American Airlines Strategy Paper Essay Example for Free

American Airlines Strategy Paper Essay Currently the airline industry as a whole seems to be on the road of recovery. We, American Airlines, the fourth largest carrier recently avoided bankruptcy, but had a summer full of pressure due to ongoing union struggles and questionable executive compensation packages. After having incurred such big losses, this recovery has come about because of the government bailout and many of our large competitors’ abilities to survive the turbulence in the industry. So far, the prospects look promising. Revenue has improved across all regions of the business. Domestic unit revenue was up almost 10 percent and Latin American revenue has increased by close to 11 percent in the last quarter of 2012 compared to the same period the prior year. We are performing better than other airlines that have filed for protection and have done so without slashing capacity. In short, American is doing the right things to return to business efficiency and customer effectiveness. In order to establish a sustainable position for the future, American Airlines must adopt a three-pronged strategy moving forward. First, we should focus on low priced operations and increased marketing strategies to improve customer demand. We have to enhance customer experience and our volume of loyal customers to build a stronger presence in Airline Industry. Second, we must focus on increasing and improving the routes to cater to large customer base. Lastly, we must address the difficulties our company might face in integrating with the culture of US Airlines. Our future success is highly dependent on these two entities efficiently operating as a single organization. Industry Analysis Current Position US Airline industry today is dominated by five major domestic carriers. United, Delta and Southwest each has more than 15 percent market share. American is fourth, with around 12 percent and US Airways is fifth with around 10 percent. Four of these five are profitable — all but American. We lost $2 billion in 2011 and $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Future Strategy Our emphasis in 2013 is on operational flexibility, international growth through alliance and selective network expansion, and domestic partnerships to reduce operational and balance sheet risks. Americans market differentiation is based on emphasizing and meeting the needs and expectations of high value customers (particularly large global corporates) and better alignment with the one world airline network and value proposition. Also, being the lead carrier between not only the United States and Latin America but, increasingly, the world and Latin America—connecting through Dallas, Los Angeles, or Miami. This strategy makes sense; if they can get all labor work groups on board, they should be able to make it happen. That is still the main challenge, as is competitor contestation, particularly from larger traditional rivals like Delta and United. Improve Customer Demand Lower Operational Costs American passenger division which already has 57 fewer planes in service than an year ago, should further shrink by another 57 planes this summer. This would improve operational efficiency. Current service levels include 275 cities with a fleet of over 1000 aircraft. American carries about 80 million passengers daily and receives more than 329,000 reservation calls, handles more than 293,000 pieces of luggage and flies more than 4300 flights in one typical day. In order to reduce costs further over 27000 jobs will have to be eliminated. Because of high competition in the industry, substantial price fluctuations occur related to fares. Enhance Customer Base Increase value added services offered through our interactive website, AA.com. Any differentiation that convenience added capabilities offer is the center of focus. Busy hiub systems and schedule patterns need to be looked at to improve efficiency and routing effectiveness, thereby enhancing customer experience. We need to do rigorous marketing to attract more customers. Our marketing is currently focused on seasonal and business travelers and much analysis is taken in order to optimize peak travel seasons as well as frequent flier miles programs and pints systems. The Making More Room in coach program is the original marketing ploy of American to project a perception of higher passenger comfort levels. As increased advertising and intense market share is gained, we will continue to remain a key player assuming passenger demand goes up as projected. We will focus on upgraded in-flight entertainment systems, football game special fares, and buy-on board meal options to further enhance customer experience. Improve Network American Airlines new network strategy is designed to improve profitability by offering the routes and schedules that attract and retain not only their own high value customers but also those of alliance partners, an important source of revenue through codeshare agreements and closely aligned loyalty programs. The network is the core product that works in concert with lie-flat seats, onboard amenities, and customer service. Latin America is a prominent focus, due in part to our strong presence in key hubs to Latin America such as Dallas and Miami. This is where the profits are. Passenger growth forecasts for Latin America for 2013-17 are 6 percent for Latin America North (Central America and the northern rim of South America) and 8 percent for Latin America South (southern cone countries such as Brazil and Argentina). This compares with 3.6 percent for Europe and 4.4 percent for Asia. Increase International Routes To follow the growth markets, we must change our portfolio mix to focus more on international rather than domestic routes. This is a gradual process, moving from 38 percent international and 62 percent domestic capacity in 2013 towards a 44/56 percent balance by 2017. As we refocus more of our flying towards international opportunities, it is likely to look towards increased code-sharing with domestic carriers like Alaska Airlines, jetBlue, and others to further enhance our network in places like Los Angeles and New York City. This is likely to have initial teething problems, due to terminal colocation and product disparity issues. For instance, the business passengers that we are pursuing may be disgruntled by jetBlues more restrictive carry-on baggage policies or by extra time and added security checks if they are required to change terminals. Refurbish domestic feed Our plan is also to diversify our domestic feed by increasing the number of regional carriers with which we do business to reduce operational and balance sheet risk. Today, we primarily get a feed from our wholly-owned subsidiary, American Eagle, which has higher costs than some other regional carriers. American Eagle is going through its own restructuring to lower its costs, and it may ultimately be spun off. Synergies with US Airlines Merger with US Airways will result in the largest carrier in US. It would create roughly $1.2 billion in financial benefits.

