Persusive research paper on stem cell research and why it needs to

Persusive on stem cell and why it needs to continue and be funded by congress - Research Paper Example The present enthusiasm over prospective stem cell-produced remedies radiates from the new innovations of genetic biology. Though one cannot forecast the results from basic research, there is enough information available to suggest that a good deal of this enthusiasm is justified. This enthusiasm is not shared by those of the religious right. This faction is opposed to embryonic stem cell research which they claim as immoral and characterize as devaluing human life, much the same as does abortion, drawing a link between the two. This discussion will provide a brief overview of stem cell research and its benefits to society, the debate surrounding the issue and the arguments for continued research. Embryonic stem cells possess the ability to restore defective or damaged tissues which would heal or regenerate organs which have been adversely affected by a degenerative disease. Cell therapy has the very real potential to provide new cures for diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, macular deg eneration, multiple sclerosis and many other kinds of diseases. Cell therapy has also demonstrated a great potential to help repair and regenerate spinal cord injuries which would help paralyzed patients recapture lost body functions. The possibilities are limitless including greatly advancing the human lifespan because aging organs could be replenished. â€Å"We may even have the ability one day to grow our own organs for transplantation from our own stem cells, eliminating the danger of organ rejection† (â€Å"Future of Cell Therapy†, 2006). The three main objectives given for pursuing stem cell research are obtaining vital scientific information about embryonic development; curing incapacitating ailments and for testing new drugs instead of having to use animals. The scientific techniques for obtaining stem cells could lead to unparalleled advances and even cures for these and other ailments. It has been substantiated from animal research that stem cells can be diff erentiated into cells that will behave appropriately in their transplanted location. For example, the transplantation of stem cells following treatments for cancer has found much success for many years. There are numerous potential sources. The first is bone marrow stem cells. This type of stem cell is probably the most recognized of the stem cells. It has been used routinely to treat a variety of blood and bone marrow diseases, blood cancers and immune disorders. Leukemia is the most recognized disease that has been treated with a bone marrow transplant. New evidence suggests that bone marrow stem cells may be able to differentiate (the process by which an unspecialized cell acquires the features of a specialized cell) into cells that make up tissues outside of the blood such as liver and muscle (â€Å"Stem Cells In Use.† Learn.Genetics). The second type of stem cell is the adult stem cell. An adult stem cell is thought to be an undifferentiated cell, found among differentia ted cells in tissues or organs. These cells can renew themselves and can differentiate to become some or all of the major specialized cells types in the tissue and muscle it resides in. The primary function of this type of stem cell is to maintain and repair the tissue in which they reside. Because there are a very limited number of adult stem cells in each tissue coupled

Non-Democratic Regimes for Transition Assignment

Non-Democratic Regimes for Transition - Assignment Example In other countries, the transition to democracy stuck and the countries reversed from becoming democrats to non-democratic countries. However, this transition and the latest setback are only temporary. It is important to consider why democracy transition countries are in trouble as well as the conditions under which democracies can function and survive best to transit become to the democratic states. Democratization can occur anywhere even the most unexpected countries thus it is important to note though consolidation and stable democracies are hard to achieve due to ineffective governments in the associated countries. The answer to the argument that is raised above will point to essential areas needed in ensuring that the development ought to be successful. These can be described as the conditions for venturing into a stable democracy and ensuring that the development is a success. This condition includes the countries having a relatively high and stable level of the economy, having a vibrant civil society and a strong civic authority. For the non-democratic country to have a smooth transition, it is necessary for them to have a strong civil authority as well as a firm level of the economy. These necessary conditions are characterized by the old and stable democracies that have stable democracies (Juan J Linz and Stepan, 269). However, they remain not the only things that are lacking in the most of transitioning and third wave countries. Rather, another the attributes that these states are lacking is the provision of a coherent and stable functioning state. Democratization in a country is likely to become a success when the new state regime is distinguished from the former regime.  

