No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

No topic - Essay Example Trustworthiness is another significant quality for a customer service representative. If the customers are unable to have faith in what the representative is saying, they will not wish to transact with him. Thus, one must not make false or exaggerated claims, and must only promise what they can deliver. A customer service representative must always be polite and patient. They must refrain from getting agitated, even if the customer is making unwarranted demands. They must hear the customer out, and pay close attention to their needs and wants. After their requirements are established, the customer service representative ought to respond courteously and explain to the customer in detail, what he has inquired about. Additionally, a customer service representative must be able to solve problems in a quick and efficient manner. They must be flexible and accommodating to the customers’ needs. I have been working in the customer service field for three years now, which has endowed m e with a notable comprehension of how to deal with customers. This experience in the field will be a great advantage for me when interacting with individuals. I am a hard working person and will have no qualms about putting in extra effort to ensure customer satisfaction.

Madly desirous for glory Essay Example for Free

Madly desirous for glory Essay In the second letter Walton writes about his progress to Archangel. In the letter he describes his crew. Waltons description of his ships master suggests that he is the embodiment of goodness. He frequently applauds the courage of his lieutenant. The lieutenant is madly desirous for glory. In this letter the theme of alienation arises. Like Victor, Waltons ambitions isolate him from his family and friends: But it is a still greater evil to me that I am self educated. Shelleys choice of words are designed to anticipate Victors need of a friend. It does this by implying that Walton is annoyed that he had no one to teach him, and that he had no companions. The third letter that Walton sends simply expresses confidence in his quest: I write a few lines in haste to say that I am safe and well advanced on my voyage. Shelley may have decided to add a short letter to show that Walton maybe playing down the dangers of his voyage. He finishes the letter by saying: Heaven bless my beloved sister. This clearly shows that Walton is a caring person.  The fourth letter is when Walton catches a glimpse of the creature. The crew take Victor on board. Walton believes that he has found a friend in Victor, and confides his ambition. This letter emphasises the admiration and affection that Victor inspires in Walton, who sees great nobility in this divine wanderer. In some ways Walton can be seen as a double to Victor Frankenstein. Walton rebels against his fathers decision for him to not go to sea. This is very similar to Frankensteins father, who dismissed Victors interests in science. Walton decides against the life of ease, he explains that My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, he explains, but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my way. Shelley has added this to show a relationship between Victor and Walton. This shows that they have similar characteristics, and desire the same things from life. The fact that Walton is introduced before Frankenstein may show that Shelley was preparing the reader for Victors desire for knowledge. Although the two characters can be related to each other, they also have significant differences. Walton is not quite so alienated as Victor. Rather then rejecting companionship, Walton longs for an intimate friend to share his hopes and dreams. To add to this point, Walton is also is not so isolated in his search for knowledge, whereas Victor, whose midnight labours and secret toil keep him completely secluded. The fact that Walton had a crew around him prevented him from falling into the trap of Victors individualism. The first chapter begins in an embedded narrative, with Victor telling his story to Walton. Victor begins his story by describing his early life in Geneva, his tranquil domestic life and the young orphan Elizabeth, who becomes part of the household. Victors interest in science eventually takes him to university at Inglostadt. His experiments lead him to the discovery of a secret life force. He constructs a human form out of dead tissue and brings it to life. Horrified by his actions, Victor abandons the creature. One of the main themes portrayed by Shelley in this novel is that of birth and creation. When Victor gave life to the creature, he usurps the role of God. Victor imagines how, A new species would bless me as its creator and source No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs. This shows that Victors main crime is not what he had done, but what he failed to do. He failed to father his creation. Victor is an isolated individual. However, unlike Walton, Frankensteins isolation is self imposed. It is also ironic in the sense that Victor rejects his family and friends, whilst this is simply what the creature longs for. Victor claims that the rejection of his family is necessary in order to continue the quest for the secret life. Alienation is a key factor in this novel. Victor chooses to isolate himself from others, whereas the creatures isolation is imposed upon him, due to Victor abandoning him, and people being generally scared of his appearance. However the creature does desire companionship, and he says that he becomes violent when he realises that he will never have this, I am malicious because I am miserable. This shows that the creature is humane in the sense that all he wants is a companion, much like any human. So the fact that the creature only becomes malicious because I am miserable represents that people become monstrous when the are isolated, and rejected from so ciety. When Victor creates the creature, he is flooded with a huge feeling of anti-climax. Victor repulses the creature on first sight. He refers to the creature as the wretch and is horrifies by the thing that he has given life to. This shows that Victor is only concerned with physical appearance. This shows intolerance of imperfection and a flaw in Victors character. Victor rejects the creation; this is like a father rejecting his child. When the creature came to life Victor may have realised the enormity of the monstrous deeds that he had committed. The passage in the novel shows Victor to be a monster, as he does not even try to understand the monsters cries for help. He has forsaken any duties he is expected to perform as a father. When the creature awoke from his sleep he convulsed. When Victor awakes from his sleep, his muscles also convulse. This could be one of the first signs that the creature is a double of Victor. Victor even describes the monster as my own spirit let loose from the grave forced to destroy all that was dear to me Victor has given a clear expression of the notion that he and the creature may be doubles, with the creature acting out Victors own aggressions. Shelleys description of the creature is full of pathos. The first things that the creature desires are love and affection, as all newborn things want. However, Victor denies him this. When Victor awakes from his dream, he finds the creature reaching out a hand towards him. Victor rejects this appeal for help from the creature.  This passage from the novel may parody The creation of man by Michelangelo, which shows God stretching out his hand to give life to Adam. The analogy of this is that Victor is playing God and that the creature is Adam. Another parody is the story of Prometheus, who stole fire from the Gods and gave it to the people on earth. The analogy of this is that Victor has stolen the power of life from the Gods and given it to the people. This is the reason for the book has the subtitle The modern Prometheus. Victor may be seen as monstrous in this passage, as he is usurping the role of woman, which goes against the laws of nature.

Analysis of Financial Annual Reports

Analysis of Financial Annual Reports The Home Depot and Lowe’s Companies are major American home improvement retailers, keen rivals with Home Improvement leading both in sales and in profits. This assignment aims to analyse their operational and financial results in detail for a period of five years, namely 2002 to 2006 on the basis of the following Annual Reports filed by the companies with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Company Year Ending Year Ending Year Ending Year Ending Year Ending Home Depot January 28, 2007 January 29, 2006 January 30, 2005 February 1, 2004 February 2, 2003 Lowe’s February 2, 2007 February 3, 2006 January 28, 2005 January 30, 2004 January 31, 2003 The working details and financial calculations used for the analysis are available in the appendices at the end of the assignment. Whilst the two companies operate in the same market and are keen rivals, with Lowe’s’ being the nearest competitor to The Home Depot, the actual distance between these two is prima facie substantial with The Home Depot being practically two times the size of Lowe’s, both in sales and in profits. The analysis of the financial statements of the two companies for the five years 2002 to 2006 covers issues like the percentage increase in sales and profits during this period, as well as the analysis of a number of ratios that indicate (a) year on year increase of turnover and profits, (b) profitability, (c) use of long term assets, capital employed and working capital, and (d) capital gearing. An analysis and comparison of various financial and operational ratios over a period of a number of years helps in validating the authenticity of presented figures by enabling analysts to compare related figures, for example year on year increases in sales and profits, and the relationships between sales and profits, sales and capital employed, and current assets and current liabilities, and locate and investigate anomalies that arise from year to year. â€Å"While it is useful to understand the absolute quantum of each asset, liability and revenue item in isolation, far greater understanding of its implication with respect to the trend and performance of the company can be achieved by a `relationship study. For instance, if one studies profits in relation to sales for the current year and compares it with the same relationship for a series of years, a greater understanding of the trend and performance can be had. The `relationship study referred has two facets: i) the relationship of one item to another for the current or previous years, but in respect of the same company, and ii) the relationship of these parameters with industry figures or representative figures of competitors or of firms of similar size and operations. The first set enables one to understand the performance of the company in isolation, while the second gives an insight as to where the company stands vis-à  -vis the industry or competition.†Ã‚   (Osteryoung Others, 1992, p72) The following inferences can be drawn on the basis of information culled from the audited financial accounts and filed with the SEC. Whilst The Home Depot has been growing at a steady pace of around 10 to 11 % during the specified five year period, Lowe’s, which recorded a much higher pace of growth (of around 18 %) during the first four years found its year on year increase slowing to 8 % in the fifth (last) year. Both companies have comfortable Gross and Operating profit margins. Whilst GP margins have consistently been in the region of 30 %, Operating profit margins have remained at around 10 to 11 percent. Although both companies maintained their profitability margins during the five years, the profit before tax for The Home Depot was eroded significantly in 2006 because of substantial increase in finance charges, consequent to significant increase in debt. This increase in debt has increased the capital gearing ratio of the company from a low 0.08 to a more comfortable 0.30. An analysis of various operational ratios for both the companies over the five year period, by and large, indicates substantial s tability in their operations. Practically all ratios, ( and that too for both the companies), be they return on capital employed, asset utilisation, profitability, liquidity, working capital, or capital gearing, are remarkably stable from year to year for all five years, a fact that counters, (even if it does not negate) the possibility of manipulation of figures. The single large scale departure from the norm occurs in the case of capital gearing ratios for The Home Depot but that is explained by the increase in debt from 2672 million USD for the company in 2006 to 11643 million USD in 2007, a fact that also explains the change in interest cover and profit before tax for 2007. A detailed ratio analysis of the figures made available in the financial statements filed by the two companies with the SEC would thus tend to indicate (a) that both companies are progressing well, both in sales and in operational results, and (b) that the figures presented can be taken to be fair and representative of the working of the companies. Gauging the fairness and reliability of information available in the financial statements is however a far more complex exercise, the validity of the presented figures also depending upon other factors like (a) the value of plant, property and equipment, which may be depreciated on historical cost and thus be recorded at values much below current market rates, (b) securities reported at lower of cost or market, which usually means a recorded value below the current market rate, (c) recording of inventories at LIFO, whereas replacement costs are usually higher, (d) recording of debts or leases at favourable rates, (which amount to unrecorded assets because the company’s effective liability becomes lower than normal), (e) uncollected receivables bearing little or no interest, (e) obsolete or slow moving inventories, (f) under or overstatement of contingent liabilities such as threatened or imminent lawsuits, employee settlements like dismissal recompense, service and incentive c ontracts, obligations for goods returns and discounts, merchandise warranties, and guarantees of third-party borrowing. (Radebaugh Others, 2006) An analysis of the accounting policies and procedures of Lowe’s reveals that the company (a) operates a reserve for losses on obsolete inventory, inventory shrinkage, and sales returns, which is adjusted and charged to earnings every year, (b) records receivables that may change depending upon the performance of the company’s products, (c) does not have off balance sheet financing, apart from executing operating leases (d) monitors risks that could arise out of change in interest in long term debt, (e) has entered into an arrangement with GE in 2004 for sale of existing accounts receivables and those that would arise subsequently (f) has entered into an agreement with GG whereby GE funds the company’s proprietary credit card purchases (g) values assets at cost and depreciates them over their useful lives (h) undertakes self insurance for certain liabilities relating to workmen’s compensation, automobile, property and general and product liability claims. ( Annual Reports of Lowe’s Companies, 2003 to 2007) Whilst The Home Depot also by and large follows similar principles, the company (a) offers credit purchase programmes through third party credit providers, (b) depends substantially for sales achievement on offering extensive credit to customers (c) continually patents its intellectual property, (d) is involved in a large number of legal proceedings that could lead to payment of substantial amounts of money, (e) values inventories at lower of cost or market, a practice that could lead to off balance sheet assets (f) uses a number of estimates for reporting assets, liabilities, contingent liabilities, revenues and expenses, (g) has reasonably high receivables, which it needs to collect and whose accuracy is largely a matter of surmise (h) records assets at cost and depreciates them over their estimated useful lives (i) checks goodwill every year for impairment purposes (j) committed errors in stock option practices that led to an erosion of retained earnings to the tune of 227 million in 2006 (Annual Reports of The Home Depot, 2003 to 2007) Off balance sheet assets for both of these companies could arise from undervalued plant, property, and equipment, as well as inventories that may be worth more than their recorded value. On the other hand both companies do not have systems strong enough for effective recording of obsolescence, a fact that could lead to certain slow moving inventory items being shown at values higher than what could be realised in the market. With the companies having receivables that could change on the basis of the post sales performance of products, adverse changes in this area could lead to negative effect upon earnings. However it also needs to be considered at this stage that The Home Depot and Lowe’s have large operations and changes arising from behaviour of off balance sheet items could well be negligible in comparison to actual recorded figures. In value terms much of the difference in the evaluation of balance sheet items could arise from value of plant, property and equipment. With both retailers having extensive prime quality real estate by way of shop space in well frequented locations, the actual value of property may be far in excess of that stated in the financial statements. Whilst an actual quantification of value would have to be preceded by an elaborate exercise, it would be fair to surmise that such a valuation would lead to a substantial enhancement in the market values of both firms. Both companies recognise revenues when customers take possession of goods, whilst goods that have been paid for but not delivered to customers are shown as deferred revenue. This method is open to criticism because it does not sufficiently provide either for return of goods taken by customers or the possibility of customers not picking up goods for which they have made advance payments. Whilst large sales volume turnovers effectively mask the impact of such basic anomalies in accounting procedures, the adoption of conservative accounting practices for revenue recognition, where sales are confirmed only after customers accept goods as purchased could impact sales volumes significantly. Such a practice would obviously have a strong impact on ratios that concern sales, operations, and profitability. Whilst an analysis of ratios over a five year period for both companies does indicate long term stability of accounting practices, the accounting practices followed by The Home Depot indicate an excessive preponderance to use estimates and approximations for arriving at revenue figures. Although such practices could be based on past practice as well as eminently reasonable assumptions, the fact that serious errors have occurred in the past, especially in the practice and disclosure of stock options, indicate that the company should implement much stronger systems and adopt more conservative accounting policies. Another issue of concern with The Home Depot is the substantial amount of litigation in which it is currently involved. With the company admitting the possibility of the results of these lawsuits going against the company, the chances of substantial future outflows with adverse effects upon the company’s earnings does exist. As such, whilst The Home Depot is a far larger company, both by way of sales and by way of profits, than Lowe’s, an impartial evaluation of accounting policies and procedures indicates Lowe’s to be more carefully run. Whilst the current depression in the housing market is keeping investors away from home improvement companies, Lowe’s could well prove to be better equipped to riding out the current crisis and therefore a safer investment. Appendices All figures in Million US Dollars (unless otherwise stated) 1. Appendix A Balance Sheet of the Home Depot Description 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Long Term Assets 34263 29136 24747 21111 18094 Current Assets Inventories 12822 11401 10076 9076 8388 Accounts Receivables 3223 2396 1494 1097 1072 Others 1955 1472 2703 3155 2507 Total Current Assets 18000 15269 14273 13328 11917 Total Assets 52263 44405 39020 34437 30011 Current Liabilities Accounts Payables 7356 6032 5766 5159 4560 Others 5575 6674 4689 4395 3475 Total 12931 12706 10455 9554 8035 Debt 11643 2672 2148 856 1321 Others 2659 2118 2259 1620 853 Equity 25030 26909 24158 22407 19802 Total Liabilities 52263 44405 39020 34437 30011 2. Appendix B Profit and Loss Account of the Home Depot Description 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Net Sales 90387 81511 73094 64816 58247 Percentage Change 10.89 11.51 12.77 11.28 Cost of Sales 61054 54191 48664 44236 40139 Gross Profit 29783 27320 24430 20580 18108 Operating Expenses 20110 17957 16504 13734 12278 Operating Profits (before Interest and Tax) 9673 9363 7926 6846 5830 Finance Charges 365 81 14 3 (42) Profit before Tax 9308 9282 7912 6843 5872 Percentage Change 17 16 17 Tax 3547 3444 2911 2539 2208 Profits after Tax 5761 5838 5001 4304 3664 Basis Earnings per share 2.80 2.73 2.27 1.88 1.56 3. Appendix C Ratio Analysis of Home Depot Financial and Operational Results A. Profitability Ratios 1. Return on Capital Employed = Operating Profits (before Interest and Tax)/ Capital Employed Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Capital Employed is equal to Total Assets less Current Liabilities 39332 31699 28575 24483 22076 Operating Profits (before Interest and Tax) 9673 9363 7926 6846 5830 Return on Capital Employed (%) 24.59 29.53 27.73 27.96 26.41 2. Asset Turnover Ratio = Sales/ Capital Employed Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Capital Employed is equal to Total assets less Current Liabilities 39332 31699 28575 24483 22076 Sales 90387 81511 73094 64816 58247 Asset Turnover Ratio 2.29 2.57 2.56 2.65 2.64 3. Gross Profit Margin = Gross Profit/ Sales * 100 Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Gross Profit 29783 27320 24430 20580 18108 Sales 90387 81511 73094 64816 58247 Gross Profit Margin (%) 32.95 33.57 33.42 31.75 31.09 4. Operating Profit Margin = Operating Profit (Profit before Interest and Tax) / Sales * 100 Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Operating Profits (before Interest and Tax) 9673 9363 7926 6846 5830 Sales 90387 81511 73094 64816 58247 Operating Profit Margin (%) 10.70 11.44 10.84 10.56 10.01 B. Asset Turnover Ratios 5. Long Term Assets Turnover = Sales/ Long Term Assets Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Long Term Assets 34263 29136 24747 21111 18094 Sales 90387 81511 73094 64816 58247 Long Term Assets Turnover 2.63 2.80 2.95 3.07 3.22 C. Liquidity Ratios 6. Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Current Assets 18000 15269 14273 13328 11917 Current Liabilities 12931 12706 10455 9554 8035 Current Ratio 1.39 1.20 1.37 1.40 1.48 7. Accounts Payable Cover = Current Assets / Accounts Payables Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Current Assets 18000 15269 14273 13328 11917 Accounts Payables 7356 6032 5766 5159 4560 Accounts Payable Cover 2.45 2.53 2.48 2.58 2.61 D. Capital Structure, Gearing and Risk Ratios 8. Gearing Ratio = Long Term Debt/ Capital Employed Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Long Term Debt 11643 2672 2148 856 1321 Capital Employed = Total Assets less Current Liabilities 39332 31699 28575 24483 22076 Gearing Ratio 0.30 0.08 0.08 0.04 0.06 9. Shareholder’s Ratio = Shareholder’s Funds/ Capital Employed Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Shareholders Funds 25030 26909 24158 22407 19802 Capital Employed 39332 31699 28575 24483 22076 Shareholder’s Ratio 0.64 0.85 0.85 0.92 0.90 10. Interest Cover = Profit before Interest and Tax/ Interest Details 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Operating Profits (before Interest and Tax) 9673 9363 7926 6846 5830 Finance Charges 365 81 14 3 (42) Interest Cover 26.5 115 566 2282 NA 4. Appendix D Balance Sheet of Lowe’s Companies All figures in Million US Dollars (unless otherwise stated) Description 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Long Term Assets 19447 16851 14235 12229 10541 Current Assets Inventories 7144 6635 5850 4584 3968 Accounts Receivables (Included in Others) Others 1170 1153 1016 1938 1600 Total Current Assets 8314 7788 6866 6522 5568 Total Assets 27761 24639 21101