Sympathy for the betrayers and the betrayed Essay Example for Free

Sympathy for the betrayers and the betrayed Essay More than would be imagined, it is sometimes more difficult to sympathise with the victims of infidelity; easier than we might have imagined to sympathise with the betrayers themselves. To what extent do you agree with this estimation in relation to the three texts chosen? In none of the three texts can it be said that the adulterers elicit or deserve greater sympathy than the victims of adultery. Despite this imbalance, it would unconsidered and possibly rather supercilious to simply judge the betrayers on their actions without meditating on the reasoning behind the actions and the circumstances in which the adulterers have found themselves. All the adulterers within the text (apart from Jerry in Betrayal (1978), and Rodolphe in Madame Bovary (1857)) merit a degree of sympathy, yet despite this, their actions cannot be wholly justified, and the characters cannot, therefore, be fully exonerated. The savage destruction of Emma Bovary by Flaubert, and Cresseids gruesome infliction of leprosy are certainly a cause for sympathy in both cases. Emma Bovarys death is a painfully drawn out event in which she turned whiter than the sheet at which her fingers kept clawing and soon began to vomit blood. Her limbs were contorted, her body covered with brown blotches. It is interesting to note the contrast between the description at the beginning of the novel in which Flaubert erotically describes the tip of her tongue poking between her beautiful teeth, delicately licking the bottom of the glass and the description post-arsenic in which her entire tongue protruded from her mouth; her rolling eyes dimmed like lamp globes as they fade into darkness. Notably, Flaubert focuses on the body and its indignities, which is in contrast to Madame Bovarys romanticism Similarly, in The Testament of Cresseid, Henryson depicts a disease so realistic and visceral that, as early as 1841, Sir J. A. Y. Si mpson was able to diagnose the exact type of disease Cresseid has. (1) Henrysons detailed description gave rise to at least one suggestion that he himself was a physician. The Gods marred her, declaring, Your eyes so bright and crystal I make bloodshot / Your voice so clear, unpleasing, grating, hoarse / Your healthy skin I blacken, blotch and spot / With livid lumps I cover your fair face. Cupids declaration of, Your mirth I hereby change to melancholy is one of a series of semantically opposite, yet alliterative words, which in this instance, are used to display the unfavourable contrast of Cresseids existence before her punishment and afterwards, whilst also augmenting the malicious and sadistic nature of the Gods. In Heaneys translation he writes, your high estate is in decline and fall. The is a reference to Edward Gibbons work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (1776) the literary allusion conveying the suddenness and inexplicability of Cresseids physical decline. The bleakness of her situation is summarised in the descri ption of her having to make do with a cup and clapper. They remain Her whole life has been reduced to this alliterative phrase, whilst the caesura indicates the sudden nature of her loss. Not only does Cresseid receive a gruesome affliction, the reader is also left with the feeling that her punishment is undeserved. The reason for her sentence is blasphemy, since whoever blasphemes all Gods offer insults. Betrayal is heavily frequented with profanities such as Good God, yet nothing results. In Madame Bovary, Charles addressed curses to the heavens, but not so much as a leaf quivered. The triviality of Cresseids offence in contrast to the magnitude of her chastisement displays an injustice in the name of justice, and this is borne true in the lack of consequence fastened to blasphemy in the other two texts. When Cupid retorts indignantly of Cresseids claim that I was the cause of her misfortune, one notes an irony given that all the Gods share an overwhelming involvement in all her actions and hence her misfortune. Cresseid is a puppet of the pagan Gods whims, and her lack of volition means that she should not be blamed. Fate is recurrently referred to, in for example, the lines, Cresseids most miserable and fated death (fatall destenie), Of Troy and Greece, how it could be your fate, and Fate is fickle when she plies the shears. This predestination is not a problem with which the adulterers in the other two texts must face. Further, the scornfully humorous description of the Gods, particularly Saturn who behaved in a churlish, rough, thick-witted manner, and had a rucked and wrinkled face, a lyre like lead and a steady nose run creates a further sympathy for Emma, since those that condemn her are rendered in an absurd, grotesque and humorous light. Henryson goes further when he describes Cupid as a boar that whets its tusks, he grinds and fumes, since it goes beyond anthromorphism to zoomorphism; and the description of Gods that raged, grimaced, rampaged and bawled and scoffed is a display of Gods that have unlimited power and limited judgement. Whilst Madame Bovary does not have to contend with predestination, her actions are still restricted by societys ambits and the limitations placed on women in the mid-nineteenth century. In societal terms, she has to live in the mediocrity of her provincial surroundings. It is important to note that the novels sub-title is Provincial Manners they frustrated Flaubert, and he used Emma Bovarys disgust with her class as a way of conveying his own hatred for the banality of the middle-classes. Madame Bovary shows how ridiculous the attitudes of the bourgeoisie can be. Homaiss haughtily flamboyant speeches are used by Flaubert to display the pretensions of the bourgeois. The less grandiose act by a woman who received a 25 franc award for 54 years of service giving it to our curà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ so he can say some masses for me leads the reader not to see this as remarkable, rather to see it as a sign of fanaticism, thus challenging fidelity as a certain good. Madame Bovary longs to be more ref ined and sophisticated than her environment allows her. Flauberts depiction of a black chalk drawing of the head of Minerva in the middle of a wall whose green paint was flaking from the damp is a visual metaphor for Emma Bovary, a Roman goddess amongst the banalities of life. A recurring leitmotif in the novel is that of Emma Bovary looking with her head against the window pane, gazing into the garden; it is a poignant allusion to her aspirations for a more interesting existence and also her locomotive desires, in which the garden has both a metaphorical and physically restrictive quality. Her affairs represent her both breaking out of an existence as humdrum and circumscribed as that of their hens and their dogs (2) and that she had no qualms about mistaking cul for coeur.'