How ares of contract law, specifically pre-marital agreements are Essay

How ares of contract law, specifically pre-marital agreements are affected from a feminist perspective Discuss in light of Radm - Essay Example Some legal feminists push for the equal application of laws to both men and women. Others believe that the law and the courts must take extra steps to favour women over men considering that women are, by definition and in reality, placed at a lower stratum than men in society. This clash of perspectives may even be more pronounced in the days to come with the recent Supreme Court decision in Radmacher v Granatino,1 an English premarital agreement case. This case does not only reverse previous decisions of courts in prenuptial agreements by conferring a rebuttable presumption on such agreements but it breaks the stereotypical image of wealthy men enforcing premarital agreements against economically vulnerable women spouses. The implication of the sweeping application of the legal dictum of Radmacher in future cases is to deprive women spouses, generally perceived to be the less economically viable partner, of court intervention and assistance in prenuptial agreements where such agreem ents contain provisions disadvantageous to women. The Feminist Legal Theory The feminist legal theory emerged in the 1970s and, as with any other feminist movement, was driven by the perception that men dominate and shape society, which itself subordinates women to men. Feminists bewailed that legal systems render decisions with underlying assumptions about gender, therefore, justifying and further institutionalising gender inequality. Such gender assumptions, according to them, can be gleaned in decisions that take into account and were influenced by essentially gender-related factors. It had been argued by some feminist movements that it was not nature that subordinates women in a sphere of domesticity, but culture aided by the courts with the latter’s restrictive decisions against women such as prohibiting married women to own or dispose property.2 Feminist legal movements, however, approaches their battle from diverse perspectives, some of which are complementary, whilst others are plainly conflicting. Nonetheless, all feminist legal models blame the legal and judicial systems in perpetuating gender hierarchy. The liberal equality model insisted that men and women should be treated alike in all respects. This model insists on the â€Å"sameness† between men and women in arriving at rational choices and seeks to dispute the perception that women are inferior to men, and should therefore, be accorded the same legal treatment as men. This means that even favour accorded to women because of their sex violates equality because it results in the differentiation of women and men.3 This model was, however, eventually assailed as weak because of its failure to take into account real and actual differences between the sexes such as pregnancy in the employment area. On the other hand, the radical feminist model emphasises the differences between the sexes and rallies the legal system to give special treatment to women. Contrary to the liberal equality m odel, the radical feminist model compels the law to highlight such differences and accord relief to women to bridge the gap of inequality that separates them from men. Radical feminists believe that women are subjugated to the state and to men all of the time and are therefore, disempowered. Radical feminist legalists subscribe to the ideas of Catherine MacKinnon, Sylvia Law and Nan Hunter: MacKinnon regarded women’s sexual submission to men as false consciousness of individuals who are inherently oppressed, and; Law

Design and Technology Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Design and Technology - Lab Report Example Lastly, DFA index is very critical assembly efficiency indicator of the component design.This value is directly proportional to the design efficiency. Pneumatic piston design improvement is shown in figure 3 where assembly efficiency was used.Figure 1 above shows the pneumatic piston original design.Furthermore, the attached worksheet corresponds to the subassembly and it is observed that the design efficiency is 29 percent( figure 2). The applied DFA method might be extended to a high-speed robot and automatic assembly. It has been found to be very critical majorly in situation redesigning whereby the operational time's detailed knowledge is well known or it could be calculated for the given product(Pugh 1991).In addition to this DFA technique explored in detail, other techniques of assembly evaluation do exist and include Lucas and AEM DFA methods. Summary In summary, assembly efficiency is considered to be a very critical measure or index in the DFA technique. It can be employed in the evaluation of product assembly and it determines whether the design can facilitate the assembly of the product with the aim of providing a foundation for the effective improvement of the design Figure 2 show s the redesigned pneumatic piston and it is with the worksheet that corresponds to the subassembly. When the worksheet of the original design and new design are compared, it is evident that in the new design, the assembly efficiency increased by 90 percent where the original design had 27 percent, assembly efficiency.

“GOD” and “DOG” Essay Example for Free

â€Å"GOD† and â€Å"DOG† Essay Growing up, my summers were often spent at my uncles ranch. My mom would drive me up and leave me for about 2 to 3 weeks. Those were the most fruitful and fun-filled summers of my life. At the ranch, I would be far removed from city life and its hectic schedule. Instead, I would spend my mornings in bed, often waking up late to have a very fine breakfast prepared by my aunt. My cousins were very accommodating and my friendship with them remains to be part of my most-treasured memories. We still keep in touch by E-mail, and sometimes see each other when our schedules allow. Idyllic and fun as it was, the most haunting and persistent memory I have of those summers at the ranch is that of Evan. Evan is one of my uncles farm hands son, and although he was only slightly older than we were, he had already started working at the farm since he was eight or nine. His friendship helped shape the way I am now, and made a positive impact in my life. His story and friendship became a personal cause for me, and I am hoping I could lay it down to make it into a more public advocacy. * * * At first I thought his name was Moe, because my cousins called him Slow Moe. He was shy and kept to himself, and never went out of his way to talk to us. Mon, my eldest cousin, had another, and simpler, nickname for him: Stupid. I felt sorry for him. And maybe that was why I tried my best to befriend him. It was not easy at first, but then he cracked a smile and the conversation went smoothly after that. One thing that struck me about Moe was that he was actually intelligent. He knew his work, and was really passionate about the horses he tended to. He knew a lot of things about their nature, how to keep them, and how to pacify them if they were agitated. His knowledge also applied to other animals. We had a great time talking about a lot of other things: about his life, my life, current events, the news, and even the gossip around town. Just about anything and everything was up for discussion. Moreover, he had his own opinions about a lot of issues and I found that really admirable. Sometimes he taught me things like how to ride a horse, or how to jump into the lake without landing so painfully on my stomach. He also taught me about constellations, their names and how to identify them. I also found out his real name was Evan, but he had learned to live with Moe. One night, I ventured asking why he was not in school. Evan just chuckled and said that those kids were evil. I later found out that Evan attended up to the first grade and then refused to go back. His last day at school was an ugly episode wherein some kids in his class called him all kinds of names and beat him almost to death. My cousins initially resented the time I spent with Evan, and even the few times I brought him along with us. He was an outsider, they protested. And they were ashamed to be seen in town with the farm hand with no lights on up there. But Evan eventually won them over, and with my cousins realizing that they have been wrong with the guy, they developed a better relationship with him. Soon, his nickname was rarely mentioned among us, and we started using his real name. Evan is a dyslexic. During that time, however, he was just plain stupid. I doubt if his parents ever knew his condition or cared about it. Evan was taught at home by his mom, who used pictures and drawings to get herself understood. Evan