Dependent clause Essay Example for Free

Dependent clause Essay TRANSLATION: The process of turning an original or source text into a text in another language. TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES Direct Translation Techniques are used when structural and conceptual elements of the source language can be transposed into the target language. Direct translation techniques include: * Borrowing * Calque * Literal Translation Borrowing Borrowing is the taking of words directly from one language into another without translation. For example software, funk. English also borrows numerous words from other languages; abbatoire, cafe, passe and resume from French; hamburger and kindergarden from German; bandana, musk and sugar from Sanskrit. Calque A calque or loan translation is a phrase borrowed from another language and translated literally word-for-word. Examples that have been absorbed into English include standpoint and beer garden from German Standpunkt and Biergarten; breakfast from French dejeuner. Literal Translation A word-for-word translation can be used in some languages and not others dependent on the sentence structure: El equipo esta trabajando para terminar el informe would translate into English as The team is working to finish the report. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. And one sentence can be translated literally across languages does not mean that all sentences can be translated literally. El equipo experimentado esta trabajando para terminar el informe translates into English as The experienced team is working to finish the report (experienced and team are reversed). Oblique Translation Techniques Oblique Translation Techniques are used when the structural or conceptual elements of the source language cannot be directly translated without altering meaning or upsetting the grammatical and stylistics elements of the target language. Oblique translation techniques include: * Transposition * Modulation * Reformulation or Equivalence * Adaptation * Compensation Transposition This is the process where parts of speech change their sequence when they are translated. It is in a sense a shift of word class. Grammatical structures are often different in different languages. Transposition is often used between English and Spanish because of the preferred position of the verb in the sentence: English often has the verb near the beginning of a sentence; Spanish can have it closer to the end. This requires that the translator knows that it is possible to replace a word category in the target language without altering the meaning of the source text, for example: English Hand knitted (noun + participle) becomes Spanish Tejido a mano (participle + adverbial phrase). Modulation Modulation consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target languages to convey the same idea: Te lo dejo means literally I leave it to you but translates better as You can have it. It changes the semantics and shifts the point of view of the source language. Through modulation, the translator generates a change in the point of view of the message without altering meaning and without generating a sense of embarrassment in the reader of the target text. It is often used within the same language. The expressions es facil de entender (it is easy to understand) and no es complicado de entender (it is not complicated to understand) are examples of modulation. Reformulation or Equivalence Here you have to express something in a completely different way, for example when translating idioms or advertising slogans. The process is creative, but not always easy. Adaptation Adaptation occurs when something specific to one language culture is expressed in a totally different way that is familiar or appropriate to another language culture. It is a shift in cultural environment. Should pincho (a Spanish restaurant menu dish) be translated as kebab in English? It involves changing the cultural reference when a situation in the source culture does not exist in the target culture (for example France has Belgian jokes and England has Irish jokes). Compensation In general terms compensation can be used when something cannot be translated, and the meaning that is lost is expressed somewhere else in the translated text. Peter Fawcett defines it as: making good in one part of the text something that could not be translated in another. One example given by Fawcett is the problem of translating nuances of formality from languages that use forms such as Spanish informal tu and formal usted, French tu and vous, and German du and sie into English which only has you, and expresses degrees of formality in different ways. WORD: It is one of the units of speech or writing that native speakers of a language usually regard as the smallest isolable meaningful element of the language, although linguists would analyze these further into morphemes There are eight different kinds of words in the English language. Nouns| Pronouns| Adjectives| Verbs| Adverbs| | Prepositions| | | Conjunctions| | | Interjections| | | NOUNS and VERBS are the most common and most essential. Every English sentence MUST contain a NOUN and a VERB. NOUNS name: people, places, things, ideas. They are always singular or plural. They are always common or proper. They may show ownership. PRONOUNS replace nouns. They have person, number, and case. ADJECTIVES describe nouns. They answer three questions: Which one? What kind? How many? VERBS have three jobs: show action, act like an equals sign, or hang around a main verb to show tense. They also have person, number, and case. ADVERBS describe verbs. They answer four questions: When? Where? How? How Much? PREPOSITIONS tell anywhere a mouse can run. CONJUNCTIONS connect things. INTERJECTIONS jump into show emotion. Sentence: it is a sequence of words capable of standing alone to make an assertion, ask a question, or give a command, usually consisting of a subject and a predicate containing a finite verb. Kinds of sentences. Simple Sentence it is a sentence having no coordinate clauses or subordinate clauses. Complex Sentence it is a sentence composed of at least one main clause and one subordinate clause. Compound Sentence it is a sentence composed of at least two coordinate independent clauses. Phrase it is a group of words forming an immediate syntactic constituent of a clause. Clause it is an expression including a subject and predicate but not constituting a complete sentence. Pre-modifier is a word (or words), usually adjectives or adverbs, that comes before the word that it describes. Basic Modifiers * Adjectives * Adverbs * Prepositional Phrases More Modifiers * Degree Modifier * Presumptive Modifier * Summative Modifier Post-modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that functions as an adjective or adverb to limit or qualify the meaning of another word or word group. Adjective Order Adjectives can be used to describe lots of things, from physical size, age, shape, colour, material, to more abstract things like opinion, origin and purpose. We can use adjectives together to give a detailed description of something. Adjectives that express opinions usually come before all others, but it can sometimes depend on what exactly you want to emphasize. For instance: That nice, big, blue bag. (You like the bag. ) That big, nice, blue bag. (You like the colour. ) When adjectives are together there is a general rule for the position of each type adjective, these are: Position| 1st*| 2nd*| 3rd| 4th| 5th| 6th| 7th| 8th| | Opinion| Size| Age| Shape| Colour| Material| Origin| Purpose| | Nice| Small| Old| Square| Black| Plastic| British| Racing| | Ugly| Big| New| Circular| Blue| Cotton| American| Running|.

