Positive outcomes for children and young people Essay Example for Free

Positive outcomes for children and young people Essay 1.1 Social factors Personal choice Some families decide that they do not wish to live or act in a way in which is viewed as normal. For instance a child may be from a travelling family. The outcome of this factor is that there are people which may not be able to relate to the child or young person’s families views. If a Child is from a travelling family there is a possibility that their development at school may be delayed due to being transferred from school to school. Poor parental supervision and neglect All children need a routine and a loving family home. Without these there may be conflict at their school because they do not know or understand acceptable boundaries. They may have vague view of their own abilities and may believe they are allowed to do what they want because they do not know any different. Lack of boundaries could result in them becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour. Neglect could lead to health problems through malnutrition. They may struggle to form social relationships because of their lack of personal hygiene. Poor clothing could lead to bulling and teasing, causing them to be withdrawn and become isolated. Offending or anti-social behaviour Children who miss behave and break the law may run the risk of being expelled from school. Also there is a possibility that their family could be evicted from their social housing accommodation. A child could be taken into care for various reasons such as a parent could be in prison.. The child may perceive the behaviour as normal or acceptable. It may result in them making some bad personal choices. Disability if there is a parent or a child in the family that has a disability, this could affect the family especially if the child is used as a carer for their parents. In some cases respite care may be needed for families with family members that are disabled and this can cause family disruptions and inconsistency in a young person’s care especially if the respite care is for overnight visits away from home. Health support whilst a child or family member is receiving support for healths issue this could possibly affect continuity of care, education, development and income. Addictions The impact on addictions can be varied. They can suffer health problems if their mother had a drug or alcohol problem during pregnancy. They may suffer from neglect, abuse or violence. If they have younger siblings they may find themselves responsible for their care and therefore may suffer stress and feel isolated. They may feel scared and find it difficult to speak to people for fear of getting in trouble or going into care. They may ultimately find themselves in care if the addiction results in their parents being unable to care for them. Bereavement and loss If a family loses a member of the family or a close friend this could affect the mental and in turn physical health of a family. Adults that have lost their partners may find the emotional strain difficult to cope with and may then find it more difficult to care for other children in the family. This can leave a child feeling very insecure and frightened. They may become quiet and withdrawn. They may become very emotional, clingy and tearful or become violent and abusive. They may feel angry, let down and abandoned. Their work and concentration at school may suffer as a result of any stress and worry they may be feeling. They may suffer poverty as a result of a fall in the household income and also suffer a dramatic change in lifestyle that leaves them confused. Economic factors Poverty Families that live in poverty are more likely to suffer mental and physical problems and therefore may not be able to provide for their child. Poverty can result from low income, unemployment, parental separation, illness or disability, addictions, or criminal activities. Children may suffer malnutrition or a poor diet as a result of their parents being unable to afford quality food. It is possible for children to also suffer health related issues. If a child is within a poverty stricken family and this is noticeable by the clothes the child wears and activity the childs parents may not be able to afford then the child is at risk of potential bullying. Housing and community Families on a low income can be placed in local authority housing. If the family grows then this can cause overcrowding within the home. It can result in child having no privacy or space which can affect the child homework. If the home is within a dangerous area then this may result in the children becoming isolated, as their parents may be fearful of letting them out to play or they may themselves become involved in anti-social behaviour and criminal activities. Lack of academic achievement Children whose parents have had poor education or lack numeracy and literacy skills may struggle at school. Their parents may show little in their education and as a result they themselves may also lose interest and starts miss behaving in class or follow in the wrong crowd of friend which will lead to them failing in their education and struggle to get employment as an adult. Cultural factors Religious beliefs and customs Children may have to attend a school that is associated with their religion. It is always possible that this gives the child a different quality/balance of education. They may struggle to understand other people‘s religion or lifestyle choices. They may become confused or isolated and struggle to interact with the community. They may also experience or witness abuse on the grounds of their religious beliefs. Ethnic beliefs and customs Ethnic beliefs and customs can affect a child’s clothing, customs, dietary needs, education and other areas of their lives. Children may have different clothing which could lead to them being bullied. Their culture may view interaction between men and women in a different way. Children will struggle to recognise what is acceptable at school as it differs from home. This could cause them to come into conflict with school rules or to be perceived as mis behaving. 1.2 Low income for a family suffering from poverty can mean that children may not have the same advantages of other children not living in poverty. Such as not having â€Å"normal† clothes or accessories. Children may see this as a target for teasing and bullying. Poor housing could lead to ill health due to unacceptable standards within the home. Such as damp within the home or draft from poor quality of housing. Not having access to the correct food and warm clothing could affect health. Families that live in poverty are more likely to suffer mental and physical problems and therefore may not be able to provide for their child. Poverty can result from low income, unemployment, parental separation, illness or disability, addictions, or criminal activities. Children may suffer malnutrition or a poor diet as a result of their parents being unable to afford quality food. It is possible for children to also suffer health related issues. If a child is within a poverty stricken family and this is noticeable by the clothes the child wears and activitys the childs parents may not be able to afford then the child is at risk of potential bullying. 1.3 In accordance with Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child the outcomes of the Governments Every Child Matters framework and the Early Years Foundation Stage, children should be provisioned for by ensuring that children are involved and engaged with, allowing them to be heard, to make decisions, contribute their experiences and be supported and safeguarded throughout their development. Even from an early age, children’s choices, even simple ones, can have an impact on their life chances and outcomes such as choosing which toys to play with at pre-school or which friends to play with, a child may develop a friendship with another child who is perhaps a bit louder and boisterous and may display unwanted behaviour, this choice of friend may have a negative impact on the childs behaviour at home or in other settings they move onto. Whilst the child has the right to choose their friends, it is our responsibility to involve the child in setting expectati ons of their behaviour and help them to make a positive contribution, which is one of the outcomes of the ECM framework. Children throughout their lives will make choices such as whether to eat healthily or unhealthily or start smoking or drinking, as any early years setting we ensure that we offer healthy snacks and encourage parents to supply healthy balanced lunch boxes, we involve the children in activities and discussions about the importance of healthy living but there will come a point where they can choose for themselves. If a child/young person chooses to eat unhealthily this will have a negative impact on their well-being, they could become overweight, develop diabetes and it could exclude them from taking part in activities, this could continue and have a negative knock on effect throughout their lives perhaps causing them to suffer low self esteem and become withdrawn from social situations. 2.1 The Every child matters outcomes are: Be Healthy – this also includes how our health is affected by our social, mental, emotional and physical well-being. The Government has a focus on healthy living for children. At my preschool we provide healthy snacks for the children. We also promote healthy choices, talk about healthy hearts and activities that teach them an active lifestyle.Stay Safe – we ensure children in our care are safeguarded. We have a named safeguarding officer who we can take any concerns to. We also have a robust safeguarding policy. Children know they can talk to any member of staff if they do not feel safe and they know they will be listened to.Enjoy and Achieve – we observe children so we understand their needs and can then plan more accurately for individual children.Make a Positive Contribution – we are continually assessing and developing our policies to ensure we are always making positive contributions to children’s developmentAchieve Economic Well-being  œ by ensuring we follow all the EYFS and Every Child Matters we are ensuring all children have the best start in life and can go on into adulthood and achieve economic well-being. 