Olympian deities in perfectly-modelled men or women because they believed that the god’s were somewhat like humans but in perfect form and that they were immortal. Art helped (and still does) people visualize all that their religion was implementing so that they could understand, believe and have faith. It was also important because many people where illiterate and so through paintings and sculpt stories painted on the walls of churches, the word of God could be delivered to them as well. Art is still visible on many religious buildings for example the paintings found on the inside and outside of walls of churches illustrates a story from, in the case of Christians, the Holy Bible. Some examples of such would be the cathedral in Rome and that of Milan which are both of extraordinary aesthetic beauty. Art when it comes to religion is a way of spreading the word of God in a non-literal way. The beauty of art is that many people can interpret art work differently therefore a religious art piece can be inspiring and motivational to my life as well as to another in a whole different way because we would have both taken the same message but applied it to our lives in different ways. Therefore art is a language which anyone can speak, understand and interpret personally. Some worldwide renowned artists whose art was influenced by religion are Michelangelo in The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement, Leonardo Da Vinci in Virgin of The Rocks and Tintoretto in The Crucifixion. Apart from paintings and buildings religion also influenced music in fact nowadays we have multiple praise songs in different religions. In a nut shell whilst religion has left its mark on Art, art has been a helping hand and necessity when it comes to the delivering of the word of God.

Connectivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Connectivism - Essay Example It is not with the human beings by birth or we cannot call knowledge as an innate part of human beings. The learning theories of behaviourism, constructivism and cognitivism regard knowledge as acquirable and identify various ways with the help of which, a person is able to learn in this world. According to the learning theory of behaviourism, the knowledge that a person keeps or attains by means of experience or rationality can be assessed by means of change of behaviour (Gredler, 2005). When a person attains knowledge, his/her behaviour changes with the acquisition of knowledge. The behaviourism philosophy can be defined as a philosophy that deals with the transformation of behaviour as an indication of learning (Vaill, 1996). Therefore, in behaviourism learning theory deals with the transformation of behaviour of an individual as a sign of his/her learning. Learning theory of behaviourism regards learning as wholly external. Constructivism is also based on the philosophy of constructivism. According to the learning theory of constructivism, knowledge comes to a person with the help of his/her past experience (Gredler, 2005). A person is able to learn on the basis of his/her past experiences in terms of knowledge acquisition. Knowledge is acquired by means of comprehension of experiences that a person goes through in his/her life time. According to the constructivism theory of learning, learning is something based on internal input of a human being (Gredler, 2005). As far as congnitivism is concerned, according to the learning theory of cognitivism, a person is able to get knowledge similarly as the computer does. An input is required, there is some memory where the knowledge is stored on temporary bases and then this knowledge is coded for future employment. Cognitivism also categorizes knowledge as an external element (Vaill, 1996). These theories

Why not to use the INCOTERMS DDP & Exworks to export from usa give 3 Research Paper

Why not to use the INCOTERMS DDP & Exworks to export from usa give 3 example - Research Paper Example For this reason, the USA should refrain from using the terms when exporting from the country. The term Delivered Duty Paid that is commonly abbreviated as DDP has far reaching implications on the seller of the products, whom in this case is represented by the US exporters. To begin with, it places immense costs on the seller that can otherwise be avoided. In this case, it is worth acknowledging that profit making is at the core of any business transaction. To attain this, costs should always be kept minimal. According to recent research, use of DDP implies that all costs pertaining to on carriage, pre-carriage and main carriage would be shouldered by the seller (Editor 59). For example, the US exporters of vehicle parts to Japan would be required to pay for the on carriage, pre carriage as well as main carriage costs. Comparatively, this would be more expensive than if they would not have quoted the term DPP on the freight. Fundamentally, Exworks is employed in notifying the buyer that the respective products which are packed well to meet the export standards are available to the individual buying them, at a specific time and named place. In this respect, it should be appreciated that the buyer is solely responsible the clearance of the exported products (Editors 76). Notably, the buyer may not be in position to carry out and complete all the export formalities either directly or indirectly. This can have direct negative impacts on the exporters who are required to adhere to export compliance regulations at all times. Since the inherent risk is uncertain, the exporters should simply not use the term when exporting from the USA. For example, if the word Exworks is included on the fruits being exported to South Africa, it implies that the exporters would be required to inform the receiver that the goods are packaged well. Supposing the

