Juvenile Delinquency and Justice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Juvenile Delinquency and Justice - Assignment Example Some of the defining movements and legislation in the 20th century were aptly presented in the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) online published report that enumerated the following: firm conformity of the Parens Patriae which claimed that â€Å"the State has both a right and a responsibility to intervene in family life and assume the task of rearing a child if the family is unable to do so. It has roots in English Poor Laws, which empowered the State to separate poor children from their families and place them in apprenticeships†; Parental Delinquency Laws which holds parents liable for apparently being significantly contributory to the delinquency of their children; institution of Due Process; and conditions and stipulations explicitly outlining Exceptions to Due Process. Likewise, also during the 20th century was the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act (JDPCA) of 1968 instituted to propose handling on non-criminal juvenile cases out of courts; while the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 was designed to deinstitutionalize â€Å"status offenders and nonoffenders as well as the separation of juvenile delinquents from adult offenders''. Likewise, there was the need to create the dependency court to ensure that juveniles are protected from being maltreated. It was likewise emphasized that â€Å"as juvenile court legislation was transformed in the delinquency context to provide procedures to satisfy the Gault requirements, the dependency court was left to continue its parens patriae jurisdiction over children and families†.

Online Assignment 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Online Assignment 5 - Essay Example This implies that apart from a professional relationship, a personal relationship develops. 2a. The issue of ethics arises in dual relationship but at times the dual relationship may occur out of sheer coincidence. This is circumstantial multiple role played by the professional and this arises out of misinterpretation. In small rural communities the psychologists often have a holistic view of the clients and this often leads to overlapping of social and business relationship that affects the psychologists’ family (Friedman, 2000). Dual relationship can occur when they are integral to the profession. An individual has to play structured multiple professional roles and is prevalent in counselor education and supervision. The supervisor can hold multiple roles as a mentor or advisor. This implies that the nature of both the roles is professional. In such a situation there is no conflict of interest and the relationship is seen upon as complimentary. However, when dual relationships become necessary, the professional must be conscious of the possible harm it could cause. One role can create conflict in this relationship. In their role as evaluators or in providing therapy service to the students, problems could arise due to shift in professional relationships. This could happen when the supervisor counseling a student develops a personal relationship that could be sexual or romantic in nature. In such a situation there are chances that the professional could exploit the student or the client. A professor (female) during the course of discussion with a female student stated that she missed having a man in her life as she had been widowed some years ago (Gottlieb, 1993). The student called up the professor a week later and offered to introduce her to a man who could be interesting. The professor instantly agreed but upon consultation with another colleague the next day, declined to meet the man. 2b. Circumstantial multiple role, present

Customer Relationship Management Plan for Hotel

Customer Relationship Management Plan for Hotel The Sao Paulo Case ABSTRACT The paper sets out to produce an outline customer relationship plan for a Brazilian hotel which has recently been taken over by a globally branded hotel chain. It begins with a review of selected literature which contains knowledge, techniques and ideas relevant to a customer relationship plan. Terms are defined within this section. The final section contains the action plan, which derives from ideas in the literature review section. 1. Introduction This report will consist of a concise, integrated customer relationship plan for Sao Paulo senior management with the specific aims of: reducing customer switching maintaining stakeholder relations in the service quality value chain Within this plan there will be: an identification of the gaps in Sao Paulo’s current approach to relationship marketing planning a description of internal and external relationships which impact the hotel proposed marketing objectives to help relaunch and reposition the hotel brand suggested developments of the brand an outline service quality management programme an outline CRM system an outline integrated marketing communications programme an outline internal marketing communications programme Input for the plan will be taken from the case material and the literature review which follows in section 2. 