Ghost Story of the Haunted House :: Urban Legend Ghost Stories

The Haunted House This haunted house in Hagerstown was built long ago. It is the site of a most interesting ghost story, which happened to my friend’s friend’s grandmother. Now while I have heard many stories similar to this, I have never known someone to be involved in one and actually affected by it. My friend’s friend is a Caucasian, 17-year-old, female Christian from Hagerstown. Her dad is a postal worker, and her mother works for the government. The story takes place in the house her grandmother temporarily lived in as a child. I collected this story while I was hanging out with my friend in her room. I happened to mention this assignment, and in comes one of her friends with a story to tell: This story takes place in Hagerstown, Maryland. It’s in this old house where my grandmother lived for like a year when she was younger. Before her family moved in, there was an old woman who had just died there. Her room just so happened to be the same room my grandmother stayed in. My grandmother would tell me that she would leave her room, and when she came back, her door would not only be shut, but locked. And this even happened when she was in the room sometimes. Plus, there was this rocking chair that was already in the house when they moved in, and it would just rock on its own. Now apparently, there were already rumors that the house was haunted. So, after not even living there for a year, my grandmother and her family moved out.After researching haunted houses in or near Hagerstown, I was surprised to see the many accounts of so called â€Å"haunted† houses in this area. The story I collected includes one of the most common characteristics: the mysterio us rocking chair that will rock on its own free will. Many of the accounts reported online shared this feature. The other main paranormal activity from this story is the door shutting and locking itself. This same phenomenon seems to occur in many ghost stories. None of the articles I found online mentioned this feature, but such incidents appear in other stories I have heard from books and movies, so the door shutting and locking itself is certainly not unique to the story above.

