Psychological Survival - Cohen and Taylor Essay Example for Free

Psychological Survival Cohen and Taylor Essay 1) Aim of the study Obtain a phenomenological picture of long term imprisonment i.e. the analysis of the every day life of long term prisoners. The smooth patterning of every day life is the result of social interactions and learning about routines and the different domains of life. But some situations are outside the routines (death, sense of self or world view threatened). Disturbed orderliness brings meaning of life into question and often individuals rely on a different domain. Long term prisoners cannot do this. Theirs is a life in cold storage. Psychologically hard to deal with life outside. Some people go in when 20 and don’t leave before they’re 40, so a lot has gone on in everyday life and they’ve missed it. 2) Cohen and Taylor not really interested in the crime committed and the moral issues behind it. They are just interested in how prison affects this group of people. Society has been taken away from these people. Some of the people are well known, but they put aside what these people have been convicted on, they just want to know about their psychological survival. 3) Life inside Metaphor of a submarine: Impregnability, empty, claustrophobic, lifeless, bland no natural light, TV cameras. Things we take for granted in normal life, sociability and privacy, are not there. Not many friends you can have or choose to have. Relationships between guards and prisoners, maybe from a similar social backgrounds, have a lot to talk about. In the E-wing case there was a very pronounced geographical divide, north and south. Prisoners have a public profile outside, quite famous and it sets them aside from the guards. A sense of celebrity in some of the prisoners. This creates a division between guards and prisoners. New power dynamic. Not only hard to create and maintain relationships inside hard to do so with the external world. The prisoners were more worried about getting letters rather than receiving them. No physical contact, e.g. members of your family. Not allowed to talk about conditions in the prison maybe that is why they wanted to get their stories heard with Cohen and Taylor. Isolating experience. 5) different people fulfil different social roles. Obviously there was a small pool in prison. One friend had to fulfil many different roles, which made friendship very strong and intense. Some people were moved constantly and losing your one friend can be traumatic. Intensity of relationships and falling out, which will have an impact on the group and on you. No privacy no time. Can’t develop intimacy with other people. Constantly surrounded by others. Interactions regulated within the group to make sure nobody got harmed. 6) time means different things. For us it’s a resource. Living the present they don’t face or think of the 20 years ahead. Marking time in different ways: mood, seasons, unusual markers. Make time pass faster: body building, university courses, etc. promise of a visit. 8 weeks visit for e.g. 7) deterioration obsessive concern about their physical and psychological condition. 8) history of riots, rebellions and security. Cohen and Taylor interested in solidarity. The resentment towards guards held the group together, helped with bonding. Fight back together. 9) authority and unity different situations lead to different types of solidarity 10) fighting back 11) different criminal careers lead to different ways of psychological survival. Notes from a lecture and seminar on Psychological Survival.