2.2 The importance of designing services is that each child, young person and their family will have different needs, requirements and barriers that can prevent their access and success. Securing positive outcomes and maximising life chances. It is important to design services that respond to each unique set of needs as each organisation supporting children and young people will be working on behalf of them to achieve the five positive outcomes of every child matters .A non-responsive service would be less accessible, date quickly, may discriminate, be unable to cope with queries, requests, break down and have the potentially to damage the interests of those in need, failing in its ability to safeguard children and the extended community.Issues involved with designing services: How networking between services happens Outreach services and what is available Communication consultation Making effective change Flexibility in working together Care in preparation Integrating information from differing services Collaboration between services, children, young people, parents Ensuring information 2.3 Its very important to listen to childrens views and communicate with parents and respect their points of view. We need to communicate well with children and take into account that young children may use non verbal communication. If children and young people are given chances on what activity they would like to do they are making a decision which can help them become confident. Every week we let the children plan to play. They get to decide where exactly they would like to play within the nursery and if there are certain activitys they would like to carry out. It is always the childs decision. It allows the children to make the choice by themselves building up confidence, self-esteem and social skills. I really enjoy seeing the children gain their confidence and I can tell it makes them feel very important by being allowed to deal and make their own choices. I notice that if the child is allowed to make their own choice then they are much more focused on their chosen activity rather than being told what activity they are doing. Whilst doing this and the child is growing up they can take with them their decision making skills and apply them to adult life. 2.4 2-3 years of age.All children of different ages and stages will chose what they would like to play with within our setting. They do not get help from the adults unless a little support is needed on how to carry out a certain activity. Children will chose different activities to play with. One child will play with cars trains. Another child might like the sensory equipment such as paint and sand. As practitioners in our setting it is our job to provide a variety of resources for the child to make their own choices. This will encourage the child to explore the environment and play with the activities that they enjoy.At snack time we offer a variety of fruit and this is passed round the children sitting in a circle. Again the child is able to make the decision on what type of fruit they would like to eat.Ages 3-6 years.Again at this age within our setting we promote that every child has a variety of choices when planning their time in nursery. At this age I have noticed that because the children are getting older and developing personality and relationships with the other children they tend to stick to the same type of activity. 7- 9 years At this age they like to choose what kind of after school activities they would like to participate, this will be incorporated with their likes and dislikes. This is the time where they take more interest in their optional units at school, this again can be a battle that takes part with parents because the young adult may want to take options that the parents disagree with, however I feel that with both of my children I did let them choose their own optional units and they both did very well, I feel this was because they were interested in what they chose to do. They don’t have an option on certain subjects so it is important for them to help chose the ones that they can. Teenagers-19 years They will choose what work experience they would like to do. This will enable them to try a certain type of work before they go to college or university. They also begin to have a sense of style by choosing and buying their own clothes. Sometimes they will have dramatic choices in life to make, however they can sometimes make the wrong choices, this can include under-age drinking, drugs, smoking, gangs, crime and we can only be there to advise and help support the teenager we can reinforce what they are doing to themselves and others and offer support and guidance. They have to make certain life changing choices such as relationship, employment, which university or college these will be important changes that only they can make. 3.1 Disability can impact the life of a child because of discrimination. Within society children get discriminated against because of their disability. This could be by not being included within groups of children because of their disability. This happens often in our society because young people or children do not understand what disability is at a young age. The result of this discrimination happening could be that the child or young person could get depressed and have low self esteem from not been included. The lack of opportunity available for disabled people could effect disabled or young peoples lives this could be no disabled access on mainstream schools or colleges or on community centres which acts as a barrier for the disabled people when they are trying to lead normal lives. When disabled people cannot use public facilities as mentioned above, it also gives them a barrier to choice and they cannot choose to do things which are not available for them. An example of lack of choi ce is courses within colleges that are not available to the disabled because there is no access . 3.2 A person is often disabled as a result of their impairment unless an effort is made to allow them to fit in and feel accepted. It is possible to avoid or reduce the impact of the impairment so the person can have opportunities to make choices, develop their potential, become independent and play a full part in society. You should always keep a balance between being realistic about the limitations that a childs impairment may cause, whilst at the same time having high expectations for their progress and achievements.Practitioners should have a positive attitude about their capacity to provide for disabled childrens requirements, and are ready to learn new skills such as sign language or using the Makaton system. The children have greater opportunities for making developmental progress. 3.3 Models of disability provide a framework for understanding the way in which people with impairments experience disability. The social model of disability identifies systemic barriers, negative attitudes and exclusion by society that means society is the main factor in disabling people. While physical, sensory, intellectual, or psychological variations may cause individual functional limitation or impairments these do not have to lead to disability unless society fails to take account of and include people regardless of their individual differences. The social model can affect daily practice as some people can not take part in a going to a swimming lesson unless it is specialised. An example of when this takes place is when workplaces do not have wheelchair ramps, so people in wheelchairs can not be employed there. This also happens in some restaurants. The medical model of disability is by which illness or disability being the result of a physical condition, and which is intrinsic to the individual may reduce the individuals quality of life and causes clear disadvantages to the individual. The medical model tends to believe that curing or at least managing illness or disability mostly or completely revolves around identifying the illness or disability from an in-depth clinical perspective understanding it, and learning to control and/or alter its course. 3.4 Speech and language therapy- they will usually work in partnership with parents, teachers and support staff and anyone else who has regular contact with the child and provide training and coaching sessions and provide them with ideas and strategies to put into place to help promote the child’s speech. I myself have sat in on a session with a child in school when the speech therapist came to have a meeting with a child and she gave me advice sheets on how best to help the child with his speech including picture cards with words on with either two, three and even four syllables and the child was encouraged to clap the amount of syllables while saying the word. Support from health professionals additional learning support- a child who has a disability like down syndrome may need extra support in the classroom to help them learn in my setting we have a child who comes in every Tuesday for social skills and he has his own teaching assistant to support him with his needs. A child with epilepsy is likely to require regular monitoring from health professionals and medication, which needs to be adjusted appropriately. Assistive technology- these would be anything which will help someone for example wheelchairs, hearing aids, walking frames in my setting we use large computer key boards for some children and for a child who is blind you could use software which reads text from a screen there are many different aids available for children and adults to help them with everyday tasks. 4.1 Diversity is about valuing individual difference. So diversity is much more than just a new word for equality. A diversity approach aims to recognise value and manage difference to enable all employees to contribute and realise their full potential. Diversity challenges us to recognise and value all sorts of differences in order to make our environment a better place for everyone to work. Equality is about making sure people are treated fairly and given fair chances. Equality is not about treating everyone in the same way, but it recognises that their needs are met in different ways. Equality focuses on those areas covered by the law, namely the key areas of race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transgender and Age. People must not be unfairly discriminated against because of any of these factors and we must all contribute to creating a positive workplace and service delivery environment where discriminatory practices and discrimination no longer happen. Inclusion is about ensuring that children and young people, whatever their background or situation, are able to participate fully in all aspects of the life in school. It is not about viewing everyone as the same or providing the same work, but about providing the same opportunities and access to a high quality of education. 4.2 By treating all families equally this as a positive impact on the child because they can see that their family is being respected and will raise the child’s self esteem. In my setting we promote different cultures and religions every year we celebrate the Chinese New Year and children are taught about some of their traditions and we make dragons and red envelopes with money in and this year in PE we even used materials for the children to dress at dragons and do a dance. My setting provides excellent equipment and resources to enable children to be included and the correct training of staff. We have wall displays about others counties and provide many books on other cultures and religions in the library we display work the children have done for parents to see. We adapt activities to meet the needs of the child and also adapt ways of communicating including visual aids, body language, and speaking slower and face-to-face.Speech therapists promote this by providing different types of communicating methods. With the child and the parents. Behavioural support will come into school and give information and advice on the best ways to tackle bad behaviour and they will also work with the parents.Education support services will monitor attendance and provide a link between school, parent and pupils where necessary and they will develop a supportive relationship between them. They will give advice on issues such as bullying and also they will take legal action against parents if their child is not accessing an education.