International Marketing Plan for Monmouth Coffee House Essay

International Marketing Plan for Monmouth Coffee House - Essay Example Monmouth will open its first coffee house in Colombo, which is the capital city of Sri Lanka. This investment decision was made after considering the geographic, legal, political, economic, natural and cultural aspects as well as the competitiveness of the potential market. Formally known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is located south of India, on an Island in the Indian Ocean. The Countries economic backbone is agriculture, but industry and services sectors also play a big role in the economy. Colombo, the city that has been selected as the starting point for Monmouth’s business, is largely a commercial capital, where several foreign based organizations have operations. The country’s scenic beaches, historical sites, and tropical climate are quite popular with tourists. The booming tourism industry has prompted the development of infrastructure, and this invariably provides a good business opportunity for a small organization such as Monm outh. Sri Lanka’s resources include gemstones, limestone, mica, graphite, quartz, slate and industrial clays. The country is also a key producer of extracted minerals and cash crops that include tobacco, tea, rubber, and coconut. Coffee is also available in the country, but the supply is quite low (Reddy 2003). Hence it is important for Monmouth to consider the issue of finding a reliable local or foreign supplier in its logistics planning. The city of Colombo is relatively easy to reach and navigate through due to its efficient transportation network. Most residents of Colombo and Sri Lanka as a whole rely on radio as the main tool of mass communication. Television is also used by a large percentage of the country’s population. There are also three daily newspapers published in Sri Lanka (Cummings 2007). Hence, Monmouth will use the three media tools used in the country for advertising purposes. Culture Culture is one of the most important factors to consider when ven turing into a new market. Individual cultures are constantly being shaped by different variables such as values, attitudes, religion, manners and attitudes, aesthetics, norms and customs, social institutions, technology and education. Official records indicate that there are roughly 20 million Sri Lankans who mainly come from the Tamil and Sinhalese ethnic groups. Both Sinhala and Tamil are used as the national and official languages of Sri Lanka. English is spoken mainly in urban areas including Colombo, as the second language. The city has a population of about 2 million people. Many of these people are

Genetically Modified Crops and Framing Research Paper

Genetically Modified Crops and Framing - Research Paper Example Having knowledge of the structure of the DNA gave biologists insight into the processes of DNA translation and transcription. Scientists were able to understand how genes interacted with the environment and how they could be isolated from the DNA strand. This allowed scientists to manipulate genes and change the characteristics of organisms. Recent breakthroughs in science and the process of how genes code for proteins have enabled scientists to even create organisms. Genetically modified crops are a creation of genetic engineering and the processes of gene manipulation. Crops were selected that had the desired features and their genes were manipulated and isolated to make crops with the desired qualities. These crops were called genetically modified, transgenic or genetically engineered crops; hence the phase genetically modified (GM) refers to that breed of crops that has been altered through genetic engineering (Forman 8). Genetically modified crops are aimed to provide commercial and social advantages (Silberglitt 22). The golden rice contains high levels of beta-carotene that is not present in rice and so allows animals to make vitamin A. In countries like Bangladesh, rice is the staple diet, and so many people and children face severe deficiency of vitamin A, suffering from blindness and high mortality. Genetic engineers predict that the growth and consumption of golden rice in Asian countries can counter the stark conditions of malnutrition, mortality and blindness that is common in these areas. Although the traits of crops are changed to make them more resistant, concerns over the safety of the crops have risen dramatically over time and has fueled heated debates in the Europe, and to a lesser extent, in the US. In a nutshell, the basis for such debates is that transgenic organisms are a new breed, and can be likened to tampering with nature. They can impact both the environment and humans negati vely and may

Internet Retailing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Internet Retailing - Essay Example In particular, its ability to provide information, facilitate two-way communication with customers, collect market research data, promote goods and services and ultimately to support the online ordering of merchandise, provides an extremely rich and flexible new retail channel (Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick, 2003). Indeed, online shopping is now estimated to be the fastest growing area of internet usage (Forsythe and Shi, 2003). Given the internet's potential to radically re-configure the underlying processes of retailing, and because of the highly dynamic and innovative nature of the electronic marketplace, there has been an explosion of academic interest in the application of this new electronic phenomenon, in the retail context. It is not, perhaps, surprising that from such a highly dynamic organizational phenomenon, an equally dynamic body of literature should emerge. Moreover, because the commercial exploitation of the internet has technical, logistical, commercial, strategic, behavioral, social and legal implications, the emergent body of literature is both extremely large and highly diverse. ... A small number of researchers have already risen to the challenge of reviewing the internet literature, and three reviews, in particular (Reynolds, 2000, Ngai, 2003) have been influential in shaping this study. However, all three have their limitations. Reynold (2000) and Ngai (2003) have both addressed the related field of internet marketing, but have chosen not to adopt an explicit retail focus, whilst the Reynold's (2000) review, which does have an internet retailing focus, is now rather dated. Consequently, the primary aim of this paper is to present a review and critique of the internet retailing literature, which seeks to highlight key themes, emerging patterns and perhaps most importantly gaps that are still to be filled. Given the growing recognition that the internet has the potential (Porter, 2001) to significantly affect an organization's strategic positioning, we were particularly interested to explore the extent to which strategic issues have been explicitly tackled in t he internet retailing literature. Al-Hadaayah Bookstores Al-Hidaayah is predominantly a books retailer, with interests in books retailing as well as publishing. Its principal business is the retail sale of "trade books" (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles, excluding educational textbooks and religious titles), mass market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other popular fiction), children's books, bargain books and magazines. Al-Hidaayah is the pioneer and still the leading operator of book superstores in the UK. Its flagship store on central London has been widely recognised as the most authoritative bookstore in the country, and perhaps, the world. Al-Hidaayah has a private label strategy,

Define Newtons 1st, 2nd and 3rd Laws. How do these relate to an Essay

Define Newtons 1st, 2nd and 3rd Laws. How do these relate to an exercise Give at least 3 examples - Essay Example It states that if a force is exerted on a body with mass m then the body would only accelerate or decelerate in the direction of the relative forces. Hence it can be concluded that F=ma where f is force, m is mass and a is acceleration. A real life example of the second law can be considered when the horsepower of a car is analyzed. If a car has a horsepower of 2300CC then it would move at a great speed. Similarly if the mass of this car is increased then the speed would decrease in the same manner. And lastly if the horsepower of the car is increased without changing the mass then the car would move at an even higher speed. The third law of Newton states that every action has an opposite reaction which would try to oppose the action in real. A real life example of this law can be seen when we are swimming or rowing. It is seen that as we push the water behind the water exerts a force in response which helps us move ahead. Both action and reaction can be seen in this