Component of Marketing Plan Essay

INTRODUCTION Marketing plan is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort. The marketing plan operates at two levels: strategic and tactical. The strategic marketing plan lays out the target markets and the value proposition that will be offered, based on an analysis of the best market opportunities. The tactical marketing plan specifies the marketing tactics, including product features, promotion, merchandising, pricing, sales channels, and service. Marketing plan is a written document that summarizes what the marketer has learned about the market place and indicates how the firm plans to reach its marketing objectives. It contains tactical guidelines for the marketing programs and financial allocation over the planning period. It is one of the most important outputs of the marketing process. Marketing plans are becoming more customer and competitor oriented and better reasoned and more realistic than in the past. Marketing planning is becoming a continuous proces s to respond to rapidly changing market conditions. What is a Marketing Plan? A marketing plan provides direction for your marketing activities. Marketing plans need not be long or cost a lot to put together. Think of it as a road map, with detailed directions on how to get to your destination. Sure there may be a few bumps in the road, perhaps a diversion or two, but if the marketing plan is carefully researched, thoughtfully considered and evaluated, it will help the organization achieve its goals. The marketing plan details what you want to accomplish with your marketing strategy and helps you meet your objectives. The marketing plan: †¢ Allows the organization to look internally in order to fully understand the impact and results of past marketing decisions. †¢ Allows the organization to look externally in order to fully understand the market in which it chooses to compete. †¢ Sets future goals and provides direction for future marketing efforts that everyone in the organization should †¢Understand and support. †¢ Is a key component in obtaining funding to pursue new initiatives? Components of a Marketing Plan A marketing plan consists of following components: 1. Executive Summary 2. Situation Analysis 3. SWOT Analysis 4. Marketing Goals and Objectives 5. Marketing Strategies 6. Budget 7. Marketing audit 8. Evaluation and Control Executive Summary The executive summary is the first part of the marketing plan, but should be written after all other parts are completed. It is a brief overview of the entire plan and covers only the main points. It is useful to people you approach with your plan, such as investors, who may want to read a synthesized version to determine if they are interested in it before taking the time to read it in depth. The executive summary is also useful internally, as it helps to remind you and your employees of the organization’s desired marketing goals and how to achieve them. Situation Analysis The situation analysis helps you to determine where your organization presently stands. It should examine what’s going on outside of the organization, what’s happening with consumers, and how the business is functioning internally. External Analysis What changes are taking place in your city, county, state, country and around the world that could potentially impact your business? Some things to investigate are: †¢ Changes in political positions and legislation at the local, state, and national level. †¢ Changes in technology †¢ Trends in society’s values and habits †¢ Identify competitors and list their characteristics †¢ Economic conditions Customer Analysis Before developing a marketing plan it’s important to find out what consumers want and how they make purchase decisions. This may require some marketing research. Think about these factors: †¢ Current and potential customers †¢ Trends in consumer buying habits †¢ Why do consumers purchase this product or service? †¢ Why do others not purchase this product or service? Internal Analysis Knowing the state of the organization and its resources helps to determine where it is strong and what areas need attention. Include the following in the marketing plan: †¢ Current state of financial and human resources †¢ Anticipated state of financial and human resources †¢ Your business’s performance in relation to competitors The 5 C’s of Marketing can be summarized as: Company – The product time line, experience in the market, etc. Collaborators (or Partners) – Distributors, suppliers, and alliances. These are any companies that you work with on a day to day basis to help your company run. Customers – This is your market. Ask yourself what benefits they are looking for. What motivates them in the purchase process? Where the customer does actually purchases your product? How the product is purchased (impulse buys, internet, etc)? Understand the quantity a customer will purchase and even trends in consumer tastes. Competitors – Both your actual and potential competitors and those that directly or indirectly compete with you. Understand their products, positioning, market shares, strengths and weaknesses. Climate (or Environment) – These are governmental policies and regulations that affect the market. It is also the economic environment around your company; which is the business cycle, inflation rate, interest rates, and other macroeconomic issues. Society’s trends and fashions are found in the â€Å"climate.† The technological environment is creating new ways of satisfying needs (i.e. using technology to enhance the demand for existing products). SWOT Analysis Conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis is essential in assessing the company’s position and serves as a guide to developing marketing plans. Benefits of a SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis provides a fairly simple, low-cost way of assessing the company’s position. It presents information that is important in developing business and marketing plans, as well as setting organizational goals and objectives. It tells you where the company currently sits, and where it needs to go in the future. [pic] When conducting your SWOT analysis, you should: †¢ Examine your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats from a customers’ perspective. If you’re having trouble viewing issues that way, ask customers what they think or conduct surveys. †¢ Separate internal issues from external issues. The company’s strengths and weaknesses are internal; opportunities and threats are external. The key test to differentiate the two environments is to ask, â€Å"Would this issue exist if the firm did not exist?† If the answer is yes, the issue should be classified as external. Some things to consider about your company when determining your strengths and weaknesses are: †¢ Size and financial resources †¢ Scale and cost economies †¢ Customer Perceptions You will probably have to do some research on your competitors, your industry, and the environment in order to complete the opportunities and threats portion of your SWOT analysis. Here are some topics to consider: †¢ Trends in the competitive environment †¢ Trends in the technological environment †¢ Trends in the sociocultural environment Once you’ve finished a SWOT analysis for your company, include the resulting strategy in your business and marketing plans. Some key actions to take include: Transform strengths into capabilities by matching them with opportunities in the environment. Example Strength: The company has a very efficient order fulfillment and distribution process Opportunity: There is an unfulfilled need for the company’s product in other countries Capability: The company is capable of distributing its products worldwide †¢ Convert weaknesses into strengths by investing strategically in key areas. Example Weakness: Employees are not familiar with the latest technology in the company’s industry Investment: The employer sends employees to classes, workshops, and conferences Strength: Employees now have inside information on cutting edge technology relevant to the industry †¢ Weaknesses that cannot be converted into strengths become limitations. Example Weakness: A start-up company that has a tight distribution budget and no connections in the industry may have difficulty getting shelf space in stores Meaning to consumers: Consumers may not be able to find the company’s products Minimization: Allow consumers to purchase products through other channels, such as a web site or mail order catalog. Marketing Goals and Objectives After determining your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you’ll have a better idea of what marketing goals and objectives should be set. Goals are the overall accomplishments that you’d like to make and objectives are benchmarks to meeting those goals. You might say that goals are more qualitative and objectives are more quantitative. For example: Marketing Goal: Increase awareness of Product X Corresponding Objectives: Increase last year’s direct mail distribution by 20% this year; develop a web site for Product X by June 1st; participate in five trade shows by the end of the year. Goals must be realistic and consistent with the firm’s mission. Objectives must be measurable and time-specific. You may also want to include the person responsible and the budget required for each objective. Marketing Strategies In this section, you’ll define your primary, secondary, and tertiary target markets and their purchasing characteristics. Next, discuss the marketing mix elements (product, price, distribution, and promotion) as they relate to your product or service. Some questions you may want to answer for each target market include: Product †¢ What are the features and benefits of your product? †¢ What is your competitive advantage? †¢ How will you position and differentiate your product? †¢ What complementary products are available? †¢ What customer services are available? Price †¢ What are the costs associated with the product or service? †¢ What will your pricing strategy be? †¢ Will you give discounts? Distribution †¢ Who are your suppliers and intermediaries? †¢ How will you make the product or service conveniently available to consumers? †¢ What partnerships can be developed to distribute the product? Promotion †¢ Where will you advertise? †¢ What public relations activities will be involved? †¢ If you will be involved in personal selling, what is your sales strategy? †¢ What types of promotions will you run? †¢ What sponsorship opportunities are available? Setting the Promotion Mix When deciding how to properly utilize the marketing communications mix to meet your marketing objectives, it is important to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each component of the mix. Further, you must always define your total budget first (generally defined in the Marketing and/or Business Plan) and then decide upon the best way to leverage the different elements of the mix to maximize the return on your investment. You will balance the various parts of the mix to not only create an integrated approach to your marketing communications but you must also devote enough resources for each component to be successful. Here are some things to keep in mind: [pic]Reaches large, geographically dispersed audiences, often with high frequency; Low cost per exposure, though overall costs are high; Consumers perceive advertised goods as more legitimate; Dramatizes company/brand; Builds brand image; may stimulate short-term sales; Impersonal, one-way communication; Expensive [pic]Most effective tool for building buyers’ preferences, convictions, and actions; Personal interaction allows for feedback and adjustments; Relationship-oriented; Buyers are more attentive; Sales force represents a long-term commitment; Most expensive of the promotional tools [pic]May be targeted at the trade or ultimate consumer; Makes use of a variety of formats: premiums, coupons, contests, etc.; Attracts attention, offers strong purchase incentives, dramatizes offers, boosts sagging sales; Stimulates quick response; Short-lived; Not effective at building long-term brand preferences [pic]Highly credible; Very believable; Many forms: news stories, news features, events and sponsorships, etc.; Reaches many prospects missed via other forms of promotion; Dramatizes company or product; Often the most under used element in the promotional mix; Relatively inexpensive (certainly not ‘free’ as many people think–there are costs involved) [pic]Many forms: Telephone marketing, direct mail, online marketing, etc.; Four distinctive characteristics: Nonpublic, Immediate, Customized, Interactive; Well-suited to highly-targeted marketing efforts Budget: †¢ The goal of your marketing budget is to control your expenses and project your revenues. †¢ It also assists in the coordination of your marketing activities within your organization. †¢ A realistic budget establishes a standard of performance for your actions, and communicates those standards to others responsible for implementing your marketing strategy. †¢ A well-designed budget is also a tool to keep you on target and indicate when there is needed modification of your marketing plan, especially if something goes really right or very wrong. Budgeting Approaches Where do you get budget numbers? How do you set a budget and organize it? What are some standard ways to measure your budget? There are several approaches you can take to create your budget. Examples of these approaches may include basing your budget on: †¢ Percent of projected gross sales. †¢ Percent of past gross sales. †¢ Per unit sales. †¢ Seasonal allocation. †¢ Projected cash flow. Select a budget methodology that will work best for your business. You may want to make this choice based on how you track your sales and revenues, or based on industry standards. Marketing Audit The Marketing Audit is committed to improving strategic decision making when companies are faced with specific business challenges. Our market research studies provide clarity and insight, often on the most important questions faced by top executives, corporate managers, and strategy professionals. Here are 10 of 25 key dimensions a marketing audit should assess: 1. Key factors that impacted the business for good or for bad during the past year. Including an evaluation of marketing â€Å"surprises†Ã¢â‚¬â€the unanticipated competitive actions or changes in the marketing climate that affected the performance of the marketing programs. 2. The extent to which each decision in the marketing plan—e.g. targeting, positioning, pricing, advertising, etc.—was made after evaluating many alternatives in terms of profit-related criteria. 3. Marketing knowledge, attitudes, and satisfaction of all executives involved in the marketing function. 4. The extent to which the marketing program was marketed internally and bought into by top management and non-marketing executives. 5. Customer, distributor, vendor, and intermediary satisfaction based on research among key target groups. 6. The performance of advertising, promotion, sales force, and marketing research programs in terms of ROI. 7. The performance of non-traditional programs, particularly digital offerings, in terms of ROI. 8. Whether the marketing plan achieved its stated financial and non-financial goals and objectives. 9. Which aspects of the plan that failed to meet objectives with specific recommendations for improving next year’s performance. 10. The current value of brand and customer equity for each brand in the product portfolio. Evaluation and Control Many business owners forget the importance of evaluating their marketing plan. This is extremely important, because it serves as a guideline for what to do or not to do in the next marketing planning period. It is also ensures that the plan will be implemented properly. Some questions to be answered include: How will employees be evaluated and compensated for their work? †¢ How can communication between employees be improved? †¢ Do the employees share the firm’s values? †¢ Is management committed to the implementation of the marketing plan? †¢ What can be done if the product or service does not meet performance standards? †¢ What corrections can be made if the pricing, distribution, and promotion strategies do not accomplish the marketing goals and objectives? †¢ How will marketing activities be evaluated?

Cultural differences between Korea and US Essay

There are so many differences that can be discussed about our culture (united States) and South Korea. We could discuss their values, etiquette and customs, or business etiquette and protocol. I would like to detail my discussion to the cultural differences pertaining to the United States Business Etiquette and Protocols. Let me begin by saying that we could argue that overall because America is considered the â€Å"Melting Pot† of all cultures that although we have Korean Americans there is still a great difference than the South Koreans. South Korean relationships and communications are vastly different than those in America. They prefer to do business with people that they have a personal relationship with. So if you wish to engage, it would be in your best interest to be introduced by a third-party. A relationship with a Korean is developed through informal social gatherings that often involve a considerable amount of drinking and eating. Individuals who have established mutual trust and respect will work hard to make each other successful. South Koreans treat legal documents as memorandums of understanding. They view contracts as loosely structured consensus statements that broadly define agreement and leave room for flexibility and adjustment as needed. South Koreans are extremely direct communicators, under no circumstances insult or to criticize in front of other people. Sensitive matters may often be raised indirectly through the intermediary that first made the introductions. They are not averse to asking questions if they do not understand what has been said or need additional clarification. This is a culture where â€Å"less is more† when communicating. Respond to questions directly and concisely. Since there is a tendency to say, â€Å"yes† to questions so that you do not lose face, the way you phrase a question is crucial. It is better to ask, â€Å"when can we expect shipment† than â€Å"Can we  expect shipment in 3 weeks?† since the question requires a direct response. On the other hand, United States style of communications and handling relationships are much different. A business conversation may take place during meals, however many times you will find more social conversation taking place during the actual meal. Meetings may be arranged as breakfast meetings, luncheon meetings, or dinner meetings depending on time schedules and necessity. Generally a dinner, even though for business purposes, is treated as a social meal and a time to build rapport. United States communication styles include the offer of a firm handshake, lasting any where from 3-5 seconds, upon greeting and leaving. It is customary to maintain good eye contact during the handshake. If you are meeting several people at once, maintain eye contact with the person you are shaking hands with, until you are moving on to the next person. Eye contact is very important during business and social conversations in America; it shows interest, sincerity and confidence. If you are meeting with a good friend, you may briefly embrace. Although in larger settings, like being in a large city requires that you use a more formal the behavior. Introductions include one’s title if appropriate to include full name. Business cards are generally exchanged during introductions, and a smile is considered a sign of friendliness.

Wisconsin Senate to Vote on Anti

Wisconsin Senate to Vote on Anti The protesters are opposed to a legislation that will deny them labor rights by stripping them of their collective bargaining rights through workers union. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Wisconsin Senate to Vote on Anti-Union Bill specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The worker’s rights in Wisconsin are protected by the Federal legislation of 1936 that caters for County and Municipal workers while the nonfederal workers in Wisconsin are protected by the 1959 similar legislation. This legislation has been useful in championing for the rights of workers and bargaining for better payments for the nonfederal employees. The introduction of an anti-union proposal, which curtails the collective bargaining for state, county, and local workers with exception of the police, firefighters and state patrol, has led to mass protests. The bill introduced a week earlier by Governor Scott Walker, passed through the Legislative b udget committee amid opposition from the Democrats committee members and now the bill is destined for voting in the Assembly and the Senate. The labor history of Wisconsin is set to undergo major changes as Walker and the GOP has majority numbers in both the Assembly and the Senate. The Democrats, due to their inferior numbers have been powerless to stop the bill with Sen. Bob Jauch D-Poplar raising an alarm over the impact the bill will have on democratic process. The proposed bill limits the workers union’s collective bargaining rights and makes workers to contribute to the pension scheme and health insurance cover. President Barrack Obama feels that eliminating the worker’s union bargaining role is not a good move but acknowledges that budget cuts are necessary. The bill will lead to a rise in employee’s contributions to the pension scheme and healthcare insurance cover. The unions still represent workers but their role is limited and cannot seek pay increm ent above the Consumer Price Index terms. The legislation prevents the unions from deducting the employees any monthly contributions and has a provision that the unions should conduct elections annually in a bid to improve their performance. The bill has majority support, as most of the senators are Republicans both in the Senate and in the Assembly. The bill sailed easily through the Legislative committee, as majority of the members are Republicans.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Walker supports the legislation as the best effort to solve the current economic crisis to help in the running of state operations including prisons. The legislation protects the workers against any layoffs and retrenchments by organizations but does not allow the unions to negotiate on behalf of the workers concerning their plight. In an attempt to solicit for the worker’s union support for the bill, Walker indicated that he would advocate for massive loss of employment of state workers. The Legislative committee Wednesday recommended a number of changes to the proposed bill. It has for a provision on how public workers should extend their grievances. The legislation offers for the establishment of a body with an oversight role to oversee the privatization of public power plants. However, the proposed legislation faces public opposition characterized by many protests against it. Many protesters opposed to the bill filled the Wisconsin state Capitol prior to its passage into law. Huge crowds of protesters, mostly teachers and school-going children, assembled outside the Senate Chamber on to demonstrate against the passage of the bill. Schools remained closed as students and teachers joined the protesters. The protesters also included university students who kept a nightlong vigil ahead of the bill’s passage day.

Jekyll and Hyde essays

Jekyll and Hyde essays Mamoulian's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is widely regarded as the greatest film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, first published in 1886. Much of the success of the film is the result of Mamoulian's technique. The film is full of both obvious and not so obvious point of view shots, allowing the viewer to get a sense of the subjective view of certain characters as well as allowing us to view the scene through a camera freed from some of the forced restraints of limited movement that are typical of early sound filmmaking and classical Hollywood cinema. It is in this respect that the film is often most complex. The opening shots of the film take us from Jekyll playing piano in his house, through the streets of London, and into a lecture theatre. All of these shots are subjective: the edges of the frame are fogged giving us the idea of a kind of 'true' optical viewpoint; other characters directly address the camera; and we don't directly see except as a reflection in a mirror or as hands playing on a piano but only hear Jekyll. This opening performs a number of key functions. First, it helps us recognize the esteem within which Jekyll is placed (as policemen, colleagues and servants all bow or respond to him respectfully). Second, by using this point of view initially the film suggests a degree of involvement between Jekyll; and us as if the future of his fate and his strange behavior might not be so different from our own. At various points, we seem to see the perspective of another character or observe, as a character looks straight back at us. The most appealing and unsettling instance of this occurs in the first scene between Ivy and Jekyll. As Ivy undresses, she looks straight into the camera, throwing her garter past it and onto the ground next to Jekyll. Though seductive and playful, this seeming light-hearted scene becomes, in retrospect, deeply di...