was alright with verbal explanation, but not written ones. I learned about his condition when we ventured into town with my cousins and stopped by a bookstore. He was looking at the sign outside the store and read the sign as bokos. I laughed and he immediately fell silent. I sensed something was wrong, but I kept quiet about it until we reached home. Because we were already close friends by that time, I asked him about it.. He admitted that he couldnt read, and I told him I could not believe that. He seemed to be a smart and intelligent person, there is no way he was illiterate. He shook his head and insisted that he could not read. He explained that when he read, he always read it wrong. Evan explained that to him, E, M, and W all looked alike, as well as G, O and D. So he reads â€Å"GOD† and â€Å"DOG† as â€Å"OOO†. He further said that there are times that he could see the letters, and know what they are, but that they â€Å"danced around†. Like if he sees the word CAT, he can identify the letters C, A and T, but he could not string it together. Sometimes he’d see it as C, A and T, sometimes it’s A, C, and T. * * * Dyslexia is a disability that affects an individual’s reading and writing skills, a condition that is present in 10% of the general population in various forms and degrees (Dyslexia Action, undated, online). Today, an estimated 15% of American students suffer from dyslexia, and up to half of all Americans have some form of undetected learning disabilities. Other studies also report that as many as 2. 9 million school-aged American children have learning disabilities (Edwards, 2006, online. ) Heather Hardie, citing dyslexia expert Sylvia Moody, writes that dyslexia is simply difficulty with writing and reading, which may stem from short-term memory weakness, faulty information processing, and weak perceptual, spatial and motor skills. A dyslexic, therefore, can have problems with poor concentration and poor memory. It may manifest subtly, like when a child is slow in reading certain words, but reads them correctly; or it may be severe and obvious like in Evan’s case. Dr. Moody adds that a dyslexic may exhibit other symptoms and problems like bouts of forgetfulness, difficulties in organization and in keeping time. (Hardie, 2006, p. 26). The overall effects are dramatic. To a child suffering from dyslexia, school work may suffer. Reading is such a basic skill thats required in nearly all school subjects that a dyslexic child is put at a great disadvantage, and often leading to problems with learning. The child usually fails in school. It can also lead to low self-esteem, delinquency, aggression, behavioral problems, and social withdrawal (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2007, online). This was clearly seen in Evans case. He was extremely shy and preferred to work away from us and mostly kept to himself. This was unfortunate, because his friendship made my summers at my uncles farm more memorable. I hate to think how many friendships were not developed because of dyslexia. How many children had wanted to reach out and say hi, but was stumped by the fear of being laughed at. The moniker and label dyslexic is bad enough, but being thought of as stupid is a million times worse. A child with dyslexia needs a supportive environment both at home and at school. A parent should explain to the child that it is not his or her fault, and patiently explain the condition to him or her, this will enable the child to cope and compensate for his or her disability. Parents of dyslexic children should also get in touch with teachers, and it might help if they find support groups that can provide both emotional support and good information (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2007, online). Dyslexic students grow up to be dyslexic adults, and in the workplace, dyslexia is not much kinder to those who suffer from it. In fact, Linda Goldman and Joan Lewis (2007) writes that information processing disorders, like dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are considered legal disabilities, giving the suffered adequate legal protection against discrimination and requires employers to ensure fairness by making reasonable adjustments in terms of recruiting, training, employing and promoting employees with dyslexia (p. 16). Often a dyslexic worker produces below par work output, manifests poor timekeeping, and often fails to remember instructions. This puts him or her at greater risk to be terminated from work, especially if his or her condition goes undiagnosed and unrecognized (Goldman and Lewis, 2007, p. 16). Even so, most employees with dyslexia need only more time to do their work and to correct problems related to concentration and coordination. This is what reasonable adjustments are all about (Goldman and Lewis, 2007, p. 16). However, I take heart in the stories of a lot of people who have succeeded in spite of having dyslexia. Pamela Coyle (1996) chronicles the travails and successes of three of them: Sylvia Ann Law, David Glass and Jonathan Pazer. All of them are noted dyslexics, yet each one succeeded in their fields. Sylvia Law became a professor of, appropriately, law. She also teaches medicine and psychiatry. She is the author of several books and has served as lecturer, as well as strong influence in the fields of civil rights and poverty law. David Glass and Jonathan Pazer are both practicing lawyers. (pp. 64-67). Heather Hardie (2006, p. 24) adds businessman Richard Branson, comedian Eddie Izzard and architect Richard Rogers to the list. Their lives are shining examples of how dyslexia could be overcome, if only one does not give in to low self-esteem and engage in self-pity. More than that, a child with dyslexia should grow up in a supportive environment that would not only foster his development, but also instill in him or her the confidence needed to grow and live life. * * * The last time I saw Evan was more than two years ago. He had become a handsome and confident young man, and has a steady girlfriend who, along with Evan’s mother, is helping him study for a high school equivalency test. At the time, he was also working at a local fast food chain as a janitor, and at the local school doing odd jobs. But Evan still shies away from contact and conversation with strangers. For my part, I am happy to have met him at a time when I was growing up. He made me think and realize that people have their own problems, and it is difficult to judge them by what we see. Moreover, he made me realize that what’s more important is what we do not see. If I had not scratched below the surface, I would still be one of those kids who continue to call him â€Å"Slow Moe,† and that would have deprived me of a friend who had made my summers at the farm richer and more fulfilling with his stories, tips, and jokes. In a sense, I know I could never thank Evan enough for the impact he had in my life. But I know that I am thanking him with every child, dyslexic or not, that I tutor on reading and writing as a volunteer for our neighborhood pre-school. I am thanking him by not being mean to other people when they show a kind of â€Å"weirdness† or â€Å"stupidity. † I am thanking him by not judging people I meet right away. I wish I could do more. I want to tell Evan the next time I see him all about Sylvia Law and other people whom I think would influence him to do better with his life despite his disability. In fact, I hope to be able to tell people just how wrong they are at labeling dyslexic people stupid. What they need is love and support. They need all the leeway they can get to help them overcome their disability. They have all the potential to succeed in life, if we—friends, teachers, fellow students, employers, colleagues, and parents—only give them the chance. Acknowledgments: First of all, I want to thank (name of teacher) for giving us this assignment. This exercise has given me the opportunity to think about my life and appreciate a person who I never really thought much about before. Alvin John for proofreading all those drafts and giving suggestions that helped shape this paper. And of course, Evan for the friendship and the insights. References 2007. Dyslexia: Complications. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from Mayo Clinic, Web site: http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/dyslexia/DS00224/DSECTION=complications 2007. Dyslexia: Coping and Support. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from Mayo Clinic, Web site: http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/dyslexia/DS00224/DSECTION=coping Coyle, Pamela (1996). What Sylvia Law, Jonathan Pazer and David Glass confront when they read or write. ABA Journal, 82, 64. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 10121349).