(2) The Emma of Betrayal has a greater degree of freedom than the other two protagonists, she, after all is running a gallery. Nevertheless, it could be argued that she is a player in amongst Jerry and Roberts game of one-upmanship; their self-absorbed competitiveness being encapsulated in their games of squash (note the punning effect with the verb squash and Rodolphes remark that he will squash him (Charles) like a fly in Madame Bovary). This remark of Rodolphes shows that he also gets enjoyment from stamping on other mens power, which is backed up in the imagery of Rodolphes Mounted stags heads in his study he gets a thrill from male conquest as well as female conquest. Harold Pinter himself commented that Betrayal is a play about two close friends perhaps Emma is simply within Jerry and Roberts story, a victim of psychological determinism, rather than Madame Bovarys societal determinism and Cresseids cosmic determinism. Both Emma Bovary and Cresseid share an existence in a patriarchal world, which Emma from Betrayal is not a part of. Madame Bovary, for example, is blessed with artistic gifts that cause Charles to proudly display her work to whoever chooses to visit his abode. However, given the restrictions placed on women during the period, the Bovary households wall would be the only dwelling for any art she may happen to create; this can be contrasted to Betrayals Emma who actually owns her own art gallery and who also has the benefit of the possibility of travelling anywhere she wants (the film notes her possession of a car: making her an agent of mobility), and is not confined to the ennui of a rustic Rouen. Madame Bovarys gender-founded restrictions are expressed in the structure of the novel. The novel initiates with a depiction of Charles schooldays, and indeed, starts with the nous form, thus centralising Charless character. At the end of the novel, Homais becomes the centre of attention, as his mounting successes are described by Flaubert, finally climaxing in Il vient de recevoir la croix dhonneur (he has been given the Legion of Honour). Emmas story is therefore trapped between Charles and Homais; the structure of the novel is mimetic of her entrapment in a male-dominated world, and these restrictions should evoke sympathy in the reader. Similarly, Cresseid is subject to male authority, which is made clear in the line Yet whatever men may think or say contemptuously, and the traditionally accepted belief of her as being merely a lustfully encumbered individual is challenged by the way in which her punishment is portrayed as having resulted from blasphemy. The popular portrayal of Cresseid in both Chaucers Troilus and Cresseid (C. 1380) and Shakespeares Troilus and Cressida is challenged by the Testament of Cresseid (1475) and evoke sympathy in the reader. Madame Bovary and Emma are mutually unique from Cresseid in that their adulterous other halves are base to a level which subtracts from the potential criticism of the primary adulterers themselves. Jerry is emotionally detached from Emma, yet still has a vulgar, sexual interest in her, as indicated in the final (yet chronologically foremost) scene in which he declares, I should have had you, in your white, before the wedding, I should have blackened you, in your white wedding dress. He later articulates, youre banishing me to, a state of catatonia, and frequently proclaims youre beautiful, youre incredible etc. However, earlier in the play, he makes short remarks and responses to Emmas questions an indication that he has no real emotional interest in her. Jerry also fails to recall with accuracy certain events relating to their relationship. For example when Jerry recalls throwing Emmas daughter in the air he believed it to be in Emmas kitchen, to which she replied, it was your kitchen. When Jerry calls her darling she responds, dont say that, because she knows that this term of endearment is not meant by Jerry. Emma puts in a lot of effort into the affair, as indicated by her yearning for a continuation of their romantic escapades: you see, in the past, we were inventive, we were determined, Jerrys disinterested response is, It would not matter how much we wanted it if youre not free in the afternoons and Im in America. This is extremely similar to Rodolphes remark Youre mad, you really are! How could we do that?, when Emma puts forward the idea of a sojourn in Paris, and is indicative of the contrasting levels of commitment between the adulterer and the adulteress. When they finally decide on their trip to Paris, Madame Bovary asks, I am counting the days. Arent you? There is also a link between that and Emmas question will we ever go to Venice? She answers her own question in Betrayal in Madame Bovary, nothing is said at all. Emmas desire for something more in their relationship is indicated in her wish for a shared home with Jerry. She is saddened by the fact that the crockery and the curtains and the bedspread have been left for so long. She later says to Jerry you didnt ever see it as a home in any sense did you?, to which Jerry replied, no, I saw it as a flat you know. Emma correctly acknowledges Jerrys desires when she finishes off his sentence with the words for fucking, despite Jerrys protestation of for loving. Emmas inability to let go of the relationship is indicated in the scene where she struggles to take her ring from her keyring and ends up throwing it to Jerry to take it off Jerry would be happy to end the relationship. Rodolphe is an even more heinous character, as indicated in his objectification of Emma: This one had seemed pretty to him, the word one rather than she makes her merely one of his many inamoratas. Even more striking is when he says, how to get rid of it afterwards (admittedly, the French elle can mean both she and it, but Margaret Mauldons Oxford translation, unlike that of the Penguin edition uses the wholly unkind it, which is much more effective in making Rodolphe appear objectionable). In both cases, the deplorable adulterers create sympathy when scrutinising the adulteresses and this is not a factor that exists in The Testament of Cresseid. If one were to be overtly cynical, it could be argued that Jerry and Rodolphe are partly correct in their views on the affair. Is an affair really all that romantic, after all? Vargas Llosa would be quick to point out the dangers of equating lust with love. Perhaps the two Emmas are looking for too much in the relationship, and are making it out to be more than it really is. Emmas amorous adventures activate an abundance of lies, yet Stephen Heath empathizes with her fabrications. He states that Emma lies, but everything lies'(3), he talks of how the narrating voice enters to state a distance from her, but Flaubert also cuts such statements, reduces their number(3). At times, the narration drifts into sympathy with Emma, at other times it condemns her. The use of a style indirect libre causes the narration to be ambiguous, and the truth of description becomes indistinguishable from the subjectivity of opinion. A characteristic example of this is when Flaubert talks about Rodolphe in the 3rd person Rodolphe had heard these things so many times that they had nothing original for him. He then reverts into Rodolphes mind: one has to make allowances, he thought, exaggerated declarations masking mediocre affection. One gets the impression that Flaubert