The Global Village Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Global Village - Essay Example Perhaps, even the feelings of sadness would visit me as I make my travel papers ready. Of course, I will also wonder about the new country that I’ll be living in. I certainly would be excited if it were a nation in Europe, or an Asian country, like Japan or China. However, I would have serious reservations if it were Central Africa, or a highly conservative Muslim nation. I prefer working in a country that is not wracked by wars or insurgencies for practical reasons. Also, I want to be safe and secure from needless danger. I do not mind having a foreign roommate as long he or she is friendly and maintains good hygiene. I have no problems getting along with people of different nationalities, setting issues of language aside. I have no problems meeting new people and making new friends while being abroad. It will be a meaningful experience and would also be of much help as my stay in a foreign country goes by. Appreciation for other people is always a good thing, and it will also give me a chance to learn their own culture and

Cash Basis Accounting Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cash Basis Accounting - Coursework Example The coursework "Cash Basis Accounting" talks about the cash basis accounting particularly when it is appropriate, petty cash fund and the age of accounts receivable particularly on what basis they are determined. The cash basis accounting is used by most of the sole proprietors as well as businesses without inventory. The system is considered appropriate for a small service company, cash-based business or small businesses. On the cash basis, accounting revenue is recognized once cash is received. On the other hand, in accrual accounting expenses tend to be recognized when cash is paid. Cash basis accounting differs with the accrual basis accounting in some ways. In cash basis accounting, revenues are recorded on the income statement once cash is received while in accrual-based accounting it is recorded when cash is earned. Cash earned entails cash received from customers. In cash basis accounting expenses are reported once cash is paid out while in accrual-based accounting expenses a re reported when they expire or occur. The expiry date is different from the payment period. Cash based accounting is the common mode because it is simple and provides cash flow picture more accurately. Petty cash fund is defined as the amount of cash on hand that is used in paying small amounts owed instead of writing a check. There are ways which can be employed by companies to control petty cash fund. Reporting and audit and the acceptable use are the ways which companies can employ so as to control petty cash fund.

Composer- John Cage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Composer- John Cage - Research Paper Example He dropped out from college in his second year and sailed to Europe where he wrote his first pieces of music, but not liking them, he left them behind on his return to America, after being in Europe for 18 months. Cage was tutored by Schoenberg for free on the condition he â€Å"devoted his life to music†, which Cage readily agreed, but after two years he stopped his lessons because of the fact that he had no feeling for harmony. After that, he began to experiment with percussion instruments and gradually made the rhythm the basis of his music instead of harmony, structuring pieces according to the duration of sections. He went to the Cornish School of Arts in Seattle, Washington in the late 1930’s where he found a job as an accompanist for dancers and was asked to write music to accompany a dance by Syvilla Fort called Bacchanale. He wanted to write a percussion piece but had to write for a piano because there was no pit at the performance venue for a percussion ensemb le.While working on the piece, Cage experimented by placing a metal plate on top of the strings of the instrument. He liked the produced sound and eventually he invented the prepared piano with screws, bolts, strips of rubber and other objects placed between the strings of the piano to change the instrument’s character. It may be that Cage was influenced by his old teacher Henry Cowell who also treated the piano in a non-standard way. For example, asking the performers to strum the strings with their fingers. Widely seen to be his greatest work for prepared piano are The Sonatas and Interludes of 1946-48. Pierre Boulez organized the European premiere of the work and the two composers struck up a correspondence. Unfortunately, this correspondence stopped with a disagreement over Cage’s use of chance in his music. While being at Cornish, Cage also founded a percussion orchestra for which he wrote his First Construction (In Metal) in 1939, a piece in which loud rhythmic m usic is created by metal percussion instruments, and the Imaginary Landscape No. 1, which is the first example of using record players as instruments. In later years, Cage wrote a number of other Imaginary Landscape pieces. In order to introduce an element of chance over which he would have no control, Cage began to use the I Ching in the composition of his music. In the Music of Changes for solo piano in 1951, he used it to determine which notes should be used and when they should be heard. He used chance in Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (1951) as well. This peace was written for twelve radio receivers. Each radio has two players- one that controls the frequency and the other that controls the volume. â€Å"Cage wrote very precise instructions in the score about how the performers should set their radios and change them over time, but he could not control the actual sound coming out of them, which was dependent on whatever radio shows were playing at that particular place and time of performance.†( http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Aleatoric_music) Cage’s friend and colleague from Black Mountain college had produced a series of white paintings while working at the college. These paintings, apparently blank canvases, changed according to varying light conditions in the rooms in which they were hung, the shadows of people in

Constantine the Great Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Constantine the Great - Term Paper Example In 284, the Empire was ruled by General Diocletian and co-Emperor Maximian; Caesares were appointed by leaders, one of them being Constantius. A system known as tetrarchy was implemented which divided the Empire into four territories with one officer assigned to defend each territory. This system became much more efficient in putting the end to the civil wars and the Empire was able to successfully defend against Persian and German raids. The tax system was reformed and the increased revenue allowed the construction of walls and other defenses; by the fourth century the Empire was considered stable. Christians were a minority population and refused to recognize the Roman Empire as a divine entity and would not submit to taxation, sacrifices or imperial service. In 303, Christians were pronounced enemies of the State. Christians were prosecuted in an attempt to force them into loyalty. It was during the campaigns of Diocletian that Constantine gained experience and military training. Constantius died in 306 and the common people declared Constantine as successor though this support and decision was unpopular and not favored by others in the tetrarchy. Constantine married the daughter of Maximian, who was granted shelter at Constantine’s court when he later became enemies with Maxentius. A conference in 308 insisted upon Constantine relinquishing his title of Augustus and return to being only a Caesar but Constantine refused. Maximian made an attempt to gain power and Constantine, upon learning this, immediately marched into Gaul. Maximian either committed suicide or was executed in 310 (â€Å"Emperor Constantine†). Constantine had an amazing vision in which he claimed to see the symbol of Christ shining above the sun, he imagined this to be a divine vision and had his soldiers paint the symbol on their shields. It seemed Constantine’s conversion was genuine and

Strategy For Successful Incorporation of New Believers Into the Church Essay

Strategy For Successful Incorporation of New Believers Into the Church - Essay Example The researcher of this essay discusses a strategy, that s needed in order to ensure that more and more Christians become part of the Church and live a more integrated life within the congregation. Firstly, it is important to develop a practical strategy which can attract more Christians towards the Church. Any strategy to include more members in the Church must be Church centric in nature and should take care of enhancing the role of Church in the lives of those who enter for the first time. In order to further strengthen the relationship of Church with the new members, it is critical to introduce and develop new friendship opportunities. By increasing the number of close friends of the new members, church can actually increase the stay of the members with the Church. It is also important to understand new groups will be started within the Church to address to the different concerns of the new members. These groups will be actually responsible for ensuring that all the concerns of th e new members are taken care of and members are further facilitated to improve their knowledge about the Church. In order to increase the number of new members within the Church, it is important to redefine the roles and responsibilities of the existing members. The researcher also describes these new roles and responsibilities. However, the researcher also concluds that it should be target oriented and will be responsible for ensuring that the objective of increasing the incorporation of new members is increased.

Human Communication Theory and Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Communication Theory and Research - Essay Example Different scholars including philosophers have developed theories to help understand ways people communicate and assign meaning to what they say and hear. One of such theories is Referential Theory. The paper will discuss the theory by outlining its assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses. Â  Referential theory of meaning has its roots from the work of Aristotle, and he was the first person to expound on it in the 4th century BC (Hobbs, 2012). He had an assumption regarding words that people spoke and believed they had a meaning attached to them. According to his view, the meaning of a word consists in what it refers to (Hobbs, 2012). He gave several examples to prove his argument and as a justification that meanings are denoted by the words referred. For instance, the word "dog" is used to refer to all the dogs in the world and dogs are mammals that human beings rear at homes. Therefore, it is in order for one to hold that dog refers to all the animals who share the same similarities in the world. Similarly, knowing what dog refers to makes it easy for people to know the meaning of the word. Â  Besides, Aristotle argued by giving other additional examples towards justifying his statements. For instance, the meaning of a tree is the same one known, the meaning of a joke is the same joke we practice every day same to automobiles used in everyday life (Hobbs, 2012). Because of this, proponents of the theory believe that meaning of a term consists in its reference class. This implies that it falls into the category that the words refer. Â  The referential theory is cherished because of the identity it gives objects it refers to. The theory holds because of its ability to point to references class that is used in explaining the meaning of words used (UNC, 2015).

Constantine the Great Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Constantine the Great - Term Paper Example In 284, the Empire was ruled by General Diocletian and co-Emperor Maximian; Caesares were appointed by leaders, one of them being Constantius. A system known as tetrarchy was implemented which divided the Empire into four territories with one officer assigned to defend each territory. This system became much more efficient in putting the end to the civil wars and the Empire was able to successfully defend against Persian and German raids. The tax system was reformed and the increased revenue allowed the construction of walls and other defenses; by the fourth century the Empire was considered stable. Christians were a minority population and refused to recognize the Roman Empire as a divine entity and would not submit to taxation, sacrifices or imperial service. In 303, Christians were pronounced enemies of the State. Christians were prosecuted in an attempt to force them into loyalty. It was during the campaigns of Diocletian that Constantine gained experience and military training. Constantius died in 306 and the common people declared Constantine as successor though this support and decision was unpopular and not favored by others in the tetrarchy. Constantine married the daughter of Maximian, who was granted shelter at Constantine’s court when he later became enemies with Maxentius. A conference in 308 insisted upon Constantine relinquishing his title of Augustus and return to being only a Caesar but Constantine refused. Maximian made an attempt to gain power and Constantine, upon learning this, immediately marched into Gaul. Maximian either committed suicide or was executed in 310 (â€Å"Emperor Constantine†). Constantine had an amazing vision in which he claimed to see the symbol of Christ shining above the sun, he imagined this to be a divine vision and had his soldiers paint the symbol on their shields. It seemed Constantine’s conversion was genuine and

Human Communication Theory and Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Communication Theory and Research - Essay Example Different scholars including philosophers have developed theories to help understand ways people communicate and assign meaning to what they say and hear. One of such theories is Referential Theory. The paper will discuss the theory by outlining its assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses. Â  Referential theory of meaning has its roots from the work of Aristotle, and he was the first person to expound on it in the 4th century BC (Hobbs, 2012). He had an assumption regarding words that people spoke and believed they had a meaning attached to them. According to his view, the meaning of a word consists in what it refers to (Hobbs, 2012). He gave several examples to prove his argument and as a justification that meanings are denoted by the words referred. For instance, the word "dog" is used to refer to all the dogs in the world and dogs are mammals that human beings rear at homes. Therefore, it is in order for one to hold that dog refers to all the animals who share the same similarities in the world. Similarly, knowing what dog refers to makes it easy for people to know the meaning of the word. Â  Besides, Aristotle argued by giving other additional examples towards justifying his statements. For instance, the meaning of a tree is the same one known, the meaning of a joke is the same joke we practice every day same to automobiles used in everyday life (Hobbs, 2012). Because of this, proponents of the theory believe that meaning of a term consists in its reference class. This implies that it falls into the category that the words refer. Â  The referential theory is cherished because of the identity it gives objects it refers to. The theory holds because of its ability to point to references class that is used in explaining the meaning of words used (UNC, 2015).

