Northern Rock Bank

Introduction Northern Rock is a bank operating under the umbrella of Virgin Money in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1965 and 30 years down the line, it had acquired approximately 53 building societies in England.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Northern Rock Bank specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Over the years this bank was being considered as one of the top lenders in the UK, especially in relation to mortgages. Prior to 2007, Northern rock had an investment plan which was to result in securitization. This according to Milne Wood involved â€Å"borrowing heavily in the UK and international money markets, extending mortgages to customers based on this funding and then re-selling these mortgages on international capital markets† (518). This, however, failed in 2007, when, owing to the global financial crisis, the demand for credit facilities from investors went down and Northern Rock was un able to pay back the credit it had obtained from the money markets. Lender of last resort This is a facility that allows banks to survive a financial crisis. It is mostly offered by the central bank. When Northern Rock was faced with the liquidity crisis in 2007, it looked up to the Bank of England for emergency support but this was not possible since it could not provide the facility. Many scholars, including Vesala (2006), Herring (2007), and Shin (2009) blame the situation in Northern Rock to the inability of the Bank of England to act promptly indicating that had it performed its role as a lender of last resort, the bank run would have been avoided. In fact, Shin indicates that â€Å"in its role as a lender of last resort, the Bank of England had been able to exert significant moral suasion over the banking sector, and the discount office was able to obtain information from banks on a purely informal basis† (2009,p.103).Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Other scholars believe that the Bank of England failed to act because Northern Bank had not provided it with sufficient information concerning its discount facilities. They also argue that the management of Northern Rock failed to heed to liquidity warnings and this acted as a hindrance when they needed assistance. These claims are, however, refuted by Freixas et al (2009). He asserts that a central bank is expected to perform its role irrespective of the actions of the other party (151). He states that â€Å"even when the central bank does not have the formal statutory responsibility for banking supervision, it can still obtain the information it needs to act as lender of last resort† (2009,p.152). Kane (2008) believes that the Northern rock issues exposed the faults in the government with regard to dealing with financial crisis. These faults include â€Å"the workings of emergen cy liquidity assistance, some others the workings of deposit insurance and some others the insolvency and pre-insolvency arrangements† (2008, p.50). All these boil down to the functions of the Central bank as a lender of last resort. Financial crises in banks are one of the greatest challenges in most economies, since failure of banks spells out a failure in the entire economy. Liquidity lending is therefore considered to be an important factor since it is usually the solution to most banks going through a crisis. Some of the instruments available to governments dealing with financial crises include â€Å"the central bank’s role as a lender of last resort, deposit insurance schemes, government’s policies to shield depositors’ insolvency laws, among other preventive measures† (FSA internal Audit division, 2008, p. 39). Despite all the other actions, the lender of last resort factor is the most effective since it provides the banks with the credit fac ilities to continue with their operations promptly. Prior to the crisis, Northern Rock was a successful institution though not influential to the point of thinking its failure would affect the economy in any way. This issue however attracted the attention of many financial analysts since it brought out the weaknesses of the Bank of England in dealing with crises faced by the banks.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Northern Rock Bank specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Due to this exposure, the government made a commitment to offer the required liquidity, and this worked since the bank run in Northern Rock stopped instantly. House of Commons (2008) therefore made a conclusion from this issue that the run would have been avoided all together, if all parties had been playing their roles effectively. This can, however, not be blamed on the Bank of England since it had not dealt with such an issue in the recent past . The activities in relation to acting as a lender of last resort were rarely carried out, hence the policies were outdated. This explains why the situation caught all relevant bodies including Northern Rock itself by surprise (House of Commons, 2008, p. 23). Northern rock and the FSA In the view of financial analysts, the crisis that hit Northern Rock in 2007 was predictable and some even argue that the crisis was not related to the activities of Northern bank per se. It is believed that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) played a major role in this. An article by Bank of England (2007) made an observation that FSA had given Northern Rock warnings concerning â€Å"the evolving trends in the market which included; sharp asset growth, systemic underpricing of risk, and the risk shifting characteristics of new financial instruments which would not be as water tight as they appeared to be† (2007,p. 2). FSA also indicated that the strategies being used by Northern Rock were u nstable since they were depending on large scale market funding; hence, placing the institution in a risky liquidity position. Besides this, FSA had also made an observation in the government’s regulatory system which it claims had a number of loopholes that exposed the financial institutions to issues similar to those of Northern Rock. These, according to FSA (2008) included â€Å"a fundamental flaw in the depository protection scheme, lack of established special bankruptcy regime for banks, lack of predictable resolution regime for handling troubled banks and the existence of an institutional structure of financial supervision that separated responsibility for systemic stability and lender of last resort from prudential supervision of individual banks† (FSA, 2008, p. 33).Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Owing to the financial stability that had been witnessed in the region over the years, these observations seemed not to be having any ground, until the real risk was witnessed in Northern Rock, and this acted as a wakeup call to FSA. At the beginning of 2007, FSA considered Northern Rock as one of the best performing financial institutions in the UK. What it failed to realize at that time were the mortgage risks that it was exposed to owing to the fact that the institution dealt mostly with international investors. This risk was brought about by the financial crisis that was being witnessed all over the world during that period. Observations made later on indicated that â€Å"by mid-September, it had become apparent to Northern Rock that longer term funding markets were closed to it. Rollovers were largely continuing but at shorter and shorter maturities and Northern Rock lacked the option to draw on sufficient prearranged contingency liquidity lines of credit and did not benefit f rom a third party injection of capital† (FSA, 2008,p. 34). Due to this, FSA made an endorsement indicating that the Bank of England was deemed to provide liquidity facilities to all the banks that needed this kind of support in the UK, including Northern Rock. This crisis mainly focused on three institutions, the Bank of England, the treasury and FSA, owing to their joint responsibility of ensuring stability in the financial sector. FSA is blamed for permitting Northern Rock to raise its dividends irrespective of the already messed up financial position. An article by FSA Internal Audit Division (2008) supports these allegations by indicating that, â€Å"in in their own internal audits of the experience and compilation of the lessons learned from the Northern Rock failure contained a broad list of problems within FSA which included lack of rigor in the analyses conducted and failure to devote insufficient resources to monitoring what are regarded as high impact situationsâ₠¬  (Audit Division, 2008, p. 42). This report indicates that the major issues that led to this failure included organizational shortfalls, lack of sufficient skills in the supervisors, and poor methods of supervision, especially in large institutions operating at international levels. From the discussion, it is clear that FSA was in a position to save Northern Rock from the downfall, had it acted on the early signs. In fact, financial researchers such as Milne Wood (2008), Shin (2009) and Herring (2007) indicated that FSA devoted little time to the process of checking the level of stress tolerance in Northern Rock, hence ignoring many factors that eventually worked against the institution. Shin (2009) specifically points out that â€Å"insufficient attention was given to the banks challenging governance programs and risk mitigation processes† (2009, p.110). Herring (2007) concurrently indicates that â€Å"FSA not only ignored numerous early warning signs of troubles with N orthern Rock, but also ignored a breach of required minimum capital standards early in 2007† (p.10). Besides these, it was also noted that the bank failed to inform its stakeholders of this failure, and FSA was aware of this, but failed to take action. From this, a conclusion can be drawn that despite the fact that Northern Rock was responsible for its own peril, FSA also played a major role of not intervening where it would have been and also assuming the warning signs that were so loud and clear. Failure of prudential supervision In any financial setup, there are four aspects that need to be considered to come up with a stable financial system. The Bank of England (2007) indicates that â€Å"the first aspect is prudential regulation of financial firms, second is systemic stability, third is the lender of last resort role and finally the conduct of business regulation and supervision† (Bank of England,2007,p. 6). The issue in question especially in relation to the Nort hern Rock problem is the institution responsible for prudential supervision, whether it is the bank of Europe, the treasury or FSA. Irrespective of the institution responsible, this type of supervision is mandatory in financial institutions, failure to which results in cases such as what was experienced in Northern Rock (Freixas et al, 2007, p. 12). This conflict on the question of supervision mandate led the government to redefine the roles of the institutions in the financial sector. As a result of this, it was realized that supervision lies with FSA. The crisis in 2007 created the need to develop an official set of organizations and practices for assisting in the recovery of failing banks. This led to the officiating of a memorandum of understanding between the three bodies, that is, treasury, FSA and the Bank of Europe. A report by FSA internal audit division (2008) indicated that there were five basic standards that came with this agreement and these were â€Å"the existence o f a clear division of responsibilities, appropriate accountability arrangements, the avoidance of duplication of responsibilities, exchange of relevant information and mechanisms for crisis management† (2008,p.50). The causes behind the problem of Northern rock are interrelated to the extent that it is difficult to tell exactly what the main cause of this issue was. However, it was realized that prudential supervision of the banking institution was being conducted in a poor way and this is therefore deemed to be the greatest contributor to the whole problem. According to the Bank of England (2007) â€Å"this institution had been a pioneer in risk based supervision; focusing attention where it is most important† (2007, p. 8). This credit was however withdrawn after the Northern Rock crisis which revealed the poor laid supervision strategies. Many financial analysts believe that FSA was in a position to foresee this situation, long before it occurred. From this, it is evi dent that the Northern Rock crisis depicted a high level of failure in the prudential supervision of banking institutions. These failures according to FSA (2008) include â€Å"reliance upon seriously deficient accounting and capital adequacy standards; failure to monitor institutions in a timely, effective, and on-going fashion; failure to intervene appropriately when problems were identified; and promoting the welfare of the regulated institutions and the regulatory agency rather than the insurance fund or the taxpayer† (FSA, 2008, p.43). In fact, hearings in the House of Commons – a committee responsible for establishing the cause of the problems surrounding Northern Rock, indicated that FSA failed to perform effectively. House of Commons alleged that this was by way of â€Å"failing to monitor the institution and allowing Northern Rock to increase its dividends despite its troubled financial position† (2008, p.23). The supervisory evaluations of Northern Rock conducted by FSA did not put much emphasis on liquidity issues. Conclusion From the above discussion of the issues surrounding the Northern Rock problems, it is evident that these problems could have been avoided if all the parties concerned, that is, Northern Rock bank itself, the Bank of Europe and FSA were responsible for the actions that were taken before 2007. Northern Bank was responsible for the crisis in the sense that it did not perform a long term analysis of its actions. In its operations, it failed to consider the possibility of liquidity risks in the financial market. Bank of Europe was responsible in the sense that it did not act promptly as a lender of last resort in providing the credit requested by Northern Bank when it started experiencing the liquidity challenges. References Bank of England 2007, Financial Stability Report. Web. Freixas, X, Giannini, C, Hoggarth, G Soussa, F 2009, ‘Lender of last  Resort: a review of the literature’, Financial Sta bility Review, Vol. 