The Duty of the Employer to the Employee is the sole focus of Health Essay

The Duty of the Employer to the Employee is the sole focus of Health and Safety Law in Ireland - Essay Example Regardless of the post or position in an organisation each and every employee is protected by the law governing provisions on safety conditions in an organization. However, many organizations breach these laws. For this reason, employees have the responsibility of ensuring they receive the proper safety precautions from their organization. Additionally, employees should demand compensation in case of an accident in their organization2. On many occasions, many employees choose to sue their organisation in case of an accident. However, there are laws that protect an organisation from unnecessary law suits. In Ireland, employees are protected by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). The body is responsible for the provision of guidelines under which employees and employers relate to workplace safety. The organisation also provides evaluation and analysis reports on the state of workplace safety in Ireland. The body also governs the way in which workplace safety disputes are solved. Workplace safety in Ireland is the creation of HAS since it has been functioning as a workers union in the country in terms of protecting employees from hazardous working environments3. The author further argues that the establishment of the organisation was a big step towards the global campaign of ensuring employers is responsible for their employees’ safety. As a nation, Ireland has large industrial market under which millions of human resources are employed across the nation. This number is also comprised of the self employed persons. Additionally, employers are also including both public and private companies4. Under the HAS all these organizations are governed by the rules and regulation provided by the organization. The large industrial market in Ireland greatly depends on the effort by the human resources and for this reason they have to be protected from hazardous working conditions. In a workplace safety report according to the HSA there was 7658 non-fatal accident

Historical Maritime Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Historical Maritime - Research Paper Example New York harbor is the biggest harbor with most business activities in the United States. It has several boroughs including Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and Manhattan. This study focuses on the Manhattan locale and evaluates various transformations that this port has undergone. Notably, it was the first to emerge while the emergence of the remaining ports was triggered by intense pressure from the civil war. Historical evidence affirms that Manhattan locale has undergone significant changes since 1800. The Manhattan port is considered one of the busiest ports in the New York harbor. It is comprised on the upper and lower Manhattan and hosts various commercial and business activities. In this regard, the gross metropolitan product from this area currently stands at close to one trillion dollars per year (Ascher 44). This is partly attributed to its location within the New York harbor. Seemingly, its centralized location increases its accessibility by business persons and ent ities. In addition, the port is comparatively popular than the rest because it is situated at the original New York harbor. The locale has an estimated 3.2 thousand hectares as office space (Ascher 44). A century ago, water transport was solely employed by the populations that bordered Manhattan. Through shipping, they were able to transport their goods and products from one continent to other (Ascher 44). In other words, the larger New York Harbor played an instrumental role in improving interactions between various populations. It is widely agreed that the Manhattan was relatively busy and supported a host of economic and commercial activities (Miller, 36). At this point in time, the populations that were both inland and those bordering the sea relied heavily on the harbor for conveyance of important commodities. Current trends indicate that activities in the port have eased. The ship traffic has also reduced considerably and seemingly and according to Rodrigue, the port is less c rowded (Rodrigue 54). Currently, statistical evidence indicates that less than 500 ships dock at the harbor on a monthly (Kellner 59). This is attributable to the technological developments that have occurred in the road and air industry. For this reason, the consumer population has shifted its perceptions and greatly appreciates the services of the road, air and rail industry as compared to the services provided by the shipping industry (Revell 38). This trend has further been enhanced by the technological advancements and especially the use of internet and mobile phones in information exchange. The mere reduction of shipping activities implies a great change in the shipping industry (Jackson and Ho 47). Arguably, this has had diverse implications for the profits and general returns of the industry. In this regard, these are less profitable than their counterparts. There have been significant demographic changes in the locale too. Likewise, these have had diverse various implicatio ns on the social and economic wellbeing of the same. In particular, the population has decreased by a significant 30% (Gannon 5). Besides indicating a change in the perceptions and attitudes of the populations about shipping, these changes also imply that the economic benefits have shifted to other areas. Most importantly, they indicate that other transport and communication options such as road and air are developing very fast (Malcom

Types of Phobias Essay Example for Free