2. Literature Review This section will review the literature in a structured way. The first part will draw on lecture notes, text books and journal articles to clarify and explain aspects of: strategic marketing and branding relationship marketing and customer relationship management service quality management The second part will draw on three cases: The Ritz Carlton case Bergstrom Hotels Sao Paulo Hotel 2.1 Strategic Marketing and Branding Piercy defines strategy as simply being about: Being best at doing those things which matter most to customers Building shareholder value by achieving superior customer value Finding new and better ways of doing things to achieve the first two[1] If one accepts this no-nonsense definition it underscores the need for all companies to: Understand who your customers are and what matters to them Know how they perceive your service levels and what you must do to improve your performance Design and implement communication and management processes which make your strategy work In other words you need a plan. The planning process is described in the lecture notes as beginning with a Mission Statement and ending with implementation and measurement control. Before customer relationship objectives (the focus of the action plan below) can be identified and agreed the mission statement needs to be clearly understood as do the dynamics of the current market place. A SWOT analysis and Marketing Audit are effective tools for clarifying the company’s current position in the market, its performance so far and for suggesting possible changes in strategic and tactical moves. In a services business this will lead to the development of a customer relationship plan, which will be underpinned by a detailed understanding of the various internal and external stakeholders with whom one needs to develop and build relationships.[2] 2.2 Relationship Marketing and Customer Relationship Management â€Å"Relationship marketing concerns the shifting from activities of attracting customers to activities concerned with current customers and how to retain them. †¦At its core is the maintenance of relations between a company and its suppliers, channel intermediaries, public and customers.†[3] Focusing on retention is considered to be significantly more profitable than conversion of non-customers. CRM is a system to make relationship marketing work. The US writer, George Day sees CRM as a customer-responsive strategy, which seeks to give companies competitive advantage by: Delivering superior customer value by personalising the interaction between company and customer, Demonstrating trustworthiness Tightening connections with customers Achieving co-ordination of complex capabilities (functions, resources) within the company[4] Park Plaza International uses its new CRM system and global database to: â€Å"promote the hotels as a group, rather than an individually networked system, with targeted promotions and one-to-one marketing†¦.Through company profiling we will be able to identify who the biggest backers of the group are and who should be given special treatment, so that we can target our promotions accordingly†[5] Hwang and Chi[6] ,in their recent empirical study, highlight the fact that service personnel are the most important resource in the service sector and also the primary marketers. By helping to achieve customer satisfaction service personnel upgrade the entire performance of the organisation. The message to management is that they should engage in aggressive internal marketing to achieve and maintain a synergy of staff satisfaction and improved organisational performance. 2.3 Service Quality Management Customers will be loyal to a hotel, or a branded hotel chain, if they are satisfied with the quality and value offered. It is therefore important for service providers to know what influences these customer perceptions. Johnston suggests two approaches to understanding customers’ perceptions and judgements of service quality: The rational approach The incident-based approach[7] The rational approach suggests that customers consciously or unconsciously use a weighted average, so that a high score on one attribute or factor may offset a low score on another, to arrive at an overall evaluation of personal satisfaction. The SERVQUAL approach is based on the work of Parasuraman, Zeithamel and Berry[8] and sets out to measure customers’ perceptions of quality across 5 dimensions: Tangibles: physical facilities, equipment, appearance of personnel Reliability: abilities to perform the promised service dependably and accurately Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt service Assurance: knowledge and courtesy of employees and ability to inspire trust and confidence Empathy: caring, individualistic attention provided by firm to customers A third approach suggests that any single incident, delighting or satisfying, could, whatever the weightings given to the other transactions, result in an overall feeling of dissatisfaction or delight. Another writer argues that â€Å"investment of time and money in quality improvement should concentrate on those areas of your business where the effort will have the greatest benefit†[9] Effort should not necessarily be directed to areas where you are worse than the competition if those factors are not so important to customers. 2.4 The Ritz-Carlton Case R-C has a total quality approach to the business. They fix causes not problems, i.e. they think about processes and systems to prevent problems and to ensure continuous quality. They set up a system to understand the real needs of their customers, to ensure delivery of these needs, to make it work continuously and to communicate all this to the market – not just an image-driven approach, but one which was conscious of the â€Å"experience† which customers were seeking. 