Links Between Investment in Infrastructure and Job Creation

Links Between Investment in Infrastructure and Job Creation Sourav Roy (13060242044) Sourav Das (13060242043) Saptarshi Maiti (13060242036) Devika Kannan (13060242013) Executive summary The effective tool to create jobs is counter-cyclical spending on infrastructure. As the demand for private sector is weak, the government helps the people with jobs and also aggregate demand. Investments of infrastructure are divided into two parts: Economic sectors include increasing efficiency in transportation, including roads, railways and waterways, Social sectors such as education, water and sewage system. Investments in a local scenario and their impact on development strategies lead to creation of more jobs, greater ownership, and can rapidly boost up the local economies. This is particularly applicable in times of crisis. Decentralized public investment should be favored where ever possible. It is very important to assess the resultant labour output of these investments with respect to its impact on direct as well as indirect and employment, not only to assess their productivity in short run, but also to assess the long run impact on growth and other subsidiary effects. There are number of infrastructure projects in low and medium-income countries which are financed fully or partially by IFI. Institutions like these should make an effort to allow for larger labour participation in infrastructure development. Fiscal decentralization can be defined as a two-dimensional policy: 1). Decentralization of tax instrument. 2). Decentralization of expenditure. The relation between decentralization and government efficiency can be divided into two large areas: a) The classical theory: There are three main contribution where this theory can be restricted, those are Tiebout’s model of local public good provision where decentralization coupled with mobile households solve the problem of the efficient provision of public goods. The second most influential contribution is of Oates’(1972) Decentralization Theorem that involves the tradeoff between centralized and decentralized provision of public goods in favour of former if average preferences across citizen of different region are equal. The theorem stresses on to maximize social welfare. And the last is Leviathan hypothesis where it shows the mechanism for constraining the expansionary tendencies of government mechanism. b) The second generation theory: The effect of fiscal decentralization has been modeled to embody the political process and the possibility of asymmetric information across political agents. Description of Policy Challenges According to the paper, on an average major percentage of total stimuli package in infrastructure is spent in emerging economies as compared to developed economies. The policy-brief paper tried to link infrastructure spending to job creation across economies. In this section the paper mentioned the main challenge of gestation period of the infrastructure projects. It viewed the time differential in processing of such projects as a challenge, as it failed to produce the expected outcomes on the stipulated time during a crisis situation. It later pointed out how infrastructures in different areas bear different results. Infrastructural Investment in rural area created more jobs than in urban areas as the jobs in rural areas are more labour intensive. It said, â€Å"The policy challenge is to match the targeting of infrastructure investments with the targeting of employment creation, be it by category or geographic area.† It explained the challenge with the help of examples of policies in three economies: USA, Indonesia and Egypt. The paper said that in USA infrastructure expenses consists only a minor portion of the total fiscal stimulus. According to the paper, expenditures on infrastructure accumulated up to 30 September 2009 amounted to US$4.44 billion or 2.6 per cent of the total fiscal stimulus during the period. However, according to a few articles in Forbes and Bloomberg Obama is planning to spend highly on infrastructure like science research and education and upgrade bridges, ports and roads to create more jobs. (Runningen, 2013) (Lenzner, 2011). The amount spent by USA in infrastructure is huge but, if we consider the share of infrastructure in GDP is only 2.4%. In USA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed in 2009 which was a stimulus package to help recover the country from the Great Recession. The Act followed Keynesian macroeconomics wherein high public expenditure was necessary for improving the unemployment condition and further economic deterioration. USA’s planned stimulus package after revision was 831 billion dollars and according to Paul Krugman it was too less though he was supportive of the law. (Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman: Too Little Stimulus in Stimulus Plan, 2009) Some of the critics for this policy said that it was too slow and had a huge price tag but according to the data the policy had resulted in decrease in unemployment as the unemployment rate is around 6and half percentage points lower. (Blinder Zandi, 2010) The policy paper further gave examples of Indonesian and Egyptian stimulus package. The Indonesian Government spent 7.6 billion dollars to boost aggregate demand and this spending on infrastructure was 17% of the GDP. Estimation of the government to set a job creation target of over one million workers was surpassed. As for the Egyptian government the stimulus package was worth 2.82 billion dollar in the financial year 2008-09. According to various estimates it stated that the complete stimulus package is expected to create between 661,420 and 729,650 new job opportunities. This section of the policy paper concluded by mentioning that some amount of public expenditure (read infrastructure spending) is good as it helps in growth and development of economy through skill development of the labour and promotion of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). It further wrote â€Å"spending cuts in such forms of investment would have a serious negative impact on employment and recovery unless ways could be found to maintain services with reduced costs.† Policy Options to address the challenge The examples illustrated above clearly reflect the issues related to the number of jobs created and the targeting of different sections of labour force. The focus of policy making in this area should shift from the amount of money spent to the number of jobs created relative to the set of employable workers and to the amount of public services provided. A prolonged strategy needs to be developed whose objective would be to provide short term relief from unemployment and long term creation of jobs aiming to meet the structural infrastructure deficits. Measures to guarantee timely implementation Higher public spending in periods of crisis for job creation involves a lag which is inherent in the cycle of identifying, formulating and approving projects. Therefore, objective should be a speedy and timely implementation, as an economy which is already in recession can deteriorate even quickly. The rate at which jobs can be created depends on the type of projects (large construction projects versus small or medium maintenance projects). Another important factor which determines the pace of the projects is the distribution of public tender procedures. A number of countries experience effective execution of public investment at less than 50% of the amount budgeted. Therefore, the short term objective is to achieve full execution of available resources rather than just allocation of additional resources. In order to ensure the timely implementation and to reap benefits from the existing administrational structures, public work schemes can be given additional funds to scale up. Taking up planned infrastructure and improving the efficiency of implementation of works formulated in public investment programmes are few of the features of the fiscal stimulus package. Decentralization of standard administrative procedures and dividing them into small grants at local levels to employ small-scale local contractors, labourers and local resources to efficiently enhance the employment opportunities of the infrastructure component of the packages is often a more effective than centrally planned and executed projects. Targeting Traditionally, the options of targeting were limited in public investment programmes, since majority of the works were generally executed by private enterprises. As objectives of targeting can be influenced to a certain degree through innovations to procurement systems hence, Public Employment Programmes, in which special targeting mechanisms can be applied, play an important complementary role. An important means of targeting constitutes the prioritization of investment projects in areas most affected by crisis. Subcontracting small works to local labourers allows for the targeting of special groups, such as women. In regular maintenance activities, women may take a larger share of job opportunities. Impact of infrastructure spending An investment in infrastructure is the first stepping stone towards the long run development and also takes into account immediate social needs. Generally, investments