Types of Phobias Essay Our psychics still stands very far away from the complete understanding of the processes that take place inside our mind. One of the striking evidences for this statement is the widest variety of fears that quite often enthrall people, and what is more, there are no easy ways to find any reasonable explanation to expand their origin. However, this problem is widely discussed in psychology and there is a special term to denote strong fear, aversion or terror, phobia. Anyone can be affected by phobia – even celebrities such as Nicole Kidman who is afraid of butterflies, Johnny Depp who is terrified of clowns, and Christina Ricci who is scared of sharks in the swimming pool. In this essay we shall describe a number of different instances of phobia and illustrate that generally they can be divided into to types, namely those which fall under rational explanation and respectively those which are based on deep psychological roots and defy any rational interpretation or explanation. Exactly the complexity and even sometimes impossibility to explain certain phobias, together with the need to apply an individual approach to examine each such case allows us to assert that our psyche and mental activity still is full of uncountable mysteries. Hundred thousands or even millions of people all over the world suffer from acrophobia or in other words the fear of heights. Basing on evidences and psychological studies this is likely to be the most spread form of phobias. Many of us have met people who feel petrified staying on an absolutely safe balcony of the skyscraper. So these are the apparent victims of acrophobia. There is little or no distinction between this kind of phobia and bathophobia, fear of depths; both involve fear of falling. The both forms of phobia have a simple rational explanation. Height and depth contain certain potential danger for a person. What helps realize this danger is person’s instinct for self-preservation, which compels a person to leave potentially dangerous place. However, in some cases the instinct for self-preservation transforms into exceptionally acute form, known to us as phobia. Another instance of phobia is arachnophobia or fear of spiders. Unlike the phobias discussed above this kind of fear is not related to the possible danger for life and cannot be explained by any reasonable means. To understand this phobia nature let us illustrate the particular case described in the newspaper Daily Record. Carol-Ann Swanson has been scared of spiders since she was a girl. At the age of 29 she admitted her tendency to scream and run away from anything that looked remotely like a spider and understood it was not quiet a normal thing for a psychiatry worker, so she decided to find the reasons for her fears. The psychoanalysis brought her back to her childhood when Ann’s older brother used to get her to close her eyes put a spider in her outstretched hand. Later that fear became a firm phobia in primary school. The teacher found out she was scared so she put a poster of a huge spider on the wall and asked her to touch it. The whole class discussed her fear, so it made her feel really embarrassed. Even the pom-pom spiders that hung from the classroom ceiling were terrifying. Thus we can see that in this given example through thorough psychological analysis one can derive the origin and explanation of the phobia. Nevertheless, there is a huge number of phobias which cannot be so easily interpreted of studied. For instance, if a lot people do not often feel very happy when seeing a spider then arachnophobia does not seem too abnormal phenomenon. However, such phobias like ailurophobia (fear of cats), koniophobia (fear of dust), anthophobia (fear of flowers), aurophobia (fear of gold) are considerably more complicated for interpretation. The problem of phobia origin still contains a lot of undiscovered facets. Among them the specialists (Kleinknecht R.) underline the following: Why some people at certain circumstances suffer from phobia and others do not? Why a person cannot overcome his or her phobia by the understanding that this fear is groundless? Are there any universal methods applicable to all people suffering from phobia? While there are no direct answers to these questions there is a strong need to apply individual approach to study each particular instance of phobia. The difficulty and sometimes even the helplessness in dealing with phobia gives the grounds for claim that our mind and mental processes occurring there still present a lot of riddles to be solved. References: Kleinknecht, Ronald A. Mastering Anxiety: The Nature and Treatment of Anxious Conditions. New York: Insight Books, 1991. Does This Tarantula Scare You? Amazing irrational fears that plague so many terrified victims; The like Carol-Ann You Are One of 50,000 Scots with a Phobia. Lifestyle Coach Alastair Campbell Helps Her Face Her Demons. Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) 2 Mar. 2005. Biography.ms. Retrieved on 22 Jan. 2006 from http://www.biography.ms/List_of_phobias.html

Sociology Essays Racism Football Sport