Business assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business assessment - Assignment Example Recommendations 15 8. References 16 9. Appendix 19 1.0 Introduction Purpose of the Report The purpose of this report is to provide a critical comparative analysis of two organisations in the way they are operated and managed. This is to help us in discovering what causes success or failure for organisations and how different organisations adapt to dynamic environment. Organisations not flexible enough to adapt to the environment are unable to attract and retain talented employees or take advantage of available opportunities hence cannot achieve organisational effectiveness. Scope of the Report To analyse the operation and management of the two organisations the report will consider how they are structured and designed so as to show the interrelationships between roles and departments and lines of authority. Secondly, report will cover organisation of work especially the use of teams and team working. Thirdly, it will analyse the approaches to leadership and management adopted by the organisations as this determines their success or failure. The report will then analyse the organisational culture and its impact on the organisations operations and lastly, conclusions and recommendations will be made on how to improve operations and management. Organisations Background Biogenta is a manufacturing company producing crop-protection products and whose mission is to be the most trusted provider of crop-protection products in the world. It has manufacturing facilities in 10 countries and employees in over 80 countries. Contrary to popular belief that large size companies are bureaucratic in nature, Biogenta has an organic structure and a matrix design where individuals belong to a functional area and a project team. The chief executive officer, Jane Morgan is an effective leader and manager whose encouragement of creativity and innovation has pushed the company to greater heights. The company has a very strong culture which emphasizes on learning and development, diver sity and corporate social responsibility. Outback Inc is a traditional organisation run by family members. It offers tourism services to wide range of clients and operates in a very turbulent environment. Being a small organisation, it is expected to have an organic structure but instead, it is bureaucratic in nature with a functional design and little or no teamwork. Creativity and innovation is hindered by its autocratic leadership style. The company has no vision or mission and has a high turnover culture due to lack of opportunity for advancement and employee voice. 2.0 Organisational Design and Structure Benowitz (2011, p.70) defines an organization structure as â€Å"the configuration and interrelationships of positions and departments†. An organisation design on the other hand, is the change of an organization structure to enable it to respond effectively to environmental changes. A poor organization design and structure can lead to lack of co-ordination among function s, slow decision making, and role confusion (Corkindale, 2011). Types of Organisation structure An organisation structure is determined by the degree of complexity, formalisation, and centralisation. Complexity reflects the amount of differentiation in an organisation; formalisation shows the degree to which an organisation uses rules and procedures to direct behaviour while centralisation reflects how power and authority is distributed in an organisation. Gitman and McDaniel (2008) recognise two kinds of

Bond pricing and fund managemet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bond pricing and fund managemet - Essay Example the amount of returns that an investor can earn from an investment, as well as the future changes as a result of economic risk associated with that particular investment can be established. For this reason, the above curve facilitates a significant comparison in bonds values. The term structure of interest rates is also the yield curve and is a central element in modern financial and monetary economics. It is the variation of the bonds’ yield with identical risk profiles with these bonds’ terms2. The yield curve shows the relationship between bonds yield to maturity and the effective maturity. Bonds with longer maturities are considered to have higher yields. However, there are also opinions that the yield curve may be flat showing that the yield curve remains the same irrespective of the bonds’ maturity. Also, in some cases, bonds with short-term maturities have their yield curves inverted implying that they are higher than those of long-term bonds3. Notes that the bonds’ yield curve is influenced by several factors among them the fiscal policies, inflation, economic conditions, tax policies, foreign exchange rates, expected forward rates, bonds’ credit rating and foreign capital inflows as well as outflows. The term structure of interest rates bears three identifiable features. They include higher volatility of yields on short-term bonds than long-term bonds; change in yields of various bonds move in the same directions; and the long-term bonds have higher yields. Several theories have been advanced to explain these characteristics. They are broadly classified as the market segmentation theory and expectations theories, which are the preferred habitat theory, the liquidity premium, and the pure expectation theory. Given that bonds have some set durations, sellers and buyers frequently have preferred maturities. The bond buyers prefer maturities that coincide with when they need money or with their liabilities while the bond sellers want maturities