reverts back to the narrative in the ending lines human language is like a cracked cauldron on which we beat out tunes to make a bear dance when we would move the stars to pity, however, this is just an assumption the non-use of quotation marks means the reader can never know when a characters thoughts have ended, and one gets the impression that the narrator imparts some of his own reflections into the characters thoughts. This free and indirect style not only creates a sympathy with regards to her fallaciousness, it is also creates a benignancy by virtue of the way the narration supports her own views. An example of this is when the narration wafts from she wondered if by some other workings of chance it might not have been possible for her to meet another man to a sort of agreement from the narrator in the line he might have been handsome, witty, distinguished, attractive. Heath describes this free and indirect style as a way in which the the writer and the reader become Emma, are taken up in her reverie, her imaginings. The novel, therefore, often cultivates its own sympathy by virtue of its style, which causes the writer and reader to become one with the protagonist and to experience Madame Bovarys own feelings. This can be paralleled to Henrysons voice of sympathy The Testament of Cresseid. Henryson is so derisory of the unreasonable nature of the Gods ruling that he impulsively breaks into the se cond person when he declares: Your doom is hard and too malicious, thus interrupting the sentencing and displaying contempt of court Cresseid and Madame Bovary are dissimilar to Emma in so far as they experience a development as a result of their infidelity, the former explicitly and the latter implicitly. Cresseid talks about herself in the second person when she says, Where is your chambers cushioned chair and screen / And handsome bed and hand-embroidered linen? The wine and spice, the supper that you supped on. The use of the second person is suggestive of self-derision rather than self-lamentation. She understands her situation and she profoundly remarks, All wealth on earth is wind that flits and veers. She also criticised herself: I myself will be my own accuser. This development from Cresseid makes her worthy of not so much sympathy but respect. Madame Bovarys development happens in a moment, which makes it more like an epiphany, thus lacking the cognitively prolonged nature of Cresseids development. It is also a very implicit moment in which she began to laugh, a ghastly, frenzied, despairing laugh after hearing the voice of the blind beggar. At this point, she realises the meaning of the beggars words love is unseeing (thus rendering the beggar as an representation of Cupid. Whilst Cresseid and Madame Bovary cannot be justified in their actions, their realisations do rouse respect from the reader. The Emma of Betrayal experiences no such development. An aspect of the equation still wants, namely the victims. It is certainly true that the adulterers garner a notable degree of sympathy, yet it would be very mean-spirited to identify more with them than the victims. In the Testament of Cresseid, the affected person is Troilus. Although there are only 2 paragraphs focusing on Cresseids betrayal of Troilus, they themselves being sped along by the use of enjambment, this is done more out a desire not to repeat a story successfully written by Chaucer, but also to alleviate the readers judgment of Cresseid. Later in the poem, Henryson writes of Troilus in glowing terms, describing him as having beaten down, by war and jeopardy, / The Grecian knights, and in a moment of great largesse past where Cresseid with lepers made abode and A girdle he took out, / A purse of gold and many shining gemstones / and threw them down into Cresseids dress. Troilus certainly elicits a huge amount of sympathy from the reader, especially after he for grief a lmost fell down when recalling Cresseids physical deformations. In both Madame Bovary and Betrayal, the victims of adultery are children. Jerrys lack of concern over his children is encapsulated in his gnomic description of his son Sam: Hes tall. Quite tall. Does a lot of running. Hes a long distance runner. Wants to be a zoologist. The waiter in the restaurant scene is similarly an innocent bystander who is subjected to Roberts frustrations: wheres our lunch. This place is going to pot. Same glass. Wheres our lunch? Richard Martin, in his letter to The Times Literary Supplement argued that he sees not just displaced emotion in Roberts aggression towards the waiter but the waiter himself as a displaced version of Judith: for she is the hapless, indeed dumb, waiter (4). Judith, the children, and the waiter, are all correlated because they are all affected onlookers, but they know not what by. It is interesting to note that the children do not feature physically in the play, but in the 1983 film (by David Jones), the children feature in negative-co nsequences of the characters adultery-borne vented frustrations; for example, when Jerry hollers at his son for playing music too loudly. This is paralleled in Madame Bovary, where her daughter is a victim of her infidelity. This is evidenced in the scene where Madame Bovary says to Berthe Oh, for heavens sake, leave me alone, shoving her away with her elbow. As a result, Berthe fell against the foot of the chest of draws, cutting her cheek on the brass fitting. At the end of the novel, Berthe makes her keep at a cotton mill. The chief victim of infidelity in the three texts is Charles Bovary. Despite being unsophisticated, dim-witted and a frighteningly bad doctor (his operation on Hippolytes club foot, resulting in amputation, as an example), he is still one of the novels most moral and sincere characters and he genuinely loved Emma whilst she was having licentious liaisons. Emma is often very unkind to Charles, for example, when she says; he carries a knife in his pocket like a peasant. I cannot help but parallel this to the narrator in Robert Frosts poem Mending Wall who describes his neighbour as Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top / In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. It is a particularly significant line, since Rodolphe wields a knife at one point, and this fails to elicit the same response from Emma. One strikingly poignant scene is when Charles finally sees all the letters from Emmas lovers: his deep despondency caused general amazement. He no longer went out, he saw no one, he even refused to visit his patients. People began saying that he shut himself off to drink. The final description of him is as a long-bearded, wild-looking man in filthy clothes who paced up and down noisily. For all Charles faults, it seems unthinkable to sympathise more with Emma than Charles. In all three cases, the victims garner more sympathy than the b etrayers. One should not nonchalantly accept the three primary adulterers actions as morally reprehensible; but we should acknowledge that their actions are borne out of something more complex than it would at first appear. The greatest sympathy should be given to Cresseid because her life was subject to fate; she lacked all volition owing to Henrysons depiction of the all-encompassing control of the Gods. I say Henrysons depiction because Chaucers original has been manipulated by Henryson such that it rapidly avoids the issue of her affair whilst also removing all her volition. Madame Bovary represents the repressed sensuality within us, and the reader can certainly feel for her more than the prudish and monotonous environment she inhabits (ironically, it was a puritanical society that condemned Flauberts novel for being too sympathetic to an adulteress). It is difficult to sympathise with Betrayals Emma. It is true that she longed for a more meaningful relationship with Jerry, but her dedication to Jerry is severely questioned given the initiation of her additional affair with Casey. One would have to question the disposition of any individual who sympathises with the adulterers more than the victims of adultery, as any reader of Madame Bovary would attest to. 1. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/testaint.htm 2. The Perpetual Orgy (Vargas Llosa) 3. Madame Bovary (Stephen Heath) 4. Letter from the Times Literary Supplement Word count with quotes: 3720 Word Count without quotes: 2895

The Changes To The Youth Justice System

The Changes To The Youth Justice System there have been many changes to the youth justice system over the years, having varying effects on youth crime. To discuss whether this statement is true or not, we must look at the many government legislations and initiatives that have tried to lower crime. The twentieth century has seen a huge array of moral panics (defined as an over exaggerated response to a problem, justified or not) due to many social changes, such as alcohol, drugs, pop culture, football, music, film, television and video games; these are all seen as causes to youth crime. The moral panic began with the Mods and Rockers who had expressive subcultures during the 1960s which led to skinheads, lager louts, yob culture, football hooligans, rave culture and todays young offenders and anti social behaviour. The 1970s brought more emphasis on the individuals responsibility, the 1980s brought corporatism where justice specialists had a greater influence on policies and in the 1990s where youth crime has been heavily f eatured in the media and there has been the recognition of sub-criminal activity such as anti-social behaviour. Youths have been seen as out of control in the twenty-first century because of societies strong sense of morality but this has weakened for young people, young people these days are constantly looking for fun and excitement, but youth crime cannot be labelled as a moral panic, according to the Telegraph  [1]  from 2005 to 2008, The number of under-18s convicted or cautioned over violent offences rose from 17,590 to 24,102 which is an increase of 37 per cent, however it could be argued that newspapers such as this are fuelling moral panics. The main changes to the youth justice system began with Labours win in 1997, but the system does have a history. The view on youth justice has changed dramatically since the beginning of the 19h century where children were treated as adults in court, the Reformatory Schools Act 1854 created special institutions to reform children in need of care through education; this was the first major legislation towards tackling youth crime. In 1908 The Children Act was passed which abolished imprisonment of juveniles and separated juveniles from adults and began a more welfare based approach to youth crime, juvenile delinquency had started to rise by the First World War and was seen as a problem, A social commentator in 1917 stated their vulgarity and silliness and the distorted, unreal Americanised view of life must have a deteriorating effect and lead to the formation of false ideals, (cited in Muncie 1999:50)  [2]  . The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 then defined a child to be unde r the age of 14 and a young person between the ages 14 and 18, children under the age of 10 were deemed incapable of doing wrong and exempt from prosecution, this is known as doli incapax and it created a panel of magistrates to deal with youth cases, it also created loco parentis where the courts could act for the parent. During 1948 detention centres were formed, a very early version of todays young offenders institutes and was a more punitive approach. Then came the Young Persons Act in 1969 was an important act and made many changes, it gave a bigger emphasis on the social worker and proposed that offenders under the age of 14 with care instead of punishment, police were also made to make use of cautions, however afterwards, the act was criticised for being too soft as rates of crime began to rise. Because of its many flaws, The Criminal Justice Act 1982 and restricted the use of care and custodial orders, Borstals were replaced with fixed term youth custody orders, new sentence s were created and abolished numerous times afterwards until the Criminal Justice Act 1988 which rid youth custody and replaced it with detention in youth offender institutes. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 brought secure training for those aged 12 to 15, The Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 extended community sentences and introduced tagging. Cautioning was revised in the Criminal Justice Act 1998 which restricted the use of reprimands and warnings. Before 1997 figures show that approximately 70% of all crimes were committed by a small number of young men and so with Labours win in 1997, their overhaul of the youth justice system had 3 objectives to deal with Prevent youngsters from falling in to crime, provide the criminal justice system with more sentencing choices and focus sentencing on preventing repeat offending  [3]  . Those aged under 18 are sentenced differently from adults as the criminal justice system believe that they are less responsible for their action s than adults and that sentencing should be used for reform as well as/or instead of punishment, this did change however with the killing of James Bulger by two 10 year old boys in 1993 where the murder was so violent they were tried in an adult court. The case caused a huge nationwide debate on how to handle young offenders; much of this was fuelled by the media. The government began its reform with the 1998 white paper No more excuses A new Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales this in turn lead to The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which included: The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales to deal with young offenders and reduce reoffending, the Youth Justice Service for local authorities to tackle crime, Youth Offending Teams which included members from probation, social services, police etc., anti-social behaviour orders, new community orders, local child curfew and others, although this act did cover punishment, welfare, action plans, objectives and performanc e reviews, it has been widely criticised for being too harsh with parenting orders, curfews and ASBOs. There is a clash between ASBOs which exclude offenders and the Youth Offending Teams which has a more