Sociology Essays Racism Football Sport Racism Football Sport Real Literature Review The phenomenon of racism in football is not as old as the conflict of racism in society in general, but neither is it as recent as the current worrying situation in which some to believe (Back et al.1998). Back et al. (1998) identified that football grounds have provided one of the largest public arenas in which racism can be openly expressed. It is against this background that the phenonomenon of racism in football has led to wide spread discussion during the past couple of decades within the media, amongst policy makers and in the wider football community. Recently, there has been a increase in the study of sport, racism and ethnicity (Jarvie 1991). Numerous factors which will be explained have undoubtedly contributed to fuel this interest. However, a couple of considerations appear to have been of great importance. Firstly, black sportsmen and sportswomen throughout the world have experienced remarkable successes in international sport (Jarvie 1991). According to Mercer, (1994) and Shohat and Stam, 1994) this may be due to the fact that apparently each positive stereotype has a negative result. Therefore, as black men and women have come to excel in various sports, people of a non ethnic backgroundhave needed an explanation for why what seemed to be an inferior race can outperform a superior one. This may be one of many factors which may have encouraged resentment for their success which in turn could have lead to abuse in a racist nature. Secondly, a disproportionately high level of athletic participation by diverse ethnic minority cultures has often been used by liberal minded sports enthusiasts as an excuse to indicate that there is no racism in these arenas. These authors use these examples to try and illustrate that there is no form or racism in certain sports, however authors such as (Williams 1992, 1994; Turner 1990; Holland 1992a, 1992b, 1995) have proven otherwise. Bairner (1996) and Guha (1997) who are thought to be sporting enthusiasts argue the assumption that sport itself is relatively free from racism and that sport, more than any other sphere of society, enjoys a certain degree of democratization and equality according to Jarvie (1991). However, â€Å"such accounts of sport which make general inferences about the changing nature of racial relations in society based on a consideration of athletic participation rates† (Jarvie, 1991, p. 3) are misleading due to their ignorance of the broader issues of power and domination within society. Although there has been a sizable interest of studies in the area of race and sport in the UK (Chappell et al. 1996; Norris Jones,1998) focusing primarily on the issues of â€Å"stacking† and â€Å"centrality† is useful evidence in a descriptive term. However, in terms of quantifiable data indicating that there is a decrease racism in sport, it would be very nave to gain assumptions that their was a decrease in racism in sport from these sources. Maguire (1991) has therefore recognised that there is a need for greater qualitative as well as quantitative research into the area in the â€Å"hope that a more rounded picture may be produced† (p. 100). Although some qualitative research involving racism in English football has been carried out (Cashmore,1982; Howe, 1976; Maguire, 1991), these studies only concentrated on the experiences of top level Black players. This has been highlights to identify there is very little data on the experiences of racism on lower league footballers. Therefore, this is a worthy study because not only will it explore the different avenues of racism, but will also give a broader picture as to the experiences of racism in lower league footballers. It is believed that non-league football, which consists of the middle section of the football hierarchy in the United Kingdom, would prove to be a grounded place for such a study for a variety of reasons. First, the realities of race relations could well be more real at lower levels of the game than in the polished environment of professional sport (Hoberman, 1997) due to its less cosmopolitan nature (Maguire, 1991). The need to investigate below the top level of sport has been echoed by Horne (1996),who stated that focusing on the lower level of soccer culture may be beneficial in understanding the differing forms of attachment to, and identification with, the game for Black players, as these everyday levels could well be â€Å"important sites for consolidating and possibly transforming racist attitudes† (p. 61). He further stated that investigations at different levels of soccer are needed if involvement of ethnic minorities in sport and in the wider community are to be better understood and appreciated Racism is undoubtedly a sensitive issue and it is important to be clear on what racism is when conducting the research. What is Racism? As quoted from the McPherson report from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: ‘Racism in general terms consists of conduct or words or practices which advantage or disadvantage people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. In its more subtle form it is as damaging as in it overt form.’ (Macpherson, 1999: 6.4) According to Long et al (2000) racism arises from the belief that people can be divided into physical genetic categories that make some superior to others, a belief which is then used to justify inequality. He also goes on to explain that ‘recently racism has been recognised to extent beyond supposed biological superiority to others to encompass notions of cultural differences’ (Long et al, 2000 p. 15). Further to this point Solomos and Back (1996) who conducted a study on racism in society states that racism can be seen as a mutable and changing phenomenon in which notions of biological or pseudo-biological cultural difference are utilised to explain and legitimate hierarchies of racial dominance and exclusion. Therefore there are cases where people do not realise they are disadvantaging people because of their ethnicity. This is can be referred to as everyday, subconscious or indirect racism (Long et al. 2000). It is helpful to look at racism on a broad scale to identify the common trends which may occur and compare them with the experiences of individuals in the UK. Therefore, different types of research such as †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..carried out within various countries in Europe was a practical place to begin with. Racism in football is still a major problem in Poland, Spain and Italy for instance. In the Netherlands: Ajax fans have the tradition of using Jewish and Israeli symbols to express their allegiance(Wikipedia). This shows how the picture can often be complex, as these Ajax fans are for the most part not Jewish, but use Jewish symbols because of the historical connections of the club and the area it was founded in to Jews before WW1. Within Holland fans of teams playing Ajax sometimes exhibit racist behaviour in terms of anti-semitic remarks, even though there are no actual Jewish players at Ajax another example from the literature is those Italian fans from Napoli who supported Argentinians in the world cup 1990, rather than the national team, because their local team hero Maradonna was in the Argentine side. This lack of national loyalty meant that the Northern Italian fans disliked the southern region fans and so supported anyone who played against Argentina. Examples like these two above highlight that it is not always a straight forward picture that we are dealing with in considering racism within football. Local and divided loyalties arise and sometimes exchanged, patterns of illogical racist behaviour can develop according to varying circumstances. Therefore: the racism on display in European football matches is more often than not dependent on the traditions and historic rivalries within white fans’ cultures’ (UNESCO 2000). However, there also may be common practices of racism that can be seen through out Europe and even the world. Therefore common ways to deal with it are applicable: ‘While one must recognize that the problem of racism is different in each country, a Europe-wide initiative to combat the problem must surely be welcomed’ (UNESCO 2000). Even within the UK their are a different patterns and history of racism, and different things being down to combat it. The situation in Scotland or Northern Ireland is different from that in England and Wales. For instance the investigation in 2007, against West Ham fans before the match with Spurs was over anti-Semitic chants. An example of the kind of chants that are sometimes used against Spurs fans are: Those yids from Tottenham The gas mans got them Oh those yids from White Hart Lane† (UNESCO 2000) Localised Racism Authers such as Holland et al. (1995) who considered the impact of racism by far right groups at Leeds united football club and the strategies used to oppose these by the club identified ‘that it is impossible to identify uniform patterns of racism or prejudice or race relations’, rationalize their own choice of focus on the basis that ‘terms such as race, ethnicity and sport have to be specifically â€Å"unpacked† in terms of content, time and place’. There is a general consensus that white players do not experience racism in football in the UK, however there is evidence to contradict this belief. There are in fact identity codes within football culture which reveal quite complicated racial meanings. A prime example is the song ‘I’d rather be a Paki than a Scouse’ which is regularly sung to Liverpool supporters by supporters from Arsenal and Chelsea and Manchester United fans. This song which is sung to the tune of ‘She’ll be coming round the mountain’ is directed at Merseyside fans. The intention is to demote the status people who come from Merseyside from being a normal English society, to one which is frowned upon. Therefore ridiculing the ‘neighbourhood nationalism’ of Scouseness. This is achieved by fans of different ethnicities from London and Manchester to altering the meaning of being a loathed minority which is the stigmatized category of a ‘Paki’, rather than retain their race and be a Scouser. This example ehphasises the complexities of local racialization and racial exclusion. Likewise it also highlights the fact that different minority communities may have a different hierarchal status within local society. . For example, young black men may win inclusion and even command positions of prestige within particular fan cultures while other minorities – in this case South Asians – are relegated to the status of vilified outsiders. (Williams 1992: 24) Williams has also developed a more nuanced notion of the politics of racism within English football. Interestingly he used Phil Cohen’s (1988) notion of ‘nationalism of the neighbourhood’ to discuss the ways in which minorities can win contingent inclusion within local working-class collectivities Reverse Racism The terms of racism, moreover, may in some situations also be reversed and lead to phenomena that are difficult to grasp without a sense of the inherent contradictions of contingent Racialization. For example, it has been noted that a racialized black identity can have a number of advantageous connotations within a masculine culture like soccer. In some circles, the mythical dimensions of the black body (of physical, sexual and athletic prowess) may even make a black identity preferable over a white one in terms of its ability to signify a powerful masculinity (Carrington, 2002). As a result, such racialized identities may sometimes be sought out for short term gains as kind of strategic essentialism (Mercer, 1994). Without doubt, the contingent admiration of racialized black bodies and men is not only a source of possibility within soccer culture, but also one of restraint. Racialized expectations of black performance, for example, position black players mostly in attacking roles, and much more rarely as key defenders or goalkeepers (Maguire, 1991). Moreover, this particular black identity is not available to all black players. In