2.4 Bergstrom Hotels[10] Bergstrom set up a total quality approach and system which was driven by senior management but acted on and supported by teams across the organisation. Vital components of the system are: training of all staff in internal customer relations, culture, process improvement and problem-solving, setting up and development of a data-base based on customer and employee surveys to drive improvement, open lines of communication and regular performance evaluation. Recognising staff contributions to quality of service was a key final element. The case demonstrates that significant quality improvements can be achieved without significant investment and ongoing cost. 2.5 Sao Paulo Case Sao Paulo is a recently refurbished hotel which is operating in a highly competitive market (with much price cutting) and unstable economy. It has recently been taken over by a hotel chain with a global brand name and a reputation for high service quality and the ability to build long-term relationships with stakeholders. It needs now to reposition itself in the Brazilian market such that it is clearly differentiated in stakeholders minds from the competition. Service must be the main differentiator, so an integrated customer relationship plan needs to be developed. 3. Action Plan for Improving Customer Relationships 3.1 Gaps in current approach Sao Paulo needs both to retain the loyalty of its current customer base and to grow via new customer and intermediary relationships. Growth will probably come via extended use of new services (e.g. restaurants and bars) by current customers and attracting new, more focused customer segments. This needs to be spelt out in its overall mission and made explicit with regard to individual stakeholders. 3.2 External and Internal Stakeholders Apart from the different customer segments important external stakeholders are: tour operators, airlines, travel agents and the many web-based hotel discounters. Local SP-based organisations such as the city hall and tourist office may also be influential in the communication of the hotel brand to intermediaries and potential customers. The current relationship-building approach appears to be re-active and now needs to become focused and pro-active. Important internal stakeholders are hotel employees – front-office staff and sales staff – and franchisees in the restaurants and bars. All need to be aligned with the culture of the refurbished and repositioned hotel. 3.3 Relaunching and Repositioning of the Brand The SP hotel is now part of a global chain. Its service level will need to be aligned with the core brand values of GHG and these values will need to be communicated to all stakeholders and acted upon by internal stakeholders if the communicated brand image is to be consistent with delivery on the ground. Proposed marketing objectives are to: grow the current customer base by 20% by increasing spend per customer and by improving retention by 10%; focus on excellent, caring service at a fair price. 3.4 Service-Quality Programme A customer survey should be carried out to establish which service attributes are important to customers. This should be linked to an assessment of the cost of correcting what goes wrong. The survey should be ongoing and reinforced by regular staff interaction with customers so as to identify any areas of dissatisfaction. Overall customer relationship objective will be to: create in the minds of all customers an experience of being cared for by warm, friendly staff who have your best interests at heart and will do all that they can to offer you speedy and professional assistance. This will be translated into specific CR objectives for the different stakeholders, all of whom will need to participate in service quality training programmes: Franchisees: communicate always in your words, dress and body language that you are a member of the SP team. Front-office staff: make the customer feel welcome, respected, valued and at home. Sales staff: communicate, warm, professional, helpful manner at all times, backed up by prompt follow-up. Service standards: FRONT DESK: Always smile at customers Address by name wherever possible Apologise for even slightest delay Never keep customer waiting without apologising Always do what you promise to do Be sensitive to cultural differences Keep desk and hall area clean at all times Always ask if you can be of further assistance – sincerely Never argue with a customer Try always to exceed expectations Service blueprint: Sales staff to CORPORATES (process service mix): Tangibles Dress smartly, speak warmly and professionally, ensure  that all promotional materials are packaged and presented professionally Reliability Be punctual, deliver what you promise Responsiveness Exceed customer expectations with your response times  and look always for creative solutions to difficult problems Assurance Be confident about the hotel and its qualities but radiate  courtesy at all times. Avoid over-familiarity and use of christian names, unless requested to do so Empathy Avoid any remarks/comments about religion, race,  culture. Be particularly sensitive to cultural differences and help people with language difficulties. Never make fun of anyone. Apologise for even the most minor errors Service guarantee for empowering FRONT-LINE STAFF: If a customer arrives after 19.00 and requests a rate  reduction you may offer him/her a room at a rate 20% below normal rate This service quality approach is in line with the realignment of the brand as a warm and caring hotel which offers fair prices. 