Fraternity Hazing Essay -- Fraternities Greek Life College Essays

Fraternity Hazing When most people hear the term "hazing" it brings up images of fraternities, or they just don’t know what it is. In even though hazing occurs in many places including fraternities and sororities, the military, athletic teams and student organizations (marching bands) at both the high school and collegiate levels. Many believe that hazing in fraternities and in general are nothing more than silly tricks and harmless pranks like those from the 1980s hit comedy Animal House. The realities of hazing are severely different than the witty images many people associate with them. Hazing is an abuse of power that can have weakening and life-threatening consequences. According to the research presented by Hank Nuwer (1990), journalist and author of several books related to hazing, hazing has been associated with more than fifty deaths in college fraternities and countless more physical injuries including paralysis, not to mention the devastating emotional effects that can result for so many young men and women. The most commonly asked questions about hazing in fraternities are, why do young men and women participate in such horrific and life-threatening activities just to belong to a group? This seems like a reasonable question--but it reveal the lack of understanding about the dynamics of the hazing process. Many states have passed legislation to forbid hazing; having noticed that the power of peer pressure prevents hazing victims from giving true permission to participate in the activities. Also, many potential members don't realize and are not informed of what the pledging process and hazing will involve because this information is covered in secrecy by the brotherhood. This combined with the increasing har... ...ited States in all forms of groups, and at colleges that have hazing now as a part of a ritual to get in a fraternity. There should be a â€Å"class† that teaches about hazing and have students come in and speak that have hazed and the consequences that they were faced with, and students that have received the hazing activities. CQ Researcher Hansen, B. (2004, January 9). Hazing. The CQ Researcher Online, 14, 1-24. Retrieved February 18, 2004, from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher. How do we stop hazing? February 15, 2004 http://www.alfred.edu/news/stop_hazing/stop_hazing.html How do we stop hazing? February 15, 2004 http://www.alfred.edu/news/stop_hazing/stop_hazing.html â€Å"Woman touts anti-hazing law as late son's legacy.† Jefferson City News Tribune 16 February 2004 http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2004/02/16/news_state/0216040025.txt

Indian Business Environment Essay

Abstract One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. This paper seeks to determine the impact of various market and regulatory initiatives on efficiency improvements of Indian banks. Efficiency of firm is measured in terms of its relative performance that is, efficiency of a firm relative to the efficiencies of firms in a sample. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has used to identify banks that are on the output frontier given the various inputs at their disposal. The present study is confined only to the Constant-Return-to-Scale (CRS) assumption of decision making units (DMUs). Variable returns to scale (VRS) assumption for estimating the efficiency was not attempted. It was found from the results that national banks, new private banks and foreign banks have showed high efficiency over a period time than remaining banks. II. Reforms and Banking system In the post liberalization-era, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated quite a few measures to ensure safety and consistency of the banking system in the country and at the same point in time to support banks to play an effective role in accelerating the economic growth process. One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices 4. Although the Indian banks have contributed much in the Indian economy, certain weaknesses, i.e. turn down in efficiency and erosion in profitability had developed in the system, observance in view these conditions, the Committee on Financial System(CFS) was lay down. Reserve Bank of India has implemented banking sector reforms in two phases. The first reform focused on introduction of several prudential norms, major changes in the policy framework, and formation of competiti ve atmosphere. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. The Financial sector reforms were undertaken in 1992 based on the recommendations of the CFS. Later, The Narsimham Committee has provided the proposal for reforming the financial sector. The committee also argued that ‘economic reforms in the real sector of economy will, however, fail to realize their full potential without a parallel reform of the financial sector. It focused on several issues like, releasing of more funds to banks, deregulation in interest rates, capital adequacy, income recognition, disclosures and transparency norms etc. However, financial sector reforms focused on improving the competitive efficiency of the banking system. The financial reform process has commenced since 1991 which was made the banking sector healthy, sound, well- capitalized and become competitive. The competitive pressures to improve