in infrastructure includes those in economic, such as, improving transportation viz. roads, railways and waterways and social sectors, such as health and education, treatment of water and sewage, and other public sectors. These investments depend mostly on the urgent requirements of the country. A major part of these expenditures can be executed through small-scale or medium-scale enterprises and thereby promoting them. Investments in infrastructure with a focus on the employment have a strong employment multiplier effect, since it leads to job creation both directly and indirectly. Increased usage of local goods and services creates a high indirect employment effect, which in turn leads to higher local incomes and thereby stimulates the local demand and consumption. However, this has to be taken cautiously as the way a job is defined varies from one country to another. There is no valid way to measure the direct employment created because of the fiscal stimulus package, as most countries face problems in gathering reliable data. Therefore, we need a consolidated effort to improving our way of understanding and documentation of the effects, in order to provide better guidance on the measures where the effects of multiplier are most prominent, given the requirements of the particular country. Conclusion Investments in infrastructure should be launched to build up capital for sustainable development and inclusive growth: human capital including skills, employment (including green jobs) and entrepreneurship development, and physical capital such as construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of infrastructure. As told earlier decentralized public investment should be preferred:- First, because decentralized decision-making processes are faster and local population more committed to the projects. It improves targeting and its proper use and maintenance. Secondly, the works undertaken are usually on a smaller scale and involve less expensive tenders, which mean there is less need for heavy machinery. Third, decentralized tenders are more likely to be executed by local firms using workers from the area, thus boosting the local economy as a whole. Because many infrastructure projects in low and medium countries are co- financed by international financial institutions, these institutions should make sure that their regulations allow for an increase in labour content in infrastructure development. Readjusting the design, procurement and contracting modalities of such products could have a major effect on employment. Works Cited Blinder, A. S., Zandi, M. (2010, December). Stimulas Worked. Retrieved from www.imf.org: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/12/blinder.htm Council-on-Foreign-Relations. (2014, March 4). Infrastructure. Retrieved from www.cfr.org: http://www.cfr.org/infrastructure/infrastructure/p26178 Lenzner, R. (2011, October 23). A $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan Creates 27 Million Jobs In 5 Years. Retrieved from www.forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlenzner/2011/10/23/the-u-s-wont-be-able-to-grow-again-until-2016-18/ Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman: Too Little Stimulus in Stimulus Plan. (2009, February 19). Retrieved from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/nobel-laureate-paul-krugman-too-little-stimulus-in-stimulus-plan/ Runningen, R. (2013, November 9). Obama Urges Infrastructure Spending to Spur U.S. Economy. Retrieved from www.bloomberg.com: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-09/obama-urges-infrastructure-spending-to-spur-u-s-economy.html Spending on transport infrastructure: Latest Data Released. (2013, July 11). Retrieved from www.internationaltransportforum.org: http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/Press/PDFs/2013-07-11Spending.pdf

RIG VEDA :: essays research papers

THE RIG VEDA I will mention about the Indian’s Rig Vedas.Before giving the details of Rig Veda,it would be better giving information about eastern philosophy and also Hinduizm. Firstly I want to explain some basic characteristics of eastern philosophy and the place of Hinduism as a religion entering the side of the philosophy. Actually if we want to understand the eastern philosophy completely, there is need to know that these philosophies depend on a religious area, like Indian philosophy. The system of eastern philosophy aims to experience the truth in a directly but also in a mystical way, and this experience take the character of religion with it, so why it is inevitable that the eastern philosophy depend on the religious area. Then we can put Hinduism in eastern tradition entering the side of philosophy. There is a strict relationship between philosophy and religion in Hinduism so that it effects the intellectual life of Indian deeply for hundred years and it formed the cultural and social tradition of this country. Essentially it is hard to define Hinduism as a religion or a philosophy. It contains so many cultures, philosophical systems that make itself complicated. Besides it has so many Gods and Goddess. We can convey that this state is the reflection of complex society in Indian, people from different races, geographic areas. Whereas it would be seen as a complication, there is a constant ritual with the spiritual of Hinduism. ‘ The oldest Scriptures in all of India and the most important are called the Vedas. All Hindus recognize the Vedas as the true origin of their faith because of the spiritual meaning behind them.’2 It is obvious that the Vedas are the main resources of the spiritual of Hinduism. Then we can give some information about Vedas, world’s oldest spiritual teachings. ‘The Vedas are probably the earliest documents of the human mind, they are the original scriptures of Hindu teachings. Veda means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it manifests the language of the gods in human speech. The laws of the Vedas regulate the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of the Hindus to the present day.’3 So what gives Vedas this power to regulate these customs of Hindus to the present day. The answer of this question is hidden in the question ‘Who wrote the Vedas?’. ‘It is believed that humans did not compose the revered compositions of the Vedas, which were handed down through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial.

Identify Marks and Spencers market position and determine why they nearly collapsed :: essays research papers

Identify Marks and Spencers market position and determine why they nearly collapsed Introduction Marks & Spencer is one of the UK's foremost retailers of clothing, foods, homeware and financial services, boasting a weekly customer base of 10 million in over 300 UK stores. Marks & Spencer operate in 30 countries worldwide, and has a group turnover in excess of  £8 billion. It has specific values, missions and visions. It’s main vision is ‘to be the standard against which all others are measured’, it’s main mission is ‘to make aspirational quality accessible to all’, and it’s main values are quality, service, innovation and trust. (www.marksandspencer.co.uk). By the end of 1998 though, there was evidence of a crisis occurring. Customers and media pulled together to assist senior management partake in an internal audit to identify the problems and see if they could come to a solution. The purpose of this assignment is to construct a SWOT analysis, highlighting each of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that were highlighted in the internal audit. The SWOT analysis is contained within the marketing plan and is the third step in the marketing planning process, coming after the Marketing audit and before any assumptions. (Joisce, Ted (2002), Marketing Planning Lecture Notes – 14/10/02, Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics) Conclusions will be drawn from the SWOT analysis, which will attempt to review the company’s position and identify the marketing priorities. Also, Marks & Spencer’s recent marketing activities will be critically analysed in order to ascertain what improvements have been made since 1998. This assignment will attempt to determine why Marks & Spencer nearly collapsed and what they have achieved in terms of success and failure as part of their recovery programme. Strategic wear-out occurs when an organisation no longer meets customer needs and the pursued strategy is surpassed by competitors. (Drummond and Ensor, Strategic Marketing Management, p. 149, Butterworth Heinemann) Marks & Spencer is a perfect example of a company that had a successful strategy but failed to adapt to the changing environment and have therefore suffered from ‘strategic wear-out.’ Evidence to support this quote comes in the form of Marks and Spencer sending very little on marketing communications and being overtaken by their competitors, but this will be explained later in the assignment. As Figure 2 shows, strategic wear-out refers to the lack of fit between an organizations strategy and the needs of the marketplace. This was clearly evident with Marks and Spencer when they became complacent about their customer service standards and thought their customers understood what Marks and Spencer stood for without marketing when all along they didn’t.