International Business Finance Essay Example for Free

International Business Finance Essay 1.Introduction This report is specific for JKX Oil Gas. She is a petroleum company focusing on exploration and production in countries of the ex Soviet Union and the Ukraine. Her management is considering weather following her competitor expansion into Far East and Oceania. In this report I am going to show analysis in two sections. The first section is analysis on motivation of cross border investment in using FDI and find out the reasons of home countries host countries encourage company to FDI. The second section is evaluating any key causes of a financial crisis and show how financial crisis affect the international trading. 2.Motivations of using FDI as cross border investment Basically FDI could be divide into three type of motivates they are market-seeking, resource-seeking, and efficiency-seeking (Malllampally and Sauvant 1999). Other than above there are a lot of academics theories, which could explain the motives behind the FDI by enterprises. In these theories I have chosen five theories that is common to be use for explain the motivations of FDI. First is international product life cycle theory (Vernon 1966), every product ought to go thought some stages from a new product to a mature product. In order to take efficient and cost advantages in different stage, production plant move towards foreign. This theory help explain the motive of manufacturing business efficiency-seeking and market-seeking in using FDI but fail to explain reason of using FDI instead of using others methods such as licensing. For example car producer such as Honda, their new car will be firstly starting design and produce in Japan during the new product stage, then shift to USA for listen to the market where have a huge demand and lastly the production will be shift to the East-Asia to produce in order to lower the production cost in the standard product stage. Second is transaction cost theory (Williamson 1993), it stated that when enterprises business is affected by market imperfection, which lead transaction cost increase. They will go international which benefit the efficiency and decrease the transaction cost. Be remind that this theory fail to explain reason of enterprises using FDI instead of using others methods and it is usually apply to manufacturing business efficiency-seeking which products are low in price, heavy, and easily to product in every where. For examples cement manufacturing industry as the raw-material is easy found in every where and easy to product also it is cheap in price and heavy so that firm will be product it locally instead of export it. Third is market imperfection approach, (Hymer 1970) assume that due to market imperfection FDI present. Theory stated that when any factors which lead failure of perfect market. Because of extra cost of cover the barriers, advantage present in foreign countries, and advantages in using FDI over licensing such as full control, unique knowledge, and skill cannot be transferred. Enterprises will do the FDI to achieve profit maximization on their business. This theory help explain the motive of efficiency-seeking in every business by using FDI when they facing market imperfection. Fourth is eclectic theory (Dunning 1993), theory stated that following factors found by enterprise FDI will be present. Firm will get advantage over particular location ownership, the advantage of have location ownership are not by selling or leasing, for the advantage a profit advantage must be gain. This theory help explain the motive of industries using FDI to take advantage of market-seeking and resource-seeking. Fifth is following competitors theory (Knickerbocker 1973), this theory stated that in oligopolies industries firm will follow her competitors to move towards foreign countries. Following competitors in order to reduce the chance monopoly in a new oversea market by her competitor. This theory help explain the motive of oligopolies industries go international for market-seeking But this theory fail to explain the reason of first mover and reason of using FDI to expand other than licensing. Eclectic theory, following competitors theory, and market imperfection approach which help explain why JKX chose to invest internationally with FDI. JKX is focusing on petroleum exploration and production of oil. It is just perfectly apply the eclectic theory because JKX is fully depending on use of local resources oil field. FDI is the only way to gain the resource by takeover the location ownership, and JKX uses the location resource to generate profit by production. Also maybe reason of addition cost on oil production JKX will decide move to other country because of the unique knowledge and skill cannot be transferred JKX need to use FDI to build new production plant. Also exploration and production oil industry in oligopolies. If JXK do not follow her competitors she will lost the potential oil field and her potential customer in new location. Moreover when JKX decides to invest internationally she needs to beware of the following such as economic risks, political risk, exchange rate risk, and cultural risks. 3. FDI impact on nation states Because of FDI bring a lot of advantages to nation states (host home), nation states attempt to encourage FDI to do so. 3.1Advantage of FDI to host country There are seven advantages of FDI to nation states, which explain why host countres attempt to encourage foreign to do FDI. First is resource transfer effects, FDI by foreign firm bring along with their capital, technology, and management skill to host country. Capital bring alone by FDI is an importance source of stable private external finance for every country especially to developing countries. For example JKX buy an oil field form the host country and invest on the oil drilling equipment and build production plant ,which is a long term investment, profit making though production ,and could not leave easily. Moreover the external finance give a big hand on the balance of payment and foreign exchange reserve which is importance element for the economic health. Technology and Management Skill are another resources bring alone with FDI, which enhance productivity and competitiveness of host country. Both of them are importance elements for success in global market when chance comes. Foreign firm provide training on knowledge and skills on how to produce and management skill to local employee in order to facility the production. These knowledge transfer direct benefits to local labors and enhance productivity and competitiveness of host country. For example in the 90’s computer parts MNCs build production plant in Taiwan by FDI, nowadays Taiwan is be came another computer parts manufacturing kingdom in Asia. Second is employment effect, FDI creating employment for host country. Foreign firms build up their manufacture plant in the host country which increases the employment directly by foreign own plant and relative industry, for example in Mexico FDI create every 1 job in the foreign production plant and create 7 job in the relative industry (Farrell 2004). Also the local trained employees may start their own business. But there will be opposite effect in market-seeking† FDI raise unemployment by forcing less competitive companies out of business as foreign firm will bring along with advance technology reduce employment need in same production, For example Wal-Mart’s entry into the Mexican food Market which decrease the margin of that industry push less competitive companies exit (Farrell 2004). But actually this effect is just base how government manage the FDI for example in the 90’s china government restrict of the sold inside market of foreign firm which protect the local employment would not be substitute. Third economic growth and local multiplier effect, high employment leads more consumption by the local country citizen. As a result encourage industries further develop to fulfill increasing consumer needs; lower prices, better quality, and more selection for consumers. It is because of further developed of the industries, which increase employment, and new products encourage consumer to do more purchase, the cycle will go on and on. Fourth credibility in international market because of demonstration of first mover success, build up a model for the followers others foreign firms will be more confident to FDI to the same country. As followers could learn the first-comer experience, enjoy the effort done by first comer in host country such as infrastructures, educated customers, trained labors, and research done. Also stop the first-mover to become monopoly. In additional the credibility may attract short-term investment others than FDI. For example India starting by the first mover to starting computer software relating industry, nowadays it became another silicon valley in. Fifth access to return markets (Malllampally and Sauvant 1999), as FDI by foreign firm increase accessing international marketing network. The network benefit to transnational systems related industry, domestic firm to getting spillovers foreign business, and wider economic of host counties, by greater the links between foreign and domestic. This also helps spread the enhanced productivity and competitiveness of host countries. Sixth tax revenue from profit (Razin 2002), profit generated by FDI contribute to tax revenues to the host country in general. But some countries may cancel out direct taxes for the MNCs to attract for investment, tax revenues will still be benefit as more consumption in local {Sales Tax} and better income of citizen {Income Tax} Seventh reinvestment within local economy, the credibility of host country established the foreign firm may reinvestment into same country by using the profit earns in there. Moreover host counties encourage foreign firms to do so as foreign firm bring the profit back to their home country may deplete the foreign reserve and the profit earned put back to host country will bring along with new benefit to host country. In additional FDI force host country improve their economic health such as policy system, industry, and better the living standard of the host country by better income, lowing price, improve quality and more selection for customer. 3.2Disadvantage of FDI to host country There are also some bad points together with FDI incoming such as, Adverse effects on local competition due to spending power and brand of MNC, MNCs become an impact on government decision due to the economic power of MNCs, Over exploitation of country mineral wealth etc†¦ 3.3Advantage Disadvantage of FDI to home country Looking on the surface impact of FDI to home country surely will be lot disadvantages follow by such as negative impact balance of payment and increase unemployment. But why home country will encourage company to do FDI aboard , FDI will benefit the country in such ways, company go aboard may increase the export due to new development demand, MNCs will bring the FDI profit back to home country that benefit the balance of payment, jobs will be create as additional need of support activity represent by FDI aboard. FDI increase the long-term competiiveness by learn from others countries. Home country could benefit from the FDI of the sunset industries to free labor force form the costly and low-value industry. FDI good to host country and long-run good to home country FDI need management and benefit to both MNCs and host government For FDI to be successful it require win-win situation benefit both MNC and Host country, but require a good control in order to manage FDI well. If the management of FDI is done badly which may result in harmful to whole host country’s economic system. On the other hand FDI going aboard not only bring alone with disadvantage to host country in the long-run which may also give a huge benefit to the home country. The following paragraph will be shown both advantages and disadvantages of FDI to nation states 4.Root causes of financial crisis  There are many underlying reason which form a financial crises such as excess capital inflow, speculation activities, poor financial infrastructure, monetary policy etc.. all these factors encourage financial crises breakout. The following is a simple flow of twin crises (Kaminsky and Reinhart 1999). Starting form establishes of credibility of a country, foreign investors will start to invest into the country because expectation of return high. When the capital going into the local economic, that increase the economic health, local money supply, economic activity, foreign reserves, and government budget. All these factors increase country credibility and once again increase the attractiveness of capital inflow. The continuous increasing expectation of return will form rational bubble (Blanchard 1979) investors and speculators will holding an overvalued currency but would not sell it yet, they believe there will be a further appreciation on the local currency. Because of more and more capital inflow, banks in the country will facing difficult in generating profit as they have too much cash on hand, the banks will decrease the liquidity ratio lend more money out of the banks which result in increase risky loan, overinvestment, over-consumption, and asset price bubble. Banking crisis will more like to happen when bubble bursts and increasing bad loan. When the Banking Crisis outbreak which decline economic activity, costly fiscal bailout, decline the country credibility and lead capital flight. (Aghevli 1999) Capital outflow, costly fiscal bailout, decline economic activity, and speculation activities fasten decline the foreign reserves that result currency crisis.

What is the Impact of Carbon Dioxide Emissions?

What is the Impact of Carbon Dioxide Emissions? Alvena Nance Abstract Are we paying attention to the effects of carbon dioxide emissions and doing everything we can eliminate the negative effect it has on our overall air quality, our agriculture, and the environment? In the world the United States stands second to China among the ranks of other countries that utilizes carbon dioxide as the primary source of emissions. Energy Choices We count on the common forms of energy that are known as fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, that when combined we breathe them. It is vital that this out pouring of energy or emission into our environment is processed and monitored with the greatest accuracy so it does not negatively affect us, our country, our climate, and our agriculture. In 2016 China with 28.21 percent and the United States with 15.99 percent were the largest producers of carbon dioxide emission worldwide. World carbon dioxide emissions are one way of measuring a countrys economic growth too. The latest figures published by the respected Energy Information Administration show CO2 emissions consumption the vast majority of carbon dioxide produced. On pure emissions alone, the key points are: China emits more than CO2 than the United States and Canada put together up by 171% since 2000 The United States has had declining CO2 for two years running, the last time the United States had declining CO2 for 3 years running was in the 1980s The United States is expected to decrease their carbon dioxide emissions by 46 percent by 2040. Looking at the two leading countries agriculture growth China is the leader in gross value of agriculture outpour is rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed, pork and fish. The United States ranks high in wheat, corn, other grains, fruit, vegetable, cotton, beef, pork, poultry, poultry, dairy products, fish and forest products. The comparison between China and Americas materials and energy production and consumption in the early 2000s with those of today. China now produces, and consumes approximately 60% of the worlds cement and second to that on the planet is India. As far as cement goes, China produces thirty times more cement each year then America. Chinas cement industry is the significant contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions.ÂÂ   Interestingly that in a single decade China went from producing 20% of the worlds steel to producing half of it. The comparison with America is equally striking. Given that almost 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from iron and steel making, this has both obvious and important consequences. (Wilson,2017) The production of aluminum was ten time more for China than America. China produced 60 % more than America, however Americas production declined by 25%, while Chinas increased by nearly 400%. Electricity generation is important and China has total electricity capacity increased from 344 to 1,100 gigawatts between 2001 and 2011. While Chinas primary energy consumption increased by 150% in a single decade, Americas decreased by 4%. (Wilson,2017) Coal is used a lot by China, today it consumes half of the worlds coal about four billion tons. America however is now using much less, with a decline of 20% between 2002 and 2012. (Wilson,2017) Looking at carbon dioxide emissions Americas is 50% higher than those in China, and a decade later China produced almost twice that of America and now produces more than America and the European Union put together and likely a decade from now China will emit at least three times more carbon dioxide than America. (Wilson, 2017) According to this source (Wilson, 2017) forecasting is futile however an illustrative statistical comparison to put possible energy futures of both America and China in context. Climate change is a shared challenge. The EPA collaborates with Chinas Ministry of Science and Technology on research to better assess emissions and their impacts, improve mitigation practice and technologies, and enhance sustainability. Areas of shared research include emissions that impact air and climate, water sustainability, computational toxicology, soil remediation, and toxic air pollutants. Also participating in government -wide EPA initiatives with China, is the United States. (EPA and OITA, 2017) Culture and the expectations within cultures affect all business transactions and it is important that all involved understand one another. (Pitts et al).ÂÂ   The US standard of ethics may have the potential for conflict, therefore an understanding of knowledge, of culture ethics, set expectations, and guidelines will play a role in these countrys success in working together. In conclusion it is clear that understandings of the energies and how they are studied, processed and utilized are important because they affect every human being and space around the globe and should be treated as a safety issue to mankind and the environment in which we live.