Culture and Disease Essay Example for Free

Culture and Disease Essay Culture is a pattern of behavior and thinking learned, shaped and shared by Europeans and Americans. It is their growing and developing bank of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, material objects and possessions gained through generations of individual group work (Williams 1976). Any discomfort, dysfunction, distress, social problems, and alterations of behavior for Europeans and Americans are considered a disease. It is a change that disrupts the normal function of the body. It is initially believed to be caused by curses, evil spirits, or night vapors. However, in the mid-19th century the discoveries and findings of scientific works by Louis Pasteur and Koch concluded microorganisms or germs are the pathogens of infectious diseases which usually gain entrance into the body. These are microorganisms that are able to infect a host and produce a disease (Miller 2003). Subsequent studies and researches improved the concepts of healthcare. In the 21st century, Western Science of Medicine means accuracy. It is the name of the trend. Its subject the human body is likened to an outstandingly complex machine that can be figured out, customized, renovated, and its health defined and described in strictly clinical terms. Medical experts called Physicians can identify and eliminate disease-causing or etiologic organisms that originate outside the body, Surgeons evolved to be incomparable experts in dealing with acute trauma and distress, and epidemiologist uncovers the factors that determine the frequency, distribution, and determinants of diseases in human populations. These factors include the characteristics of the pathogen, the susceptibility of human population resulting from overcrowding, lack of immunization, nutritional status, inadequate sanitation procedures, locations or reservoirs where pathogens lie in wait, and the various means by which infectious disease is transmitted. Ironically, resurgence of infectious disease such as tuberculosis occurred brought about by the emergence of another infectious disease HIV/AIDS (Burton 2004). The existence of epidemic and communicable diseases in specific areas were found to follow geographic patterns. Diseases like Poliomyelitis caused by over population infected Brazilian children population, and it also infected older age Scandinavian and Americans; cholera, yellow fever and dengue infected Indians in India as a result of poor sanitation; Plague brought about by rodents are cases in the Western United States of America, and in China, it is carried by rodents and fleas infecting Chinese. These findings were important concepts for public awareness to guide travelers and servicemen (Duffy 1953). Body Tuberculosis is a chronic mycobacterial infection of the lower respiratory tract characterized by fever, night sweats, weight loss, productive cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, coughing up blood and hoarseness. It may infect lymph nodes causing systemic disease like kidney disease, urinary bladder disease and bone disease (Burton 2004). The dynamics of infection follows the following pattern: Sources of Infection Modes of entry Mechanism of disease Pattern of infection Portals of exit. Mycobacterium tuberculosis a slow-growing, acid-fast, Gram-variable bacillus is an aerobic bacillus species capable of reproducing within 16-20 hours. It is the etiologic agent of the disease called tuberculosis (Burton 2004). Mycobacterium tuberculosis developed resistance to treatment drugs. It is the second leading killer of adults in the world, with more than 2 million TB-related deaths each year (Burton 2004). Ironically, one of the endemic diseases in the United States of America is this bacterial disease called tuberculosis. In 2004 Centers for Disease and Controls, Atlanta, GA reported 14, 517 tuberculosis cases. The resurgence of tuberculosis in the United States of America in the 1980’s through 1990’s primarily resulted from the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the multi-drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis (Burton 2004). Identification and recognition of the characteristics of the pathogen, the susceptibility of human population resulting from overcrowding, lack of immunization, nutritional status, inadequate sanitation procedures, locations or reservoirs, emigration and migration of men and animals, and stress makes people immunosuppressed resulting to infection, considering that pathogens may come primarily from infected humans, sometimes from primates, cattle and other infected mammals (Burton 2004) . There are various sources from which tuberculosis can be acquired and transmitted. It may be via airborne droplets produced by the infected organism during coughing, sneezing, even singing and prolonged direct contact with infected individuals ((Burton 2004). Prevention, Precautions, Sterilization, disinfection and Patient care would all involve airborne precautions (Burton 2004). In Clinical practice, disinfection and sterilization as well as laboratory procedures were employed being a necessity. Their scientific basis has been developed only during the past century. These important procedures are: Sterilization which is the destruction or complete removal by filtration of all forms of microorganisms including their spores; Disinfection is the destruction of many microorganisms but not usually bacterial spores; Antisepsis, is the destruction or inhibition of microorganisms in living tissues thereby limiting or preventing the harmful effect of infection; Static agent would inhibit the growth of bacteriostatic microorganisms; Bactericidal agent would kill the microorganisms; Sterilizers are chemicals which under controlled conditions