contrast to players of British-Caribbean descent, those of British Asian descent are rarely perceived as potentially talented professional players in any position at all. The latter ethnicity, as Burdsey has shown, is stereotypically taken as effeminate and too frail for soccer (Burdsey, 2004). Long, Tongue, Sprackle. and Carrington(1995) affirm this assumption that racial stereotyping provides a freefall for commonsense racism’ (Long et al., 1995). These assumptions transcend a belief that it true that Asians cannot play football. This in tern leadsindividuals who do not research the subject to believe that these myths are true. These views are the same for black players. Examples include ‘not being good trainers, not being any good once the pitches get muddy and not having the bottle to be defenders’ (Long 2000). A further hopeful note there is that in recent years a Japanese player, Shunsuke Nakamura has been making a considerable contribution towards decreasing racist habits amongst Scottish football fans, merely by his popularity as a player. The friendly chant there of â€Å"Oh, it’s so Japaneasy,† when Nakamura gets the ball makes a welcome change from the racist chants that are otherwise heard in football. His football shirt had become the favourite new buy amongst Children in Glasgow, and they have welcomed him as one of their own, so that: The Japanese midfielder revealed in the pages of the official club magazine, The Celtic View, that he would even contemplate extending his contract with the Hoops, such is the manner in which he has acclimatized to life in the West of Scotland. (Soccerphile Ltd, 2000) In a 1995 England vs. Republic of Ireland friendly match in Dublin saw considerable trouble from hard core group of right wingers, including the BNP and Combat 18 groups. They chanted anti-republican songs that led to such bad fights that the game was actually called off, only half an hour later. Research into such things brings to light the cultural nature of racism in football. It comes out in ways that depend on the wider culture that it is within. Clearly the long history of trouble between Eire and England is the background to the 1995 scenes. In a habit that is similar that outlined in Italy where the northerners call the southerners blacks there is also a tendency towards antagonism between the North and South of England. The chant: â€Å"I’d rather be a Paki than a scouse (Liverpudlian)† is sometimes used by the fans of some southern teams playing against Liverpool. Tim Crabbe, principle lecturer in sport sociology at Britain’s Sheffield Hallam University notes the significance of using such race related words: These insults only work because of the stigma that these racial groups still suffer in the minds of large swathes of white European society. As such, race often stands on the sidelines, ready to be mobilized in circumstances where it is deemed appropriate within the ritualized abuse of a football game (UNESCO, 2000) Dramatic incidents like these focused the public’s attention, and attracted widespread debate in the media about the role of racism among certain groups of supporters and about violence and hooliganism. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that most studies of racism in football tend to concentrate either on the nature and extent of racist abuse in and around football stadiums (Holland 1992a, 1992b, 1995), or are preoccupied with the recruitment activities of extreme right-wing movements (CCS 1981; Leeds Trades Council 1988; Waters 1988). In addition a number of writers have analysed the phenomenon of the growing presence of black players in football, notably Cashmore (1983, 1990), Woolnough (1983), Hill (1989) and Vasili (1994). While most studies have focused on the issue of fan behaviour, racism is apparent at other levels. Football racism Theories In terms of scholastic writing and in the minds of the general public, racism in football is often associated with the hostile behaviour of groups of hooligans in and around the stadium (Holland 1992a, 1992b, 1995, Garland and Rowe, 2001; Back et al 1999; Jones, 2002). Nevertheless, it has been acknowledged by Brown (1998) that racism exists amongst ordinary soccer fans, players and even amongst referees and coaches (King, 2004). Racism has also been identified amongst referees and coaches and in the institutional regions of football associations such as executive committees of football clubs (Back et al., 1999). Further to this point, a number of writers have analysed the phenomenon of the growing presence of black players in football, in particular Cashmore (1983, 1990), Woolnough (1983), Hill (1989) and Vasili (1994). Although, most studies have concentrated on the issue of fan behaviour, racism is evident at other levels. Authors such as Back, Crabbe and Solomus, (1999) have indicated that the majority of the literature on racism in football overlooks the issue by reducing the problem to a clearly identifiable, overt form in which everyone can recognise as racist behaviour. A prime example would be racist hooligan groups (Back et al., 1999). They suggest instead that racism in football should be considered as a part of global football culture. Interestingly, Back et al. (2001) recognised that identifying racism is a more complex than task than originally perceived. They identified that there lies four domains in which racism can be measured in football culture. These can be identified as the ‘the vernacular’, ‘the occupational’, ‘the institutional’ and ‘the culture industry’. The ‘vernacular’ domain relates to those forms of racist behaviour which can be identified by society as a negative form of abuse within football. These problems include explicit racist chanting