Critiquing Internet Sources of Family Relations and Dynamics Essay

On this paper, I will be critiquing internet sources of family relations and dynamics via blogs, videos & podcasts. Today, the Internet is equipped to handle an unsubstantial amount of information by way of blogs, videos, and podcasts. I will research and critique one blog, one video, and one podcast, which provide information that, addresses the topic of Family Relations and Dynamics for my final research paper. The conversation will start with the information captured on each item, and then I will discuss the authors take and bias on their position, along with two scholarly sources. There are some interesting dynamics that happen in a family when children enter their teen years. Sometimes as a parent it can be difficult to accept those changes but they are really just a part of our children beginning to grow up. For instance, when my daughter was younger she was a daddy’s girl. If she could pick between me and her father, she would have chosen him hands down. I think she act ually had him wrapped around her little finger. When she began to enter her preteen years it started to shift a bit. By the time she turned 12 everything shifted from dad to mom. Suddenly our relationship became more important. Now that isn’t to say that dad isn’t needed. But she is just at that age where she knows that I can relate to a lot of what she is facing and going through, so she feels that connection with me. When my oldest son  was younger we were very close. He was what some may call a â€Å"momma’s boy.† He was very dependent on me, even into his middle school years. It wasn’t until he hit high school that things began to shift with us (Romero, Stephanie, 2011, Relationship Dynamics) The blog above that I wanted for my research on family relationships and dynamics is a very basic example of the dynamics of a â€Å"normal† family. The reason why I chose to do this is because the roles of each family is what I wanted to define and make clear before starting my paper. In this blog, it mentions how in a family a mother and father are being chosen by their children through their different stages of the kids life. For example, the girl was more close to the father, from a younger age, then after the age of 12, the girl shifted her attention to a female perspective being the mother. Also, the boys were more inclined to hang around with the mother, making them ‘mommas boys’, there are many cases like this in a ‘normal’ family upbringing. The boys then grew up, just like the girl leaned more to their gender parent for help and guidance on their life endeavors. I believe that there are no biases in this blog being identified, and in all actuality, this blog gives us in inside take of a family, which has kids, which later chose to switch their parent role preference to someone close to their gender similarity. This happens in real families today in our world, because it is just real life experiences, and the kids simply identify themselves with their parents in life stages. The present study examined whether discrepancies between adolescent and parent ratings of family dynamics predict adolescent well-being over time. Self-report data from 972 adolescent-parent dyads collected at two time points separated by one year were analyzed. Both adolescents and parents rated a variety of family dynamics (e.g., cohesion), and adolescents reported on their levels of well-being (confidence, purpose in life, and positive relations with others). Significant discrepancies between adolescents and parents’ perceptions of family functioning were found for all positive family dynamics, but not for family conflict. Furthermore, discrepancies increased over time and larger discrepancies were noted for older adolescents. Results from the residualized path model showed that discrepancies were bidirectionally related to adolescent well-being. In addition, age was found to moderate the predictive model. Specifically, 14-15 year olds (year 10) were found to be more stable in their well-being  over time than younger adolescents. Also, results indicate that well-being is a significantly stronger negative predictor of discrepancies over time for the 14-15 year olds (year 10) than the for 10-11 year olds (year 6). The authors suggest that future research would benefit from investigations of the relationship between divergent perspectives of family members and adjustment outcomes of adolescents (Stuart, J., 2012). Draw a small circle in the middle of a piece of paper. Draw a second circle around it, and another, and another. Keep drawing larger and larger circles until you have 6 circles. In the middle of the smallest circle draw a smiley face, which is you. If you think about all the relationships you have with people, you can label each of the 5 remaining circles. For example; the largest might have the postman, grocery store cashier and the mechanic, while the one closest to you, your spouse. Take some time to think of all the people in your life (friends, family, acquaintances), and place them on the circle that feels right for them. Once you are finished step back and take a good look. You might find where you have placed various people interesting. In case you haven’t realized, the people closest to your smiley face are those you naturally wish to be closest with, while each circle outwards represents more distance. The people in the largest circle are relatively easy, they don’t know your name or anything about you, and because they are at this safe distance you don’t have to worry about them as much. As you progress inwards, the people in each circle come closer to knowing the real you, which means they have the opportunity to judge who and what you are, and to hurt you (Greens Release, 2011) Above is a podcasts take on family relations and dynamics, in this podcast it was revealed the functions of having family, friends, acquaintances and other people around you, and how they can affect the dynamics of your relationships. The reason why I chose this podcast, as an emphasis in my final research paper is how it demonstrates the truth of family and relationship dynamics can affect your inner circle of close people. I used this podcast on my own self and it was as if I was able to look at the full picture of my friends, family, acquaintances, or coworkers. This revelation was astonishing because I was able to see that there are some bad choice of family and friends that I have to keep far from me. The reason why I need to  make these changes is simply that those people closest to me are able to see me ‘naked’ in other words, as for who I am. The people that are close to me can see my fears, weaknesses, flaws, and more of the things that I hold sacred and perso nal. The podcast author’s ideas are not subject to being bias, because the key information in how to measure your family, friends and acquaintances level of closeness to one self is being generalized for everyone to use this as a guide. The applicability of this podcast guideline to measuring the dynamics of family and relationships is useful and it can be helpful. During the 50’s, the economy was at its highest peak, so families were more functionally defined by the role each family member contributed. In the 50’s era, both parents made sure they influenced their children with positivity reinforcement, which allowed for the children to be more receptive to their parents thoughts and respect, because they children at that time had the ability to experience true parenting. Nowadays, parents are no longer providing their children with 100% attention, due to them focusing more on their careers than anything else. Parents who are career focused are more prone to sacrifice their families over their careers due to money, but money leads to no real love being giving to their families, which then cause a divorce and family tarring apart. There are also many single mothers out there, which have no real male figures in their boys’ upbringing, so this can hinder the boy to develop feminine characteristics. In addition, singe parenting can have kids raised in a single household looking up to famous rappers, or simple looking for every male they meet as a role model, which can lead to danger (SchoolTube, Inc., 2013). The above video demonstrated that the dynamics of family and relationships are not like they used to be. It mentions how as strong American families that we once were, we are becoming more susceptible to breaking apart after careers, family, kids, friends and daily life affect those many households. Now, days, boys are becoming more feminized due not having a father figure when growing up. When I was growing up, I had my father, mother, brother and sister, but my family was never there for one another. I chose to be that person who wanted to part of a family, and help my siblings or parents when needed, but this wasn’t the case because the male figure in my family chose the easy way out. This easy way out was to just let us pretty much be on our  own with no kind words, guidance, emotional connection, I mean my parents’ house was chaotic. I believe that the video above wasn’t biased in any shape or form, because everything that was mentioned in video was pure f acts and we can all see how different we as families are evolving into more of a distant household. I believe that this video can relate to millions of families and single parents out there. Understanding the dynamics of contemporary, postmodern families and how these relate to health is critically important to nurses and other health care providers throughout the world. Much can be learned by studying not only one’s own culture but also other countries. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare family dynamics of families in the United States, Finland and Iceland. To date relatively little has been published related to families in these Nordic countries. Six family dimensions in Barnhill’s Family Health Cycle served as the theoretical framework. Adult respondents (n = 567) purposively selected from varied community groups, completed the Family Dynamics Measure II (FDM II) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Main findings from the three countries were positive family dynamics, with mutuality contributing the strongest factor to partially confirm the theoretical propositions in Barnhill’s Family Health Cycle. Respondents from all countries reported (1) clear communication and flexibility that contribute to mutuality; (2) younger age of respondents and increased education that were associated with more positive family dynamics; and (3) larger families associated with more negative dynamics. Mixed reports occurred according to gender, with Nordic men tending to perceive some negative dimensions. Marriage was important for more positive family dynamics only in the United States. Families in the United States and in Iceland had in common more negative family dynamics during illnesses. Problems and changes affected mostly families in the United States. In general, families in Finland and Iceland had greater strengths than in the United States. This benchmark study offers information for health practitioners to assist families, as well as contribute to the improvement of family social policies, especially in the United States (White, M. A., Elder, 2010) The influence of web-based information on global citizenship and multicultural understanding is aligned to the educating the world about our  different cultures, ethnicities, religions, politics, etc. Whatever information is needed vie web-based has revolutionized to a press of a button and keywords, the internet has become diversified as we have evolved as humans. The multicultural aspect, now defines our web-based realm in ways that scholars continue to study our differences in what has made us become closer each day by the power of the internet. Three factors I believe should be considered when evaluating Internet sources for use in researching information are: first, making sure the right keywords are placed in the Google search engine section in order to get the best results. Second, making sure the sources are credible, like can they be proven in a real life experience, scientific data or where researched methods used to analyze source. Third sources, can be taking into account via video, podcast, and blogs, but how are they relevant to your research topic. And are they able to persuade your audience with source information. I have concluded, that after researching and critiquing internet sources of family relations and dynamics via blogs, videos & podcasts they are all pretty much life experiences. Today, the Internet is equipped to handle an unsubstantial amount of information by way of blogs, videos, and podcasts. After researching and critiquing one blog, one video, and one podcast, the conversation about family relations and dynamics are all pretty similar to one another. The conversations on family relations and dynamics via blog, video and podcast relate to the discussion of real life experiences and amplified understanding of the topic at hand. The author’s bias in each social media is based on generalized information, so pulling up credible sources is a unique way to compare researched/scientific data, which can add some credibility to my Final Research Paper. References: Greens Release, 2011, Podcast: Relationship Dynamics. Retrieved from http://greenesrelease.com/portfolio/relationship-dynamics/ Ramos, Stephanie, February 10, 2011, Relationship Dynamics Retrieved from http://www.families.com/blog/relationship-dynamics Stuart, J., & Jose, P. E. (2012). The Influence of Discrepancies Between Adolescent and Parent Ratings of Family Dynamics on the Well-Being of Adolescents. Journal Of Family Psychology, 26(6), 858-868. doi:10.1037/a0030056 SchoolTube, Inc., 2013 Retrieved from http://www.schooltube.com/video/53bad6719111adc1f08f/Family%20Dynamics White, M. A., Elder, J. H., Paavilainen, E., Joronen, K., Helgadà ³ttir, H. L., & Seidl, A. (2010). Family dynamics in the United States, Finland and Iceland. Scandinavian Journal Of Caring Sciences, 24(1), 84-93. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6712.2009.00689.x

Narrowing Down of Gender Biased Disparities in US Federal and Civil services Essay

Narrowing Down of Gender Biased Disparities in US Federal and Civil Services The early 1970s witnessed a male dominant workforce in all departments of civil and federal services in the United States. Authoritative positions were held mainly by men. ‘Sex Based Glass Ceilings in the US State Level Bureaucracies 1987-1997’ written by Margaret Reed et al. (2004) has relevant data from the US Government offices. The authors analyzed the data and concluded that this gap has narrowed down significantly with women breaking the impediments in the glass ceilings prevalent in administrative positions. According to him, the glass ceiling is not that pervasive in distributive and regulatory agencies but very less pervasive in the services of redistributive agency which will be discussed later in this paper. Mani (2004) in his ‘Women in the Federal Civil Service’, analyses more about the influence of veterans preference to see if it stands as an impediment to women’s career in the federal civil services. Lewis and Oh (2008) exclusively discuss about the male-female pay differences in their paper ‘A Major Difference? ’ They deal effectively with pay disparities. For this, they makes an in depth study of different major subjects in colleges that brings a change in salary and administrative positions. He uses samples of different races, whites and blacks, and Hispanics in his analysis and proves that there is no disparity among races in terms of salary or status. All the three papers propose a common positive trend in women’s education level, salary, status, higher positions in civil and federal workforce. Each paper is exclusive in describing a unique sub-topic with significance and data analysis. Women are close to men in almost all departments thereby bridging the gender gap between 1990 and 2000. All the three papers with data show the disparities and gender differences between 1970 and 1990 that gradually reduced and the percentage variation is insignificant in the year 2000. Reed et al. ’s (2004) paper can be considered as a main discussion of the topic where he touches upon women’s employment, pay disparities and impediments to glass ceilings. Reed (2004) brings about the discussion on glass ceiling and glass wall that existed in three different agencies. The other two papers: ‘A Major Difference? ’ and ‘Women in the Federal Civil Service’ can be considered as a supportive or additional research without much contradictory opinions though each paper touches upon distinctive subtopics distinctively. The data analysis in all the three papers almost arrive at the same percentage of variation between men and women in salary, education in civil and federal workforce. All the three essays borrowed data from government offices like U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC national (data set for Sex Based Glass Ceilings in the US State Level Bureaucracies 1987-1997’), US Office of Personnel Management (data set for ‘ Major Difference’) and US Office of Personnel Management (data set for ‘Women in the Federal Services’) This data is useful in performing analysis of employees by job category, functional policy areas, salary levels, sex, number of male-female veterans, and male-female non-veterans. This data is not available in the open. It has been provided to the authors on request by the respective universities. This data helps to conduct Significance Test, Logistic Regression tests, Chi-square test and t test to come up with statistical evidence supporting their statements. Reed et al. (2004) use this data to arrive at ceiling ratios while discussing about pay disparities between male and female. When we discuss about gender disparities, or women’s impediments to acquire managerial positions, a common opinion is cited as a drawback in women: they are lack of commitment to affirmative action, lack of developmental assignments, gender biased organization cultures and stereotypes, outright discrimination, assuming leadership roles and welfare composition (Reed et al. 2004). Mani (2004) is also of the same view when he discusses about the reason for gender wage gap. According to him, sex discrimination in hiring and promotions, shortcomings in public policies and social changes played a major role between 1970 and 1990. While discussing pay disparities and acquiring higher positions that remain in disfavor of women, we need to consider that women were in the habit of selecting arts and social subjects in colleges that relatively fetched lower salary and lower administrative positions compared to men who were in the habit of selecting computer science, business and other professional studies. The second factor is that women are mostly connected with familial tie-ups and involved in childbearing, preferring to travel less, etc. automatically kept them away from competing with men for parity in pay or the highest positions in administrative levels. In 1990s, the above-said factors did not stand in the way of women to keep them away from competition. Many women started choosing professional colleges and decided to work in areas where men alone where dominant. Education played a major role in bridging the gap between men and women in pay disparities and higher positions in administrative levels. However, reaching top most authoritative levels was decided on various other factors that led to the disappointment of women. The percentage of