Three Types of Happiness Essay -- Happiness Essays

â€Å"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.† -- Denis Waitley Many people believe that happiness is simply a state of well being; to me, happiness is much more complex. Absolute happiness is anything that brings feelings of pure bliss to an individual’s life. One can gain happiness from simple pleasures of life, such as receiving a kiss from a three-year old, to advanced pleasures, such as a happy marriage or a successful career. Dr. Seligman, a well known psychologist and proponent of positive psychology, identified three types of happiness: pleasant life, engaged life, and meaningful life. Although Dr. Seligman states that the ultimate forms of happiness are â€Å"meaningful life† and â€Å"engaged life†, I believe that â€Å"pleasant life† happiness is just as important. One type of happiness is known as â€Å"engaged life†. â€Å"Engaged life† happiness involves exploring and harnessing one’s strengths and talents to the benefit of himself and society. I experience â€Å"engaged life† happiness when I play my piano. As soon as touch the smooth, ivory keys, I feel an intense surge of joy, and all my surroundings seem to be just a blur; the music soon takes over me, and I am lost in a world of Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. When I am at my piano, all my cares and doubts seem to disappear, and my life seems, at that solitary moment in time, to make perfect sense. Music is my life and my soul. Another type of happiness is â€Å"meaningful life†. â€Å"Meaningful life† happiness, according to Seligman, is the most genuine form of happiness. It is the epitome of life; the point where one feels completely and utterly satisfied... ...† and â€Å"meaningful life† happiness are truer forms of happiness as compared to â€Å"pleasant life† happiness, I stand firm in my belief that the simplistic pleasures one obtains from â€Å"pleasant life† happiness are just as powerful as the joys one obtains from â€Å"engaged life† and â€Å"meaningful life† happiness. My blackberry picking outing enabled me to not only obtain bucketfuls of delectable blackberries but also to spend precious moments of the day with my family, and that, in itself, makes me truly happy. Works Cited Stockley, Derek. â€Å"Positive Psychology and the Three Types of Happiness.† High Performance Newsletter. 3 November 2006. Web. 29 June 2010. Denis Waitley Quote. Wisdom Quotes. â€Å"Happiness Quotes.† Wisdom Quotes. 29 June 2010.

Women in The Birthmark Essay -- Birthmark Essays

â€Å"The Birthmark† – Women  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Everything he has to say is related, finally, to ‘that inward sphere.’ For the heart is the meeting-place of all the forces – spiritual and physical, light and dark, that compete for dominance in man’s nature. . . .† (McPherson 68-69). McPherson’s â€Å"heart† is the key to understanding the role of women in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"The Birthmark.†    Only imperfection is what nearsighted Aylmer sees in the birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek. But he is unfortunately oblivious to   the virtue in her soul, the deep beauty contained in the depth of her love for him. The wife’s virtue leads her onward and upward; the husband’s lack thereof and inability to appreciate virtue in his Georgiana leads him downward and downward.    The concept of women is established in the very opening paragraph of â€Å"The Birthmark.† The narrator introduces Aylmer as a scientist who found â€Å"a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one,† referring to his love for Georgiana. She is portrayed as having meaning in Aylmer’s life – not in first place, but in second place to his scientific interests.    Even after Aylmer has â€Å"persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife,† he is not capable of loving her properly, unselfishly, because he â€Å"had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion.† The narrator seeks to justify this error or lack in Aylmer by explaining that â€Å"it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman in its depth and absorbing energy.† Already at the outset of the tale, the reader perceives that Georgiana is going to be shortchanged in this marriage. She is exposed to the problem initial... ...el . The Birthmark Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawBirt.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1    McPherson, Hugo. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Use of Mythology.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Stewart, Randall. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Female Characters.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Swisher, Clarice. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Williams, Stanley T. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Puritan Mind.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.