7, pp. 151–167. FSA (2008) ‘The supervision of Northern Rock: a lessons learned review’, Internal Audit, pp. 32 – 43 FSA Internal Audit Division 2008, ‘The Supervision of Northern Rock’ A Lessons Learned Review, pp. 37 – 56 Herring, R 2007, ‘Resolution Strategies: Challenges Posed by Systemically Important Banks’, lecture at Regional Seminar on Financial Crisis Management, pp. 5 – 16 House of Commons 2008, ‘The run on the Rock’, Treasury Committee, Vol. 1, pp. 23 Kane, E 2008, ‘Regulation and supervision: an ethical perspective’, Principles v Rules in Financial Regulation, Vol. 2 no. 5, pp. 48 – 56 Milne, A Wood, G 2008, ‘Banking Crisis Solutions: Old and New’, Review (Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis), Vol. 1 no. 2, pp. 517–530. Shin, H 2009 ‘Reflections on Northern Rock: The Bank Run that Heralded the Global Financial Crisis’, Jo urnal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 101–119 Vesala, J 2006, ‘Which Model for Prudential Supervision in the EU’ Monetary Policy and Financial Market Stability, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.99-105. This case study on Northern Rock Bank was written and submitted by user Trinity Osborne to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Making Phone Calls in German-Speaking Countries

Making Phone Calls in German-Speaking Countries Gone are the days when most European countries had one state monopoly phone company run by the post office- the former PTT: Post, Telefon, Telegraf. Things have changed! Although the former German monopoly Deutsche Telekom is still dominant, German homes and businesses can now select from a variety of phone companies. On the street you see people walking around with their Handys (cell/mobile phones). This article deals with several aspects of using a telephone in German: (1) practical Telefon how-tos, (2) vocabulary related to the equipment and telecommunications in general, and (3) expressions and vocabulary concerning good phone etiquette and making yourself understood on the phone, along with our annotated English-German Telephone Glossary. Talking on the phone is an important skill for English-speakers in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, or anyone who needs to make a long-distance call (ein Ferngesprch) to a German-speaking country. But just because you know how to use a telephone at home doesnt necessarily mean youre ready to cope with a public phone in Germany. An American business person who is quite capable of handling any business situation can quickly be at a loss in an unfamilar German telephone booth/box (die Telefonzelle). But, you say, anyone I want to call probably has a cell phone anyway. Well, you better have the right Handy or youre out of luck. Most U.S. wireless phones are useless in Europe or just about anywhere outside of North America. Youll need a multi-band GSM-compatible phone. (If you dont know what GSM or multi-band means, see our GSM phone page for more about using ein Handy in Europe.) A German or Austrian public phone can be confusing if youve never seen one before.  Just to complicate matters more, some public phones are coin-only, while others are phone card-only. (European phone cards are so-called smart cards that keep track of a cards remaining value as its used.) On top of that, some phones at German airports are credit card phones that take Visa or Mastercard. And, of course, a German phone card wont work in an Austrian card phone or vice versa. Just knowing how to say Hello! on the phone is an important social and business skill. In Germany you usually answer the phone by saying your last name. German phone subscribers must pay per-minute charges for all calls, including even local calls (das Ortsgesprch). This explains why Germans dont spend as much time on the phone as most Americans. Students staying with a host family need to know that even when they call a friend in the same town or across the street, they shouldnt talk for long stretches like they may at home. Using the telephone in a foreign country is an excellent example of how language and culture go together. If you dont know the vocabulary involved, thats a problem. But if you are unfamiliar with how the phone system works, thats also a problem- even if you know the vocabulary.

Corporate social responsibility in Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate social responsibility in Asia - Essay Example By initiating education, environment and health care programs, the government has established an avenue that firms are now adopting. For example, in 2009 the Chinese government launched an expansive tree planting program and in response Chinese based firms established tree planting as part of their CSR initiatives. Another notable aspect that makes China maintain a strong business to business relationship is the support among various organizations that operate in China. For example, based on its effort to support small enterprises and conserve the environment, Wokai benefits from the support of Cathay Pacific Airways and Morrison & Foerster that provides financial and legal support respectively (Chen and Dean, 2007). One of the major challenges that faced China is the earlier cases of violation of human rights that created a negative image of the country business atmosphere. Major cases that created a negative image for the government was the use of prison labor in order to produce p rofitable products in the international market. In the area culture, Alan (2003) argues that the government has been noted to violate human rights by persecution of individuals who engaged in activities that threatened the control of the government. However, in its effort to create investors confidence, the Chinese government has engaged in dialogue with foreign countries on the matters of human rights. For example, in the past 5 years, the government has invited delegations from Britain, France, Australia and France to access the human right situation. The major country that has led in the ending of human rights violation in China is US. In their studies on the impact of human rights on business investors in china,... One of the major aspects that make Japan a country with business opportunities is the extensive use of CSR in the Japanese corporate management. As compared to Europe and the US where firms aims at attaining short-term returns for their shareholders, Japanese companies place high value to all the stakeholders including the customers, employees, shareholders and members of the community (Waldenberger, 2007). In this regard, majority of companies in Japan have established departments that deal with corporate social responsibilities. Yamaha Company, a Japanese based firm is one of the key companies that have initiated a strong CSR department. Through this department, the company initiated Yamaha Forest reforestation program in 2010. During the first phase of the program that took place in Sukabumi Regency, Yamaha Motor Company in collaboration with Yamaha Corporation planted approximately 115,110 trees. Other organizations that are engaged in the environmental conservation in Japan incl ude Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and University of Kuningan among others.