Interventions to Reduce Risk of Sexual Abuse

Interventions to Reduce Risk of Sexual Abuse Introduction Various intervention strategies have been implemented to try and reduce the risk of sexual abuse in those persons with a learning disability. There is a general consensus that education programmes directed towards the perpetrator are least effective and that techniques aimed at fostering assertiveness and communication in the learning disabled adult are the best preventative measures. In this review I found there to be a significant lack of research that measured the effectiveness of these interventions and further support and investigation is needed into researching these intervention strategies, advocacy and community awareness studies. Methods of obtaining research In recent years the number of articles on ‘sexual abuse in people with a disability’ found in databases such as Medline and Proquest have increased although there is still a considerable lack of quality statistically significant research. Political and media exposure has unsurfaced the need for this group to be protected. For example, the European ‘Valuing People’ agenda unsurfaced serious inequities.3 Some of the most in-depth studies come from research in which women with learning disabilities have been interviewed directly about their experiences including the ground breaking work of Michelle McArthy.3   A number of factors can limit the disclosure of abuse and lead to an underestimation of the extent of this problem. For example, an individual that has had limited exposure to prevention programs and sexuality education may not recognise the abusive nature of sexual contact they have experienced.4 Disclosure may also be inhibited by feelings of confusion, guilt or denial especially if the abuse occurred from a care-giver or a person that was trusted by the victim.4 This paper aims to criticize interventions and assess the most appropriate methods used to help educate those with learning disabilities about sexual abuse and foster prevention rather than looking at ways to support post-abuse. I haven’t addressed the issue on whether sterilization is appropriate in this review as it steers away from the autonomy of the mentally disabled adult and it is more appropriate to concentrate on education as a tool of prevention and looking at the efficacy of training methods. Method of obtaining papers for literature review All papers in ‘British Journal of Social Work’, Medline via PubMed and Medline via ProQest from 1995 – 2005. Keywords used were ‘learning disability’, ‘sexual abuse’, ‘mental handicap’, ‘prevention’, ‘intellectual disability’, ‘consent sexual relationships’, ‘learning disabilities’, ‘sexual act’, ‘sexual malpractice’. Search terms were grouped as follows:- ‘education, sexual abuse, disabled’, ‘education, sexual abuse, handicap’, ‘education, sexual, disabled’, ‘assertiveness training, sexuality, disabled’ and ‘sexuality, training, mentally disabled.’ Papers found that concentrated on adults only were used and those articles found on sexual abuse pertaining to children were omitted apart from one paper that examines the use of a Computer-Based Safety Programme that could be useful in edu cating mentally disabled adults. Papers that addressed interventions used to prevent abuse from occurring were included in the review. Definitions A ‘learning disability’ is defined as â€Å"a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the reduced ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.†2 Disorders not included are â€Å"learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities or mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.†2 It is not necessarily the person’s learning disability that makes them more vulnerable to the sexual abuse as to the situation they are placed in so that if we took a person of normal mental capacity and placed them in the same environment the risk of sexual abuse for that person would be greate r as well. Sexual Abuse refers to any form of sexual contact to a vulnerable party and violates the victim’s rights as they are not fully aware of the situation. Sexual exploitation is evident when done by anyone in a position of trust or authority towards a person or where the victim has a relationship of dependency with the perpetrator. There are various definitions of sexual abuse used in the literature and widely diverging definitions tend to be used in studies of adults with intellectual disabilities.5 Brown and Turk (1992) also distinguished between non-contact and contact abuse. Another definition of sexual abuse was â€Å"any sexual contact which is unwanted and/or unenjoyed by one partner and is for the sexual gratification of the other†.6 This is still ambiguous as sometimes sexual contact is misunderstood and it could still be enjoyed it is just that the victim is unaware of what the full extent of the act means. I believe that a better definition of sexual abuse is any sexual act performed on a victim in a position of vulnerability. That is one party is not fully aware of the act being performed and there is an imbalance in power. Could this then exclude those persons with an intellectual disability from having a relationship with a person of normal mental capacity? Perhaps, if there is balance in t he relationship and the learning disabled adult can make decisions in other aspects of the relationship this would be a more equally distributed balance of power and this person may be able to fully make decisions on relationships at their own accord. There are varying degrees of mental handicap and this makes research difficult as ethical dilemmas on whether there is full consent and understanding of sexual contact can be ambiguous. However, there are also clear cut cases such as when a disabled person is institutionalized or the primary care-giver is the perpetrator. For the purpose of this review it is important to move more onto preventing the abuse in those that are vulnerable and critiquing methods used to empower those with disabilities rather than focus on the definition of abuse. Protection of those that are in a more vulnerable position and empowerment of individuals already victims of abuse should be fore-front in the social literature. Prevalence of Sexual Abuse There is an increase in the prevalence of sexual abuse in children with learning disabilities. A study conducted by the US National Center on Child Abuse and neglect (1993) found that caregivers abused children with disabilities 1.7 times more than children without disabilities.11 The violation of children can foster the development of low self-esteem and lead onto abuse into their adult lives. A research study by Sobsey found that the risk estimate of abuse of people with disabilities may be as high as an increase of five times greater than the risk for those that aren’t disabled.8 A study by Zemp (2002) found that 64% of female and 50% of male participants were sexually exploited and that disabled room mates were the predominant group of perpetrators for the male and third important for the female participants in the study.9 The statistics in the current literature does vary and â€Å"the wide variation in the figures is due to differences of abuse, the differences in the populations sampled and differences in research methods.