Modern Behaviour Patterns: Middle Stone Age Record of Africa

Modern Behaviour Patterns: Middle Stone Age Record of Africa Is there evidence for the establishment of modern behaviour patterns in the Middle Stone Age record of Africa? Behavioural modernity refers to developed behavioural traits we associated with ‘modern’ humans (Jacobs Richard, 2009). These behavioural traits are what distinguish modern humans their recent ancestors from other extinct hominids as well as both current past primates. What we now classify as modern human behaviours are cultural universals shared by all individuals, these behaviours include traits like language, religion decoration, or what’s known as the behavioural B’s: blades, beads, burials, bone-tool making beauty (Calvin, 2004). This essay discusses the evidence for the establishment of modern behaviour patterns in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) record of Africa. What is the Middle Stone Age record? The MSA was a period of African prehistory generally considered to have spanned between 280,000 years ago 50–25,000 years ago. The term MSA is used synonymously with the term Middle Palaeolithic, used in the remainder of the Old World where comparable artefacts traditions are found is now closely associated with the appearance of behavioural modern humans. (Clark, 1998) Innovations A range of innovations characterise the MSA, this following section talks about some of these, why how they came about. Technology There is marked variation in Middle Stone Age assemblages, which could have been caused by a number of factors including environmental conditions, resource type availability, choice of different reduction techniques strategies of tool manufacture. Technological patterns in these asemblages reflect early stages of modern human behaviour, with little standardisation within them. The beginning of the Middle Stone Age is identified by changes in the lithic components of the industries, namely, by the disappearance of bifaces (handaxes and cleavers) of the Acheulean type and the appearance of of composite tools which incorporated points signalling the beginning of the reorganisation of technology(Zenobia Roberts, 2009). Tool kits of this time included prepared core technology aka the Levallois method of flake production in which a core was carefully prepared on one side so that a flake of a certain, predetermined shape and size could be produced with a single blow (______). Composite tool kits also became common in this time period. These composite tools allowed tools to be hafted to other items, most commonly wood to create spears, and included triangular flakes, denticulates (tools retouched to form a serated edge), awls used to perferte hides and retouched points and scrapers. Occasional grinding stones and bone points have also been found during this time period The most potent evidence for behaviourally modern stone tools come from the sites of Still Bay (SB) Howiesons Poort dated between 72-71 ka 65-60 ka respectively (Zenobia Roberts, 2009). Among the Still Bay toolkit are bifacial flaked points that probably formed parts of spearheads, whereas the Howiesons Poort toolkits include blade-like tools that were blunted on one side hafted as part of composite weapons. These Middle Stone Age assemblages contain significant evidence of modern human behaviour which is reflected in raw material procurement, exchange patterns, adaptive behaviour, mastery of craftsmanship (Onjala, 2006). Hunting gathering The emergence of modern hunting capabilities is one of the behavioural traits which classify modern human behaviour, there is a great deal of debate as to the effectiveness of the hunting strategies of MSA humans thus weather the individuals of this time period were in fact ‘behaviourally modern’. One argument presented is that MSA individuals were less effective hunters than their LSA successors (Faith, 2008), Klein in his paper The problem of modern human origins argued that this was a result of a major neural change that took place between 50-40 ka, creating humans with a fully modern intellect. Klein believes there were several behavioural technological consequences of this change such as the development of more effective hunting capabilities, the ultimate dispersal of modern humans into Eurasia (Klein, 1994). Most researchers however, maintain that MSA individuals were fully adept hunters thus the emergence of modern hunting skills is one of the modern behavioural traits that appeared during the MSA (Faith, 2008) Many sites from across Africa show accumulation of fish remains from fresh water, brackish marine environments, these sites include Klasies River, Herolds bay Hoedjies Punt open sites among many others. The fish found at these sites are often to large to have been introduced by costal birds therefore point to the development of fishing techniques. At blombos cave, South Africa, these include deep water varaieties pointing to a large increase in technology. Some sites also contain marine mammals such as Die Kelders where remains of Cape fur seals have been found. Inland sites contain remains of many mammals, usually medium sized herbavores such as zebra, eland antelopes, all of which were common during the time period. Unlike the LSA, hunting of larger dangerous animals appears rare, which Richard Klein suggests indicates the individuals of this time period had not developed the technologies to deal with this kind of behaviour. Mortality profiles for animals from the MSA suggest the key target range for hunting during this time period was the young or the old animals which were weak or vulnerable. While hunting is one possible accruement of meat resources it is likely that a large range of meat gathering strategies were used during this time period including scavenging, long distance hunting ambush hunting (Scarre, 2013) Site modification, Art, Ornamentation Symbols A major signifier of modern behaviour is the organized use of space. While this is not common during the MSA there are a few examples of site modification, most commonly arc-shaped â€Å"walls† of stone, possibly created as wind breaks. (Scarre, 2013) Evidence for art, ornamentation symbolism however have been found at several sites across Africa. Many items from sites across Africa have been found to have been intentionally marked with abstract geometric symbols both carved painted (Wurz, 2014). These items most notably include engraved ochre, bone ostrich shell; Engravings paintings beads. Of the engraved items, possibly the most notable from this time period is a ~ 77,000- year-old piece of dark-red ochre with a cross-hatched pattern bounded by parallel lines engraved on one side recovered from Still Bay (Wurz, 2014) while other engraved items include bone from Blombos Cave at Klasies River a bone engraved with four parallel lines has been found (Wilkins, 2010). Egg shell is another item which has frequently been engraved upon, examples include from the site of Diepkloof in the Western Cape, where 270 fragments of intentionally marked ostrich eggshell believed to have been used as containers have been recovered dating to 60kya including geometric motifs such as straight parallel lines, cross-hatching, a hatched band (Wurz, 2014). Other sites including engraved egg shells in their assemblages include Howieson’s Poort Apollo 11 (Wilkins, 2010) Beads as personal ornamentation are the last aspect of art, ornamentation symbolism that will be discussed in this essay. Beads made from shell occur from around 100,000 years ago in some sites in Africa (Wurz, 2014) the most notable of which being the collection from Still Bay at Blombos Cave where over 40 beads made of Nassarius kraussianus shells. Keyhole perforations had been created in each shell, most likely with a bone tool, were then strung worn as personal ornament. Some beds also contain ochre residue, although wether this is from deliberate colouring or from transfer when worn is unknown (Henshilwood Dubreuil). Conclusion The innovative technologies and social practices mentioned above are only one part of a behavioral montage that spread through Africa during the MSA. Rapid advances in human cognition were manifested in material-culture practices not previously observed in the Africa or anywhere else in the world supplying evidence for Africa as the place of establishment of modern behaviour. Evidence Based Care: Hand Hygiene Evidence Based Care: Hand Hygiene Utilising Evidence Based Care This essay endeavours to investigate hand hygiene, and feel I need to gain more knowledge in this field by utilising the available evidence effectively. I also intend to discuss nurse held traditions, customs and rituals. The common method of handwasing is usually with unmedicated soaps, whist an anti-bacterial soap may be used for total hand decontamination. (Hugonnet Pittet 2000). As nursing staff can wash their hands up to forty times per hour, it may be one of the most frequently practiced nursing skills (National Patient Safety Agency, 2004). According to Pittet (2000) healthcare professionals barely reach fifty per cent compliance with handwashing. Holland, Jenkins, Soloman et al (2003) point out that hands are the primary factor is spreading bacteria, especially as they come into contact with body fluids, furniture, dressings