kill spore-forming bacteria. These agents which perform the above functions were divided into physical agents and chemical agents. With these mechanisms, Epidemiologist and Social psychologist in the United States of America helped contribute to the study of health and to the interventions to improve people’s well-being and quality of life by promoting health and preventing illnesses. They identify psychological factors that might influence illness, and identify improved ways in which health care is delivered. This is also a form of proposition for the improvement of the health of the population by promoting healthy choices and preventing people from becoming ill. Psychologists are persuasive by appealing to fear for the negative health consequences, subsequently encouraging American families, peer and schooling young adolescents to change their health behaviors by redirecting their behavioral intentions. This is in line with the concept that the actions taken by people to safeguard their health are influenced by factors such as general health values, perceived susceptibility to illness, perceptions of illness severity, expectations of treatment success, self-efficacy, perceived barriers and benefits, and cues to action. Healthy habits that are currently recommended are vigorous regular exercise, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol intake, eating healthy foods, and getting enough sleep. Even so, considering the increased cultural mixing Of the United States of America, programs or lessons in scholastic trainings are incorporated as designed to increase intercultural communications as cultural patterns affect how people make sense of the many aspects of health care: the meanings that people give to health and illness, the causes of diseases, the means to prevent illnesses, appropriate cures, and the types of individuals most qualified to provide care and attempt to cure. In this context, magico-religious approach, holistic approach and biomedical approach are not set aside, but, the healthcare system of the United States of America is typically focused on the individual patient as the source of the medical problem in need of a cure. This is rather the biomedical approach adopted to address the issues of illness and wellness. It considers people health regardless of culture to be driven by biochemical forces. Wellness is achieved by understanding that the biochemical reaction is activated. Illness happens when a part of the normal human body metabolic activities is altered. Treatments are provided by Medical health practitioners like Doctors and Nurses, thus bringing back the normal course of bodily metabolic activities supportive of good health (Lustig 1996). In 1953 Dr. Louis H. Bauer of New York, USA as a secretary General of the World Medical Health Association outlined the major task to address medical care need from their time on, such as: 1) Rural community work to establish facilities and to encourage physicians participation; 2) provide medical care all depressed areas : 3) Extend public health coverage to depressed areas; 4) Evolve strategies to address care needs people with inborn disorders; 5) Provide insurance programs to people specially senior citizens and the disabled; 6) Eradicate graft and corruption in the Medical practice; 7) General public protection for regular Medical services; 8) Renew medical societies; and 9) Medical Health ethics education for the Medical Health practitioners (Perkins 1993). Conclusion With the advent of post-industrial age marked by the ubiquitous appearance and usages of television and the computer, supposedly a reliable indicator, most Americans should be healthy and wealthy. Being so, it could be enough to affect longevity positively, primarily through lifestyle choices, rather than lack of food or shelter and diseases (Lustig 1996). However, Studies revealed that even the introduction of Medicare in the United States, bringing the poor substantially at par with the rich in terms of health care and medical services did not eliminate or even markedly reduced the large differential mortality. In contrast, life expectancy in Japan is far above all the rest of the countries in the world. The life expectancy for males is 78 years while the life expectancy for females is 85 years, in spite of half the level of spending for healthcare than that of the United States of America amounting to around $2,000 per person, 7. 4 percent of GDP (Powell 1990). The technology used in the Japanese health care system is similar to that used in the United States of America, but, the flow of funds, the quantity and intensity of use is considerably different (Powell 1990). In Japan, all citizens are free to choose any physician and hospital. Physicians may be General Private Practitioner providing primary and secondary care, while Specialist works in hospitals. Hospitals may be large and public university hospitals with medical school, research facilities, and outpatient department for primary care while small time private practitioners have small facilities and less sophisticated treatments (Powell 1990). Knowing that tuberculosis is transmitted via airborne droplets produced by the infected organism during coughing, sneezing, even singing and prolonged direct contact with infected individuals, preventions and precautions are better than an ounce of medicine after infection. Reference Burton, G. and Engelkirk, P. (2004). Microbiology for Health Sciences. USA: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lustig, M. and Koester, J. (1996). Intercultural Competence. 6th ed. USA: HarperCollins. Powell, M. and Anesaki, M. (1990). Health Care in Japan. New York: Routledge. Duffy, John. (1953). Epidemics in Colonial America. Perkins, James E. (1952). You and Tuberculosis.