inclusionist approach. There have been concerns that most of these efforts do not tackle the root causes of crime nor do they influence good behaviour in youths. However this act has many advantages, there is a strong emphasis on the welfare of the child such as the early intervention and focus on parenting and the parents responsibility to the child, the emphasis on restorative justice illustrates the persistence of welfare principles and the act has led to greater funding for the youth justice system  [4]  .The Home Office website lists the main causes of youth crime as troubled home life poor attainment at school, truancy and school exclusion, drug or alcohol misuse and mental illness, deprivation such as poor housing or homelessness and/or peer group pressure and these are the main areas of concern and focus points of the Youth Crime Action Plan of 2008 which set out the governments goals for the next year. The act led to huge amounts of money being spent on the youth justice system like never before, approximately  £380 million which doubled to  £648.5 million by 2007. Youth courts were established by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and deal with those aged 10 to 17, Labours plans were to try and keep young offenders out of court and emphasised the use of ASBOs community orders etc., however, the Centre of Crime and Justice studies performed an independent audit of the system in 2007 and found the key priority was speeding up the youth justice process  [5]  resulting in missed targets for Labour. It claims that the majority of the budget was spent of custody and not prevention which is pointless if the government do not want youths in custody. As mentioned earlier, the Youth Justice board was introduced in 1998 and has changed the youth crime system, by trying to help young offenders, for example, accommodation and resettlement, alternatives to custody, education, training and employment and health and has set its self targets to reduce self-reported crime and the amount of children overall in the service, however as the independent audit states: Despite regular commitments made by the YJB to reduce the number of children sentenced to custody, the latest targets have not been met. In fact, at present, performance is deteriorating, with numbers increasing by 8% since March 2003 against a target of a 10% reduction.  [6]  It could be argued that although the creation of the Youth Justice Board was a step in the right direction, it hasnt nearly been as successful as it could have been and is failing. Next are the Youth Offending teams, set up in every local authority in England and Wales and is represented by people from the police and probation to health, education and social services. According to the audit, Labour used budgets from social and health care to fund youth crime prevention which according to the report is vital to keeping youth offending down; youth offending teams are not cut out for the social aspect of youth offending which led to missed targets and overworking. The report also found that youth offending teams can only regulate youth crime and cannot reduce it which should be reformed in policy. Although many changes have been made and a lot of money spent, there is increasing fear of gang and knife crime. To have a clearer view on this, we must look at statistics; the main supplier of these is the OCJS (Offending, Crime and Justice Survey) who in 2006 performed a self reporting offending survey to 10 to 25 year olds. For example Here we can see the proportion of 10- to 25-year-olds committing an offence in the last 12 months, at its highest on 26% of all 10 to 25 year olds are committing crime, which is less than a 3rd of all young people, according to the survey 12 per cent of males aged from 10 to 25 said they had committed an offence designated as serious, eight per cent were classified as frequent offenders, and five per cent as serious and frequent offenders  [7]  . 10 to 25 year olds is a wide area of study which could include thousands of young people, of this of only at the most 12% are committing serious crimes, the statistics could be a lot worse. As stated in the summary: (it surveys people aged) 10 to 25 living in the general household population in England and Wales. The survey does not cover young people living in institutions, including prisons, or the homeless, and thus omits some high offending groups. This is a relatively big omission, if they do not survey the people in prison who have been incarcerated of crimes; they are leaving out quite a vital part of their research. Also, the research is only a study which involves interviewing; they interviewed past interviewees from 2003 and 2004 and used new people. Yet if the survey was for 2005, they would only use new people, they also compare to the 2003 and 2004 surveys, which would suggest they are comparing the same people. As mentioned the survey is predominately made up of interviewing, it does not take police crime statistics into account which could give totally different results. According to the government report- Crime Action Plan: One year on Summary, they have been successful in reducing crime, re-offending fell between 2000 and 2007 by 24% The number of young people in the criminal justice system has gone down, by 9% from 2006/7 to 2007/8, more young people are taking part in their communities than using alcohol and drugs and there had been a 22% fall in sharp object assault. The independent audit however disagrees with this, saying that the aim of reducing young offending in Crime and Disorder act has yet to be achieved and that self reported offending is not declining. In conclusion, I would agree and disagree with changes to the youth justice system have little impact on the youth crimes, in agreement rates of youth offending have declined, theres is a lot more social support for young offenders, there has been the recognition of the causes of crime, with the creation if anti social behaviour orders, less children are kept out of court, the creation of young offending teams and the youth justice board is a huge change from the past and the government has actively tried to reduce youth crime with a much better funded system. However, in some aspects the statement could be true, some people believe that there is too much focus on welfare, and not enough on punishment, New Labour had failed even to mitigate the continuing increased use of custody of young offenders, let alone reverse it  [8]  , The government seem to be focusing more on some areas than others. The independent audit found that the budget for youth crime was taken from education, h ealth and social services which were themselves vital to young offenders; they found that most of the governments targets had been missed; Youth offending teams are failing and cannot work efficiently. As the audit says A decade on from the creation of the YJB and YOTs, and at a time of rising concerns about youth gangs and violence involving guns and knives, the time has come to reappraise the role and purpose of the youth justice system and to consider what it can realistically achieve in addressing youth offending.