efficiency in the banking sector has resulted in a switch from traditional paper based banking to electronic banking, use information technology and shift of emphasis from brick and mortar banking to use of ATMs. INDIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY Indian banking industry, the backbone of the country’s economy, has always played a key role in prevention the economic catastrophe from reaching terrible volume in the country. It has achieved enormous appreciation for its strength, particularly in the wake of the worldwide economic disasters, which pressed its worldwide counterparts to the edge of fall down. If we compare the business of top three banks in total assets and in terms of return on assets, the Indian banking system is among the healthier performers in the world. This sector is tremendously competitive and recorded as growing in the right trend (Ram Mohan, 2008). Indian banking industry has increased its total assets more than five times between March 2000 aThe overall development has been lucrative with enhancement in banking industry efficiency and productivity. It should be underlined here is financial turmoil which hit the western economies in 2008 and the distress effect widened to the majority of the other countries but Indian banking system survived with the distress and showed the stable performance. Indian banks have remained flexible even throughout the height of the sub-prime catastrophe and the subsequent financial turmoil. The Indian banking industry is measured as a flourishing and the secure in the banking world. The country’s economy growth rate by over 9 percent since last several years and that has made it regarded as the next economic power in the worldnd March 2010, The Indian banking industry is measured as a flourishing and the secure in the banking world. The country’s economy growth rate by over 9 percent since last several years and that has made it regarded as the next economic power in the world. Our banking industry is a mixture of public, private and foreign ownerships. The major dominance of commercial banks can be easily found in Indian banking, although the co-operative and regional rural banks have little business segmentIn the post liberalization-era, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated quite a few measures to ensure safety and consis tency of the banking system in the country and at the same point in time to support banks to play an effective role in accelerating the economic growth process. One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices. Although the Indian banks have contributed much in the Indian economy, certain weaknesses, i.e. turn down in efficiency and erosion in profitability had developed in the system, observance in view these conditions, the Committee on Financial System. Reserve Bank of India has implemented banking sector reforms in two phases. The first reform focused on introduction of several prudential norms, major changes in the policy framework, and formation of competitive atmosphere. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. The Financial sector reforms were undertaken in 1992 based on the recommendations of the CFS. Later, The Narsimham Committee has provided the proposal for reforming the financial sector. The committee also argued that ‘economic reforms in the real sector of economy will, however, fail to realize their full potential without a parallel reform of the financial sector. It focused on several issues like, releasing of more funds to banks, deregulation in interest rates, capital adequacy, income recognition, disclosures and transparency norms etc. However, financial sector reforms focused on improving the competitive efficiency of the banking system. The financial reform process has commenced since 1991 which was made the banking sector healthy, sound, well- capitalized and become competitive. (CFS) was lay down. Liberalisation of India’s banking sector †¢ Liberalisation of India’s banking sector begun since 1992, following the Narasimhan Committee’s Report (December 1991) †¢ Important recommendations of the Committee were – [i] reduction of statutory pre-emptions (SLR and CRR) [ii] deregulation of the interest rates [iii] opening up the sector to foreign and domestic private banks [iv] adoption of prudential regulations relating to capital adequacy, asset classiï ¬ cation and provisioning standards Service firms such as ITC Hotels and ANZ Grindlays Bank found direct marketing very effective in retailing customers and weathering competition. †¢ The Indian banking system is growing in a robust manner. †¢ The Indian banking system complies with international standards of prudential regulation. †¢ The Indian banking system is opening up for entry of foreign banks. †¢ Despite the growth, Indian banking system is not entirely inclusive. †¢ There is good opportunities for the banking industry – domestic and foreign – for expansion to ï ¬ ll the gap. A decade after the Narasimham report was published and in the light of new challenges from the norms laid down by the WTO and Basel II, it is imperative to have a close look at the performance of banks in the last decade or so to assess the success of the reform process. INDIA inherited a very weak banking system following Independence. However, the nationalisation programme (1969) helped this sector achieve