amongst fans. This also includes local rivalries which can be identified as a form of ‘neighbourhood nationalism’ (Long, 2000) which can lead to racist behaviours within and outside the stadiums (Crabbe, 2004). An example of this is the 1995 England vs. Republic of Ireland friendly match in Dublin which saw considerable trouble from hard core group of right wingers. The second domain which has been identified is the ‘occupational domain’ which concentrates on the forms of racism players experience at their football clubs. These can include experiences on the training ground and in the chaning rooms. Racist actions which can also be identified in this domain include the process of ‘stacking’ players in certain positions which comply with historic racial folk law views of successful positions for some for ethnic minorities (Maguire, 1991) EXAMPLE The ‘institutional’ arena involves the administration and management of the football. Racial issues which arise from the institutional domain include a lack of access for ethnic minorities towards decision making and policies and at the club. racialized patterns of club ownership, and a lack of representation of different ethnic groups on management and club boards. It also involves the shapes of social networks that can constitute racialized networks of patronage, which hinder access of certain minorities in football (Solomos and Back 1995 and Burdsey, 2004). This is reflected due to the growing number of black and ethnic players, emerging from professional football. It would be natural to think that this development would naturally transcend to the institutional forums of football. However, this has not had a significant impact on management, coaching or in the board rooms (Solomos and Back 1995). The fourth domain, ‘culture industry’, looks at racism involved in biased representations of football players from different ethnic backgrounds in the popular media and patterns of advertising and sponsorship that support them (Hernes, 2005). The four arenas of racialization in football mentioned above bring to light the different ways in which racial exclusion can occur within football. This shows that there has been a development on the notions of racism which illustrate that there is in fact more depth to the origins of racism compared to previous authors such as Williams (2001) who relate racism in football with hooliganism and violence. Therefore, this research has focussed on all the aspects of racism which have been identified in the literature. However, in particular finding out if the more covert forms of racism are existent at lower league football. Initiatives In addition, the Football Offences Act was passed in 1991 which criminalized racial chanting or abuse (Armstrong, 1998). Nevertheless, according to Welsh (1998), the undoubted racialized nature of the fan environment has resulted in â€Å"a generation of black people [having] been hounded out of football by overt racism† (p. xii). Emphasizing this point of a continuing racialized environment, he went on to ask, The Football unites, racism divides initiative (FURD), started in 1995 by some Sheffield United fans focuses on the issue of increasing the participation of people from ethnic minorities in football in a variety of ways. They note: It has long been the case that a number of fans have used Saturday afternoons at football matches to air their racial prejudices but it is now recognised that this minority of racist fans is only part of the problem. (FURD, 1997) They help make it clear that in order to decrease racism in football it is also necessary to get people from ethnic minorities involved, not just as fans, but also as players, mangers, etc. FURD indicates that the UK was the first country to try to tackle racism in football in an organised way. The ‘Let’s Kick Racism out of Football’ campaign was started in 1993, also the ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ came soon after. Now there is a Europe wide effort, the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network. The Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football is now well established within the UK and aims to prevent racism through a variety of aspects. Kick  It Out works throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge racism and  work for  positive change. (Kick it out, 2007) They target Professional football players and clubs with advice, and try to get to Young people in schools and youth clubs. However, more specific to this research project, they also attempt to prevent racism within Amateur football, and so stop it growing into the professional side. They also, in conjunction with the most recent developments in combating racism in football try to help various Ethnic Minorities, especially Asians become involved with football. The (SIRC) notes two important points, that racism: an important factor in the problem of football hooliganism itself (SIRC, (2007). The actual extent of racism is virtually impossible to measure as detailed statistics in this context are almost non-existent. The issue of football hooliganism was better known, at least until recently in the UK. Of course it is a less contentious issue, as the vast majority of people can easily condemn it. When it comes to racist hooligan behaviour then the issue become that divisive. Since, it appears many in the UK still harbour racist attitudes in various ways. Another aspect of the literature that has informed the present study is the issue of right wing groups and racism. Groups like the BNP are often associated with racism in football. It is an issue to consider as to why the groups are attracted to each other: Some debate also exists as to whether right-wing groups deliberately target soccer