3.5 CRM System A CRM system needs to be developed for the global chain. It would aim to profile customers both in order to communicate with them more effectively and to ensure that service features are adapted to meet individual requirements where possible. It should be seen as a support for the warm and caring approach, not a replacement. The communications programme would need to be consistent with, and integrated into, the CRM system. 3.6 Internal Marketing Programme Staff are at the heart of hotel service and underpin customer perception of quality. Training programmes must be run to ensure that all staff are aligned with the culture and attitudes of the hotel, are aware of service guidelines and have the requisite skills and knowledge. An appraisal and suggestions system will be introduced to help staff maintain requisite standards. Incentives will be introduced to encourage maintenance of these standards. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Barwise P. and Meehan S. (2004), Simply Better, Harvard Business School Press Cerasale M. and Stone M.(2004), Business Solutions on Demand, Kogan Page Johnston R. and Clark C. (2001), Service Operations Management, Prentice Hall Piercy N. (2002), Market-led Strategic Change, Butterworth Heinemann Journal Articles Breiter D., Tyink S. and Corey-Tuckwell S. (1995), Bergstrom Hotels; a case study  in quality†, Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol.7 No. 6 Brown T. (1997), â€Å"Using norms to improve the interpretation of service quality  measures†, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol.11, No.1, p.80 Day G. (2000), â€Å"Tying in an Asset†, in Understanding CRM, Financial Times  Editorial article, „CRM in Hotelsâ€Å", in Leisure Hospitality Business, September,  2001 Hwang I. and Chi D. (2005), â€Å"Relationships among Internal Marketing, Employee Job  Satisfaction and International Hotel Performance†, International Journal of  Management, Vol.22 No.2 Parasuraman A., Zeithamel V. and Berry L. (1988), â€Å"SERVQUAL: a Multiple Item  Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Quality†, Journal of Retailing,  Vol.64, No.1 Spring Footnotes [1] Piercy N. (2002), Market-led Strategic Change, p. 273 [2] Lecture Notes – Key Issues from the Marketing Audit to Prioritise Actions in a Relationship Services  Marketing Plan [3] Jobber D. (2004), Principles and Practice of Marketing, McGraw-Hill, p. 117 [4] Day G. (2000), â€Å"Tying in an Asset†, in Understanding CRM, Financial Times [5] Editorial article, „CRM in Hotelsâ€Å", in Leisure Hospitality Business, September, 2001 [6] Hwang I. and Chi D. (2005), â€Å"Relationships among Internal Marketing, Employee Job Satisfaction  and International Hotel Performance†, International Journal of Management, Vol.22 No.2, p.291 [7] Johnston R. And Clark G. (2001), Service Operations Management, Prentice Hall, p. 102 [8] Parasuraman A., Zeithamel V. and Berry L. (1988), â€Å"SERVQUAL: a Multiple Item scale for  Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Quality†, Journal of Retailing, Vol.64, No.1 Spring [9] Brown T. (1997), â€Å"Using norms to improve the interpretation of service quality measures†, Journal of  Services Marketing, Vol.11, No.1, p.80 [10] Breiter D., Tyink S. and Corey-Tuckwell S. (1995), Bergstrom Hotels; a case study in quality†,  Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol.7 No. 6

Euthanasia And The Robert Latimer Case :: Free Euthanasia Essay

Euthanasia and the Robert Latimer Case Euthanasia is undoubtedly an issue that plagues the minds of those living with children or adults who are severely disabled. Rarely is one found to have a ‘ neutral' outlook upon it; that is, a side must be chosen, for or against. It is too delicate a topic to be ‘in the middle' about. Over the years, cases involving euthanasia have caused massive controversies as to whether or not it is feasible to take the life of another human being in order to ‘put them out of their misery'. One of the strong questions raised in my mind is: Does the killer really want to put the victim out of their misery? Or is it the killer who is under the extreme pressures of living with the victim, and is it their own lifestyle that they are truly fed up with? In the Robert Latimer case, as in many other cases of euthanasia, it can never be proven whether or not Latimer killed his young daughter Tracy to ‘save' her, or to save himself. While I have never experienced living with someone who is severely disabled, I have had the chance to discuss the issue with many friends and associates. From what I have learned, it is, indeed, an extremely tough matter to deal with. While no-one I have spoken to has been suicidal over the matter, they have seen the true pain and misery that some severely disabled individuals are forced to deal with every day of their lives. Still, many agree with myself on the point that a human life is just that, a human life; and that everyone alive has the right to live, no matter whether or not it is under tougher circumstances than another person. Nobody has the right to take the life of another person, and technically, the law states that nobody has the right to take their own life as well. A severely disabled person may have to deal with much pain in their lives, but they are entitled to the right of simply enjoying being alive, and denying them that right would be an infringement upon their freedom. Latimer should have taken the law into deeper consideration before taking his daughters life. He may have seen the suffering that she went through, but it is evident that he had some sort of strange love for his daughter. Indeed, he did want ‘what was best' for Tracy, but possibly what he was after was what he thought was best. He valued her rights as his daughter, unfortunately he did not value her rights as