remarkable success in many respects. The stability among depositors, penetration into rural India and the consequent reduction in poverty and diversification out of agriculture were some of its laudable achievements. Given the predominantly bank based nature of financial system, the banking industry gained the reputation of one of the most protected in the country. However, in the 1990s a chain of events such as introduction of modern technologies, competition from new players in the liberalised market place, and enhanced emphasis on governance to protect shareholder interest changed the way banks conducted business. The Indian banking sector with its diversity of ownerships — State Bank of India and its associates, nationalised banks, private domestic banks and foreign banks also faced a similar set of challenges. Although the public sector banks acquired a dominant presence thanks to the regulatory environment, several of them performed poorly in the late 1980s. To preserve the soundness of the financial system, especially the banking segment, the Government set up the Narasimham Committee. The Committee (in 1991) made far-reaching recommendations that formed the basis of banking reforms. Some of the comprehensive reform measures suggested included: Stricter income recognition and asset classification, higher capital adequacy ratio, phased deregulation of interest rate, lowering statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR), entry deregulation, and branch-de-licensing. These measures mainly aim to improve the efficiency/profitability of banking industry. A decade and half after the Narasimham report was published and in the light of the World Trade Organisation and Basel II norms, it is imperative to have a close look at the performance of banks in the last decade or so to assess the success of the reform process. Performance indicators Commonly-used measures to assess the performance of the banking industry are: Return on Asset (ROA), Operating Profit Ratio (OPR), Net Interest Margin (NIM), Operating Cost Ratio (OCR) and Staff Expenditure Ratio (SER). The first two are generally considered profitability measures, while the others, the efficiency indices. These five measures have been considered in this analysis for two sub-periods: Pre-liberalisation (1992-1995) and post-liberalisation (2000-2003). The total number of banks considered for two sub-periods were 64 (eight State Banks, 19 nationalised banks, 19 private banks and 18 foreign banks) and 87 (8, 19, 28 and 32 respectively). Overall performance improvement A comparison of performance indices during the study period reveals that the reform measures helped to improve the overall performance of industry. This is reflected in the improvement of all performance indicators barring the net interest margin (see Table). Interestingly, the ROA, treated as a proxy for risk-adjusted return, increased from (-) 0.28 per cent in the pre-liberalisation period to 0.79 per cent (against more than 1 per cent in other merging markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Korea) post-liberalisation, indicating a significant rise in the ability of banks to convert their assets into net earnings. Another interesting aspect is that despite a marginal fall in the net interest margin from 2.84 to 2.73 (which might be due to policy change), the banking industry has managed to improve its OPR by increasing its non-interest fee-based income and reducing its operating costs/staff expenses. The evidence indicates that after the reform initiation period, the banks have increasingly been providing off balance sheet items such as derivatives, which generate major part of non-interest income. The proportion of operating costs/staff expenses has declined mainly due to computerisation and the voluntary retirement scheme. The property rights theorists believe that the private banks are more efficient than their counterparts in the public sector. This view is corroborated by the public choice theorists who argue that the specific X inefficiency factors are more prevalent in the public sector, irrespective of market conditions. Further, many cross-country findings report an increased government ownership as a deterrent to the development of the banking system. The Indian banking scenario seems to be consistent with the above, as the privately owned (foreign as well as domestic) banks seem to be superior to their public counter parts with respect to all performance indicators except the NIM. Despite a fall in their OPR and NIM between 1992-95 and 2000-03, the private banks successfully managed to reduce their operating expenditures, particularly the staff expenditures, thereby successfully maintaining their status. Among private banks, the foreign banks seem to be superior in terms of three out of five the criteria used. Within the public domain, the State Banks tend to be superior with respect to ROA, OCR and SER, while the nationalised banks seem to show better performance in terms of OPR and NIM. Thus, although there is a significant improvement in the overall performance of banks as one moves from the post-reform period to the late-reform period, one finds certain anomalies such as a fall in the NIM (except in the case of the nationalised banks), a fall in the ROA of private domestic banks, a reduction in the OPR of private domestic and foreign