Human Sexual Behavior and Sexual Abuse Incest

INCEST Incest  is  sexual intercourse  between family members and close  relatives. [1][2]  The term may apply to sexual activities between individuals of close†blood relationship†, members of the same  household,  step relatives  related by  adoption  or  marriage, or members of the same  clan  or  lineage. [3]  Theincest taboo  is and has been one of the most common of all cultural  taboos, both in current nations and many past societies. [4]  Most modern societies have  laws regarding incest  or social restrictions on closely consanguineous marriages. 5]  In countries where it is illegal, consensual adult incest is seen by some as a  victimless crime. [6][7] In some societies, such as those of  Ancient Egypt  and others, brother–sister, father–daughter, and mother–son, cousin-cousin, aunt-nephew, uncle-niece, and other permutations of relations were practiced among  royalty  as a means of perpetua ting the royal lineage. [8][9]  In addition, theBalinese[10]  and some  Inuit  tribes[11]  have altogether different beliefs about what constitutes illegal and immoral incest. However, parent-child and sibling-sibling unions are almost universally forbidden. 12] Children born of close incestous unions have greatly increased risk of congenital disorders, death and disability at least in part due to genetic diseases caused by the  inbreeding. [13] ————————————————- Terminology The English word  incest  is derived from the Latin  incestus, which has a general meaning of â€Å"impure, unchaste†. It was introduced into  Middle English, both in the generic Latin sense (preserved throughout the Middle English period[14]) and in the narrow modern sense.The derived adjective  incestuous  appears in the 16th century. [15]  Prior to the introduction o f the Latin term, incest was known in  Old English  as  sibbleger  (from  sibb  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœkinship' +  leger  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœto lie') or  m? gh? med  (from  m? g  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœkin, parent' +  h? med  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœsexual intercourse') but in time, both words fell out of use. ————————————————- History Table of prohibited marriages from  The Trial of Bastardie  byWilliam Clerke. London, 1594 ————————————————- Prevalence and statisticsIncest between an  adult  and a person under the  age of consent  is considered a form of  child sexual abuse[36][37]  that has been shown to be one of the most extreme forms of childhood abuse, often resulting in serious and long-term  psychological trauma, especially in the case of parental incest. [38]  Preval ence is difficult to generalize, but research has estimated 10–15% of the general population as having at least one such sexual contact, with less than 2% involving intercourse or attempted intercourse. 39]  Among women, research has yielded estimates as high as 20%. [38] Father-daughter  incest was for many years the most commonly reported and studied form of incest. [40][41]  More recently, studies have suggested that sibling incest, particularly older brothers having sexual relations with younger siblings, is the most common form of incest,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]  with some studies finding sibling incest occurring more frequently than other forms of incest. 51]  Some studies suggest that adolescent perpetrators of sibling abuse choose younger victims, abuse victims over a lengthier period, use violence more frequently and severely than adult perpetrators, and that sibling abuse has a higher rate of penetrative acts than father or stepfather incest, w ith father and older brother incest resulting in greater reported distress than stepfather incest. [52][53][54] ————————————————- Types Between adults and childrenMain article:  Child sexual abuse Incest between an adult and a child is usually considered a form of child sexual abuse[55]  and for many years has been the most reported form of incest. Father–daughter and stepfather–stepdaughter incest is the most commonly reported form of adult-child incest, with most of the remaining involving a mother or stepmother. [56]  Father–son incest is reported less often, but it is not known how close the frequency is to heterosexual incest because it is likely more under-reported. 57][58]  Prevalence of incest between parents and their children is difficult to assess due to secrecy and privacy; some estimate that 20 million Americans were, as children, subjected to incest. [56][clarification needed  (needs a better source)] In a 1999 news story,  BBC  reported, â€Å"Close-knit family life in  India  masks an alarming amount of sexual abuse of children and teenage girls by family members, a new report suggests. Delhi organisation  RAHI  said 76% of respondents to its survey had been abused when they were children – 40% of those by a family member. [59] According to the National Center for Victims of Crime a large proportion of  rape  committed in the United States is perpetrated by a family member: Research indicates that 46% of children who are raped are victims of family members (Langan and Harlow, 1994). The majority of American rape victims (61%) are raped before the age of 18; furthermore, 29% of all rapes occurred when the victim was less than 11 years old. 11% of rape victims are raped by their fathers or step-fathers, and another 16% are raped by other relatives. 60] A study of victims of fatherâ €“daughter incest in the 1970s showed that there were â€Å"common features† within families before the occurrence of incest: estrangement between the mother and the daughter, extreme paternal dominance, and reassignment of some of the mother's traditional major family responsibility to the daughter. Oldest and only daughters were more likely to be the victims of incest. It was also stated that the incest experience was psychologically harmful to the woman in later life, frequently leading to feelings of low self-esteem, unhealthy sexual activity, contempt for other women, and other emotional problems. 61][clarification needed  (needs a better source)] Adults who as children were incestuously victimized by adults often suffer from low  self-esteem, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and  sexual dysfunction, and are at an extremely high risk of many mental disorders, including  depression,  anxiety,  phobic avoidance reactions,  somatoform disorder,   substance abuse,  borderline personality disorder, and  complex post-traumatic stress disorder. 38][62][63]  Research by Leslie Margolin indicates that mother-son incest does not trigger some innate biological response, but that the effects are more directly related to the symbolic meanings attributed to this act by the participants. [64] The  Goler clan  is a specific instance in which child sexual abuse in the form of forced adult/child and sibling/sibling incest took place over at least three generations. [65]  A number of Goler children were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, and each other.During interrogation by police, several of the adults openly admitted to engaging in many forms of sexual activity, up to and including full intercourse, multiple times with the children. Sixteen adults (both men and women) were charged with hundreds of allegations of incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five. [65] In Japan there is a popular misconception that mother-son incestuous contact in common, due to the manner in which it is depicted in the press and popular media.According to Hideo Tokuoka, â€Å"When Americans think of incest, they think of fathers and daughters; in Japan one thinks of mothers and sons† due to the extensive media coverage of mother-son incest there. [66]  Some western researchers even assumed this was established fact. However, research into victimization statistics from police and health care systems discredits this, as it shows the vast majority of sexual abuse, including incest, is perpetrated by men against young girls. 67]  The Mainichi Daily News  column  WaiWai, by Australian journalist Ryann Connell, featured often-sensationalist stories, principally translated from and based on articles appearing in Japanese tabloids. [68]  On June 28, 2008, Mainichi announced punitive measures. [69][70][71]  Mainichi said, â€Å"We contin ued to post articles that contained incorrect information and indecent sexual content. These articles, many of which were not checked and properly investigated should not have been dispatched.We apologize deeply for causing many people trouble and for betraying the public's trust in the Mainichi Shimbun. †Ã‚  [72] Between childhood siblings Childhood sibling–sibling incest is considered to be widespread but rarely reported. [56]  It is believed to be the most common form of intrafamilial abuse. [73] Sibling-sibling incest becomes  child-on-child sexual abuse  when it occurs without consent, without equality, or as a result of  coercion. The most commonly reported form of abusive sibling incest is abuse of a younger sibling by an older sibling. 56]  A 2006 study showed a large portion of adults who experienced sibling incest abuse have distorted or disturbed beliefs (such as that the act was â€Å"normal†) both about their own experience and the subject of sexual abuse in general. [74] Sibling abusive incest is most prevalent in families where one or both parents are often absent or emotionally unavailable, with the abusive siblings using incest as a way to assert their power over a weaker sibling. [75]  Absence of the father in particular has been found to be a significant element of most cases of sexual abuse of female children by a brother. 76]  The damaging effects on both childhood development and adult symptoms resulting from brother–sister sexual abuse are similar to the effects of father–daughter, including substance abuse, depression, suicidality, and eating disorders. [76][77] Between consenting adults Sexual activity between adult close relatives may arise from  genetic sexual attraction. [78]  This form of incest has not been widely reported in the past, but recent evidence has indicated that this behavior does take place, possibly more often than many people realize. 78]  Internet  chatrooms  and topical websites exist that provide support for incestuous couples. [78] Proponents of incest between consenting adults draw clear boundaries between the behavior of consenting adults and rape, child molestation, and abusive incest. [78]  According to one incest participant who was interviewed for an article in  The Guardian: â€Å"You can't help who you fall in love with, it just happens. I fell in love with my sister and I'm not ashamed †¦ I only feel sorry for my mom and dad, I wish they could be happy for us. We love each other.It's nothing like some old man who tries to fuck his three-year-old, that's evil and disgusting †¦ Of course we're consenting, that's the most important thing. We're not fucking perverts. What we have is the most beautiful thing in the world. â€Å"[78] In  Slate Magazine,  William Saletan  drew a legal connection between gay sex and incest between consenting adults. [79]  As he described in his article, in 2003, U. S. Senato r  Rick Santorumcommented on a pending U. S. Supreme Court case involving sodomy laws (primarily as a matter of  Constitutional rights to Privacy and Equal Protection under the Law).He stated: â€Å"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. â€Å"[79]  However, David Smith of the  Human Rights Campaign  professed outrage that Santorum placed being gay on the same moral and legal level as someone engaging in incest. Saletan argued that, legally and morally, there is essentially no difference between the two, and went on to support incest between consenting adults being covered by a legal right to privacy. 79]UCLA  law professor  Eugene Volokh  has made similar arguments. [80]  In a more recent article, Saletan said that incest is wrong because it introduces the possibility of irreparably damagi ng family units by introducing â€Å"a notoriously incendiary dynamic—sexual tension—into the mix†. [81] Aunts, uncles, nieces or nephews In Florida, consensual adult sexual intercourse with someone you know to be your aunt, uncle, niece or nephew constitutes a felony of the third degree. [82]  Other states also commonly prohibit marriages between such kins. [83]  The legality of sex with a half-aunt or half-uncle varies state by state. 84] Between adult siblings The most public case of consensual adult sibling incest in recent years is the case of a brother-sister couple from Germany,  Patrick Stubing  and Susan Karolewski. Because of violent behavior on the part of the father, the brother was taken in at the age of 3 by foster parents, who adopted him later. At the age of 23 he learned about his biological parents, contacted his mother, and met her and his then 16 year old sister for the first time. The now-adult brother moved in with his birth family shortly thereafter.After their mother died suddenly six months later, the couple became intimately close, and had their first child together in 2001. By 2004, they had four children together: Eric, Sarah, Nancy, and Sofia. The public nature of their relationship, and the repeatedprosecutions  and even jail time they have served as a result, has caused some in Germany to question whether incest between consenting adults should be punished at all. An article about them in  Der Spiegel  states that the couple are happy together. According to court records, the first three children have mental and physical disabilities, and have been placed in foster care. 6]  In April 2012, at the  European Court of Human Rights, Patrick Stuebing lost his case that the conviction violated his right to a private and family life. [85][86] Cousin relationships See also:  Cousin marriage  and  List of coupled cousins Marriages and sexual relationships between first cousins are stigmatized a s incest in some western cultures, but tolerated in most of the world. Currently, 24 states  US states, prohibit marriages between first cousins and another seven permit them only under special circumstances. 87]  Cousin marriages are rare, accounting for less than 1% of marriages in Western Europe, North America and Oceania, while reaching 9% in South America, East Asia and South Europe and up to 25% in regions of the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. [88]  Communities such as the Dhond and the  Bhittani  of Pakistan clearly prefer marriages between cousins as believe they ensure purity of the descent line, provide intimate knowledge of the spouses, and ensure thatpatrimony  will not pass into the hands of â€Å"outsiders†. 89] Apart from the partial prohibition in the United States, there are some cultures in Asia which stigmatize cousin marriage, in some instances even marriages between second cousins or more remotely related people. This concerns notab ly the culture of  Korea, and some  Hindu  communities in India. In South Korea, before 1997, anyone with the same last name and clan were prohibited from marriage. In light of this law being held unconstitutional, South Korea now only prohibits up to third cousins (see  Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code).Hmong  culture prohibits the marriage of anyone with the same last name – to do so would result in being shunned by the entire community, and they are usually stripped of their last name. In  Western Australia  over 500 marriages are between cousins. In a review of 48 studies on the children parented by cousins, most of the babies born to cousins were healthy contrary to the popular perception, with birth defects being 4% of births for consanguineous couples as opposed to 2% for the general population. [90]  Inbreeding over many generations does increase risks however. citation needed] Incest defined through marriage Some cultures include relatives by marr iage in incest prohibitions; these relationships are called  affinity  rather than  consanguinity. For example, the question of the legality and morality of a widower who wished to marry his  deceased wife's sister  was the subject of long and fierce debate in the  United Kingdom  in the 19th century, involving, among others,  Matthew Boulton. [91][92]  In medieval Europe, standing as a  godparent  to a child also created a bond of affinity. citation needed]  But in other societies, a deceased spouse's sibling was considered the ideal person to marry. The Hebrew Bible forbids a man from marrying his brother's widow with the exception that, if his brother died childless, the man is instead required to marry his brother's widow so as to â€Å"raise up seed to him† (taken from Deuteronomy 25:5–6). According to Islamic ideology, marriage among close blood relations like parents, siblings, the children of siblings, aunts and uncles is prohibited. Fir st or second cousins may marry.Marrying the widow of a brother, or the sister of deceased or divorced wife is allowed in Islam. ————————————————- Inbreeding Main article:  Inbreeding Incest that results in offspring is a form of close  inbreeding  (reproduction between two individuals with a common ancestor). Inbreeding leads to a higher probability of  congenital birth defectsbecause it increases that proportion of zygotes that are  homozygous, in particular for deleterious  recessive alleles  that produce such disorders[93]  (and see  Inbreeding depression#Inbreeding depression and natural selection).Because most such alleles are rare in populations, it is unlikely that two unrelated marriage partners will both be heterozygous carriers. However, because close relatives  share a large fraction of their alleles, the probability that any such rare delete rious allele present in the common ancestor will be inherited from both related parents is increased dramatically with respect to non-inbred couples. Contrary to common belief, inbreeding does not in itself alter allele frequencies, but rather increases the relative proportion of homozygotes to heterozygotes.However, because the increased proportion of deleterious homozygotes exposes the allele to  natural selection, in the long run its frequency decreases more rapidly in inbred population. In the short term, incestuous reproduction is expected to produce increases in spontaneous abortions of zygotes, perinatal deaths, and postnatal offspring with birth defects. [94] There may also be other deleterious effects besides those caused by recessive diseases. Thus, similar  immune systems  may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases (see  Major histocompatibility complex and sexual selection). 95] A 1994 study found a mean excess mortality with inbreeding among first cousins of 4. 4%. [96]  Children of parent-child or sibling-sibling unions are at increased risk compared to cousin-cousin unions. Studies suggest that 20-36% of these children will die or have major disability due to the inbreeding. [13]  A study of 29 offspring resulting from brother-sister or father-daughter incest found that 20 had congenital abnormalities, including four directly attributable to autosomal recessive alleles. 97] ————————————————- Animals Main article:  Animal sexual behavior Many mammal species including humanity's closest  primate  relatives tend to avoid close inbreeding, especially if there are alternative partners available. [98]  However some chimpanzees have been recorded attempting to mate with their mothers. [99]  Male rats have been recorded engaging in mating with their sisters, but they tend to prefer non-related females over their sister s. 100] Livestock  breeders often practice controlled breeding to eliminate undesirable characteristics within a population, which is also coupled with  culling  of what is considered unfit offspring, especially when trying to establish a new and desirable trait in the stock. ————————————————- In popular culture Main article:  Incest in popular culture Incest is a somewhat popular topic in English  erotic fiction; there are entire collections and websites devoted solely to this genre, with an entire genre of pornographic  pulp fiction  known as â€Å"incest novels†. ———————————————— Laws Main article:  Laws regarding incest Incest is illegal in many jurisdictions. The exact legal definition of â€Å"incest,† including the nature of t he relationship between persons, and the types sexual activity, varies by country, and by even individual states or provinces within a country. These laws can also extend to marriage between subject individuals. In most places, incest is illegal, regardless of the ages of the two partners. In other places, incestuous relationships between two consenting adults (with the age varying by location) are permitted.Such countries where it is permissible and legal, includes for example the  Netherlands,  France, and  Spain. In  Sweden  the only type of incestuous relationship allowed by law is that between half-siblings and they must seek government counseling before marriage. [101] A jurisdiction's definition of an incestuous relationship will also limit who a person is permitted to marry. Some jurisdictions forbid first-cousins to marry, while others limit the prohibition to brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles. ——————â €”—————————- [edit]Religious views edit]Jewish Main articles:  Incest in the Bible  and  Jewish views on incest In three places in the  Torah, there are lists of family members between whom it is prohibited to have sexual relations; each of these lists is progressively shorter. The biblical lists are not symmetrical – the implied rules for women and men are not the same. Relationships compare as follows:   Ã‚  Forbidden for men Forbidden for women Forbidden for both men and women | Holiness Code| Deuteronomic Code| | Leviticus 18| Leviticus 20| | Grandparent's spouse (including other grandparent)| | | | Parent's spouse| Parent| | | | Stepparent| | | | Parent-in-law| | | | Uncle/aunt| Parent's sibling| | | | | Uncle's/aunt's spouse| Father's sibling's spouse| | | | | | Mother's sibling's spouse| | Parent's child| Half-Sibling (mother's side)| | | | | Father's child| Sibling| | | | | | Half-sibling (fa ther's side)| | | | Step sibling| | Sibling-in-law (if the spouse was still alive)| | | | Nephew/niece| Sibling's child| | | | | Nephew/niece-in-law| Spouse's brother's child| | | | | | Spouse's sister's child| | Spouse's child| Child| | | | | Stepchild| | | | Child-in-law| | | |Spouse's grandchild (including grandchild)| | | | Apart from the questionable case of the daughter, the first incest list in the Holiness code roughly produces the same rules as were followed in early (pre-Islamic) Arabic culture;[102]  in  Islam, these pre-existing rules were made statutory. [103] In the 4th century BCE, the  Soferim  (scribes) declared that there were relationships within which marriage constituted incest, in addition to those mentioned by the Torah. These additional relationships were termed  seconds  (Hebrew:  sheniyyot), and included the wives of a man's grandfather and grandson. 