Advertisement in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Advertisement in India - Essay Example So McDonald’s decided to project itself as a food that caters for and addresses the needs of the â€Å"Indian† population. â€Å"McDonalds wanted to position itself as Indian and a promoter of family values and culture, as well as being comfortable and easy. Simultaneously, the brand wanted to communicate that, operationally, it was committed to maintaining a quality service, cleanliness and offering value for money† (Chaturvedi, n.d.). From the standpoint of marketing communications, McDonald’s directed its attention on developing a familiarity of the customers with its brand. McDonald’s did not use much of mass media like advertising on television in India until the start of the 21st century. Till then, the marketing efforts of McDonald’s paid emphasis on designing of the outlets, opening of new restaurants, and customization of its menus to the standards of Indian food. McDonald’s India primarily got success in India through strateg ic advertising meant to develop the customers’ familiarity with the brand as well as use of traditional Indian spices on the typical McDonald’s meals. Pepsi has always been popular in India and its popularity has only grown with the passage of time. Pepsi particularly realized the importance and influence of the Bollywood Film Industry on the people of India. Indians have a craze to follow their stars and celebrities in all aspects, so food was no exception as well. In numerous television advertisements of Pepsi that have been on-air from time to time, Pepsi has been using Indian superstars like Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor to promote its product. Not just this, Pepsi also has been closely examining the popular relationships of Indian superstars thinking that making the couples of actors from the Bollywood Film Industry act in its ads would have an even larger influence on the audiences and the idea actually worked. Another very important realization by Pepsi was the popularity of cricket among

Michel Foucault In Discipline And Punish Sociology Essay

Michel Foucault In Discipline And Punish Sociology Essay Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish and The History of Sexuality, demonstrates that the tools of disciplinarity (which emerged in the confluence of critical, historical upheavals immediately preceding the modern age, such as geometric demographic expansion, reconfiguring global financial and mercantile apparatuses, the redefinition of territorial boundaries through global explosion and the ensuring establishments of empires, the ad hoc onset of the Industrial Revolution, etc.), upon being brought into proximity to about the only things that presently we are able to bring to it, such as a proclivity towards petty moralizing, our social prejudices, our racial intolerances, the petty agendas of the bourgeoisie empirical lifestyle enclaves, etc., operate what they have been designed to do, namely the re-proliferation, expansion, multiplication, amplification, production of manipulated strategies for administering populations, under the guise of it redounding to the so-called public interest, which on the whole underwrite unconscionable amounts of paralysis, social dissatisfaction and numerous suffering. At the heart of Michel Foucaults epistemic discussions on the reorganization of knowledge in the human sciences is his argument during the 1970s that such reshaping established contemporary arrangements of power and domination. Power, he defines, is the multiplicity of force relations immanent in the sphere in which they operate and which constitute their own organization.  [1]  His comprehensive historical analysis on the advent of disciplinary apparatus in Discipline and Punish and discourses on compartmentalization of sex and sexuality, and bio-power in The History of Sexuality postulate an apparent political positioning of power in the sphere of modernity, hence, paving way for a dynamic interpretation of his own understanding of it and the encompassing entity of knowledge. This academic paper aims to expound on the place of power and knowledge in Foucaults historical studies on prison and other modern forms of disciplinary institutions, and scientific discourses about sexuality and its deployments. The paper is divided into two parts and will proceed accordingly. The first part comprises the reiteration of Foucaults claims on tools of disciplinary institutions as polymorphous, hence the interwoven appearance of new forms knowledge and power during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By having constructed the reciprocity in the entrainment of knowledge and power in the context of the penal system, Foucault tries to demarcate the bounds of these two entities, but also ensures that each converge on the confines of modern disciplinarity (such as geometric demographic expansions). In other words, Foucault does not concern himself with distinguishing the identity of knowledge against power, or vice versa, but having and understanding knowledge and power in a mutual reinforcing relation so that each is sustaining the authority of the other.  [2]   This paper also argues that what drove the tools of disciplinarity as new forms of knowledge and power to operate the way they do, as in seemingly paralyzing humanity on its actions, is because, in the first place, they were programmed to act as the antithesis to the utopia vowed by the Enlightenment; hence are hostile to begin with, yet have been stabilized by mans hopeless state to resist them, as implied in the works of Foucault. The second part is a critical analysis on two viz. (1) pedagogization of childrens sex, and (2) socialization of procreative behavior of what Foucault labels as four great strategic unities that formed specific mechanisms of knowledge and power centering on sex at the start of the eighteenth century whence the proliferation of the production of sexuality started to surface and became a historical construct. Their ontological and epistemological position allowed them to function in autonomy by which they imposed an explicit but restricted methodology in the generation and dictums of new knowledge saturated with sexuality through which these deployments asserted their own perilous power.  [3]   I The underlying theme of the reorganization of knowledge in Foucaults works was broadened and highlighted by the introduction of the contemporary prison system in Discipline and Punish. By having the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries explicitly set in the realm of discipline, observation, and chains of restriction, Foucault made it possible in his book to produce new knowledge even as they created new forms of social control.  [4]  The new penal system has [i]ts fateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to be redefined by knowledge.  [5]  Davidson argues that Foucaults modern prison also serves as a reference point for his scrupulous analytics of power;  [6]  hence, the horrific revelation and comparison of the spectacle of the early eighteenth century punishment over the subtlety of the new penal structure exemplifying the scope and the measure of steadiness of power throughout its transformations under different circumstances. This is one of the most crucial points that Foucault purports. As mentioned above, the prevailing prison system became his reference point in the analytics of knowledge and power, and it is not hard to deconstruct why. As it were, it can be seen that Foucault was indulging himself in the line that separates the violent yet sporadic carrying out of detrimental force that targeted the body (e.g. public tortures and eventual public executions) and the imposition of a mass of juridical absurdities  [7]  by the modern-day form of discipline: It was a question not of treating the body, en masse, wholesale, as if it were an indissociable unity, but of working it retail, individually; of exercising upon it a subtle coercion, of obtaining holds upon it at the level of mechanism itself movements, gestures, attitudes, rapidity: an infinitesimal power over the active body.  [8]   The imposition of discipline reconstructs power in the manufacture of new behavior newfound techniques, newborn gesticulation, new actions and ultimately, new breeds of people. Now, power is not merely power per se in its traditional sense, but it is a power that involves obedience on influence and exploitation. This is what Foucault meant in his discourse on docile bodies. Indeed, the human body was entering a machinery of power that explores it, breaks it down and rearranges it.  [9]  It is a power that is autonomous, ad hominem and utilitarian. Allen argues that those who discipline, apart from having a hold over the mobilization of others bodies, become compelled in always ricocheting back on specialist knowledge, whence knowledge and power come into a mutual crisscross to finally augment each other. Everything comes in tandem: there can be no criminology without prisons or medicine without clinic for knowledge is only possible in its compromise with the reciprocating patte rns in the exercise of power.  [10]  Borrowing the words of Robinson and Davies, disciplinary apparatuses, indeed, cater to a compulsory captive audience.  [11]  Thus, Foucault says, discipline produces subjected and practiced bodies, docile bodies.  [12]   The above mentioned means of subjection, along with the time cards, bundy clocks, expected movements, documented schedules, etc., operated subtly through the shake-up of space and time by which peoples perform; hence, the formulation of an indirect flow of action, cellular segmentation, and organic control, given by the partitioning and distribution of activities. They served to economize the time of life and to exercise power over men through mediation of time, leaning on a subjection that has never reached its limit.  [13]   The above interventions paved way for the turn-around between power and perceptibility. There was a swing in political strategies from the presentation of power as spectacle to its employment in perceiving the target thoroughly, i.e., to see and hear him, to monitor and evaluate him, even at a distance. Surveillance, or panopticism, which proved to be far more complex than the sheer exhibition of force, became the autonomous impetus that massively drives action. By being everywhere, surveillance forces the target to always stand on attention as he is constantly located; it allows the disciplinary power to be absolutely indiscreet and to be exercised without division: an automatic functioning of power.  [14]   Rouse provided a physical description of surveillance. According to him, surveillance was not only manifest as affixed to the walls or structures of institutions, whose primary aim, again, was to enrich the capacity to perceive, but also in the creation or extension of rituals, particularly examinations such as psychiatric tests, job interviews, meetings, and even military exercise wherein the commander only stands aside to witness the passing of a marching troop instead of actually being its forefront figure.  [15]   Foucaults argument of panopticism and how it is improbable for people to not be observed shows its extent in The History of Sexuality. He argues that with the assimilation of the discourse of the sins of the flesh in the Catholic confession after the Council of Trent (Counter-Reformation), and even just traditional confession per se, the Church created a hold on its faithful by subjugating them to perfect obedience. Even through the screens of confessional boxes, one is compelled to allow himself to be audible, hence perceived, by an authority. Foucault argues: We have since become a singularly confessing society. The confession has spread its effects far and wide. It plays a part inà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the most ordinary affairs of everyday life, and in the most solemn rites; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦one goes about telling, with the greatest precision, whatever is most difficult to tell. One confesses in public and in private, to ones parents, ones educators, ones doctor, to those one loves; one admits to oneself, in pleasure and in pain, things it would be impossible to tell to anyone else, the things people write books about. One confesses-or is forced to confessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦man has become a confessing animal.  [16]   Such manifestations of panopticism and process of keeping records chains behavior exactly by the manner in which it creates more and more access for things and phenomena to be known. Yet, digging more deeply, it must be argued that such new forms of knowledge also assume new sets of constraints, which in turn allow peoples movement to be perceived. Rouse asserts that such more specific knowledge makes room for also a more omnipresent constraint on peoples actions cycling towards the vast probabilities for more intrusive inquiry and disclosure.  [17]   These knowledge and power techniques have two-fold insinuations. First, they operated to control, or, to a higher extent, neutralize, societal factors that are deemed perilous and threat to what has already been established. Second, having controlled such unusual and abnormal elements, they provide an avenue for the enhancement of productivity and utilization of their subjects. By doing so, the use of these knowledge and power that was initially applicable only to quarantined institutions, such as prisons and mental wards in other words, exclusive and extreme entities was slowly emancipated and incorporated into an assortment of new contexts; hence allowing the expansion of their application. Foucault named this as the swarming of disciplinary mechanisms and argues: While, on the one hand, the disciplinary establishments increase, their mechanisms have a certain tendency to become de-institutionalized, to emerge from the closed fortresses in which they once functioned and to circulate in a free state; the massive, compact disciplines are broken down into flexible methods of control.  [18]   He adds that On the whole, therefore, one can speak of the formation of a disciplinary society in this movement that stretches from the enclosed disciplines, a sort of social quarantine, to an indefinitely generalizable mechanism of panopticism. Not because the disciplinary modality of power has replaced all others; but because it has infiltrated the others, sometimes undermining them, but serving as an intermediary between themà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and above all making it possible to bring the effects of power to the most minute and distant elements.  [19]   These present-day techniques ought not to be understood as a place-over upon prior structure/s. Instead, these practices ought to be realized as constituting wholly different objects for knowledge to be tickled. Amongst these new sets are strategic statistics and inputs, such as geometric demographic expansion, and the redefinition of territorial boundaries according to the continuing progressive development in International Relations; structures that incessantly tackles development, as in reconfiguration of global financial and mercantile apparatuses, or age-group and pedagogical attainments; distribution patterns, like income distribution in households, and a history of familial diseases like cancer and diabetes; and indications of the state of life like cholesterol and sugar count. Consequently, such practices generate redefined, if not new enough, types of human subjects in consanguinity with another phase of production of new knowledge, objects, and power modalities. These political practices constitute a very methodical comprehension of the individual, of course through the assistance of the elements that compose panopticism. Foucault, in Discipline and Punish, argues that such knowledge engraves a barrier that maintains the targets individuality in his very own individuality. Hence, there is a permanence of knowledge, a knowledge by which the progress of the individuality of the target is always under scrutiny and evaluation.  [20]   The more important thing, though, is that this knowledge of individuality, individuating comprehension call it what you may plays a crucial role in the economization and politicization of the population. In The History of Sexuality, Foucault argues that peoples have also been singled-out, i.e., instead of dealing with people or subjects, the government has now shifted its attention and focused on dealing with a population with all its encompassing features that, just like the individual, had also been subjected to surveillance: mortality rates, healthiness, history of diseases, immunity to them, etc. All this individualizing of the people as a population always involve a reflux into the politic and economic in the population, i.e., population as labor force, population and efficiency in resource allocation, etc.  [21]   Foucault associates the above knowledge on individuality with the regulation of the individualized people, or population, with the concept of normalization, which purports mutuality with the knowledge and comprehension of populations by determining distributions. Lorentzen argues that norms occupy the whole of society, yet impose the greatest influence on institutions like church, school, and household;  [22]  in short, the ones that hold specific populations, such as students and families. Hacking, in his book The Taming of Chance, defined normal distribution as something that tries to promote constancy in numbers as implied in the survey of Europeans on their populations.  [23]  Along with certain populations, the individual also aids in the production of knowledge by being listed under a category; hence, he is epistemologically located without degrading into the standard. For Foucault, normalization is individualization because, although it imposes homogeneity, it also ind ividualizes by making it possible to measure gaps, to determine levels, to fix specialties and to render the differences useful by fitting them one to another.  [24]   In conclusion, it can be said that the influx of newly constructed knowledge and power operate today the way they do because they were meant to counter the premise and promise of the Enlightenment. Enlightenment was the advance of thought  [25]  that aims, in this case, to cultivate the prison and/or penal system as humanly as demanded by the modern society, and to emancipate mankind from sexual repression. But Foucault has presented it with a sense of hostility, if not real contradiction. As formerly vastly discoursed in this paper, the civilized prison and liberated sexuality further entangles humanity, and Foucaults presentation of these entities addresses the materializing need to resist them as contemporary modes of knowledge and power. Yet, to go with this, he also insinuates that such resistance has no solid framework to come into existence, hence creating that in-between where there is a shocking paralysis engulfing man, and suffering and dissatisfaction looming amongst t hem. II Some of the increase in child abuse is due to the publicity itself.  [26]   Ian Hacking The History of Sexuality portrays the interrelation between knowledge and power through a historical account of the origin of the context of sexuality. It is not a given, but rather a historical construct of discourse. Its mode of deployments created new power relations parents on their offspring, psychiatrists and doctors on patients, men on women, youth and old, etc. and exercise further control on also extended areas; hence, were able to legitimize the knowledge it purports.  [27]   Foucault discusses four great lines of attack which the politics of sex advanced for two centuries,  [28]  yet are still prevalent in the society today. Two of which shall be discussed shortly, viz. the pedagogization of childrens sex and socialization of procreative behavior. Pedagogization of childrens sex. The convergence of knowledge and power in and on the bodies of children allows the gathering of data on what is medically appropriate for them, in congruence with what is also necessary for their educators and parents to maintain that medically appropriate environment, influence, and other factors in which they are deemed to operate upon. A journal in 2008 by Kerry Robinson and Cristyn Davies regarding the relationship of sexuality with the childhood of Australian children ought to shed light on this first deployment under the scope of this paper. According to Robinson and Davies, the means by which Australian kids ought to acquire knowledge on sexual related phenomenon have been transformed into something controversial by the great debates whether the pedagogy on sexuality ought to occur at home, under the supervision of parents, or at school by the childrens educators. Finally, for various reasons, the school was selected to address sexuality to children, yet Robinson and Davies argues that by the continuous denial of the education curricula on sexuality as an important part of childrens identities, childhood and sexuality become compartmentalized as purely social constructions by which there is a naturalization of heterosexuality as the norm of sexuality and hence strengthening heteronormativity amongst children.  [29]   By having children perceived as docile bodies, schooling became a disciplining state apparatus, whence the knowledge-power nexus operates through the imposition of knowledge-regulating documents, such as Health Curriculum and Health and Personal Development/Health/Physical Education (PH/H/PE), which constitute the heteronormativity of children as subjects.  [30]  The practices involved in these documents gradually become assimilated in the general physical state of children, and whatever knowledge regarding sexuality was allowed to penetrate into the childrens minds was always highly regulated by social norms and religious taboos that depersonalised the processes for both the children and the teachers.  [31]   Earlier in 2007, Philo analyzed a radio broadcast that involved Foucault referencing to childrens games like tents around gardens or those that are played on top or under their parents beds. He argues that, indeed, what these games imply is an attention to the reverberating theme of wider trans-disciplinary field of social inquiries into children, especially with sexuality, although he was apprehensive about some of Foucaults claims.  [32]   Both of the assertions of the above mentioned intellectual studies resonate to the underlying assumptions made by Foucault. On the one hand, Philos article is a proof of half of the assertion of the deployment of sexuality currently at hand that children have the natural inclination to participate in sexual activities; whilst, on the other, Robinson and Davies study constitute the significant other half that institutions, such as, in this case, school and families, are the intermediary entities that limit the dangerous sexual potential immanent in children.  [33]   Given the above assumptions, it is easy to go back to the premise of Foucaults disciplinary apparatus and relate this pedagogization as one of its most influential tools. Putting into context Hackings argument which was cited at the opening of this chapter, it can be said that such pedagogization does not much have of an impact to its intended target in children as much as it does for the people revolving around the target. With the prestigious promise of pedagogical, as well as medical, knowledge about sexuality on children, it has functioned as a regulatory tool in reshaping, and perhaps instilling imaginations that never surfaced until then, the minds of people in the hierarchy of societies that looks onto the childrens. By knowing the constraints of teachers, doctors, and parents on maintaining the childs framework towards his sexuality, it has become easier for other people to imagine otherwise; hence, child abuse became and continues to become increasingly prevalent. In short, though the pedagogization of childrens sex allows children to be oriented in a pre-defined structure, it has had become more of a tool for disciplinarity on the outside audience; therefore, another state of limbo, of paralysis, perpetuates around the surface of human action. Socialization of procreative behavior. As it was scrupulously discussed at the earlier parts of this paper, population is one of the central themes of The History of Sexuality. Knowledge and power also converges on couples, allowing their growth on their circulation through the procreative capacity of the married pair. What could be the perfect example of this deployment other than the components of the current debate on the Reproductive Health Bill? Yet its discussion remains to be written on another academic paper. The issues on fertility, regulating procreation through contraception and abortion, and enhancing human propagation through modern reproductive technologies circumscribe the married pair to function accordingly in