banks and a rise in the OCR/SER of foreign banks. Convergence or divergence Apart from the overall improvement across the board, another important criterion to evaluate the success story is to check whether the competitive force has led to any convergence in the performance of different ownership groups in the post-liberalisation period. Exposure to the competitive forces is often argued as a panacea to shake poorly performing banks out of their slumber. Although the public banks compared poorly with private banks during the initial period, they made a significant improvement in the later period by responding well to the new challenges of competition and consolidation, mostly following a gradual and cautious approach. The pay off is well reflected in the increase in their ROA, OPR and NIM. Some possible reasons for the better performance of public banks could be they still undertake most of the government borrowing programmes, thereby generating significant fee based income; the market discipline imposed by the listing of most public sector banks has also probably contributed to this improved performance; and ï‚ · the reform measures have changed their business strategies particularly greater diversification of non-fund based business and emergence of treasury and foreign exchange business. The study reveals that the OPR across four ownership groups tend to converge. The NIM tend to converge across private and public sectors while the OCR continues to remain significantly different across ownership groups. The above analyses indicate that the banking sector performs reasonably well with respect to the goals set by the Narasimham Committee, particularly in the context of the poorly performing banks and showing some encouraging signs to meet the Basel II norms by 2006. However, one should not go over board in reading these numbers to evaluate the success of the Indian banking sector, particularly from the perspective of a developing economy such as ours. Policy-makers should be extra cautious in giving free a reign to the banking sector in pursuing â€Å"profit and risk† based strategies. Recent trends in non-synergy based consolidation, growing disinclination to lend money towards productive purposes and to the unprofitable sectors such as agriculture, self-help groups, infrastructure and to small and medium sized enterprises, its growing engagement in non-productive treasury operations and conspicuous consumer lending will seriously impair the role of banks as public instruments of development. Therefore, maintaining a balance between these two objectives will remain a challenge to the banking sector for some time to come. Bibliography- * www.thehindubusinessline.com * iimahd.ernet.in/assets/snippets/ *

The Process of Digestion - 1361 Words

The Process of Digestion Over the course of time there have been many difficult questions and theories about everyday life. Using physiology amp; chemistry, those questions have been able to be answered. From the mixture of gases in the air we breathe to the organic substance of plastic or paper, chemistry can be seen everywhere. However, most people mistook the power of chemistry in our own bodies. How is it that a simple slice of bread, once consumed, can turn into fuel for the human body? Using the digestive system and its many organs through the process of digestion and metabolism is how our bodies receive the energy it needs to continue on throughout the day and the rest of our lives. Chemistry then kicks in as food starts†¦show more content†¦Amino acids and fatty acids are mainly where we get our energy from. The whole process starts when we eat and our metabolism breaks down the food. The amino acids and fatty acids are absorbed into the blood where once they attach to a cell, they are then able to speed up the chemical reactions taking place while the amino and fatty acids are monitoring the reactions in the cell some energy is released. This energy can be stored in the body until it is needed (Online School Edition, 2011). There are two forms of metabolism called anabolism and catabolism. Anabolism is storing energy and maintaining cells while catabolism is all about making energy so that each cell has a specific amount to function properly (Ballard, 2003). The body’s metabolism is made up of many reactions that produce heat or a calorie. A calorie is a basic unit of heat that measures how much energy a fixed proportion of food brings into the body. Calories are used to regulate the fat in our bodies too. If a person consumes too much calories then the calories will turn into fat. The process of metabolism in each person’s body is very unique and different. Some metabolisms run slow, which results in less calories burned and others burn rather quickly, which results in fewer calories (McKenzie, 2010). Whatever the rate of metabolism, many can agree that this process is diverse and complicated, but also very fundamental to everyday life. As everything else inShow MoreRelatedThe Digestive System Of The Human Body1332 Words   |  6 Pagesbreakdown food. The digestive system uses enzymes in order to break down the macromolecules that humans consume daily and balances the fluid that gets put inside the body with the amount that goes out. It goes through four processes as follows: digestion which breaks down food into smaller components, absorption which absorbs