and equiptment. During a placement on a surgical ward I witnessed poor hand hygiene and felt I needed to deepen my knowledge of effective and appropriate hand washing to be a competent, safe practitioner. Health care-associated infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Hand hygiene is regarded as an effective preventive measure against transmission of hospital acquired infection between patient to patient (Gould et al (2007). As a health care professional I am aware I must work within the guidelines of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the government body, the Department of Health (DoH). Within this essay I intend to utilise two sources of research, critique them, and use the findings accordingly. The Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Conduct (2008) states that ‘care and advice to patients must be based on the best available evidence (NMC 2008 p4). Fitzpatrick (2007) states ‘healthcare professionals must demonstrate effective integration of evidence, including findings of research into their decision making. ‘Evidence based practice is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available clinical evidence from systematic research ‘Sackett et al (1996). Within evidence available for utilisation is an evidence hierarchy. At the top of the hierarchy are well designed randomised controlled trials. The UK Cochrane Centre specialises in random controlled controlled trials (RCTs). The Cochrane centre operates globally to maintain and publish up to date reviews of randomised controlled tests for health care. (Sheldon and Chalmers 1994). Hamer (1999a) also states that randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are frequently called the gold standard of research evidence. The Cochrane Centre work out the validity of research by grading them. Grading starts at A-C, A being the highest score, and showing it has met all the quality requirements (Mulrow Oxman, (1997). Hierarchies are also used in clinical guidelines, graded by both standard of evidence and recommendations. The highest standard of evidence grade, matched by the highest recommendation grade, suggests superior validity and ought to be considered to be implemented in practice (Cook et al, 1992) Research evidence appropriateness can be based on how the data was collected. Examples of different research designs are RCTS, case-controlled studies, cohort studies, professional, or qualitive. The two research paper I am examining use a mix of methods. Lockett (1997) claims evidence-based practice is a combination of scientific and professional practices. The ‘evidence -based aspect refers to scientific rationale and the ‘practice part refers to behaviour of the healthcare professional (Lockett 1997). The importance of evidence -based practice is highlighted by Hamer (1999b), stating the primary aim is to aid professionals in effective decision making to reduce ineffective, inappropriate possible hazardous practices. This would suggest, as with guidelines set out by the NMC that the use of evidence-based practice has much rationale. The American Nurses Association (2003) points out that in order to enable nurses to tally with the expectations of society, a strong evidence base for practice is essential. Furthermore, for nursing to be recognised a genuine profession, it is essential to have all of its practices based on evidence (Royal College of Nursing 1982). Once a topic had been chosen to explore I conducted a search via databases. I found initially to use solely the term handwashing, which yielded a surplus of data. I set the date parameters on the search to the last 5 years to maximise the validity of the research, which not only provided more suitable data, but narrowed the search to yield less results. This facilitated the search for relevant research. I added other words to the search, such as compliance and the word and/or. Also truncation was used, this maximised the search further. Especially as there are many variations of the work handwashing. Furthermore, handwashing was not the only term used to describe handwashing, hand hygiene was also used. This too, yielded successful results. The term nurse was also added, this too was truncated to nurs*, which allowed terms such as nursing, nurses, nursed to be detected, thus increasing the probability of locating the desired results. I set the parameters to detect full text and on the English language. As I am not accustomed to using databases I sought the advice of the librarian, EBSCO, CINAHL and BNI were recommended resources. Also the Cochrane library has been praised as the gold standard in randomised controlled studies. As randomised controlled studies are at the top of the hierarchy of evidence I decided to seek a randomised controlled study. I found located the primary piece of evidence from the Cochrane library. On this occasion I did not use main stream search engines, although I would consider using a search engine in the future to find research. Fitzpatrick (2007) claims internet searches engines can yield credible results. My second piece of research was discovered on Ovid. Once selected, Ovid requires users to select databases within that database. I excluded paediatrics as this was not relevant to the search. |Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care conducted by Gould (2007) is the selected primary source. The quality of the abstract was clear, with sub heading, and reflected the aim of the paper and its content. The objectives were to assess the long term success and improve hand hygiene compliance and to determine whether a sustained increase in hand hygiene can lower hospital infections. This was relevant to my search as this is an area I wanted to increase my knowledge on, and utilise in practice, if the research is deemed valid and credible. The types of studies used were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials (CCTs), controlled before and after studies (CBAs) and interrupted time series analyses (ITSs) meeting the requirements of the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group (EPOC).The research is a systematic review. According to Mulrow (1995) systematic reviews do the ‘hard work of critiquing the research so time limited health care workers can access valid data. Systematic reviews are the gold standard of research (NHS Centre for reviews and Dissemination, p.1 1996): ‘Systematic reviews locate, appraise and synthesis evidence from scientific studies in order to provide informatative, empirical answers to scientific research questions. Muir Gray (1997) and Sackett et al (1997) claim randomised controlled trials are thought to be the most dependable and trustworthy source of evidence. I interpret the above as indicting the research may be of a high standard to meet the criteria of the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group (EPOC). Although the research paper is not yet fully critiqued, this is a positive validity indicator. The participants were target groups, of doctors and nurse. Theatre staffs were excluded due to different hand hygiene techniques being used. To exclude theatre staff was relevant as hand hygiene is part of the ‘scrubbing in ritual, and if included may have caused inaccurate results. Data collection and analysis was conducted by two reviews, and they accessed the data quality. All of the data they had gathered was via databases searches, and two studies out of over seventy five met the criteria review. The author concluded no implications for practice, as the review had not been able to provide enough evidence. The implications for research were more studies are urgently needed to evaluate improvements to hand hygiene. The biasness of the paper is not easy to find out as I could not discover the professions of the researchers. It could be suggested that if they were nurses, this could create a potential for bias. When searching for this primary piece of research I did not need to be concerned about UK and American spellings are the words used did not have UK American versions. However in future I would chose to look for both to show abundant data. The keywords used for finding this particular piece were, hand*, hygiene, wash*, comlianc*, concordanc* and nurs*. Quantitive research sample sizes normally exceed one hundred participants. Interviews or questionnaire have set questions. Data is usually recording statistically (Siviter 2005). The data within this research was presented in tabular form. The CASP (2006) quantitive tool was utilised in the critiquing of this research. Had the research paper been qualitive, I would have used the CASP quantitive tool. This is a valuable and effective tool in analysing the research for strengths and weaknesses (Hek Moule 2006). Although on this occasion I used CASP to critique the paper I would in future consider using other critiquing frameworks, such as Bray and Rees (1995) and Benton and Cormack (2000) or Popay et al (1998). As to if the research was ethical or not is indistinguishable as no consent issues arose as all evidence was found via databases. Although, consensual issues are not the only ethical issues to be considered. Beauchamp Childress (1994) claim healthcare ethics is when moral issues and questions are raised within the healthcare realm. Respect