Affordable Care Act Essay

Health care reform has been a budding issue within the United States this past year, and problems continue to surface. At the beginning of this process, Americans wanted the government to ensure that all citizens would be able to have affordable and good health care, no matter what their financial situation. The price for health care was increasing at a rate that people could no longer afford it and a lot of people desperately wanted a universal health care systems like some of their neighboring countries. In a sense, change was needed, but how this change came about is the real issue now. Americans may not get what they bargained for, and it could end up costing more than some individual initially thought. Importance of Research I want to research this economic policy because I hear so much scrutiny from every individual I talk to, while I also see some friends and family benefiting from the Affordable Care Act. I want to learn more about what we truly signed up for and the repercussions for â€Å"pimping out† the health care industry, along with any hidden agendas that might be embedded within this new policy. According to the U.S Department of Health & Human Services, â€Å"The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress and then signed into law by the President on March 23, 2010. On June 28, 2012 the Supreme Court rendered a final decision to uphold the health care law† (2014). It is not until 2014 that is really coming into effect, to the point where it is mandated to have insurance by April 2014. This policy was implemented to make sure every American has health insurance but little are properly educated on how this new policy will affect us in the years to come. Time to learn the truth fro m both sides of the debate Policy Overview The Affordable Health Care Act, was a policy that has recently been put in place to help citizens receive the health care they need at an affordable price. As wages remain the same, prices continue to climb to the point where minimum wages isn’t enough, health care is last on the list of needs. Many Americans do not have health insurance or receive it from the state because it is not an affordable aspect of our economy and it was not mandated. Now the government as took it upon themselves to make laws and regulations in order to ensure every American citizen has affordable health insurance. For those who can pay more, pay more, and those who can’t, will ultimately pay less. Although that is a great concept for the American people to believe in, but with all of the rules, regulations and underlining laws, it is important to understand what Americans are actually getting from this deal. For this paper, we will focus on individuals, employers and tax credits available to h elp with the cost of insurance. Provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed a comprehensive health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, into law. The laws and changes mad, focuses on provisions to expand coverage, control care costs, and improve health care delivery system. The first provisions is that all Americans are required to have health insurance by April 2014, or individuals will face penalty charges that can affect them for up to three years. So it is very important for citizens to go to the government market place and apply for insurance that they can afford. According to the Kaiser Foundation; â€Å"Those without coverage pay a tax penalty of the greater of $695 per year up to a maximum of three times that amount ($2,085) per family or 2.5% of household income. The penalty will be phased-in according to the following schedule: $95 in 2014, $325 in 2015, and $695 in 2016 for the flat fee or 1.0% of taxable income in 2014, 2.0% of taxable income in 2015, and 2.5% of taxable income in 2016 † (Kaiser Foundation, 2014). This reason alone is why Americans should not avoid getting insurance. Other provisions that have been taken into effect deal with employers. Now employers are required to offer insurance based on the amount of employees. For smaller businesses this means having to offer health care insurance to their full  time employers and â€Å"Require employers with more than 200 employees to automatically enroll employees into health insurance plans offered by the employer. Employees may opt out of coverage† (Kaiser Foundation, 2014). With employers having to offer health care coverage at an affordable rate to full-time employees, it does cause some to opt for part-time employment to avoid having to give out benefits. A lot of Americans fear they will lose hour’s simple because their employers do not want to pay for them, which is something that could easily happen. Other than individuals and employers being affected, Medicaid is also going under an expansion. More money is being put to those who are in need of insurance and cannot pay for it such as pregnant women, children and parents. With the expansion Medicaid to all non-Medicare eligible individuals under age 65 such as those stated above â€Å"All newly