fans as recruits or whether soccer fans are drawn into the groups because of the opportunities they offer for violence. (SIRC, 2007)It appears that some researchers think right wing groups do deliberately target football fans. Others think that they are opportunist and use violence as a way to direct aggression against those they see as their enemies, i.e. ethnic minorities Types of Racism A study in 1999 by Jon Garland and Michael Rowe attempted to consider three aspects of racism in football and efforts made to combat it: the conflation of racism with `hooliganism; the role of antiracist campaigns within the game; and the denial of the problem of racism within football. (Garland and Rowe, 1999: 335). They suggest that although the various efforts by fans and clubs are good, they lack an academic rigor in the way that defines racism and other important concepts. This is not just academic nit picking, but something that actually affects real efforts. For instance there is often too much attention paid to large scale, obvious examples of racism, such as a group of fans self consciously giving the Nazi salute. This at the expense of more subtle examples of racism at the everyday level. They suggest that these everday forms of racism are actually more harmful to individuals because of the impact on their ordinary lives which can cause psychological upset in a way that is, though hard to quantify, deeply felt. Garland and Rowe note that initiatives would benefit from having more sociological thinking behind them: Adopting these perspectives at the local level would help both clubs and fans to develop and sustain more meaningful programmes that suit the prevailing conditions. (Garland and Rowe, 1999: 335). Overt racism among supporters and abuse directed at black players, both of which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s, have declined steeply in recent years in the face of vociferous public campaigning such as the kick it out campaign. EXAMPLE – JOHN BARNES However, Crabbe, (2004) goes on to note that the underlying negative feelings against black players appears to still be there. Also, that, unfortunately in other European countries it is not even implicit EXAMPLE LEWIS HAMILTON 2008. The racism is still very much explicit and in your face. He notes the singing of chants like Get out, get out, queers, niggers, Basques and Catalans in Spain and anti-Semitic slogans written on club walls in Italy. In addition, some researchers think that there has been something of a return to racist behaviour in football in the last few years. (Cowley 2003) comments on the possible cause of this: the present rise stems partly from the growth of racism within society generally The present war on terror has brought about increased suspicion, hatred and outright hostility to Muslim communities in Britain. (Cowley, 2003: 55) Statistics in 2000 from the Football League national fan survey sagest that three out of ten of fans had heard racist remarks aimed at players in the 1999/2000 season. 7% had seen racism towards other fans. These figures are very similar for the FA Premier League. only 4% of all FA Premier League fans surveyed thought racism was getting worse at football matches at that level in 2001. Although, half way through 2001 apparently racially motivated organised groups of fans and others were involved in serious disturbances in Oldham before the Oldham Athletic v Stoke City match. This appeared to be the catalyst which caused disturbances later in northern cities to ethnic minorities who retaliated to these supporters and racist organisations (Williams, 2001). Inconspicuous forms of Racism The focus on different cultural domains and interactions outlined above has particular consequences for the way racist behaviour is understood, and its reproduction theorized. Overt and instantly recognisable racist acts can no longer be taken as shorthand to classify a person as belonging to a deviant group of soccer fans that is characterized by moral degeneration (that is, racist/hooligans). As (Garland and Row, 1999) state, they should rather be seen as expressions of a larger racialized culture of Football. Therefore, the solution to understanding racism does not lie solely in the study of the content, consequences and intentions behind the overt racist act itself. Interestingly it also requires taking into account the cultural context in which such acts become meaningful expressions (Miles, 1997). Further to this point Miles (1997) declared that the cultural context of racism is repeated through continued development of Racialization, which are contained in the unobtrusive, sub-conscious ins and outs of everyday life. These everyday endeavours can range from a simple joke about black players in the changing room to differential racist expectations on the training grounds and the development of mono-ethnic sub-groups of players within mixed soccer clubs and teams (King, 2004). These practices do not necessarily produce overtracism, nor may people identify these expressions with that of a racialized nature. However, by reproducing a racialized situation they are in fact, fuelling the catalyst for overt racist abuse to occur in meaningful ways. Since the potential for meaningful expressions of racism lies in sets of racialized practices and interactions of wider soccer culture, the usual focus on the perpetrator and victim of the racist act needs to be complemented with a similar rigorous attention for the culture in which the act was expressed. Racialization implies a set of differentially racialized cultural contexts it also constitutes a move away from the common assumption that such a context is formed by a single, coherent racist ideology. Instead, it allows for an understanding