†7 Vulnerability For children with disabilities the risk factors for sexual child abuse are increased. A child with a learning disorder has more difficulty in understanding and communicating and has an increased level of vulnerability. As they are unable to understand tasks as well as other normal children of the same age they are often brought up with low self-esteem as their care givers perform more of the tasks for them than they would for other children. This also leads onto a greater vulnerability and increased risk of sexual abuse than what is seen in children of the same age and normal development.1 This low self-esteem can continue into adulthood resulting in the learning disabled adult also possessing low-self esteem and greater risk factors of vulnerability in comparison to other adults. For those adults with intellectual disabilities there is a difficult balance to be met between empowering the individual to make their own sexual choices and to be leading more of a normal life and to claim their sexual rights and protect them from sexual abuse.4 Murphy et al (2004) suggests that services should be guided as to whether a person has the capacity to make their own sexual choices, however, the ability to assess this capacity to consent hasn’t been clearly defined. It is obvious that a caregiver would be taking advantage of their position of trust and it would be defined as sexual abuse. However, relationships outside this sphere are much more difficult to assess. Sexual acts between two adults of diminished mental capacity for instance and with adults outside the care-giving role. A more appropriate definition in this case may be â€Å"where a person is used by another in order to satisfy certain needs without being informed or giving consent†. This focus is more on the perpetrator as satisfying their sexual needs while the victim does not gain anything by the relationship so the victim is in a position of vulnerability and may not be able to represent themselves. Review of Intervention Techniques as a method of preventing Sexual Abuse in the learning disabled adult Lobbying the Government and changes to policy The manner in which sexual abuse is dealt with in a community reflects the way disabled people are regarded by in society. A report was released in 2004 that spoke about the changes the government is try to initiate as part of the ‘Valuing people: Moving Forward Together’ project.12 According to the Health and Social Care Act 2001, an annual report must be given to Parliament on learning disability. The Leaning Disability Task Force report for 2004 was called ‘Rights, Independence and inclusion’ and addressed the Sexual Offences Bill. Part of the Bill that talks about capacity and consent was changed to reflect the rights of people with learning disabilities to a full sexual life. The British Home Office is now working on helping others understand the Sexual Offences Act fully. Change has taken place and inclusion in helping to form government policy can be considered ‘morally and ethically the most appropriate form of education’. The acceptance of the disabled person as an individual is important not only at school level but right through to parliament. Behavior modification in the learning disabled adult; empowering the victim It has been suggested that programs aimed at re-educating the perpetrator have had little success and interventions aimed at modifying the behavior of the victim have a much greater success at reducing the risk of sexual abuse in adults with learning disabilities (Bruder et al, 2005). To be able to protect themselves against perpetrators, the adult with learning disabilities needs to learn how to assess whether a situation is inappropriate, must have the assertiveness to say no and seek help and to report the event. The eleven papers chosen for review are listed in Table 1 in the Appendix. Burke et al, 1998, suggested that one way a care provider can lower the risk of sexual abuse in a learning disabled adult is to help provide functional communication skills. The adult may use their own form of communication whether this be symbols or words and their form of communication should be encouraged so that they are able to express their needs. Communication is empowering to the individual and enables them to be able to get a message to their Caregiver. Often those with intellectual disabilities are hard to understand and the carer should ask themselves if they have tried to read non-verbal behavior or begun to establish an alternative form of communication. Burke et al, 1998, also suggested that it was the Carer’s role to provide sexual education to limit the risk of abuse. This education then becomes a way of communicating the common language of sexual health. It is important that the individual understands what appropriate sexual behavior is and understands how to trust their feelings by ‘validating, rather than dismissing or minimizing, them’. The person also needs to be made aware of the appropriate forms of touch so that they can maintain and understand personal boundaries. Burke has suggested that these adults need to have a plan for when somebody doesn’t obey their personal boundary rules so that they are able to get themselves out of the situation and avoid sexual abuse altogether. It doesn’t mean being afraid of strangers but learning how to remain safe. Burke has suggested ways of empowering the learning disabled adult and reducing the risk of sexual abuse. These methods may not be useful when the caregiver is the perpetrator and it could be suggested that a teacher outside the carer role provide this type of education so that the individual is then able to recognise when a person in close association with them has crossed personal boundaries. It does not give ways to avoid abuse altogether and aims to reduc e the risk when the person knows what types of behavior is inappropriate and requires reporting. The main downfall of Burke’s research was that she didn’t quantitatively measure the reduction in risk of introducing a communication skills program so further research is needed to assess whether the implementing education on sexuality and encouraging communication strategies actually lower the incidence of sexual abuse. Earle, (2001), agreed that those with learning disabilities are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse due to the disabled person’s dependent environment, difficulty in articulating their abuse and understanding when abuse has taken place. She suggested that ‘whilst disabled people have the right to be protected from sexual abuse and exploitation, it could be argued that a concern with this risk should not be used as a smokescreen to deny disabled people their sexual identity.’ Earle also postulated that by not discussing sexuality and creating an atmosphere where ‘sexuality is taboo’, this may in fact increase the incidence or worsen the experience of the sexual abuse. Earle also found that nurses tended to think of their disabled patients as asexual and in denial did not address the sexual needs of the patient at all. She also found that disabled individuals have been unable to access information and services on sexuality. Earle admits in this paper that ‘the purpose of this paper has not been to provide answers’,’ nor has it been possible to explore all of these issues in depth’ but to show that the issue of sexuality should be given greater emphasis in a holistic health care framework. The missing link is whether empowering the disabled individual to make their own sexual choices and discover their own sexual identity actually reduces the incidence of sexual abuse. Teaching refusal skills to sexually active adolescents was introduced in a study by Warzak et al (1990). The training was given to sexually active handicapped female adolescents who lacked an effective refusal strategy. Role-plays were used to help teach effective strategies using ‘the who, what, when and where of situations which resulted in unwanted sexual intercourse.’ The skillfulness and effectiveness of the subjects’ refusal skills were judged to be improved as a result of the training. This study did not have a control group. The research did have a long-term follow up after 12 months and this showed a decrease in sexual activity for each girl. Singer (1996) introduced a programme to seven intellectually disabled adults that lived in a residential group home. The programme consisted of weekly sessions of assertiveness training, group exercises, role-plays and information giving. The participants had previously been subjected to verbal, physical and emotional abuse by previous members of staff and Singer aimed to teach them how to respond appropriately and assertively in situations of abuse. The trainers assessed each client individually to evaluate how they would initially act in a situation of abuse and also measured their social behavior, assertiveness skills, use of verbal and non-verbal behavior and reading and writing skills. They were given ratings on assertiveness in each role play and it was found that after the training was implemented, the participants did not show improvements in scores where authority figures were the perpetrators but that an overall general improvement in assertiveness scores was established. T he staff did comment that the residents showed an increase in confidence, communication and positive attitude post-intervention. This type of study would be great implemented on a larger scale. The difficulty in establishing whether this research has been effective is due to the small numbers. The long-term effects of the trainings are also unknown as there has not been any follow up study. The research study is lacking statistical analysis and a control group so it is difficult to assess whether the trainings actually reduced the risk of further sexual abuse. Mazzucchelli (2001) introduced a ‘Feel Safe pilot study of protective behaviors programme for people with intellectual disability.’ The programme was designed to increase personal safety skills by teaching ways of recognizing unsafe situations and developing a range of coping and problem-solving skills. This research study implemented the use of a control group. There were ten participants in each group. This intervention program was originally developed in the 1970s for children and was then used in this research study with learning disabled adults. Another main focus of the training was â€Å"Nothing is so awful that we can’t talk to someone about it.† The training programme involved the research group participating in role-plays and then evaluating how they behaved to promote self-regulation of behavior as well as using the role-plays in real, everyday situations. Questionnaires were used to evaluate quality of life and protective behavior skills and con ducted by assessors that weren’t involved in delivery of the programme. The experimental group did show a statistically significant increase in performance on the Behavioral Skills Evaluation in comparison to the control group from pre-test to follow-up suggesting that the programme did improve favorable behavioral skills but did not improve the participant’s quality of life. The six-week follow up may have been too soon to appropriately evaluate any change in quality of life. Mazzucchelli also had a small number of participants which led to difficulties in showing statistical significance for the research. The themes which showed the greatest increase from pre-test to post-test were â€Å"we all have the right to feel safe†, â€Å"it is acceptable to be non-compliant or ‘break rules’ during an emergency and self-assertion skills. The researchers Lee et al (2001), examined the effectiveness of a computer-based safety programme for children with severe learning difficulties that could be implemented into an adult training programme. Three groups were established. One group was offered the safety programme, one was a control and the third group was given the intervention programme much later in the study. All of the participants were tested for cognitive ability and knowledge of personal safety concepts pre-training. Two post-tests were conducted 1 week and 2 weeks after the safety programme. There were 18 candidates in the control group and 31 children in the experimental group. None of the schools had previously implemented formal personal safety training programmes although some of the teachers had started to discuss personal safety with their students. The computer programme went through role-plays illustrating types of behavior and the experimental group was divided into ‘less able’ and ‘ more able’ depending on cognitive ability. The researchers used two interviews to establish the student’s perception of authority figures and their knowledge of personal safety. MANOVA analysis found authority to have an independent effect on the respondent’s safety scores and this authority awareness was independent of the participant’s cognitive ability. These researchers found that those involved in the safety programme have significantly improved their knowledge of safety concepts and maintained this increase in knowledge for 15 weeks. There was also a statistically significant result in those going through the programme for the skill of ‘being able to tell someone’ and the study illustrated that they would repeatedly tell someone even after being dismissed the first time and they could also provide a reason for this disclosure. The research showed that there was no significant increase in knowledge attained by the control group leaving t hese untrained students as potential targets by perpetrators. Lee et al (2001) also found that the increase in knowledge post-training was greater in the ‘more able’ group so that training may need to be repeated for those with lower cognitive ability. By the end of the programme all the students were able to produce a list of people that they would tell if they experienced an incident. The researchers also explored the importance of acknowledging authority