eligible adults will be guaranteed a benchmark benefit package that meets the essential health benefits available through the Exchanges† (Kaiser Foundation, 2014). Another important aspect pertains to those who are predisposed to certain medical conditions. For instance, citizens can no longer be denied health care coverage based on health risks they already possess. Among other things, the government also give tax credit in order to lower the cost of insurance, which is based on income and family size. Analysis of Policy With any policy or new law there will be objections and an unwillingness to accept these changes. Not every new piece of legislation fixes the problems at hand. Some of the issues only get worse, and then the law must be reformed. With the Affordable Health Care Act, there are a number of pros and cons with this policy and below, it will explain how these changes have greatly affected the general public for the better and worse. Pros With the Affordable Health Care Act being implemented, there are a number of great aspects that have now been put into effect. The first and easiest of the changes now allows children under the age of 26 to remain on their parents insurance plans, this means longer coverage for young adults in America, this also means no lifetime limits on health coverage; and new  insurance policies that must provide preventive care without any form of cost-sharing (UPMC, 2013). Among other changes, these are the following benefits of having the Affordable Health Care Act in place; Health care coverage for uninsured Americans. Through a combination of creating the health insurance marketplace and encouraging the states to expand Medicaid, millions of Americans without health insurance now have access to affordable coverage. No matter the situation, people will be covered. Reducing uninsured health events: Americans have always had issues regarding medical bills and costly procedures that many could not afford. Now, because the Affordable Health Care Act requires citizens to have health care coverage, we will dramatically reduce the instances of uninsured health events. No more coverage discrimination due to health issues or gender. The main problem with health insurance companies was the fact that they could, â€Å"charge outrageous prices or even deny coverage to Americans based on particular medical conditions, age, or gender. Just because you are ill, born with a disability, or female and may need pregnancy care, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have access to affordable coverage† (UPMC, 2013). Changing the laws that govern coverage now helps to end coverage discrimination. Expansion of employer sponsored health coverage. â€Å"Many employers don’t offer any health insurance to employees, even those working full-time. ObamaCare requires all companies with over 50 full-time equivalent employees to offer health insurance to full-time staff by 2016 or they may be subject to a penalty† (UPMC, 2013). This now makes employers responsible for the health care of their employees, which in turn offsets the amount of people on Medicaid, or reduces the amount of people uninsured. These benefits greatly affect the everyday life of an American, no more discrimination due to preexisting conditions, or higher rates to these individuals. Employers now have to offer insurance to their full-time employees, and everyone has the right to affordable health care which will stop them from being forced into debt. Cons With every policy, there are going to issues that come to surface, sometimes a policy fixes nothing at all, while other times it is just what the doctor ordered. The following are some of the negative effects that could cause the  Affordable Health Care Act to backfire or deter Americans from believing in the system. Working Americans will pay more. Most middle-class Americans hold full-time jobs and receive health insurance through their employers. Health care costs were rising before the Affordable Care Act became law, and combined with the effects of the law, employers will likely re-evaluate the insurance they offer. Employers will start to reevaluate their coverage to their employees which could end up increasing their work-based insurance. Some of the required coverage’s are against the moral values of employers. The mandate to offer contraception with no charge to the patient has caused a lot of issues, especially for employers whose moral code dictates that they do n ot support contraception of any type. But this is a manner of personal choice, employers cannot dictate what their employees needs are. Adding additional health care expenses will impact workers. The law will cause some employers to offer lower coverage or perhaps no coverage to their workers, or perhaps increase the amount employees pay for health insurance to offset higher premiums from the insurance company, or reduce hours to avoid having to offer coverage to so many full-time employee. The American Debt. As many are concerned about our debt, as the government subsidizes health care, may only make that debt worse. If the law runs over budget, it will be the taxpayers who wind up at a greater disadvantage than ever before. Below is also a graph that shows how government spending will be effected with the new ACA Many of the oppositions to this new law, all comes down to money. Americans do not want to sign on to anything that may cost or lose them money. (Foster, 2011). Some employers may also try to turn full-time