Differentiate among the formal, informal and hidden curriculum

Differentiate among the formal, informal and hidden curriculum The world is ever changing, and what is taught in schools must also change. The concept of curriculum planning must be viewed critically at the purposes, content and processes in a holistic manner. How we perceive of curriculum making is important because our conceptions and ways of reasoning about curriculum reflect and shape how we see, think and talk about, study and act on the education made available to students. Our curriculum conceptions, ways of reasoning and practice cannot be value neutral. They necessarily reflect our assumption about the world, even if those assumptions remain implicit and unexamined. Furthermore, concern with conceptions is not merely theoretical. Conceptions emerge from and enter into practice (Cornbleth, 1990). In essence, ones approach to curriculum is shaped by ones views of the world and their values (philosophy), of how children develop and behave (psychology) and on social issues (sociology) (Harris, 2010). This paper will seek to define the conce pt of curriculum, the formal, informal and hidden curriculum and provide arguments explaining the extent to which the hidden curriculum has a greater impact than the formal curriculum on the development of learners. Depending on ones conception of curriculum, the definition may vary. But an important point to note is that the definition is not static, it is dynamic in that it changes over time. According to Todd writing in 1965, A curriculum is defined as the planned educational experiences offered by a school which can take place anywhere at any time in the multiple context of the school (pg 2). Another definition as posited by Wilson writing in 1990, defines the curriculum as Anything and everything that teaches a lesson, planned or otherwise. He argues that humans are born learning, and therefore the curriculum must encompass a combination of the hidden, informal, formal, political and societal curricula as students learn continuously through experiences and modeled behaviours from their teachers and other members of staff whether administrative, ancillary or otherwise. Dimensions of curriculum planning will encompass the elements or approaches, the types (formal, informal and hidden) and the conceptions or orientations. Whichever type of curriculum is adopted by a department, emphasis must be on the needs of the students, the school context and statutory and syllabus requirements. Wilson (2005) argues that the types of curriculum that exists are open to interpretation as the curriculum reflects the models of instructional delivery and the psychological classifications of learning theories. While he contends that many curricula exist, the formal/overt, informal and hidden curricula are widely used within educational institutions. The formal curriculum is simply that which is written as part of formal instruction of schooling experiences. It may refer to a curriculum document, texts, films, and supportive teaching materials that are overtly chosen to support the intentional instructional agenda of a school. Thus, the overt curriculum is usually confi ned to those written understandings and directions formally designated and reviewed by administrators, curriculum directors and teachers, often collectively (Wilson, 2005). The formal curriculum therefore embodies the learning activities that are planned, organized and implemented within regular school hours. The informal curriculum on the other hand refers to the learning experiences adopted from other agencies outside the formal setting such as parents, peers, media and community. The informal curriculum is sometimes referred to as co-curricular activities. Longstreet and Shane (1993) view the hidden curriculum as the kinds of learning children derive from the very nature and organizational design of the public school, as well as from the behaviors and attitudes of teachers and administrators (pg 46). Whichever type of curriculum is chosen to meet the needs of the students within the defined school context and in lieu with the statutory and syllabus requirements must encompass a h olistic approach to curriculum planning. Sociologist Philip Jackson coined the term hidden curriculum in 1968, although the concept has been around much longer. Jackson argues that what is taught in schools is more than the essence of the curriculum. He thought that schools should be understood as a socialization process where messages are communicated to students through their experience of being in school, not just from things that are unequivocally taught. From another perspective, the hidden curriculum isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ something coming across to the pupils which may never be spoken in the English lesson or prayed about in assembly. They are picking-up an approach to living and an attitude to learning (Meighan, 1981). The hidden curriculum, then, provides a leeway for educators to impress upon students their values, beliefs and most importantly, the dominant cultural capital. The concept of cultural capital, developed by Pierre Bourdieu, is a set of tools and skills acquired through experience that includes knowledge about how to present oneself vis-à  -vis relations of power (Dalmage Isserles, 2000, p. 160). Bourdieu attempts to expand the understanding of capital to something more than just economic by identifying culture as a form of capital. His concern in relation to cultural capital was with its continual transmission in ways that perpetuate social inequalities. Bourdieu explains school success by the amount and type of cultural capital inherited from the family milieu rather than by measures of individual talent or achievement. For him, ability is socially constructed and is the result of individuals having access to large amounts of the dominant cultural capital. Cultural capital includes ones language, etiquette, preferences, and taste, which Bourdieu (1977, p. 82) terms subtle modalities in the relationship to culture and language. The hidden curriculum therefore has a greater impact than the formal curriculum in the transmission of cultural capital. This is apparent as the formal curriculum is limited to the school context (academic) and within prescribed hours while the hidden curriculum factors in the social construct of individuals and the society in which they live. These subtle modalities are impressed upon them unintentionally within the delivery of the curriculum and usually have a big influence on them. Take for example teaching a Social Studies lesson on democracy at the secondary level. If the students are not given a voice in the classroom and are treated irrationally, they may have a negative perspective about the nature of society. Jackson writing in 1968 contends that the hidden curriculum emphasized skills such as learning to wait quietly, patiently, exercising restraint, completing work, cooperating with others, being punctual and respecting peer differences (Margolis, n.d. pg 5). These features clearly had nothing to do with educational goals. These educational goals were always covered in the formal curriculum and neglect the inculcation of life skills that would promote social change and conformity, preventing any state of anomie (normlessness) in schools and mainstream society. Robert Dreeben as cited in Margolis article The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education contends that these skills taught students to form transient social relationships and accept responsibility for their actions. He further argued that the hidden curriculum taught students values such as independence and achievement which will be essential for their transition from childhood to adulthood. Within the secondary schools, work is usua lly assigned by teachers with no indication that it must be done. The hidden curriculum encompasses such an enquiry approach where students must create their own learning experiences rather than relying on the teacher for strict guidance. Such guidance is usually systematic and deliberate and falls within the formal curriculum and subsequently does not teach the value of independence or any other life skill. What usually happens is where students thoughts are merely those of the teacher. An argument put forward by Palermo 1990, stated that These days we talk a lot about objectives, subjects, timetables, syllabuses, standards and technologies. These are all important issues, but they seem to me like the tip of the iceberg, what we can see and hear and talk about: the overt part of a curriculum. But what we do not see is just as important, and perhaps more: it is the hidden or covert curriculum, and this is made up of what people teachers, students, parents, administrators bring to it, in terms of their beliefs, attitudes, expectations, motivations. It seems to me that this submerged curriculum is largely unknown, rarely spoken about, and very often underestimated. Quite frankly, she is right. Her argument is that while the formal curriculum is necessary, the hidden curriculum provides a more holistic approach in ensuring that students cognitive, psychological and behavioural traits are taken into consideration when devising a curriculum. The hidden curriculum althou gh unintended usually facilitates the transmission of beliefs with affect how students make decisions regarding their life. This curriculum provides students with a voice in the classroom and does not follow a systematic and deliberate approach to teaching and learning. The hidden curriculum cannot be used in isolation from the formal curriculum. Both complement each other and are essential for the academic, vocational and social development of learners. The formal approach stresses academics within prescribed hours while the hidden curriculum emphasize students forming social transient relationships and the acquisition of societal norms, values and beliefs which in turn affects one desire to participate in deviant acts. This is largely due to the unintended social modalities impressed upon them during the teaching and learning process. While researchers argue that the hidden curriculum elevates and perpetuates the culture of the dominant class a process termed cultural reproduction, they will agree that this curriculum proves more beneficial to oneself and the society in which they live.