issues when designing a personal safety programme. This research illustrates that learning disabled students can benefit from training programmes on personal safety. The implementation of these programmes with adults may prove beneficial. Education of teachers, health care providers and caregivers Howard-Barr et al (2005) explored the beliefs in teachers regarding sexuality training of mentally disabled students. The researchers also investigated the range of sexuality topics they would teach and their professional preparation. The participants in the study believed that sexual education should be taught, they rated their current delivery as inadequate and expressed that they needed much more preparation. The number of participants was moderate (n=494) although only 206 candidates actually returned the questionnaire resulting in a response rate of 42%. There were 36 sexuality topics presented and out of the top 6 most important skills, the concept of personal skills was rated the highest. Teachers of mentally disabled students rated personal skills topics such as finding help, assertiveness, communication and friendship more important than human development topics such as reproduction, anatomy and body image. Subjects such as masturbation, human sexual response and shared sexu al behavior were the most neglected topics. The limitations of this study included the inability to assess the quality of teaching and whether the teacher was actually addressing any specific areas of the 36 topics. This research topic did not address the effectiveness of education as a risk reduction method for sexual abuse however it did examine the beliefs of the teachers in the type of topics covered in sexuality education of mentally disabled students. It also revealed a general feeling of professional inadequacy in this area. Fronek et al (2005), conducted a research study that examined the effectiveness of a Sexuality Training Program for patients post-spinal cord injury. They found that there was evidence to support consideration of the client sexuality and a lack of training given to caregivers in this area. This study evaluated the attitudes of staff before and post-sexuality training. The researchers based the training on the Specific Suggestions and Intensive Therapy (PLISSIT) model. The sample group (n=89) was divided into a control group and experimental group randomly. A series of one-day workshops were conducted to the experimental group. Topics covered included identification of professional boundaries, limit setting, maintaining boundaries, development of sexual identity and case studies. This training programme was not focusing on the prevention of sexual abuse, rather the education of staff to being able to be open and teach their patients about sexuality. The staff assigned to the treatment group showed a significant improvement on all subscales of the KCAASS (Knowledge, Comfort, Approach and Attitudes towards Sexuality Scale) post-training and these changes were still significant three months later. In comparison, the control group did not show any significant changes on the KCAASS. Those patients suffering from spinal cord injury are not necessarily affected cognitively and may be only physically affected so this study is limited in assessing how sexuality training of staff could benefit the needs of people with a learning disability. The training was conducted over a one day period and a longer programme may be more beneficial to staff. There was a reporting bias shown by the control group as they were not assigned to receive training initially and the researchers believe that feelings of resentment and a tendency to over-estimate knowledge resulted from being assigned into the control group. Whether improvements can be maintained for longer periods of time (>3 mon ths) is uncertain and refresher courses may be necessary. The research did not examine the effect this education has on the patient in improving their own sexual identity and further studies would be useful in examining whether this limits the risk of sexual abuse. The PLISSIT model has been widely used to implement staff training and sexuality rehabilitation interventions within various clinical disciplines and could be an effective model to use to train carers of mentally disabled people. This model also allows for staff involvement according to level of comfort, previous knowledge and counseling skills. Community awareness Rogow (1998) discusses the impact of different forms of abuse in two case studies and expresses the need for comprehensive preventative or pro-active intervention strategies. The author discusses the release of an education campaign that consists of a video, handbook, workshop series and public service announcements for broadcast media that is aimed as a preventative to educate people involved with disabled youth. These publications are not specifically addressing prevention of sexual abuse in mentally disabled persons although, these forms of media could be used to help foster community awareness of this subject. The effectiveness of these media releases has not yet been evaluated and requires research. The video and handbook is being supported by government and private agencies and made in co-operation with parents and organizations advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. Advocacy Leicester Cooke (2002) expressed a need for further advocacy to those individuals to whom the giving of informed consent is difficult (individuals who are most likely to be among those labeled as having ‘severe learning disabilities’). These researchers also suggest that advocates, in representing other people, must attempt to work out what the learning disabled person would choose and not necessarily what they would choose. Advocates needs to have high levels of empathy and the ability to know when and how to set their own beliefs and values aside. Assessing the ability to use advocacy to reduce the risk of sexual abuse in learning disabled persons is yet to be researched. Recommendations for social work practice at local level There are several great projects currently in place that foster the empowerment of the learning disabled adult to help them protect themselves and also to be able to make their own choices about sexual relationships. For example, The Disability Pride Project explores avenues that promote safety and support by promoting awareness within the community and developing healthy sexuality workshops for people with disabilities.10 This group teaches community specific advocacy and self-advocacy skills, organizes workshops for personal attendants and institutions about sexuality in the lives of people with disabilities and creates opportunities for young women with disabilities to be mentored by older women with disabilities.10 These educational sessions could be implemented by Social Workers, carers and other educators internationally to foster empowerment in the learning disabled adult to help prevent abuse and instill confidence and responsibility in both the disabled adult and the caregivers. In this review I have critiqued papers