employees into part-time just to avoid having to offer health care coverage. We as a nation end up in debt every year due to unnecessary spending, rather the spending be put in place to help the American people rather than ignore the issue. Unintended Consequences & Alternative Solution When the Affordable Health Care Act was put in place, a lot of Americans did not understand what they were actually getting for their money, while some hated the thought of government controlling yet another aspect of their lives others rejoiced. The health care act had some adverse consequences  when being put into place, the largest problem being the fact that Americans would now be fined if they did not pay for health insurance by the deadline, which is April 1st, 2014. The rate of the fine would increase with each year and end of causing a lot of Americans an unnecessary headache. This also forces people to purchase something they do not necessarily agree with, but unfortunately we cannot pick and choose which laws we decide to follow. Another issue that may affect Americans is the status of being a full-time employee versus being used as a part-time employee. With the new laws, businesses are also affected, some employees may cut employees hours in order to avoid having to off er insurance. Which is another way the Affordable Health Care Act is not benefitting the American citizens. Alternative Method & Recommendation Although the bill is already in place and functioning, I think the United States would have been better off following in the footsteps of other countries that already have nationalized health care. Instead of imposing all of these rules and regulations, the government should impose taxes on our citizens to help with the cost of health insurance. This will take away the need and frustration of having everyone being forced to find new insurance company based off their income, and have to be fined if they do not participate. With people standing strongly against being forced to buy insurance, taxes would take that fuss out. Americans need to realize, although other countries have national health care, it is nowhere as good as our health care, because when other countries were becoming nationalized, their star doctors were seeking citizenship in America because they could make more money. Now, we have all of these great doctors upset they can no longer reap the benefits of charging what they feel is appropriate, and now insurance companies can no longer deny benefits to those who are a risky investment. There are a large number of countries that simply take care of the health care cost through taxes, which is beneficial because less people feel the effect of paying premiums every month, and if it is based off of wages, so are our taxes, so why not take it out all at once? Conclusion With every policy, there will always be good and bad aspects that surround the change. In most cases, as long as the good outweighs the bad, then at the end of the day that is all that really matters. In the large picture, Americans now have the chance at having affordable health care, and cannot be denied over prior history. People can now avoid being put in massive amounts of debt by avoiding the high cost of procedures that they need. No one should ever deny the care they need when it comes to their health. In the long run it may cost companies more money, but if they make money off of their employees, they should be willing to pay for them to remain healthy. Within the next ten years we will truly see if the good outweighs the bad. In my opinion, Obamacare is headed in the right direction, but I do not feel the bill was ready to be passed. With all the opposition to incorporating socialized health care it is understandable why Obama was pushing it through while he is in office, because it may have not went through if it waited much longer. There are also a large number of benefits with the Affordable Health Care Act, people n ow can purchase affordable health care and not be denied due to pre-existing conditions. I also feel the government should have raised taxes to cover the cost, instead of Americans paying monthly for their insurance. We tend to not miss what is already gone, and this is what other countries have done. People have to pay taxes, so no one would ever need to be fined for not paying for health care every month. References Foster, R. (2011). Estimated effect of the Affordable Care Act on total national health spending. Retrieved on March 1st, 2014 from http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/library/chart-graph/estimated-effect-affordable-care-act-total-national-health-spending Kaiser Foundation. (2014). Summary of the affordable care act. Retrieved on February 24, 2014 from http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/8061-021.pdf UPMC. (2013). The Pros and Cons of ObamaCare. Retrieved on March 1s, 2014 from http://www.yourhealthcaresimplified.org/news/the-pros-and-cons-of-obamacare/ U.S Department of Health & Human Services. (2014). Read the law. Retrieved on February 12th, 2014 from http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/law/index.html

How does Steinbeck make Lennie a sympathetic character? Essay