The Siberian Work Camp and One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich Essay

The Siberian Work Camp and One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes in three volumes the Russian prison system known as the gulag.   That work, like Kafka's The Trial, presents a culture and society where there is no justice - in or out of court.   Instead, there is a nameless, faceless, mysterious bureaucracy that imposes its will upon the people, coercing them to submit to the will of the state or face prison or death.   In One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich, we are presented with exactly what the titles tells us, one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich.   However, Ivan Denisovich spends his days in the gulag in Siberia, freezing and starving with the other prisoners while he serves the remainder of a ten year sentence.   Ivan is not a hero or extraordinary.   Instead, he is an ordinary example of the type of individual who spent their days in the gulag.   What emerges from these ordinary individuals is the strength and will to survive and at the end of the day, a day that millions of others spent just like Ivan, still find the courage to conclude "Almost a happy day" (Solzhenitsyn 159).   This analysis will focus on the historical significance of the event covered in this work, i.e., the daily life of an ordinary prisoner in a Siberian work camp in communist Russia.   A conclusion will discuss how a novel provides the reader with a different viewpoint of history than that provided by the pundit or historian.    BODY There could be few books written on any level (historical, psychological, social, etc.) that reveal as much significance about the historical period when the Russian gulag was in operation under a communist regime than the fiction of Aleksandr Sol... ...ng and surviving extraordinary conditions much like the victims convicted unfairly to prison work camps across communist Russia in the twentieth century.   Thus, the title of Solzhenitsyn's novella is apropos to the historical event described because while we are only witness to Ivan's day and Ivan is an ordinary inhabitant of the gulag, millions of other human beings endured and survived similar days, day in and day out.   Thus when Ivan concludes at the end of the novella "Almost a happy day", we see the considerable abilities and capacities of ordinary human beings to retain hope and survive against extraordinary circumstances (Solzhenitsyn 159).    WORKS   CITED Solzhenitsyn, A.   One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich.   (Only authorized edition).   Introduction by Marvin L. Kalb.   Foreward by Alexander Tvardovsky.   New York:   E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1963.

Passionate About Teaching Essay example -- Personal Narrative Educatio

Ending Statement Feminist and Critical Pedagogies I came back to graduate school last semester at the ripe-old age of 31, unsure of what I wanted to get out of it. I had spent a year in graduate studies in English at the University of Maine about six years earlier, but left because I wasn't ready to commit to an academic life. In the six years since I left Maine, my life had been anything but academic. For the first year or so, I "temped" at conventions and tradeshows, went on auditions and performed in regional theater. Then a friend of mine introduced me to her acting teacher, and I got involved in a two-year intensive acting program which forced me to look at myself and my life deeply (and luckily got me into therapy)! During that time I began a temp job at a small executive search firm where a few acting friends also worked. The job turned permanent and lasted over three years while I finished my acting program and began auditioning. Looking back now, I guess the problem was, once I finished class, I wasn't the same person who h ad originally gone out on auditions. I found myself reading books on writing (never acting) on my lunch breaks from the stifling office secretarial job. But people who asked about my life heard about my auditions and singing classes and wish to be on Broadway. I never looked at the fact that that wish was a very old, childhood wish which had slowly stopped giving me what it had for so long: something to dream about, aspire to. Something, I now admit, to make me interesting. The decision to leave it behind was painful (no one outside of "the business" could understand why I would want to leave behind such a glorious, exciting dream. Interestingly, all of my friends who were at various levels of s... ...at at least I now know that I need to teach--in some format, somewhere, and I need to apply what I've learned and continue to learn and question my own learning. But I can't decide if going on for a PhD is really what I want anymore. I always thought that was the mark of success. But I wonder if it will really allow me to work with the students I am most interested in helping. I am particularly interested in working with those who didn't get enough out of school but who decided to come back and give it another try, to see if they'd find something different this time around. I want to provide something different. I know I want to keep teaching and talking about teaching. I know I want to keep the hope that teaching writing is valuable and opens up possibilities for students who maybe thought they had none. Is that too naive? Maybe. But it seems like it's worth a try.