gap un-bridged can be considered as due to the shortcomings in public policies and social changes as suggested by Mani (2004). Lewis and Oh (2008) in his exclusive study on pay differences, also attributes the unexplainable gaps in pay disparities to sexual discrimination and difference in government treatment of apparently compatible men and women. All three studies agree that this kind of partial treatment to women has reduced significantly and women are well placed in terms of education, pay, and administrative positions in the late 1990s. The percentage of development in every decade from 1970 is shown through analysis of data. Mani (2004) analyzes the influence of veterans in the civil life to see if it stands as an impediment to women’s opportunity of becoming a top level managers. Earlier in 1970s and 1980s there was considerable reason to believe that veterans had the advantage in federal civil service over non-veterans. The case started reversing in the 1990s with non- veterans getting more salaries and more job advantages. This is because, the women came stronger in studies in all departments. The growing number of women in public and their demands were heeded and respected by the government. The impediments came to a halt with the implementation of Equal Pay Act. Besides, George Bush signed Civil Rights acts of 1991 which allowed women to challenge unfavorable decisions in the bureaucracy and in the courts. Mani (2004) has ultimately concluded his views on veterans and their changing state is in the civil society with time. He proves with the empirical data that veterans no longer remain as an impediment for women in obtaining success in the civil and federal positions. Reed (2004) raises the question of women and their under representation as institutionalized democratic practices when it comes to high level positions. He used two models (i) socio-psychological model that emphasizes the importance of organizational culture that exclude women, and (ii) the systemic model that focuses on the distribution of power and opportunities available to women. Unlike Lewis and Oh (2008), and Mani et al. (2004), Reed (2004) gets into details of three different agencies and the opportunities and positions held by women in them. Regulatory agencies such as police are considered to be a male dominant workforces. Obviously, the presence of glass ceilings is more visible here. The redistributive agency includes management of public welfare programs, rehabilitation, public health services etc that involve more service related jobs where women are appointed traditionally at various levels. The glass ceilings are less pervasive in top administrative positions in redistributive agency. These disparities stated by Reed (2004) are narrowed down in 1990s. Distributive agencies involve construction, repair and administration of bridges, community development, etc in which men use to be dominant. The authors clearly observe the presence of glass wall and an impervious glass ceiling to get into top level management positions. Lewis and Oh (2008) do not segregate in detail, the three agencies via regulatory, distributive and redistributive agencies and so failed to categorize women where their representation, for example departments like police protection, fire, dept, etc was minimum. Without these information, one does not get to know that women are doing fairly well to reach management positions in redistributive agencies. From all the three papers, we understand that there is an increase in percentage of women in all positions of workforce. The empirical data suggests that the percentage increase is gradual from 1970 through the years and in 1995, women were earning about 89% of salary compared to men. Women too started obtaining higher degrees from colleges. Their presence was seen in many upper management positions. However women have not advanced into the highest and most prestigious positions in organizations. According to Reed (2004), the government is becoming creative in implementing strategies to reduce the gender gap but these efforts are not uniformly distributed in all the states. Many women, about 3 million, as teachers, are not included in the data considered for analysis. This is a significant population that chose teaching profession for convenience and so the percentage of variation in disparities between men and women could have been improved if this work force is distributed in other civilian jobs. The proportion of women in various jobs determines various other factors. Mani (2004) has disclosed the veterans and their status in the civil services after the post Vietnam war. His paper helps to understand how the early veterans without much education levels happened to claim up the ladder in civilian positions. We also come know of the rigorous training the veterans possessed to meet the requirements once they come out to the civil life. However, at a later stage, the non-veterans had the advantage over veterans by virtue of their higher education, experience in civil environment and the change of law that preferred veterans in selection procedures. The transition is shown with the help of data available from the U. S. Office of Personal Management Central Personal Data File (OPM CPDF). Comparison among male veterans, male non-veterans, female veterans, female non-veterans with and without considering sex aspect give a clear picture of preferences and impediments over the decades. The scenario in 1995 shows that the disparities among all the four groups have been settled in such a way that one group does not hinder the prospect of the other group while competing for civilian jobs and in promotions. There was a significant difference in salary between men and women after all the analysis conducted by Mani (2004). Like in other papers, Mani (2004) too agrees with sex discrimination, the shortcomings in the public policies and social changes that impact women’s career. But his opinion is slightly different compared to the other two: after 1998, there was still occupational segregation and salary disparities between men and women. The other two papers showed that much of the gender gap is narrowed down around 1999, whereas Mani (2004) still shows differences that requires rectification from the government side. All the three papers with data and analysis reveal the changes in social and cultural changes through the history of United States. All the three papers used more or less the similar data borrowed from the government departments. This can be considered as a major drawback in the results obtained. If each paper used a different data from different sources to conduct statistical analysis, it would have been more appealing. All the three papers do not consider or omit a few factors evenly while doing the analysis. For example, the 3 million teachers (Reed, 2004) avoided in one paper is a wise decision which is not found in the case of other two papers. All the three papers are trying to arrive at showing the percentage of gap narrowing down in disparities between male and female without considering similar factors in the analysis. This cannot be taken strongly for absolute results. However, the data from the government sources and its utilization in analyzing the subject to provide with statistics at various levels certainly convince the readers that there is improvement in lessening of glass walls and ceilings, equality in pay and acquiring top level management positions in the civil and federal workforce. References Lewis, B. & Oh, S. S. , (2008). A Major Difference? Fields of Study and Male–Female Pay Differences in Federal Employment. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta. Mani, B. G. (2004). Women in the Federal Civil Service: Career Advancement, Veterans’ Preference, and Education. Reid, M. (2004). Sex-based Glass Ceilings in US State-Level Bureacracies, 1987-1991. Administration and Society.

Myth Interpretation

The movie industry had delved with so many themes already that creating a fairy tale or a fantasy movie is not something new. These fantasy movies became mainstream attractions thanks to the new technology of 3D and animations that makes imaginary characters come to life and walk and talk like humans. In these fantasy movies, one can not help but question the inspiration for the story; the insight for the roles created; and the symbolism each character represents.There would be parallelism with each fantasy story, as every good fantasy movie would be, since it mainly caters young audiences, like for example the eternal battle between good and evil. Pan’s Labyrinth is not any difference, it tackled the parallelism and many more, although some symbolisms were graphically demonstrated, to the point of disgust, it is still a fantasy movie.These parallelisms between the symbolism in the movie and the myths would be analyzed and discussed in this paper. The liminality as every heroi c tale should have would be pointed out in any way possible as it pertains to the Neo-Platonism idea of The One.Summary of the MoviePan’s Labyrinth or El Laberinto Del Fauno in its original title in Spanish or literally translated as The Faun’s Labyrinth, is a fantasy film that delves in a young girl’s struggle to keep the reality beautiful by completing tasks in another parallel world. In so doing she will take the throne that was rightfully hers and become a Princess once again in the parallel world.There were two worlds in which Ofelia, the protagonist was living. The real world where her mother is sick with the baby, where her ruthless stepfather Captain Vidal lives, and where there are rebels prepared to take offense against the Captain’s forces; and the second world, where Ofelia is the long lost Princess Moana, daughter of the King and she must get back to him as soon as possible. To be able to go back to