104]  The classical rabbis prohibited marriage between a man and any of these  seconds   of his, on the basis that doing so would act as a  safeguard  against infringing the biblical incest rules,[105]  although there was inconclusive debate about exactly what the limits should be for the definition of  seconds. [102] Marriages forbidden in the Torah were regarded by the rabbis of the Middle Ages as invalid – as if they had never occurred;[106]  any children born to such a couple were regarded as  Jewish bastards,[106]  and the relatives of the spouse were not regarded as forbidden relations for a further marriage. 107]  On the other hand, those relationships which were prohibited due to qualifying asseconds, and so forth, were regarded as wicked, but still valid;[106]  while they might have pressured such a couple to divorce, any children of the union were still seen as legitimate. [106] Christian In the Roman Catholic Church, marriage is generally not permitted if the potential spouses are related in the collateral line up to and including the second degree, although a dispensation may be granted permitting marriages etween first cousins or even uncle/niece unions as in the marriage of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor to his niece, and first cousin, Margarita Teresa of Spain in 1666. [citation needed]  The Church does not generally permit the marriage if a doubt exists on whether the potential spouses are related by consanguinity in any degree of the direct line or in the second degree of the collateral line. [108] In the  Eastern Orthodox Church, marriages are banned between second cousins or closer and between second uncles / aunts and second nieces / nephews (between first cousins once removed) or closer.Also, marriages that produce children that are closer genetic relatives than legal are also not permitted (unless the genetic relationship does allow marriage between those children). For example, two siblings may not marry two other siblings because legally their children will be cousins, but genetically they'll be half-siblings. On the other hand, two siblings may marry two cousins. [citation needed] The  Anglican Communion  allows marriages up to and including first cousins. But in all of the three preceding Christian churches, marriages to uncles, aunts, relatives in the direct line, or their respective spouses are not allowed. citation needed] Islamic Main article:  Mahram The  Quran  gives specific rules regarding incest, which prohibit a man from marrying or having sexual relationships with: * his father's wife[109]  (his mother,[110]  or stepmother[110]), his mother-in-law, a woman from whom he has nursed, even the children of this woman[110] * either parent's sister (aunt),[110] * his sister, his half sister, a woman who has nursed from the same woman as he, his sister-in-law (wife's sister) while still married. Half relations are as sacred as are the full relations. 110] * his niece (child of sibling),[110] * his daughter, his stepdaughter (if the marriage to her mother had been  consummated), his daughter-in-law. [110]| The main differences (apart from relationships between a man and his daughter) are: * a woman from  whom he has nursed * a woman who has  nursed from the same woman  as he * a niece| A  Hadith  also prohibits marriage to a woman and her parent's sister at the same time. [111]  The same applies for a woman with the male counterparts to the aforementioned. [edit]HinduHinduism  speaks of incest in abhorrent terms. Hindus are fearful of the bad effects of incest and thus practice strict rules of both  endogamy  and  exogamy  within  castes  (Varna) but not in the same family tree (gotra) or bloodline (Pravara). Marriages within the gotra (â€Å"swagotra† marriages) are banned under the rule of exogamy in the traditional matrimonial system. [112]  People within the gotra are regarded as kin and marrying such a person would be thought of as incest. i. e. Marriage with paternal cousins is strictly proh ibited. 113]  In fact marriage between two people whose parents are related paternally up to seven generations is expressly prohibited. Gotra is transferred down the male lineage while the Gotra of a female changes upon marriage. i. e. , upon marriage a woman belongs to her husband's Gotra and no longer belongs to her father's Gotra. Hence marriage with a person having same Gotra as of the original  Gotras  of grandparents is prohibited[citation needed]. Nevertheless, in  Tamil Nadu  of Southern India, Marriage with maternal cousins and marriages between Maternal Uncle and Niece were widely in practice a few decades back.However the tradition of getting married to maternal uncle has declined considerably now and may soon become a relic of the past. In matrilinial societies of  Kerala  marriage between first cousins were common. It is said to have helped in preserving family wealth. Buddhist Buddhist  societies take a strong ethical stand in human affairs and sexual b ehavior in particular. Most variations of Buddhism decide locally about the details of incest as a wrongdoing, according to local cultural standards. [114]  Sexual misconduct is mentioned but the definition of what constitutes misconduct sex is an individual issue. 115]  The most common formulation of Buddhist ethics are the  Five Precepts  and the  Noble Eightfold Path: one should neither be attached to nor crave sensual pleasure. These precepts take the form of voluntary, personal undertakings, not divine mandate or instruction. The third of the Five Precepts is â€Å"To refrain from committing sexual misconduct†. ‘Sexual misconduct' means any sexual conduct involving violence, manipulation or deceit – conduct that therefore leads to suffering and trouble. [116]  Buddhist monks and nuns strictly forbid any type of sexual misconduct but incest is not specifically efined as sexual misconduct, and therefore depends on the culture of the area, not on ma ndate from Buddhism itself. However, there are no enforced rules for laypeople in Buddhism, only guidance. Incest Incest  is sexual contact between persons who are so closely related that their marriage is illegal (e. g. , parents and children, uncles/aunts and nieces/nephews, etc. ). This usually takes the form of an older family member sexually abusing a child or adolescent. Laws vary from place to place regarding what constitutes incest, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and rape. How common is Incest?There are very few reliable statistics about how often incest occurs. It’s difficult to know how many people are affected by incest because many incest situations never get reported. There are many reasons that the victim might not report the abuse. * The victim has been told that what is happening is normal or happens in every family, and doesn’t realize that it is a form of abuse * The victim may not know that help is available or who they can talk to * The victi m may be afraid of what will happen if they tell someone * The abuser may have threatened the victim The victim may care about the abuser and be afraid of what will happen to the abuser if they tell * The victim may be afraid of what will happen to them if they tell * The victim may also be concerned about how many people will react when they hear about the abuse * They may be afraid that no one will believe them or that the person they confide in will tell the abuser * The victim may be afraid that people will accuse them of having done something wrong What makes Incest different than child sexual abuse?All forms of child sexual abuse can have negative long-term effects for the victim. You can read about some of those effects  here. Incest is especially damaging because it disrupts the child’s primary support system, the family. * When a child is abused by someone outside the family, the child’s family is often able to offer support and a sense of safety. * When the abuser is someone in the family, the family may not be able to provide support or a sense of safety.Since the children (especially younger children) often have limited resources outside the family, it can be very hard for them to recover from incest * Incest can damage a child’s ability to trust, since the people who were supposed to protect and care for them have abused them. * Survivors of incest sometimes have difficulty developing trusting relationships * It can also be very damaging for a child if a non-abusing parent is aware of the abuse and chooses—for whatever reason—not to take action to stop it. * There are many reasons that a non-abusing parent might not stop the abuse. The non-abusing parent may feel that they are dependent on the abuser for shelter or income. * If the non-abusing parent was the victim of incest as a child, they may think that this is normal for families. * The non-abusing parent may feel that allowing the incest to continue is the only way to keep their partner. * The non-abusing parent may feel that their child was â€Å"asking for it† by behaving in ways that the parent perceives as provocative or seductive. * Unfortunately, many non-abusing parents are aware of the incest and choose not to get their child out of the situation, or worse, to blame their child for what has happened.This makes the long-term effects of incest worse. INCEST Liberalisation and the development of society have led to many forms of sexuality to be accepted. Something which was considered as scandalous is now more or less normal. If you search the term â€Å"incest† online, you will get the impression that this is yet another variation of normal human sexuality. Still, scientists claim that incest is sexual perversion which often signalises the family`s dysfunctional trait. Incest usually occurs in socially isolated families and points to pathologic relations within the family. What is it and what are its consequences? Incest  is defined as sexual intercourse or any form of sexual activity between closely related persons, especially within the immediate family. Incest between an adult and a child is known asinterfamilial child sexual abuse. – Even one third of child abusers are the parent or their spouse which is not the child`s birth parent. Relatives or close family friends are the abuser in 85 percent of child sexual abuse cases – doctor Gordana Buljan Flander told us. Children who suffered such sexual abuse have serious and long-term psychological damage, especially if parental incest is in question.Adults who experienced incest in their childhood tend to suffer from low self-esteem, they have difficulties in interpersonal relationships, sexual dysfunction and are at an extremely high risk of many mental disorders, experts claim. Variations to the theme There are several types of incest: Parent-child  is one of most common types of incest and statistics show it is usually fat her-daughter or stepfather-daughter incest. Other reports include mother-son incest or stepmother-son incest, while father-son incest is rarely reported. Sibling incest  is considered to be widespread, although experts believe it is rarely reported.Research conducted by scientist Floyd Martinson at an American university yielded interesting results. 10-15 percent of students admitted to having sexual experience with a brother or sister. Of those, 30% reported negative reactions and 30% reported positive reactions. A similar study conducted in 1993 in the USA showed that 16 percent out of 930 adults were sexually abused by their brother or sister before turning 18. This form of incest is often reported in families where the parents are often absent or are emotionally unavailable.Apart from these forms, there is incest that occurs between  cousins. Some countries believe marriage or sexual relationship of a widow/widower and a brother or sister of the deceased spouse is somewhat i ncestuous. – Psychiatry puts incest next to paraphilia, i. e. pathologic sexual activities which is a group name for every sexual activity that is considered unnatural in psychology and sexology. Apart from incest, paraphilia also includes paedophilia, sadism, masochism, sexual fetishism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, necrophilia, nymphomania†¦ Some are legally regulated, others are not.Also, there is a thin line for some: if unusual sexual activity is in question which the majority of people do not practice, a sexual disorder or behaviour which is morally condemned by the society – said doctor Domagoj Stimac, psychiatrist of Zagreb`s Policlinic for the protection of children. Why does incest happen? Science has not yet determined what makes people attracted to one person and repelled by others. – Sexual attraction is largely credited  to something we all know as `brain chemistry`, i. e. the central nervous system.Also, upbringing and earliest childhood exper ience affects who we will be attracted to. Still, scientists have yet to determine the exact `cause` why we are attracted to some people – doctor Stimac told us. Not fantasy, but reality There is a new case of incest in the media every  now and then, reminding us of the fact that it is an actual occurrence and not something that happens somewhere else. At the beginning of last year, a German court sentenced a 38-year-old man to 2 years and 3 months in prison for forcing his wife to have sexual intercourse with their teenage son.The first time she slept with him, he was only 15. After several times she was forced to have sexual intercourse, the wife reported the case to the police. What if love is in question? Recently, a story was published in Germany about a brother and sister, Susan (22) and Patrick (29), who are living together and have 4 children. Despite the fact Patrick has spent more than 2 years in prison and the environment cannot accept them, they are fighting to legalise their relationship and think banning incest means â€Å"denying sexual freedom†. They love each other and want to live together in a real marital union.Although aware their love is unusual to say the least, they do not want to give it up. Another case is a sexual-love affair between 61-year Australian and his 39-year-old daughter, who made their relationship public during a TV show when their daughter was born. – Incest is actually much more common than we would think, i. e. hope. It is more common in primitive societies, but it is still present in developed ones. This can be concluded from so called xxx websites, which offer us stories, photos and films with incestuous sexual relations.Still, incest is still a taboo, few people dare to openly speak about it – doctor Domagoj Stimac believes. INCEST Incest is one of the most interesting taboos of our time. The definition of incest is a highly controversial topic. Yet, the definition of incest is one of t he most important definitions for the people involved, though the legal and psychological meanings are not much the same. Incest needs to be similarly defined for the incestuous parties, both by the law and by psychologists. The definition of incest should be determined by the cases of incest.The people who commit incest and the types of incest should be considered when making this definition for the law. Why incest occurs has a great deal to do with the people and the types of incest. With the definition dissimilar between the law and psychologists, it is very difficult for the involved to do anything about it. The definition is both stated as wrong by law and by most religious morals. According to psychologists, incest is defined as: A) any intimate physical contact that is sexually arousing between non-married members of a  family. Justice, pg 25) What this is interpreted as is that sexual intercourse does not need to occur for a situation to be considered incestuous. Stroking, fondling, or even intimately kissing can be considered incest. This is not all true for the legal definition. In Georgia, incest is defined as any sexual intercourse between known relatives, by blood or by marriage, (meaning a step-parent and step-child. ) Incest laws basically exist to prohibit marriage or inbreeding between family members, and the sentences are almost never carried out. Kosof, pg 53) So incest is stated as wrong, but not enforced. The Bible states that incest is wrong, just as the law does. A Cursed be he who has relations with his father’s wife†¦ Cursed be he who has relations with his sister or half-sister! (Deu 27:20,22. )  Therefore, the definition can be altered to fit the needs of the definer. The different forms of incest are as follows: father-daughter, mother-son, brother-sister, and father-son. Conditions of incest don’t always involve intercourse, but still hurt the included. So, the conditions should help to define the firm meanin g. But surely at fourteen, I should have been capable of escaping†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Armstrong, pg 7)Father-daughter is the most common form of incest. Three-fourths of all reported cases usually involve dad and his oldest daughter. It is usually non-violent, and the daughters usually feel unattached to their mothers. (Kempe, pgs 48-51) Sometimes the daughter may act in a seductive manner toward her father, or the father might act as a big brother forcing his little sister to misbehave. (Armstrong, pg 235) If the daughter is seductive, then she might gain power over her father.This is not always true for mother-son incest. Mother-son incest is usually brought on as a way to highly express love, â€Å"sex education†, or the mother is promiscuous. If the mother feels like she is expressing her love to her son, then she uses sex as a means of closeness. (Justice, pg 102) There is either no husband or a passive husband. The mother can be very seductive and encourage the son to have s ex with her and limits the son’s social life. She acts on a â€Å"don’t leave me† attitude to keep her son tied down. Sometimes the son gets aroused my his mother and then becomes the aggressor. Justice, pg 103) If he isn’t attracted to mom, why not be attracted to his sister? This is the case in brother-sister, or sibling incest. It is less traumatic and the male participant may be proud about it. The brothers can become violent and force their sister to join in, although usually the sister is willing to participate. (Justice, pg 105) When both of the children are shy, the girl sees him as the only boyfriend she will ever have and becomes flirtatious. The two could also have mutual admiration, and then become sexually attracted to each other.This leads into the most rarely reported incest of the four. Father-son incest is rarely reported because it violates two taboos, homosexuality and incest. (Justice, 196) Males want to protect their masculinity, so t hey will not tell anyone. They pretend to like girls, and they date them, but tend to be attracted to boys. When they move out of the house, they sometimes choose to be a male prostitute. The fathers can be alcoholic and very abusive. The fathers of any incestuous relationship can have psychopathic or symbiotic personalities.Him who has a psychopathic personality seeks  stimulation, and has a â€Å"get even† aggressiveness. No feelings of guilt and a powerful need for aggression seem to happen often in most cases. â€Å"I literally could not walk out of the house without my father wanting to know where I was going, with whom, and when I would be back. †(Kosof, pg 17) He may be promiscuous or pansexual, (meaning that all he can think about is sex. Everything is a sex object to him. ) (Justice, pgs 83-85) The father with a symbiotic personality hungers for intimacy. The only way of expression he knows is through sex.There are four types of symbiotic personalities. The introvert, the rationalizer, the tyrant, and the alcoholic. The introvert is very protective toward his family and fells Aunder attack. â€Å"He cannot trust people and is easily disappointed. † The wife usually denies him sex. The rationalizer shows what â€Å"love† is, or teaches â€Å"sex education† to his daughter. The tyrant is the authoritarian; he uses threats and physical force to get what he wants. He pretends to have everything under control and hides the problem at home. His daughter â€Å"owes† him sex.He is very jealous and paranoid. The alcoholic is a dependant, although he tries to hide it. 10-15% of incest committers are alcoholics. Mothers share most of the characteristics of the father. The mothers may be promiscuous and long to be taken care of. Incest might begin as innocent sleeping with her son and then drifts into more physical things. She is not likely to have intercourse with her son, but she implies that someday she will give her self fully to the son, which can lead to the son being a violator, which is rare because the children of incest are mostly victims. Justice, pg 145)†Sex is not sex for the incest survivor. † (Blume, pg 207) Different children of incest act in different ways. It mainly depends on how the incest was brought about. Some may act untouched by the experience and seldom are able to defend themselves. When they reach adulthood, the might start experiencing flashbacks or amnesia. They live in denial and have an emotional shutdown. (Blume, pg 322) Sometimes they result in schizophrenia or multiple personality disorders. They also seem to have sexual shutdowns and are uncomfortable with it. But why does this occur?Incest usually occurs when sex stops between mother and father. Mom either denies dad sex, there is a major life crisis, or opportunity knocks. The opportunity for incest occurs when mother is gone all the time and so the daughter assumes the role of the mother. When this happens, there is a need for treatment. This is when the definition of incest is most important. The children are very scared and need confidence. If he/she tells a psychologist or teacher, that person is required by law to tell the authorities. (Kosof, pg 53) When the authorities are contacted, the definition comes into play.The child wants to feel safe, and if their definition of incest doesn’t live up to the law’s, then the charges could be dropped and the child gets into more problems with incest. Therefore, the background of the incest is very important to the law’s definition. By the people involved, the form, and why it occurs are critical to helping the child out when defining the term. The definition of incest by the law should be closer to the definition of psychologists in order to help out the family. â€Å"It is evident that we still know very little about how to treat the sexual offender and the abused child effectively. † (Kempe, pg 109)