to an individual values and beliefs are a part of being ethical. However in terms of the primary research paper there are no visible signs of a breach of ethics. The results show that both the randomised controlled trials were poorly controlled. One trail shows an increase in hand washing compliance four months after interventions. The second trail has shown no post intervention increase in hand hygiene. The author found both samples were of low quality and was conducted over a too small time frame. The author concludes there is not any strong evidence to make an informed choice to better hand washing. According to the author, one off teaching sessions will not expected to make any lasting changes to compliance. Further robust research is recommended by the author. Therefore, currently from this research there is inadequate data that could be utilised in evidence-based practice. ‘Hand hygiene practices: student perceptions is the second piece of research chosen. This is a qualitive piece of research. The aim of the research was clear from the abstract and the title. Student nurses were interviewed to gain depth of data. Student nurses were also guaranteed anomity, which may have assisted the researcher gain rich data. Had the researcher chose a quantitive methodology, it would have been complex to achieve students perspectives. The NMC (2008) praises qualitive research methods as they respect patients individuality and feelings in the way nursing staff are presumed to, and is suitable for nursing research. According to Parahoo (2006), qualitive research may be considered to be of less value than quantitive research. Another positive aspect of qualitive research is the broad picture it provides, history, context, and the causes ( Blaxter, Hughes Tight, 2006). Siviter (2005) defines the average qualitive research sample size as fairly small, with an average of fifteen to twenty. Data is usually gathered through semi-structured interviews and open ended questions. The researchers who conducted the research are both nurses and have a professional interest in the paper, and it is noted that the possibility of bias could occur. This was recognised by the nurse researchers. Evan (2003) Hierarchy of evidence concludes case studies lack validity in comparison to random controlled trials and systemic reviews. A barrier to utilising research to support evidence-based practice may be lack of knowledge and skill. Hundley et al (2000) noted that although attempts are being made to incorporate research education into current nurse curriculum, poor analysis skills are still a barrier to reading research. Hundley et al (2000) also states time is a primary barrier to utilising evidence-based practice. Retsas (2000) offers advice in conquering the time barrier, advising organisations need to increase time to study in order for evidence-based practice to be achieved. Issues with autonomy, or lack of, have been suggested as potential barriers in the implementation of nursing research. Doctors were named as a potentially obstructive (Lacey 1994). Shaw et al (2005) suggest that to know and understand possible barrier and enablers to utilising evidence is critical in the identification of evidence-practice gaps. Grol and Wensing (2004) discuss the many different enablers and barriers that might be foun d when change is attempted to be implemented. These range from awareness, knowledge, motivation to change and behavioural routines (Grol and Wensing 2004). Traditional rituals within nursing are a barrier to implementing evidence -based practice. Walsh and Ford (1990) define rituals as: ‘Ritual action implies carrying out a task without thinking it through in a problem-solving way. The nurse does something because this is the way it has always been done. The nurse does not have to think about the problem and work out an individual solution, the action is a ritual. Billy and Wright (1997) defend rituals, claiming some are healing, and have some positive outcomes. Parahoo (2006b) argues that rituals are when practice rationale is forgotten. Thompson (1998) discusses the research-practice gap, claiming there is a gap between knowledge and practice. This would indicate there is a gap between producers and users of research (Caplan 1982).Larsen et al (2002) argues that the research-practice gap does not exist in nursing as it is not an evidence-based profession. One way of passing on the message of evidence-based practice is through clinical guidelines. Woolf et al (1999) clinical guidelines improve quality of decisions made by healthcare professionals, although a downfall may be recommendations are wrongly interpreted. A First Class Service (Department of Health, 1998) summarizes the government ideas for improving evidence base, and how to implement the findings. This indicates the governments recognition of the benefits to quality of care, and its links to evidence-based practice. Since then the government has included evidence-based practice in its strategies, such as NHS Research and Development in 1992 and Making a Difference in 1999. Evidence-based healthcare was at the core of these strategies (Department of Health, 1992). In the North Bristol Trust the ‘Clean your Hands campaign is in use. This was implemented by The National Patient Safety Agency; Alcohol gels were put all around the trust, in an attempt to make hand hygiene facilities more accessible. Nursing staff also wore ‘its ok to ask badges; encouraging patients to remind busy staff to wash their hands (Infection Control Policy and Manual North Bristol Trust, 2006). In conclusion I have learnt there is a colossal sum of research to be potentially be utilised in practice. From accessing valid data, to having the time to critique research once in practice, to trying to implement change when in practice, I have realised there are many obstacles to achieving evidence-based practice. Research should always be analysed to establish whether or not the data it produces is valid and if it ought to be implemented in practice or not. From the two research papers I have analysed I found that neither were valid enough to consider implementing in practice. I have also learnt that change within health care is not as easy to implement as I have previously thought, many parts of the interprofessional team must be involved. Managers are key to helping change take place. I do still believe that effective handwashing is definitely one of the most effective measures in the role of infection control. A valid, robust research paper on this essential nursing skill would aid effective hand hygiene, as currently many research paper out there do not make the grade for them to be implemented in practice. From this I have learned a valuable lesson that just because research is there, does not necessarily make it credible and valuable. Reference American Nurses Association (2003) Education for participation in nursing research. http://nursingworld.org/readroom/position/research/rseducat.htm (accessed sept 2009) Barrett, R., Randle, J. (2008). Hand hygiene practices; student nurse perceptions. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17, 1851-1857 Beauchamp, T.L. Childress ,J.F. (1994)Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 4th edn. New York; Oxford University Pres Billy, Wright C.M (1997). The History of nursing research in Austrialia. Reflections, 21, 1;17-18. Benton, D.C., Cormack, F.S. (2000) Reviewing and evaluating the literature. In: Cormack, D. (Ed) The Research Process in Nursing. Oxford: Blackwell Science Blaxter,L ,. Hughes, C,. Tight, M. (2006). How to research (3rd). Buckingham: Open university press. Bray, J., Rees, C. (1995) Reading research articles. Practice Nursing; 6: 11, 11-13. Caplan N (1982) Social research and public policy at the national level. In; D B P Kallan, G B Kosse, H C Wagennar, J J Department of Health (1998). A First Class Service, Quality in the NHS, London. Department of Health. Cook D.J, Mulrow C.D. Haynes B. (1998) Synthesis of best evidence for clinical decisions. In; Systematic Reviews; Thesis of Best Evidence for Health Care Decisions (eds Mulrow C.D Cook D) Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP 2006) http://www.phru.nhs.uk/Doclinks/Qualitive%20Tool.pdf (Accessed online October 2009) Department of Health (1992) Research Development Stratagy London: Department of Health. Department Of Health (1999) Making a Differnce- Strengthening the Nursing, Midwifrey and Health Visiting Contribution to Health and Healthcare. London: Department of Health. J Kloprogge and M Vorbeck (eds), Social Science Research and Public Policy- Making:A Reappraisal (Netherlands; NFER). Evans, D. (2003). Hierachy of evidence: a frame work for ranking evidence evaluating healthcare interventions. Journal of Clinical Nursing. Fitzpatrick, J (2007) Finding research for evidence-based practice. The development of EBP. Nursing times.net vol 103. P32-33. (accessed online October 2009) Gould D, Chudleigh JH, Moralejo D, Drey N. Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD005186. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005186.pub2. Hamer. S (1999a).Achieving evidence-based practice. A hannbook for practitioners. Bailliere Tindall. RCN. p19 Hamer. S (1999b).Achieving evidence-based practice. A hannbook for practitioners. Bailliere Tindall. RCN. p6-7 Hek, G., Moule, P. (2006). Making sense of research- An introduction for health and social care practitioners (3rd ed.) London: Sage Publications Limited. Holland K., Jenkins J., Soloman J., Whittam S. (2003) Applying the Roper, Logan, Tierney Model in Practice, London, Churchill |Livingston. Hugonnet S., Pittet D. (2000) Hand hygiene-beliefs or science? Clinical Microbiology Infection, Vol. 6, Issue , p348. Hundley V, Milne J, Leighton-Beck L, Graham W and Fitzmaurice A (2000) Raising research awareness among midwives and nurses: Does it work? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31, 1:78-88 National Patient Safety Agency (2004) Patient Safety Alert: Clean hands help save lives. National health Service; London. Accessed on October 2009 http.//www.npsa.nhs.uk/site/media/documnents/644 cyh Mulrow C.D Oxman A.D (1997) CocharaneCollaboataion Handbook (database on disk and CDROM). The Cochrane library, |The Cochrane Collaboartion, Oxford, Update Software. Nursing and Midwifery Code of Conduct NMC www.nmc.co.uk (accessed online October 2009) Nursing and Midwifery Code of Conduct NMC. (2008). Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwifes. London; NMC. Muir Gray J.A (1997) Evidence-based Healthcare. Churchill, Livingston, New York. Parahoo, K. (2006). Nursing research- principles, Process and issues (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Press. Parahoo, K. (2006b). Nursing research- principles, Process and issues (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Press p 5. Pittet, D. (2000) Compliance with hand disinfection and its impact on hospital acquired infections. Journal of Hospital Infection. Vol. 48 p40-46 Popay J, Williams G (1998) Qualitive research and evidence based health care. Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine 91 35 32-37. Royal College of Nursing (1982) Research-Mindedness and Nurse Education (London: Royal College of Nursing) Restas, A. (2000) Barriers to using research evidence in nursing practice. Journal of Advanced nursing. 31, 3;599-606 Sackett D.L., Richardson W.S Rosenberg W. Haynes R.B (1997) Evidence Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM. Churchill |Livingston, New York. Shaw B, Cheater F, Baker R, Gillies C, Hearnshaw H. Flottoprp S, et al. Tailored interventions to overcome identified barriers to change: effects pn professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Databaese Syst Rev. 2005 (3); CDOD5470. Siviter. B, (2005) The student nurse handbook, Elsevier, China. Sheldon, T. Chalmers, I. (1994). The UK Cochrane Centre and the NHS Centre for reviews and dissemination: respective roles within the Infromation Systems Stratagey of the NHS RD Programme, coordination, principles and underlying collaboration. Health economics, 3 201-203. Thompson M A (1998) Closing the gap between nursing research and practice. Evidence-based Nursing, 1, 1;17-18. Walsh M and Ford P (1990) Nursing Rituals, Research and Rational Actions, 2nd edn (Oxford; Heinemann Nursing). Counterculture Analysis: Irish Mob Counterculture Analysis: Irish Mob Gary Smith A counter culture is a group of people that reject the values, norms, and practices of the larger society and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns (Thomas). The Irish mob for example is considered one of the biggest counter cultures there ever was because of their organized crime. The Irish mob is also the oldest organized crime group and biggest. The Irish mob had gangs in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and even Chicago (City Data). The Irish Mob consisted of many different individual gangs that had some really big names in them. The winter hill gang was a gang founded by James buddy Mclean and consisted of mostly Irish and Italian Americans. Some of the biggest names of the Irish mob where in this gang at the times such as Buddy McLean, Whitey Bulger, Howie Winter, Johnny Martorano, Joe McDonald, and Stephen Flemmi. The winter hill gang got their name from a journalist and because they lived in the winter hill neighborhood in Somerville Massachusetts. James buddy Mclean was a truck driver and the founder/leader of the winter hill gang (PRWEB). Mclean had a reputation for being a great street fighter which initially earned him his respect as being the gang founder and leader. Mclean and his gang (The winter hill gang) would soon begin to dominate Boston when it came to running numbers, loansharking, and even hijacking (PRWEB). Mclean was murdered in 1965 as he was shot in the head by Stevie Hughes which put Howie Winter in command of the winter hill gang however that didnt last too long because soon after Howie Winter was sent to prison for 5 years putting Whitey Bulger in charge of the Winter Hill Gang (George). Whitey Bulger took over the winter hill gang after the death of the former well respected boss James Buddy Mclean who was shot and killed in 1965. As well as being the winter hill gangs leader he was also a FBI informant. In 1956 Whitey was sentenced to 25 years in prison for numerous bank robberies (Guest). Although he was sentenced to 25 years in prison he only served 9 years and soon after returned to his regular life in Boston where he would join the Winter Hill Gang. In 1979 Whitey took over the winter hill gang and began to control Bostons drug dealing, bookmarking, and loansharking. As an FBI informant Whitey began feeding the police information on other gangs such as the Patriarcas which was a New England organized crime family. The police brought the Patriarcas down with the help of Whitey which made the Winter Hill Gang even more powerful that another family was gone. Whitey got into trouble with police and decided to go on the run which lasted until June of 2011 when he wa s arrested after 16 years. Whitey was sentenced to two life sentences plus five years in prison in November of 2013 (globe). The Irish gang war was a war between the winter hill gang the McLaughlin gang. The dispute occurred after one of the member of the McLaughlin gang tried to pick up one of the Winter Hills gangs girlfriends and ultimately got beat up so badly for it they dropped him off at the hospital (Evan). When Bernie McLaughlin went to talk to the Winter Hills Gangs leader who was James buddy Mclean at the time to figure out what had happened and who was involved he became very frustrated when Mclean wouldnt tell him exactly and he quickly made enemies with the wrong people which led to his in Charles town city square where he was killed by the winter hills gang leader himself James Buddy Mclean (ignatiev). The Irish Mob was considered a counter culture because of the way of members chose to live their life. The Irish Mob was one of the biggest structures when it came to organized crime which put them outside of the norm. Constantly breaking the laws society saw them as an outcast and even feared them. Members of the Irish mob believed that they had to take apart in the organized crime so that they could take care of themselves and their families. Most members of the Irish Mob are brought in by family or friends. They know what they are doing is wrong but do it any way as a way of life even if it means killing somebody. Ethnocentrism is when one views its own culture and or group as superior to others (Thomas R13). Ethnocentrism existed in all organized crime and especially in the Irish Mob. Because every gang thought they were better than other conflicts constantly occurred between them which is whys gangs are always fighting each other. The Irish Mob has their own ways of handling things which is cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards (Thomas R11). The Irish Mob behave and act the way they do because they believe that it is the only way to live. Individual members of the mob make it their job and there only way to receive income. Because this is the only way to take care of themselves and their loved ones they think that it is ok to commit these crimes.   Every Mob and or gang has their own way of handling situations and conflicts such as when somebody in their group decides to rat them out to the police some gangs might kill him on the spot while others torture him. In my opinion the Irish Mobs way of life is not acceptable and should not be tolerated in the American society. The Irish Mob are held accountable for numerous deaths that took place killing other gang members and even innocent citizens whether it be on purpose or accident its not acceptable. The Irish mob also have been known for selling illegal drugs such as cocaine. The Irish Mob are known for being the oldest organized crime group and also one of the biggest and had some of the biggest Mobsters such as Whitey Bulger who is considered to be one of the biggest and feared mobsters who ever lived. References   City Data. 13 july 2013. 11 march 2017. Evan, Andrews. History. 14 june 2014. 11 march 2017. George, Hasset. Gangs of Boston. strategic media books, 2013. globe, Boston. boston. 2017. 11 march 2017. Guest, Emily. Irish Central. 4 Augest 2010. 11 march 2017. ignatiev, Noel. The divide between blacks and irish. 17 march 2010. 11 march 2017. PRWEB. PRWEB. 10 september 2015. 11 march 2017. Thomas, W. sociology the study of human relation ships. Austin: Holt,winston, 2003. 39. textbook.