Assimilation Integration And Multiculturalism

Assimilation Integration And Multiculturalism There are different conceptual frameworks and theoretical models in social sciences to conceptualise and describe the relationship between different people and cultures. In this section, some of the various focal points regarding the process of integration of immigrants and minority groups into their host country or mainstream society will be discussed and used as a springboard for our analysis of the German Sinti and Roma minority integration in to the German society with particular reference to the city of Oldenburg. 2.1. Assimilation Is a term that refers to attempts to incorporate one micro culture into another or efforts to make one group more homogeneous in relation to another. The term first surfaced during colonial times and re-emerged at the turn of the 20th century. The term is used both to refer to colonized peoples when dominant colonial states expand into new territories or alternately, when diasporas of immigrants settle into a dominant state society. Colonized peoples or minority immigrant groups acquire new customs, language, and ideologies through contact and education in the dominant society. Assimilation may involve either a quick or gradual change depending on circumstances. Full assimilation occurs when new members of a society become indistinguishable from older members (Christine I. Bennett, 1995). The term `assimilation has been also used to describe both the model and the process of absorption of people from different countries and different cultures, brought together as the consequence of the migration process. In this context, assimilation is often interpreted as a process of progressive adaptation of leading towards inclusion in the host society whose final outcome should be the disappearance of cultural differences. This unidirectional process is considered the `natural way for migrants to adjust gradually to their new environment by absorbing the values of the dominant culture. The model of assimilation is a precise political strategy which intends to keep the national community as homogeneous as possible by endeavouring to ensure that the same basic values are shared by the whole population (Bolaffi et al. 2003:19). Assimilation refers to giving up of ones own ethnic identity and adopting that of the mainstream society. The American melting pot concept is an example of assimilation. 2.2. Meaning of Integration/Social integration The notion of integration is broadly employed by sociologists and social anthropologists to indicate the process of immigrant adjustment in their destination country and the experiences that could be acquired and shared between the new settlers and the host societies at the various levels of social organization. According to different scholars Integration is a long term and two way process of change that relates both to the that relates both to the conditions for and the actual participation in aspects of life in the given geographical area (Ager and Strang 2008:12). The term integration is considered as the longer-term process through which immigrants or particular social groups become full and equal participants in the various dimensions of society (Gray and Elliott 2001). Integration is also sometimes referred as a multicultural concept that denotes the removal of barriers that segregate human beings. For some writers integration can only happen when tolerance in the form of mutual respect and acceptance occurs on the part of racially and ethnically different groups of human beings (Banks 1994). Integration, in a sociological context, also refers to stable, cooperative relations within a clearly defined social system. It can also be viewed as a process that of strengthening relationships within a social system and of introducing new actors and groups into the system and its institutions. Integration is accepting, recognizing, valuing and celebrating as well as giving equal rights for the participation of minority groups. This means social integration includes analysis of differentiation of ethnic groups action and relations, and of quantitative and qualitative aspects of relational structures (civic and political participation, participation in social networks, involvement in economic, political, cultural life of society, representation at different levels of governance, participation in units and organisations of fellow citizen (http://www.escwa.un.org) Dimensions of integration According to different social researchers there are four basic dimensions of social integration in which minority groups or immigrants use to integrate to the mainstream society social system. Structural integration Structural integration means the acquisition of rights and the access to position and status in the core institutions of the host society: the economy and labour market, education and qualification systems, the housing system, welfare state institutions (including the health system), and full political citizenship. These are core institutions as participation in them determines a persons socioeconomic status and the opportunities and resources available to them, in a modern market society. Cultural integration Acquire the core competencies of that culture and society. In this respect, integration refers to an individuals cognitive, behavioural and attitudinal change: this is termed cultural integration. While cultural integration primarily concerns the immigrants and their children and grandchildren, it is also an interactive, mutual process one that changes the host society, which must learn new ways of relating to immigrants or minority groups and adapting to their needs. Interactive integration Interactive integration means the acceptance and inclusion of immigrants/minority groups in the primary relationships and social Networks of the host society. Indicators of interactive integration include social networks, friendship, partnerships, marriages and membership in voluntary organizations. Certain core elements of cultural integration, particularly communicative competencies, are preconditions for interactive integration. Identificational integration It is not possible to participate in a host societys core institutions without having first acquired the cultural competencies by which these institutions function. It is, however, possible to participate without identifying with the goals of these institutions and without having developed a feeling of belonging to the host society. This feeling of belonging may develop later in the integration process develop as a result of participation and acceptance. Inclusion in a new society on the subjective level identificational integration is indicated by feelings of belonging to, and identification with, groups, particularly in ethnic, regional, local and/or national identification (Bosswick and Heckmann 2006). Assimilation versus Integration The conceptual dissection between assimilation and integration is controversial among sociologists in the analysis of minority groups and immigrant practices and interactions with their new societal setting. Some of them prefer integration, while others assimilation and some use the terms interchangeably to express the different aspects of the process. Park and E.W. Burgess (1969) provided an early definition of assimilation, which showed assimilation as the one-way process: a process of interpenetration and fusion in which persons and groups acquire the memories, sentiments, and attitudes of other persons and groups and, by sharing their experience and history, are incorporated with them in a common cultural life (Alba and Nee, 1997:827-28). The classical assimilation framework implies that the various dimensions of assimilation -socioeconomic, social, cultural, and spatial assimilation are interconnected (South