her father, Ofelia was tasked to complete t hree tasks before the full moon rises, in order to ensure that her â€Å"essence† is intact. First she must retrieve the golden key from the belly of a giant toad that was living off the life of an old tree.She successfully got the key and proceeded on with the next one, with the Faun’s guidance, to retrieve a golden knife from a pale man’s dwelling and she was successful again, but lost the lives of her assistant fairies. The Faun was so angry that he said Ofelia could never return to her kingdom. Meanwhile, the condition of her pregnant mother is getting worse, and the rebels who are against the fascist rule of her stepfather are building a plan of their own. Her mother lost her life in giving birth to her baby brother, her friend Mercedes was caught by Vidal for spying, and Vidal had caught Ofelia lying to him and imprisoned her in the attic with orders of shooting Ofelia first if the rebels attacked.Taking pity on the poor Ofelia, the Faun appeared again and gave her another chance; all she had to do is take her baby brother to the labyrinth. After much hardship and running away from Captain Vidal, Ofelia finally reached the labyrinth where the Faun was waiting for her with instructions to â€Å"prick† her little brother with the golden knife and let his blood flow through the labyrinth. Ofelia refused to hurt her baby brother, this led to the Faun’s disappointment and left Ofelia on her own, as Captain Vidal finally caught up with her, killed her and took the baby.Ofelia’s blood spilled in the labyrinth and Captain Vidal was met by Mercedes and her rebel friends and they killed Vidal. All the while, in another world, Ofelia rose and was called upon by her father as Princess Moana. She was astonished to find herself in a big castle with her father and her mother waiting for her. She had finally come home; while on the other end, Mercedes cradles the lifeless body of Ofelia.Contrasting Concepts and Symbolisms: Good vs. EvilAs every fairy tale is supposed to have, the ensuing battle against the good and the evil, wherein no matter how much hardship the good guys had, the good will eventually triumph over the evil. In Pan’s Labyrinth, Ofelia represents the goodness in both worlds; the real world and the world underneath. The rebels signify the integrity and righteousness in the real world in their fight against the dark evil as manifested by the ruthless Captain Vidal. He is both the evil in Ofelia’s life as well as the rebels, and he had made their lives literally a living hell by torturing and killing the captured rebels, and later on, by taking Ofelia’s innocent life.As Ofelia went through difficult times and losing her life in the process, she triumphed for she had passed the test and did not fall into an evil-like behavior by sacrificing her baby brother. It is the goodness in her heart that finally led her to where she wants to be, with her mother and her father (altho ugh they are all dead already), and the only way she could do that was to die herself, and be reborn as Princess Moana of the Underworld. Ofelia is the epitome of good while Captain Vidal is the utmost evil by killing her. However, the other symbolism for good is the rebels who took Vidal’s life. Although the manner in which they did is not really â€Å"good†, in reality per se it is an acceptable way to end a fairly evil man. In this sense, Ofelia’s objective of making both worlds a better place to live in was achieved – in the fantasy world by completing all her tasks and in the real world through her death.Characters as Compared to Greek MythsThe title itself was a referral to the Greek god Pan, although the director and writer of the story denied having derived the Faun from Pan the Greek God. Perhaps, it is the similarity of the features that was compared to. The Faun personification of half man-half goat was first used in The Chronicles of Narnia as the trickster who wanted to kidnap Lucy but changed his mind later on. In Pan’s Labyrinth, the Faun was used as the guide with unknown objective – either the good or the bad. Is he telling the truth? Is he just tricking Ofelia to lure her into his trap? But we find out later that he was just testing Ofelia’s good heart if she could spill an innocent’s blood just to achieve her goals.The pale man who was guarding the magical dagger was perhaps derived from the â€Å"Cycladic idols† that archaeologists found in the Cycladic Islands. These figurines have white bodies, featureless faces, and stiff, formal poses and were thought to represent death. Just like the pale man, who represented nothing but death of children (in the drawings and the mountain full of children’s shoes).The stuffing of magic stones into the big toad’s mouth ended his reign thus giving birth to the key by tricking the toad into eating the magic stones when Ofelia pla ced a big bug along with the stones and held out her hand. This was perhaps derived from the Greek myth of the feud between Zeus and his father Kronos. Kronos had this habit of eating his children when they are born, and his wife Rhea, grew tired of seeing her children being swallowed by her husband that she tricked him into swallowing a rock instead of Zeus. Therefore, Zeus grew up and eventually killed Kronos.Underlying Interpretationa. As a belief SystemThe myth surrounding Pan’s labyrinth stemmed through Ofelia’s belief system that was encouraged by the Faun of her being â€Å"The One†. The lost Princess Moana of another world, and longing to escape the present reality in which she wants to save her mother and her unborn brother, she goes on to complete the tasks presented. Ofelia firmly believed that if she could pass the stages and fulfill the responsibilities given to her, she would finally be able to see her father, who was waiting for her for a long tim e.Embodying a Social ConflictPan’s labyrinth was set in the Post Civil War Spain in 1944. Captain Vidal is the head of one unit somewhere in the province who still hunts and kills rebel guerillas who are against the fascist rule. Carmen, Ofelia’s mother, had submitted herself, Ofelia and her unborn son’s fate into the hands of Captain Vidal. Perhaps love? But the sternness of Vidal and the lack of amiability between supposed to be husband and wife (Vidal and Carmen) lead the writer to assume that perhaps it is a mother’s survival instinct. Widowed with one kid during the hard times, perhaps the best chance of survival is to go with a powerful man to protect her self and ensure a good future for her children.Unknowingly, Carmen had entered a dark realm in which the man she though would rescue them, would be the sole reason of their demise. Confronted with the reality that Captain Vidal is a â€Å"bad† man, Ofelia tried to tell her mother who refuses to see the â€Å"real† Captain Vidal. Therefore, having no resolution and powerless to change the situation, Ofelia resulted into building her own world, from her imagination, through the fairy tale books that she was reading. It was through her mind that the blank book that the Faun gave her imprint instructions on what to do and how to do it.It was also with the Faun’s help that Carmen’s health condition got better (for a while) by placing a mandrake root under her bed; although one person in the real world, through Mercedes, may have seem to have the courage to change things, but still powerless to help Ofelia and her mother during their suffering, eventually stepped up to change and had Captain Vidal killed, but it was already too late for Carmen and Ofelia, for both have already lost their lives.c. AllegoryThe tasks performed by Ofelia in the parallel world are an allegory of her trying to escape and stop the cruel ruling of her stepfather Captain Vidal. O felia had pushed the stone that she found at the road to a mouth of a stone sculpture that started the chain of events – Carmen felt better to continue the travel. The Faun represents another entity that forces Ofelia to follow orders and be a good girl – just like Captain Vidal, he gives orders to his men and expects loyalty and respect or else he would kill them. The task of retrieving the magic key inside a giant toad’s stomach could be an allegory of Ofelia trying to find favor from Captain Vidal, but unlike the toad where she was successful; she was repulsed by Vidal and was treated just like anybody else.The pale man in the long table with bountiful fruits and images of children being eaten and mound full of children’s shoes is an allegory of Captain Vidal seating on the same setting, eating delicious food while the rest of the townspeople fall in line to get their rations. The last task that is to sacrifice her little brother for her to be able to open the portal, but did not do so and in the eventuality lost her life; is an allegory of Vidal sacrificing Ofelia’s life, he did what Ofelia did not do, that is to kill, and the consequence of Vidal’s action was death in the hands of the rebels. All the while, Ofelia was pointed out as The One that would make a significant change in the real world, and as The One missing Princess Moana in the parallel world.ConclusionThe movie was full of symbolism and parallelism that are subject to different opinions and interpretations by various scholars. The comparisons and allegories discussed in this paper may seem absurd or untoward by other scholars but myth interpretation is by itself subjective, and as a free and imaginative thinker, through a proper structure, the writer had expressed his/her opinions and views accordingly. There may be some that the writer had missed or other areas that were overlooked, but all things considered, this is a brief analysis of the movie Pan ’s Labyrinth with regards to myth interpretation.ReferencesCampbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces.Powell, Barry B. Classical Myth. Fifth Edition