elements from the lumen into the extracellular fluid, motility which moves substances through the long tube in the body called the gastrointestinal tract (GI) tract, and finallyRead MoreWhat Is The Digestive Process?1731 Words   |  7 Pagesdigestive process? In all digestion reactions, nutrients are broken down by enzymes through a chemical process. The chemical equation and word equation can vary a little bit, depending on what is being digested in our bodies. In our paper we will talk about things that combine chemistry with the chemical equation and the process of substances being broken down in our digestive system. Also we will talk about the chemical properties that take place and occur in the digestive process. HereRead MoreThe Effect Of Protein On The Body Essay1296 Words   |  6 Pagesthen reassembled to form useful protein in the body’ Essay plan 1. What is digestion, the process? Necessary nutrients, balanced diet? 2. What is protein, which group belongs to, his characteristics, the structure, the base, 3. How protein is useful what is his function. 4. What they are made of?macromolecules 5. Assembly of proteins (chemical components C,H, O, N) 6. Digestion (how is protein processed through digestion), stomach and parietal cells and HCl, chief cells: pepsinogen (inactive enzymeRead MoreTry to imagine yourself, sitting at lunch, enjoying your sandwich and a few strawberries along the800 Words   |  4 Pagespurpose of your digestion system is to break down and absorb the energy and nutrients it needs from the food you eat. The sandwich, strawberries, and orange juice you have just consumed is going through this process right now! The process of digestion begins with ingestion, this is when you take a bite of what you have planned to eat. When you took a bite of your sandwich and strawberry slices you were essentially beginning the process of digestion. Second comes the job of your digestion, which is aRead MoreNutrition and Digestion876 Words   |  4 Pagesenzymes? What specifically is the role of an enzyme in digestion? Enzymes are working proteins that facilitate chemical reactions without being changed in the process. Organs of the digestive system excrete digestive juices, which contain enzymes that break the bonds of nutrients that can be absorbed. 2. Trace the path of a cheeseburger and fries through the digestive tract. Indicate each place where mechanical digestion, chemical digestion, and absorption occurs FOR EACH NUTRIENT (carbohydratesRead MoreEssay on Digestion of Cheetos998 Words   |  4 PagesDigestion of Cheetos It’s a typical day. After school you get home and you are starving, but you just want a snack. â€Å"What should I eat?,† you ask yourself. Then, after looking through the cabinets for a few minutes, you find Cheetos and decide to eat a few. With just the presence of those Cheetos in your sight, the digestion process begins in your 9 meter long digestive tract. Crunch, Crunch, Crunch. As you munch on those first few Cheetos the digestion process begins in your mouth. Read MoreEssay about The Importance of Digestive System1406 Words   |  6 Pagesbodies the ability to process foods, extract the nutrients we need from the foods, and eliminate the wastes (smartlivingnetwork). Without these abilities our bodies wouldn’t be able to function. So what is the digestive system exactly? It is a complex series of organs that processes the food we eat. Altogether this system is about 6-9 meters of muscular tubes running from the mouth to the anus. According to Robert Sullivan, the organs of this system are based on the process of turning food, absorbingRead MoreThe Digestive Tract Of Digestion Essay1190 Words   |  5 Pagesto live and this energy provided by processes that called digestion. For example, when we eat some things like bread, meat, and vegetable, although they are delicious, but they are not forms of nourishment for the cells, therefore they need to change into an acceptable form such as smaller molecules to absorb by blood and carry to body cells. Digestion is break downing of food into appropriate form to absorb into the bloodstream. Digestion system contains the digestive tract called alimentary canalRead MoreTeaching As Inquiry Model, Form The New Zealand Curriculum Essay1553 Words   |  7 Pagesbased on past teaching experiences in terms of what and how to teach. The inquiry process involves teachers critically reflecting their practice through a focusing inquiry, teaching inquiry and learning inquiry (Ministry of Education 2008). In terms of the focusing inquiry my learning intention was: We will be identifying and describing organs are involved in the human digestion process and how human digestion occurs. I formed this intention through taking into account my student’s prior knowledgeRead MoreThe Food Enters The Digestive System Via The Mouth Or Oral Cavity1631 Words   |  7 PagesFirstly the food enters the digestive system via the mouth or oral cavity which is mucous membrane lined. In this process the food begins to break down due to the salvia in the mouth which contains mucus, a very effective lubricant that coats the food to help with swallowing. Before it is swallowed the food is also broken down by the teeth which are the incisors which cut food with their sharp thin edges, the canines which are responsible for holding and grasping food which have a pointed edge and