In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, John Steinbeck deliberately creates and describes the character of Lennie and the events that surround him in the aim of evoking the reader’s sympathy towards him. It is obvious from the beginning of the novel that Lennie is in some way mentally disabled, and has the mind and actions of a child, the first time that a character mentions this is Slim, who remarks that Lennie is ‘Jes like a kid’, Curley’s wife also point out that he is ‘jus’ like a big baby’. It is obvious to the reader of Lennie’s mental ability by the way he speaks, as he has a definite speech impediment. By having Lennie be described as like a child and by his actions being like a child, it effectively creates sympathy for the character from the readers. This is because it is always easy for a reader to feel sympathetic towards a person with mental difficulties as you can understand how challenging it must be in their situation. The events which occur around Lennie are a main factor in creating sympathy for him. The first incident when the reader feels extremely sympathetic towards Lennie is when he is petting a dead mouse and George takes it off him, at which point Lennie starts to cry ‘He heard Lennie’s whimpering cry and wheeled about. â€Å"Blubberin’ like a baby? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you’. This highlights Lennie’s immaturity and his childlike characteristics, it is like a young child being scolded and having something taken off them and then starting to cry, this is how Lennie reacts to this situation. Often in the book George will say to Lennie ‘Good Boy’, this further shows the childlike character Lennie is, as it has George talking down to Lennie and comforting him, the way a child needs comforting. Early on in the book, Lennie’s pathetic yet amusing attempts at proving to George that he could survive living on his own shows what a sadly hopeless character he is, ‘if you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there – and live by myself’. We know for a fact that Lennie would be completely incapable of surviving on his own let alone surviving in the mountains, the effect this exchange has on the reader one again points to Lennie’s hopelessness and adds to the sympathy you feel towards him. Further on, Lennie is mistakenly taken to be laughing at Curley and Curley begins to punch him to which Lennie only reacts when ordered to by George. Lennie does not realise his own strength and crushes Curley’s hand, which was an unintentional way of getting him to stop. After this incident Lennie is described as ‘crouched fearfully against the wall’ and he cries how he ‘didn’t wanta hurt him’. Just after he has broken Curley’s hand you would not feel any sympathy towards Lennie, it is not until he shows his regret and remorse about the incident that it shows his timid and childlike side again. No sympathy is felt towards Curley during this, because of the dislike built up against his character by this point even though he is the one seriously injured, all the sympathy is felt towards Lennie by the characters and the readers alike. After the encounter and being comforted by George, Lennie exclaims ‘I can still tend the rabbits, George?’ it shows how easily satisfied Lennie is and also how easy it is for him to forget major occurrences and get over them. When Lennie is given one of Slim’s pups it is a dream come true for him, George describes how ‘it was a hell of a lot to him. Jesus Christ, I don’t know how we’re gonna get him to sleep in here’. This shows Lennie’s low mentality and how such a small thing can bring so much pleasure to him, the reader feels a certain sympathy for Lennie at this point for his childlike mentality. Towards the end of the book, Lennie accidentally kills the puppy which was given to him, by stroking it too hard. Initially he reacts to this by getting upset and crying ‘why do you got to get killed?’ this highlights his lack of knowledge and understanding with the concept of death, the reader feels sympathy towards the sorry state he is. However, Lennie then begins to get frustrated and angry about it and hurls the puppy away, he worries that by what he has done George will not let him ‘tend the rabbits’. At this point the sympathy towards Lennie stops, as this part shows his aggressive and selfish side as he is worrying for himself. The situation soon becomes much more serious however, when Lennie goes on to accidentally kill Curley’s wife by breaking her neck whilst stroking her hair. This time Lennie realises more the serious implications of his actions and leaves the ranch to hide in the place where he was instructed to by George. In my opinion, by this point sympathy towards Lennie has all but stopped, even though he killed Curley’s wife by accident he did it by viciously holding his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming, as he felt that him being able to ‘tend the rabbits’ would be jeopardised. This is Lennie once again looking out for himself. The sympathy felt towards Lennie is however regained, by the end of the book. Lennie is deeply remorseful about his actions and understand the burden he must be for George ‘I won’t be no more trouble to George’, and how what he does affects everyone else. In this final part Lennie is more childlike than ever, he cries and worries and calls for George like a child for its parent. George finally shoots Lennie and kills him, believing it is the best for Lennie and everyone else, a sort of mercy killing. However, you do not feel deep sympathy towards Lennie at this point as in a way he is free now of his mental burden, in my opinion I am glad that this was what happened to Lennie as his shackles have been cut loose and he nor anyone else has to suffer.