that have researched the effectiveness of education of both the carer / teacher and the learning disabled adult and it is evident that there is an extreme lack of research in this area and there is a need for more statistically significant, large numbered studies that investigate the effectiveness of intervention strategies. Conclusion The studies on interventions used to prevent sexual abuse in those with a learning disability are limited. There is some suggestion from the research that advocacy and changes to policy will help to encourage greater understanding of learning disabled people in the community. Greater awareness can foster independence and boost self-esteem which may then lower the risk of sexual abuse in this minority group. Some of the research papers presented in this review have shown that intervention strategies such as improving communication skills in the learning disabled and education of both staff and carer may be beneficial. The implementation of behavioral strategies including role-plays may help the intellectually disabled person gain an increase in confidence, assertiveness and develop a strategic plan if placed in danger of a sexual predator. These training programmes could be introduced by the social worker or some other authority figure apart from the actual care-giver as there have be en cases where the carer is actually the perpetrator of the abuse. More studies of greater numbers using both an experimental and control group are necessary to determine whether these intervention strategies will be successful at significantly reducing the risk of sexual abuse in the learning disabled adult. Although, an increase in confidence and assertiveness in these people would also be a great benefit so even if the studies are unable to show significant risk reduction of sexual abuse the training could positively influence other aspects of their lives. References Abuse of Children with Disabilities. NCFV. Public Health Agency of Canada. www.phac-aspc.gc.ca http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/sped/projects/ose/categories/ld.html#defin Brown, H. 2004. A Rights-based Approach to Abuse of Women with Learning Disabilities. Tigard Learning Disability Review. Volt 9, Is 4, pp41-44. Murphy, GH and O’Callaghan, A.2004. Capacity of adults with intellectual disabilities to consent to sexual relationships. Psychological Medicine, Volt 34, Is 7, pp 1347 Brown, H and Turk, V. 1992. Defining sexual abuse as it affects adults with learning disabilities. Mental Handicap Volt 20, pp 33-55. McCarthy, M. 1993. Sexual experiences of women with learning disabilities in long stay hospitals. Sexuality and disability Volt 11, pp 277-286. McCarthy, M and Thompson, D.1996. Sexual abuse by design: an examination of the issues in learning disabilities services. Disability and Society. Volt 2, pp 205-224. Subset, D. 1994. Violence

The Police Exception And The Domestic Abuse Law Essay -- essays resear

The Police Exception and the Domestic Abuse Law Beating a spouse is wrong. Fighting is wrong. Domestic Abuse is wrong. This is a very simple concept and lawmakers, police officers, and citizens of our country for years have been in majority agreeance with these concepts. One of the punishments our government has come up with for convicted domestic abusers is revoking the privilege to carry weapons in public. This prevents convicted abusive citizens from having the ability to tote a potentially murderous weapon around, at any time ready to be assistance to their destructive and unstable personalities' wishes. Police amendended. Officers have recently been added to the list of people who are not allowed to carry guns in public if they have been convicted of Domestic Abuse. Some precincts are outraged, however this seems to be the proper law and should stay as it is Law officers are human, and just like everyone else, they make mistakes. An up- and-coming officer could get in a skirmish at the local bar and be charged with Domestic Abuse. This same officer could become one of the most effective law enforcers in the country. With this law, this officer would not be allowed to continue his services for his county and his fellow police officers. Many people feel that this officer is being done a great injustice and should be allowed to continue his otherwise flawless career as an officer of the law. Interesting. One simple conviction could ruin the lives of every cop in the cou...

Emily Dickinsons My Life Had Stood:A Loaded Gun Essay -- Literature P

Emily Dickinson's My Life Had Stood:A Loaded Gun Emily Dickinson is a poet known for her cryptic, confusing language. Words are often put together in an unusual way and create deciphering difficulties for the reader. But behind all the confusion is a hidden meaning that becomes clear, and one realizes that all the odd word choices were chosen for a specific reason. The poem I will try to analyze is My Life Had Stood—A Loaded Gun, or number 754. I find this to be one of her most difficult poems to decode. However, I find the images fascinating and the last stanza very confusing but intriguing. What I first thought the poem was about and what I finally came to a conclusion on are two completely different thoughts. Through answering questions on the poem’s literary elements, thorough analysis of the words, and rewriting the poem in my own words, I came to the conclusion that the poem is about a person who was taken on a journey with someone who saw something in her that was unrealized by anyone else, and the narra tor clung to that person through their time together. First, I will take apart the poem in terms of its use of literary elements. The diction of the poem is abstract and vague, in that it’s hard for the reader to easily understand what the narrator is really talking about. Dickinson uses particular, specific words for description: for example, in stanza four, when talking about a pillow the bird Eider-Duck is mentioned. She could have just said a duck’s or goose’s feathers, but she specifically writes Eider-Duck, which I found out is a fowl known for it’s fluffy feathers (hence the appropriate connection to the pillow). Dickinson also uses the word ‘sovereign’ when talking about the woods the narrator an... ... because she was simply too shy to step out—and then one day someone noticed her for the first time and saw all she had to offer. The rest of the poem is about their journeys together and the relationship that builds between the two of them. Maybe it’s the first real relationship with the opposite gender, so she is unsure how to act, and become jealous of the other â€Å"does,† and willing to put him before herself (such as watching over him at night). As shown, Emily Dickinson’s cryptic language and literary elements make for an interesting, yet sometimes confusing, poem. Her words and ideas, mixed with her sense of rhythm and rhyme, work together to produce poetic pieces that are of the highest quality. While the meaning of this poem can be debated—and one’s opinion of the meaning can change over time and with many re-readings—it is still a fascinating piece.