On Iron Laws of Economics :: Economics Essays

On "Iron Laws" of Economics ABSTRACT: 1. A strong interest shown by modern society to the sphere of economic attitudes, and connected to it the growing authority of the economists. - 2. Perception about the "iron" laws of economics as highest criteria of economic activity and life in general (economic fatalism). - 3. An exploration of the most widespread motives of housekeeping: struggle for a survival, earning one's "life", earning on "the black day". - 4. Logical "circumvention" of all these motives confirmed by the daily facts. - 5. Managing for the sake of managing - professions for amateurs. - 6. Narrowing the sphere of action of the economic "laws" from "all" to "wishing". - 7. Optionality of the "iron laws" of economy, even for those wishing to be engaged in it. (with examples). Dependence of economy on ethics and psychology. - 8. The essence of the moderate fatalism, its incompleteness and discrepancy. - 9. Economics as a game, initiated and regulated by the government. Decreasing of the status of econo mic game with the eldering of the population. - 10. Inevitability of occurrence of "shadow" sector in economy, which considers as its basic purpose the obtaining of the profit. 11. A dilemma rising before any man without preconception: to admit economy to be a "dirty business", fun for the adults, or to search for the "third" way, which... 12. ...on my sight, consists of returning to the initial sense of the word: economics-a reasonable running of an economy, or keeping house keeping) - 13. The elementary analysis of this definition. - 14. The task of philosophy of economics in the given context. - 15. Concept of "organic economics" demanded by real life, instead of the obsolete, and diminishing influence of the exclusively mechanical approach. Universal character of this concept. "Economics is a special world, with it's own laws and problems, dramas and contradictions" — The textbook "Modern Economics" Respectable colleagues! It's unlikely, that I need to explain to any of you, what place in our life the phenomena of economic order has achieved. The well-known "market attitudes" have penetrated into practically every, sphere of our life, even most intimate. The leading economists, beginning from Marx and ending with the present "liberals", habitually incur the role of critics and prophets, predicting the possible and even the certain future. In their own declarations, they have the right to do it, because of a vast knowledge of the nature of economics.

How do pre-1914 writers create a sense of suspense, mystery and fear? :: Free Essay Writer

How do pre-1914 writers create a sense of suspense, mystery and fear? Comparison of three short novels The Red Room is a very good ghost story that was written by H.G Wells. The story was intended to be scary when it was written and it uses tension, atmosphere and a scary plot. Without these key features it would not succeed as a successful ghost story. The reason for this is to entice the reader by giving them small clues so it does not give the plot away, but you have to read on because it does not give enough away only small clues, so it is still a mystery. The main thing that helps create the good atmosphere for a ghost story is that it is set in the old castle. It is occupied by the three old people. They’re described as custodians. The candles that are situated round the castle also helps create atmosphere because it shows that it is in the night and most ghost stories are set at night and it then in turn provides an eerie atmosphere. At the beginning of the story the old people help add to the atmosphere by saying the things that had apparently happened there in the Red Room in the past. These things include; 'This night of all nights,' this makes it sound like it could be a type of anniversary of when something or someone had died or an event happened and this night is the worst night to go to the Red Room. 'In which the young Duke had died.' This shows you that something apparently had happened at the castle, a person had died in the Red Room which adds more evidence to there being a ghost being in the room. This then starts to make 'The Red Room' a better ghost story. 'And are you really going?' This shows that the man cannot believe that he is going to The Red Room. Other things such as the journey also turn out to be a good way of building atmosphere in the story. The way to the room is deliberately a long journey because if it was just up the corridor then there would be no suspense about the room and what can happen on the way to the room. The darkness of the journey also helps to create a ghostly atmosphere because it makes the littlest things look like the scariest things as in the dark things are not portrayed as what they really are. 'The ornaments and conveniences of the room about them were ghostly.' The silence of the journey helps to create echoes which add also to

‘Of Mice and Men’ shows how factors beyond the characters’ control prevent them from leading fulfilling lives Essay

John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is set, and was written in the time of The Great Depression, 1929. During The Great Depression there were as many as fifteen million people, in the United States of America alone, left unemployed and with no way to feed their families. The Great Depression was caused by the Wall Street crash. The Wall Street Crash, when stocks and shares plummeted, resulted in America as a world trading country loosing gargantuan amounts money due to the many of the large companies of America going bankrupt. Because the companies went bankrupt they could no longer afford to pay any workers, this meant that they lost their jobs. Even the farms in the country could not stay running because of the Dust Bowl effect, this is when there is prolonged drought and the earth becomes like dust, entirely unsuitable to grow anything in. With a vast amount of the nation unemployed, people were desperately searching for work, simply in order to survive. When the idea came about that people could go and work the land in California, people jumped at the chance despite the appalling pay. The cruel thing is that the employers in California had paid their original workers more than they paid the migrant workers, and the migrant workers only worked because they were so desperate. The employers took advantage of their situation for their own benefit. It was very much every man for himself in that time, though in this novel there is an exception, Lennie and George, who for Steinbeck are the stereotypical migrant workers. I believe George to be living a fulfilled life within the dream he shares with Lennie and, later on in the novel Candy: the popular American dream of the period, to own a piece of land and be entirely self-sufficient from that land. The reason I think this is because George is constantly saying things such as â€Å"we’ll do her†, â€Å"we’ll fix up that little old place an’ we’ll go live there†, this shows that they are living in metaphoric clouds (their dream), a far nicer place than reality, Lennie and George seam to be willing to live through anything just to achieve it. The fact that George lives for a dream, one that he truly didn’t believe would happen, â€Å"Jesus Christ! I bet we could swing her!† this also shows that now George actually believes in himself it will happen, George would have no reason to dream if he was content in reality. Whilst living a content life inside the sanction of his dream, it is clear that he is not content in reality otherwise he would have no cause to dream of a better place. Another reason for George not being content could be that he had been burdened with Lennie all of his life and thus not been able to live his own life and be his own person, George says to Lennie in the novel that he could have a much better life without Lennie â€Å"When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts. I never get no peace†. This shows that even George feels Lennie as burden some of the time, if he felt this all of the time he could just get rid of Lennie, but he doesn’t. I believe Lennie feels much the same as George in that he lives for the dream also, whenever Lennie is uncomfortable with his surroundings in any way he will ask George to tell the story of the dream to him so that he can escape reality into his imagination, as if in fact the dream is where he wants to be. â€Å"Tell about the house George† Lennie begs.