A Rebirth & story Essay

A thirteen year old boy named Brian Robeson is the central character in Gary Paulsen’s novel entitled Hatchet (Paulsen, 1999). Brian left Hampton, New York to visit his father. He boarded a plane to the Canadian north woods. Unfortunately, the pilot suffered from a heart attack and died. The young boy was left with no choice but to take over the controls of the plane. Following a traumatic fall, the plane crashed into a lake in the Canadian woods and left the boy stranded. Brian’s mother gave him a hatchet to use in the woods whenever he gets a chance to visit his father. Fastened to his belt at the event of the crash, the hatched served as his only possession that survived the accident. It was a constant element in the young boy’s adventure. His ultimate rescue was made possible when he got the survival pack in the plane through the use of his hatchet. The survival pack contained a transmitter which allowed him to send a signal to the rescuers. He suffered a painful transition when his parents divorced. Brian is an exceptionally dynamic character. As a young boy accustomed to the comforts of city living, he undervalues the conveniences of the life he lives. Yet when he was stranded in the woods, Brian emerged as an independent and mature man who gained a better understanding of the world. It took time for him to learn how to love and respect his environment. In the same way, moving on from his parents’ divorce took him some time. Initially, Brian was a picture of resentment, frustration, and helplessness. However, his adventures in the woods transformed him into a man he never knew he could become. He acquired lessons and adopted traits necessary for survival. A newfound appreciation for his environment and the sense of harmony in mind and body molded his character. Brian developed into a man capable of surviving not just the woods but life in general. He learned the value of patience. The virtue allowed him to mature. If he was who he used to be, setbacks would have already immobilized him. However, he was not his old self anymore. Thus, setbacks become manageable. The moment he came to a realization that feeling hopeless and frustrated will not do him any good, Brian learned to control his temper. It was through a process of trial-and-error which allowed him to succeed in building a shelter and in hunting for food. In the event of failure, he learned from his mistakes and never dwelt on them. When problems arise, he tried different approaches whenever possible until he succeeds. In the woods, he gained a well developed sense of observation. He used his senses not solely as a means for survival. His senses helped him grasp the beauty of his natural environment. The continuous stimulation of urban life has dulled his senses. The comparative peacefulness of the woods made it possible for him to perceive sound anew. Through it, Brian was able to pick up on different of sounds since he has learned to hear them. In the beginning, the view of the woods and the lake seemed to be a blur. Eventually, he was able to see its beauty. His now perceptive sense proved to be an indispensable tool in order to survive. He acquired a new appreciation for nature and the independence that is essential when the comforts of city life are out of reach. He respects the animals who like him find shelter in the woods. He started to acknowledge the fact that he is but a living thing struggling to survive. This makes him no different to the flora and fauna around him. Prior to the plane crash, all the knowledge he has about nature was provided primarily by the books he read, the things he was taught at school and the information relayed by the media. His adventure in the woods affirmed that indeed, experience is the best teacher. When he arrived at the woods, Brian was a little overweight. He was used to eating hamburgers and the food his mother cooks for him. However, when he arrived in the woods, his food intake consisted of fish, rabbit, berries, and chicken-like birds he preferred to call â€Å"foolbirds† (Paulsen, 1999). His new diet reduced the size of his stomach leaving him with lean muscles. He himself was surprised when he first saw how his physical look has changed. Nevertheless, his physical appearance is not the sole and most profound change which took place in his person. Living in the woods has provided him a renewed perspective in life. He found harmony of mind and body when he gained a better understanding of nature. He recalled that his English teacher once told him that the mind has the power to dictate the how the body behaves. It had never been so true. No goal is beyond reach for someone who stays active and maintains a positive outlook in life. For Brian, the body and mind connection is something he has never felt before. It signified a growing comfort with his natural environment. The aforementioned changes were a sign his emerging manhood. Brian used to define his own identity through his parents. In this regard, his parents’ divorce caused a significant impact on his person. It brought about utter pain on the young boy. He came to believe that future will not be as stable as it used to be. The solace he used to find in his identity with his family had gone. He was unprepared to define himself as an adult. Much so, he does not know where to find his own sense of identity as an individual. The plane crash and his consequential stay in the woods are the events which compelled Brian to begin to accept and finally deal with his damaged sense of self. When he was confronted with the challenge of survival, he only had to pick one choice. Brian was forced to decide whether to learn to be tough and mature in the process or to helplessly die. He chose the former and accepted the challenge that fate has brought on his way. He succeeded and emerged from the experience as a man with a sense of responsibility. Brian then became a person ready to take on the pressures that come with growing up in a world devoid of comfort. Reference Paulsen, G. (1999). Hatchet. Aladdin Paperbacks: New York.

Developmental Psychology and Children Essay

1.1 An explanation of the legal status and principles of the relevant Early Years Framework and why the early years frameworks emphasise a personal and individual approach to learning development. The department of Education have issued a statutory Framework for Nursery settings, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage. The framework sets the legal requirements for the care of young children relating to Learning, Development and Welfare. The EYFS framework sets the UK standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. The curriculum is built around four principles: 1.A Unique Child 2.Positive Relationships 3.Enabling Environments 4.Learning and Development To give a basic understanding of the four principles, I will explain them below: A Unique Child You should focus on how children develop and recognise they are all different, but should be treated equally. Positive relationships and good communication are vital. Children need to learn about risks and safety, how to make good choices and how to stick to boundaries. Positive Relationships The theme is about children learning to manage their feelings and build relationships. You should respect all kinds of families and aim to develop a positive two-way relationship with parents. You will support, listen and work with the children to help them learn.Have a nominated key carer for each child to ensure they have the opportunity of building a close relationship and are well monitored during their time with you. Enabling Environments Plan and check on each child’s progress and make every attempt to involve parents and the local community. Ensure that inside and outside spaces of the nursery are safe, interesting and engaging. Learning and Development Focus on ensuring young children learn through play and exploration, with support for each individual. You should encourage children to develop imagination, to get actively involved in learning and to make decisions. Make every attempt to develop children’s creative and critical thinking, balancing the need for both the children and adults to lead the learning. Always work towards the following specific goals to help keep within the framework: †¢Personal, Social and Emotional Development, helping to build confidence, concentration, independence and respect. †¢Communication, Language and Literacy, developing speaking and listening skills and beginning to read and write. †¢Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy, focusing on number work, mathematical ideas and thinking. †¢Knowledge and Understanding of the World, helping children investigate and think about their place in the world. †¢Physical Development, relating to developing physical skills and understanding. †¢Creative Development, centred around building children’s imagination. †¢Welfare, ensuring we are all aware of our responsibility for children’s welfare. We will look after your child properly and help them to stay healthy. We also ensure the Red House is a safe and positive place for children