George Orwell’s Politics and the English Language vs. Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal: Essay

George Orwell’s â€Å"Politics and the English Language† and Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† are essays from two different times; the former written in 1946, and the latter in the 18th century. Both essays aim to spark people’s attention and address important national issues of their countries. â€Å"Politics and the English Language† basically presents Orwell’s opinion about the then-current state of the English Language—that it was decaying, just like what was happening to civilization at that time. He attributed the decay of the English Language to politics and economics, arguing that it is not just the fault of the writer that his words lack precision and has stale imagery, but it is rooted from political and economic causes, saying â€Å"†¦an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form.† On the other hand, â€Å"A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being Aburden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public† presents Swift’s satirical critique of the English and Irish government, wherein he sarcastically suggested that in order for the Irish government to solve the national issues of poverty and overpopulation, they must sell the children of the poor, specifically one-year old babies, as food for the wealthy Irish and English people. He presented staggering calculations and economic strategies on how to achieve necessary solutions to end their national problems. He argued that the use of poor children as food for the wealthy will reduce the country’s population and improve the condition and living state of the poor Irish people because of the increased income they will get from selling their children. The points in which these two essays try to impose on their readers are much influenced by what was going on in their respective countries at the time the famous literary pieces were written. In Swift’s time, which was the early 18th century, several astounding issues were present in Ireland that struck Swift and led him to write his famous essay. One of these is the oppressive treatment of the Catholic peasants of Ireland by the English, which resulted in the peasants of Ireland to be experience extreme poverty. Swift published his essay as a pamphlet. On the other hand, Orwell’s essay was written in 1946, a time when Britain was in a hazy after-war state. Therefore political speeches were prevalent at that time; writers and speakers, as observed by Orwell, lack precision in their words and has a stale imagery in their messages. The way the two authors attacked their respective adversaries (in Swift’s case, the Irish government, and in Orwell’s, political writers and all writers in English in general) are completely different in a variety of ways. There is significant amount of   diversity of their style of writing even though they have the same goal in general, which is, in a shallow point of view, to spark, take hold—grope people’s attention through their essays to get them to read intently what the message of their essays bring. In terms of the persona of the essay, Orwell attacked writers as a linguist, analyzing what was faulty behind the use of language of writers in his time. The essay even has a persona of an English language instructor, as Orwell pointed out rules that he proposed everyone must use when writing: â€Å"(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.   (ii) Never us a long word where a short one will do.(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. (iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active. (v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. (vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.† Meanwhile, Swift attacked the Irish government in the persona of an economist, calculating how much percentage of the population will be decreased in case his proposal is applied, and other economic statistics in his time. A part of his essay presents then-current statistics of the kingdom of Ireland: â€Å"†¦ The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty thousand couples who are able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the kingdom; but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. There only remains one hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The essays also differed in the type of language their authors used. Orwell’s â€Å"Politics and the English Language† used literal language. He said his points straight and direct, with no figurative speech whatsoever. Neither did he used euphemisms in criticizing the words and sentences and essays of the writers who, according to him, are faulty in their use of the English language: â€Å"These five passages have not been picked out because they are especially bad — I could have quoted far worse if I had chosen — but because they illustrate various of the mental vices from which we now suffer. They are a little below the average, but are fairly representative examples. I number them so that i can refer back to them when necessary: 1. I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to say that the Milton who once seemed not unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not become, out of an experience ever more bitter in each year, more alien [sic] to the founder of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce him to tolerate. Professor Harold Laski (Essay in Freedom of Expression)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  On the other hand, the language of Swift’s essay, â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, is entirely figurative. The essay is classified as a political satire, incorporated with much sarcasm and irony. His irrational argument, which is to use the babies of poor families in Ireland as food for the wealthy English and Irish people, intensified by exaggeration, is actually a metaphor to attack the policies of the Irish government at that time. â€Å"†¦and therefore whoever could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the commonwealth would deserve so well of the public as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation†¦ †¦a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.†