this deployment of sexuality. Indeed, often that this deployment of sexuality is understood in the context of the medical field and economic. How, for example, has impotence evolved from being technically uselessness and meaninglessness before to something that can be remedied by the science of medicine today? Having no children before yields into an immediate notion of non-productivity, but today one may think otherwise. Yet, one of the many implications of this deployment that is not necessarily given that as much attention as compared to medicine is sex differences, the very indicator of procreativity. Cook, in her work The Personality and Procreative Behavior of Trial Judges, attempted to look into sex as an emerging concept in the sphere of political participation, approaches, and socialization of men and women trial judges. For example, women trial judges decision on what political arena they would immerse themselves into is affected by socio-cultural factors like obligations at home or with children. Men j udges, on the other hand, have a higher rate of participation in the political sphere, not only because of less pressure in terms of the constraints of household and domestic obligations, but also of less structured functions (i.e., as compared to womens political role being translated from their home-making role, men judges have definite and straight-to-the-point objectives in the realm of politics)

Novel “Asturias” Essay

Celebrity and fame don’t affect all relationships equally; some individual’s relationships are positively affected while others are affected negatively. Some individuals are easily influenced by fame and let it influence their relationships. Brain Caswell shows these ideas in the novel â€Å"Asturias† in the novel it is about a group being formed to make music and to make it in the world of fames. The song by Ed Sheeran’s You Need Me is about the singer ready to enter fame and is determined to make it. The trailer for Almost Famous is about a boy entering a new world full of celebrities. Asturias explores how fame can affect a celebrity’s relation both positively and negatively. In Asturias fame creates opportunities for individuals to form new relations or enhance old ones. Max desire to, â€Å"assemble a band†¦. With image and substance† reveals how fame gives the group members (Alex, Chrissie, Marco, Tasha and Tim) opportunity to meet each other and form new relationships. This idea also highlights Tim’s observation how, â€Å"you have more friends than ever† when you become famous. Celebrities have more fans and meet more celebrities of which they have idolised. It affects their relations towards the band members in their group. Ed Sheeran’s song You need me, also shows how fame can give more opportunities and exceed in life through the use of metaphor in the line â€Å"more greener pastures†. Likewise the trailer for almost famous also supports the notion that fame can create new relationships as the main character is introduced to rock stars and befriends them. This is emphasised when the main character is shown in a mid shot at the start of the trailer. With an upbeat song playing in the background highlighting his vulnerability and how he is starting the journey to fame. This vulnerable shot contrast with later shots where he is singing with the band members in their bus showing that his joined their group. Fame may create opportunities however it can put strains in relationships. Fame can create opportunities for forming new relationships or enhancing old relationships, in the trailer almost famous it shows the main character in a mid shot with an up beat song playing in the background showing his vulnerability and leading on through the trailer he starts his journey to  fame. He starts to experience the ride that everyone dreams for. These relations are affect by fame because they shown they are alone and they begin to make new friends such as rock stars and celebrities and they being to have friendships with. In the line by Ed Sheeran, â€Å"move to greener pastures,† he uses metaphor to show that he wants to go far and exceed in life. Fame gives him more opportunities to exceed in life and it brings new opportunities in his life. Also in Asturias the line â€Å" you have more friends then ever†, it shows how there are also new people entering in your life. New relationships are made and fame gives them these opportunities. Lastly fame gives you the dream. It’s a clichà © it gives you the opportunity to exceed in life and try new things and do the thing you love. Fame puts strain on old relationships epically with friends and family or can make it difficult to make new (real) friends. Such as in almost famous â€Å"rock starts have steeled my son†, the imagery of fame taking away her son, it affects the mums and sons relationship negatively because her son is to caught up on all the glitz and glamor. The mum knows these people are fake and don’t really care about the son. It also puts a strain in the mums and son relationship as the mother is loosing her son and they are distant. In relation, in Asturias the motif of the â€Å"brass ring† communicates the idea that fame and celebrity is not what it looks like it seems perfect and it everything you imagine it is gold in our eyes. Marco’s realises this when his dad wants to come back into the picture again, his dad just wants his money and doesn’t want him for all the other things. Marcos relations ship is like the brass ring. It looks like gold when his dad wants him but he starts to realise that his dad’s just brass and the idea of him really wanting to know him was an illusion. Brian Caswell outlines that fame has a positive and negative aspects as evident in the line, â€Å"with one hand it gives you the dream, with the other it takes a subtle payment†, where juxtaposition and imagery displays how fame is not always beneficial and always has a price. It shows how it can affect the relationships with your family and friends. You start to feel disconnected but you are making new friends however these friends may be untrustworthy and won’t be they’re when you stuff up. As you see fame has influenced these relationships in a negatively way. Keeping relationships intact while being famous requires hard work and a good support system plus you need to stay connected to the real world. In the song, You Need Me by Ed Sheeran in the line, â€Å"from day one I’ve been prepared†, the composer shows that he’s ready to entre fame, he’s ready to live the lifestyle of socialising, paparazzi, criticism and fake friends. He is ready to live in that negative environment which may affect his relation towards him self. Also in this line the rhythm is fast and up beat, he’s also rapping he uses this to show that fame is constantly fast you got to keep in track and your constantly have to keep putting yourself out their until you make it. In the line, â€Å"the light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to look less and less like an on-coming train†. Brian Caswell does this to show how their seems to be more hope and that the dream can actually happen, through the use of illusion. It shows how f ame affected the group’s relationship positively because they had a good support system and they stay connected to the their family and friends. Fame affects relationships by changing their lifestyle and world. It changes their lifestyle and world because new people entre your life such as fans. You loose your close friends because fame start to take over your life and usually your friends say remember me when you’re famous, because they know their going to loose you. You have a new status to live up to and you have are more restricted with your life. Your lifestyle change to glamorous fast paced, luxurious and wealthy. Your confidence grows and you are also placed in a new environment that surrounds you with expectations and partying and drugs and alcohol. In conclusion celebrity and fame can affects relations based on the person and the relationships on the others. Fame can affect them on the way they think about life by achieving their goals and knowing that anything can happen. However it also can impact their life by changing it around and influencing them to a false world and change their whole persona on life. Celebrity and fame can impact many relations it all depends on the individual and the way they look on to fame.