et al.,2005). The Socioeconomic assimilation as showed by high levels of education, income, and wealth is hypothesized to enhance immigrants mobility neighbourhoods. Social (or,Gordons terminology, structural) assimilation is also likely to increase immigrants prospects for spatial assimilation with the majority. Cultural assimilation (or, acculturation) indicates ethnic minorities adoption of the cultural practices and norms of the majority and the degree to which minority group members identify with the host society. Spatial assimilation is expected to influence immigrants geographic mobility into neighbourhood with the mainstream population (South et al., 2005). Therefore, assimilation means replacing ones previous identity with that of the host society. Whereas integration is refers to the capacity to acces s aspects of the dominant culture, while simultaneously retaining an ethnic identity. Kritz and his colleagues have defined these concepts by corresponding to the two fundamental dimensions of societal systems: structural and cultural. Integration refers to participation in the structure of a societal system and measured as the degree to which a system unit occupies positions on structurally relevant status lines. Whereas, assimilation is defined as participation in the culture of a societal system and measured as a degree to which a system unit occupies positions on culturally relevant status lines (Kritz 1981:80). Assimilation has also to be distinguished from acculturation, which is defined as cultural change resulting from direct contact between two cultural groups. It is unlikely to the accultured individual to completely ignore his/her ethnic identity, but adopts some elements of the immigration system (Ibid, 81). In international migration, it is more likely for the immigrants eventually to come to terms with the question of whether or not they and their families maintain the language and culture of their home country or adjust to the culture and language of the host country. With succeeding generations, assimilation to the new country becomes dominant, but the conflicts are most difficult for the first generation migrants (Glazier and De Rosa, 1986:314). The first generation immigrants usually compromise and hesitate, which makes it difficult to relate to the new environment. If immigrants/minority groups have never expected of such prior to their migration, the outcomes to the crisis become rather strong, painful, and intense (Ibid, 305). Immigrants and social groups develop about four strategies in terms of two major issues: cultural maintenance versus cultural contact. The question is whether to remain primarily among their original culture and community or to get involved in the host society, and several possible strategies exist (Kritz, 1981 Mesch, 2002). 2.3. Multiculturalism In the cultural and political arena multiculturalism can be described as the coexistence of a range of different cultural experiences within a group or society. It is often used as being synonymous with `cultural pluralism, resulting in a certain amount of theoretical and conceptual confusion. More recently, the trend in literature has been to use similar terms, such as interculturalism and `trans-culturalism, with far more precise meanings (Bolaffi et al. 2003). According to the International Organisation for Migration, a multi-cultural society aims to allow diversity, equal rights and equal opportunities to migrants and minority groups, at the same time allowing them to keep a cultural affiliation to their country of origin.  [1]  Multiculturalism rejects the simple integration process proposed by assimilation theory. Scholars from this perspective view multicultural societies as composed of a heterogeneous collection of ethnic and racial minority groups, as well as of a dominant majority group. This view has been forcefully illustrated in the context of the American society. Most scholars argue that immigrants actively shape their own identities rather than posing as passive subjects in front of the forces of assimilation and also emphasize that some aspects of the cultural characteristics of immigrants may be preserved in a state of un-easy co-existence with the attitudes of the host country. The multicultural perspective offers then an alternative way of considering the host society, presenting members of ethnic minority groups as active integral segments of the whole society rather than just foreigners or outsiders. With large-scale immigration into Europe, multiculturalism has become a major topic of political and intellectual discourse. The terms multiculturalism and multicultural society have been advocated as concepts that could help clarify the confusing picture of European immigration and integration, both in a descriptive-analytical and in a politico normative sense (Bosswick and Heckmann 2006). Main variables to evaluate the integration process In order to evaluate the Integration of German Sinti and Roma minority group in Germany we took the different variables presented by EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020. In sociology and other social sciences Social integration requires proficiency in an accepted common language of the society, acceptance of the laws of the society and adoption of a common set of values of the society. It does not require assimilation and it does not require persons to give up all of their culture, but it may require forgoing some aspects of their culture which are inconsistent with the laws and values of the society. In tolerant and open societies, members of minority groups can often use social integration to gain full access to the opportunities, rights and services available to the members of the mainstream of society. Social integration is inextricably linked to broad-based participation. This entails the participation of all social groups in the process of policy development, as well as in the benefits of economic growth and social progress. Social integration strives to facilitate the emergence of a cohesive and equitable society for all through the inclusion of all people in social, economic and political decision-making and development. As such, social integration is considered both a goal and a process. It is a multidimensional concept that embraces socio-economic and political objectives and strategies. There are different variables to evaluate the integration of minority groups such as ethnic minorities refugees and underprivileged sections of a society into the mainstream of societies. According to the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020 there are four main variables to evaluate the integration process of minority groups and immigrants in the host community. The framework uses four main policy indicators to measure integration. In Its latest report, in (2010), measured how well policies relating to integration in labour market access, family reunion, long-term residence, political participation, access to nationality and anti-discrimination helped promote integration. Overall, each policy area was found to be only halfway to best practice. The EU integration policy commonly includes work, education, housing, health service, social inclusion and active citizens to measure the successful integration of minority groups in the mainstream society. Generally, In order to create a fertile ground for social inclusion Policies and strategies that promote the social, economic and cultural inclusion of migrants/minority groups within existing legal frameworks in the host countries needed. Minority groups need to have a chance to fully engage with their host society from a socioeconomic, political, and cultural perspective. *Access to education, employment, housing, health Care, are the major variables in EU framework to evaluate the integration process.