† â€Å"An’ the rabbits†. George has told Lennie that he can tend to the rabbits in their house, because Lennie is very simple this sense of responsibility and his fetish for soft things (the rabbits) provides the perfect attraction for Lennie to the Dream. Because Lennie also has to dream of a better place shows that his life is not being fulfilled on the ranch. If this was not evidence enough Lennie even says â€Å"George, I don’t like it here George†¦Ã¢â‚¬  clearly showing that he does not want to be there. The only woman on the ranch, Curley’s wife, also I believe lives an unfulfilled life because firstly all she is known as throughout the novel is â€Å"Curley’s wife†, making he sound like a possession of Curley’s. This says a lot about the period in which this novel was written, women were treated as inferior beings at this time, and I personally find it hard to see how you could live a fulfilled life when you are being put down constantly. The men on the ranch also have very dim views on her such as George’s opinion of her, â€Å"I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ’em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her†, not only does this starve her for attention it puts her down also. â€Å"Curley’s wife also has a dream, a dream of becoming famous, as she tells Lennie â€Å"He was gonna put me in the movies†, showing that she cannot be content in reality either. Curley’s wife is naturally seeking attention because she has married a man who she hardly ever sees and no one is willing to talk to her: â€Å"Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely†, and she believes she should be â€Å"†¦ in the movies†, a place where you will always be in the ‘spotlight’ so to speak, quite the opposite to how she is being treated on the ranch. Candy is the ‘crippled swamper’ on the ranch, and is only able to do menial jobs around the ranch; this offers him no real fulfilment. Despite this Candy’s life amounts to the work he does on the ranch and his dog, these are all he lives for â€Å"When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me.† As time progresses Candy realises that he has not got long left and with his dog, a huge part of his life having just been killed out of sympathy, he asks to join George and Lennie’s dream instead of his life being over once he has been told to leave the ranch â€Å"S’pose I went in with you guys†. In wishing somebody would shoot him when he was told to leave the ranch shows that Candy fears for his future and where he has to go to when he is told to leave. To live your life in fear of your future, not knowing where you are going, not having control of you own life cannot be a very secure and pleasant mental environment to live in; Can dy therefore can’t have a very fulfilled life. Curley is a successful welterweight boxer, but unfortunately didn’t quite make it to the top, instead he is stuck on his father’s ranch, a place where he doesn’t always get the respect/fear he craves, so he has to be rude and hostile in his talking â€Å"Well, nex’ time you answer when you’re spoke to†. This shows that Curley is not living the life he wants to live, thus making his life unfulfilled. Curley has a huge problem with intimidation, meaning bigger people intimidate him easily. He is also obsessed with power and authority: â€Å"Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys†, and on a ranch full of large men, he does not always have the security he wants. Curley is in a loveless marriage despite what he thinks he feels for his wife, she refuses to pay him the same attention: â€Å"he ain’t a nice fella†. Curley does not have his life going his way at all, he is stuck living somewhere he does not want to be, without the power he wants and with people he does not like; his father’s ranch. On top of this, he is in a marriage where the only ‘love’ is on his behalf. This all leads me to the conclusion that Curley does not a have a fulfilled life. Crooks is a black stable buck in the novel, and during this time black people were regarded as inferior beings, this leaves Crooks open to much discrimination. Using Crooks as a stereotype, Steinbeck tries to show the relationship between black and white people in America in the 1930’s. Throughout the novel, Crooks is treated with great disrespect, for example he is constantly being referred to as a â€Å"God damn nigger†. Crooks also gets segregated from the rest of the workers, this makes him incredibly lonely, we can tell this from a touching extract between Lennie and Crooks â€Å"Crooks says gently, ‘Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk-house and play rummy ’cause you was black. How’d you like that?† Crooks is insulted countless times every single day of his life, the name â€Å"nigger† is used such as the term ‘mate’ is used today, so without meaning to insult Crooks people did it every time they chose to speak to him. Every time when Crooks elevates himself above his usual status by making the odd chance comment or voicing his opinion, he is simply thrown back down to the ground. For example Crooks began to introduce his opinion into a conversation and was quite bluntly told by Curley’s wife, â€Å"you keep your place, then Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny†. I find it near impossible to even think that Crooks could lead a fulfilled life when he is treated like a dirty animal, and his thoughts or feelings are considered worthless. My thoughts are that Slim is the only main character in the whole novel that possibly leads a fulfilled life. Unlike Crooks, Slim is paid much respect by all of the other workers. Candy refers to Slim as â€Å"Hell of a nice fella†, and comments are also made about people’s reactions when he speaks, â€Å"all talk stopped when he spoke†. This gives Slim a sense of belonging and importance. Slim is a highly skilled worker and the ranch would not be the same without him, and he knows this, so do the other workers on the ranch, â€Å"He’s capable of driving ten, sixteen even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders†. It is comments and views such as these which make Slim feel needed. Slim is favoured by all on the ranch, perhaps especially by Crooks and Curley’s wife as he treats them without any prejudice or discriminative views. For example, Slim is very polite and actually pays a compliment to Curley’s wife â€Å"Hi, Good-lookin '†. Throughout the novel, Slim does not mention any other life that he might prefer, nor does he show any evidence of him having a dream, this shows that he must be reasonably content with his life on the ranch as he has no cause to dream. I believe Slim to be the only main character in the novel to live a fulfilled life because he is clearly respected by all members of the ranch and very much favoured by them. Slim has security and he is also very independent, because of everyone’s admiration he also feels good in himself, Slim must have a great sense of fulfilment in his life. In a time where everyone had to make the most of what they had, only one person in this novel has succeeded, and that in my eyes would be Slim. It was a ‘dog eat dog world’ during the Great Depression and Slim manages to rise above all of the bad things that have happened to him due to it. He manages to lift himself up above everyone else who were stuck in the rut of their own self pity, he manipulated the situation and uses it to his advantage. He took the wrong things in the other peoples lives and offered solutions for example he gave George someone to talk to, or the fact that he was polite to those who were treated like dirt, this made people like and respect him which is what drove him on inspite or the Depression.