Human development the three domains Essay

They begin to form their own views such as which sports to play, which groups of friends to be included in, and what personal appearances are attractive. The development in thinking that happens during adolescence needs nurturing in order for it to develop. If an adolescent is not exposed to abstract concepts and ideas at home and in school, then this ability atrophies, and the teenager may grow up to be an adult who is a concrete thinker in most aspects of life (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. 2003). The adolescent would not be able to make intelligent decisions about life in a modern society. Emotional and social domain states the changes in emotional communication, self -understanding, knowledge about other people, interpersonal skills, friendships, intimate relationships, and moral reasoning and behaviour. During adolescence, the changes of friendship occur, moving in the direction of intimacy and loyalty. Girl’s friendships place greater emphasis on emotional closeness, boys on status and mastery (Berk, 2003). Throughout adolescence the amount of time spent with friends increases. Teenagers enjoy spending time with their friends. They feel more understood and accepted by their friends. Less time is spent with parents. Female adolescent tend to place importance on attractiveness. Often causes of poor self-esteem are when teens do not perceive themselves as attractive. Typically, self-esteem increases during late adolescence as teens develop a better sense of who they are (University of Michigan Health System) (UMHS). A general example that clearly identifies all three domains including social/emotional, cognitive and physical is an adolescent who is playing a soccer tournament. Physically he is kicking the ball and running also he feels the pain on his leg when he kicks the ball. Cognitively he is thinking what if he misses the goal. In other words his full concentration is just on the ball. In terms of his emotional feeling he is feeling pressured and nervous. Socially he is communicating with the other players in his team. Therefore these examples clearly identifies the three domains are interrelated. The environment influences such as peers, family and education have shaped my life and have shaped my unique development. Peers have had a greater influence on shaping my life. The peer group is important because it helps a child learn social, friendship, loyalty, and values with other peers. Peers do have greater influence over matters of immediate lifestyle, such as musical tastes or leisure activities (Troll and Bengston, 1982 and Davies and Kandel, as cited in Robertson, 1989, p.84). Through out my life peers have always been important to me. As I grew older I spent more and more time in the company of my peers. Spending time with my peers I felt more connected. I chose peers who accept me and whom I share my attitudes and interests. I can trust my friends and we help each other out when we have problems. Friendship provides adolescents with a warm, close and trusting relationship (Santrock 2002). My peers have helped me to be more independent and confident. I was shy, quite, but by making friends I felt more comfortable and independent around them and around others. The family has the greatest impact on people’s life. From the moment of birth, children have and ascribed status in a subculture of race, class, ethnicity, religion, and region-all of which may strongly influence the nature of later social interaction and socialization. For example, the values and expectations that children learn depend very much on the social class of their parents (Robertson, 1989). I believe my family has had a lot of influence on shaping my development. In my relationships with my family we show respect for each other and we have values in our house. Most values that I hold have been my beliefs in religion. It was my parents who taught me the beliefs that god exists and today I am a strong believer of god. We have Hindu traditions that we celebrate together including Diwali (festival of lights). Through out high school I didn’t smoke, drink or get into drugs this is because of my close relationship with my family, healthy open communication and parental support. Research shows teens who have positive relationships with their parents are less likely to engage in various risk behaviours, including smoking, fighting and drinking (Santrock 2002). My family has also had a lot of influence on my dietary behaviour within my home environment. My parents are vegetarian and this has had a huge impact on my diet today. They have strongly emphasized no killing of animals. Education is another environmental influence that has shaped my development. Education is the systematic, formalized transmission of knowledge, skill, and values (Robertson, 1989). Through education I have learnt how to speak English which is my second language. Language has helped me to communicate with others and has helped me to introduce my self to a wider community of people. By going to school I have learnt a variety of facts and skills such as interacting with others. Through involvement in academic programs and campus life, students engaged in exploration that produces gains in knowledge and reasoning ability, revised attitudes and values, enhanced self-esteem and self knowledge, and preparation for a high-status career (Berk, 2007). Schools have also taught me habits of punctuality and obedience to authority, this has helped me through out my life. Through my education I have started to eat healthy food and exercise regularly as before I would eat a lot of processed and unhealthy food. (REF). Education has been an important opportunity to occupational and financial success. It has given me the ability to attend university and finish my certificate programme which will lead me to bachelor of nursing degree. To conclude its contextual influences that drives these three domains which are physical, cognitive and emotional/social domains, for example responsibility, environment, food, education, family, relationships and culture. These are used in everyday life. Berk, L.E. (2007). Development through the lifespan (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Robertson, I. (1989). Soialization. In society: A brief introduction. (pp. 69-93). New York: Worth. Santrock, J., (2002). Life-span development. (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.