of the contradictions and incoherencies within and between the expressions of racism in different domains of soccer culture. For example, white soccer fans can racially abuse black players of the opposite team Whilst supporting those on their own team, (Garland and Rowe, 1999) and racist abuse is also common between different non-white ethnic groups and in situations where the white majority is underrepresented (King, 2004). Institutional Racism in football? Back et al (2001) interestingly made some intriguing observations when invited to a Carling No.1 Panel of Chair of the Football Supporters’ Association. The first was that not only did this setting reflect traces of middle or upper class and status but ‘white centredness within the institutions of football more generally’ (Back et al. 2001, p. 162). It is in these exact places, where political decisions, footballing rumours, policies and job opportunities are instigated. During the visit to this setting, Back et al. noted that there was not one ethnic minority descendent sited at the location. Therefore if the most influential people in British football do not have a true representation of society (in this case people of ethnic minority who work in the footballing industry). These boards claim that their decisions are based on holistic approaches which benefit everyone at their establishment. However, if there is no diversity in at the top level of decision making, how can there be a fair conclusion in policies which embodies everyone involved in the game? This proves that the old-boy network is still active and is continuing to work along racial lines (Rimer, 1996). Back et al (1996) go on to state that it is: â€Å"easy for everyone to support a campaign against racism in football when it is targeted against pathologically aggressive, neo-Nazi thugs. It might prove a little more tricky to generate football-wide support if we were to start asking questions about the attitudes in the boardroom, on the pitch, and in the training gro

Conflict Theory Essay -- Black Man, Minorities, Correctional System

According to Robbins et al (2006), there are various concepts that are important in understanding conflict theory. These concepts include conflict, power, minority, and change. Demico Booth writes and reflects on the various aspects of his life that occurred during his incarceration, release and re incarceration. Throughout Booth’s book he reflects on why the percentage of Black men in prison continues to grow at alarming rates. Through the concepts associated with conflict theory the events leading up to Booths incarceration on both occasions can be analyzed. â€Å"Conflict is a clash or struggle between opposing forces or interests,† (Robbins et al, 2006, p.66). Throughout this time in his life Booth had to experience various clashes and struggles with people and system that he had no control over. The first direct conflict Booth had to experience was with his father. Booth was forced to provide for his younger siblings because he father and stepmother were drug addicts. Instead of being worried about providing for their family his parents were worried about sustaining their habits. What started as a positive scapegoat for Booth turned out to be a negative one. As Booth (2006) states: They would give him some crack on credit, and he and my stepmother would lock themselves in their bedroom and get high. By me being the oldest of my siblings, this especially affected me because I knew what was going on. And since my needs were greater than my younger siblings, I decided to go out and get a job so I could make some money to buy food and clothes for myself and for my brothers and sisters (p.15). Booth continues explaining this conflict by making it clear that in his father’s eyes he providing for his siblings was not a... ...standards and are on the same playing field in all aspects. As Fred McKissack (2008), questions â€Å"Exactly how can we be in post-racial America when nearly 40 percent of black children under the age of 5 live at or below the poverty line? How are we in post-racial America when the level of school segregation for Hispanics is the highest in the forty years and segregation of blacks is back to levels not seen since the late 1960s?† McKissack (2008) also points out that the employment rate for blacks has been twice that for whites and in 2006, 20.3% percent of blacks were not covered by health insurance, compared to only 10.8 percent of whites. In conclusion in order to consider itself a post racial society the United States must work on improving things such as education, healthcare, and unemployment for African Americans as well as other minorities.

Evolution of Heroism: Comparing Qualities of Ancient Heroes Versus Mod

Heroes are prevalent in everyone’s life. Whether someone’s hero is a living person or a fabled character from a movie, everybody has come into contact with some sort of hero. In fact, the concept of heroes has existed for hundreds of years, dating all the way back to Ancient Greece. However, heroes have not always been people who dress up in costumes and fight crime, as our current society would lead us to believe. No, heroes started out differently and have evolved throughout the centuries. Heroes generally reflect the ideals of their society, and while they are not perfect, they demonstrate the qualities and traits valued by their society. Heroes have always possessed distinguishing qualities, but these traits and qualities have changed drastically over time. The Greek definition of a hero is far removed from the Romantic and modern definitions of heroes. Early heroes were characterized by extraordinary physical ability and incredible battle skills, whereas contempora ry heroes rely on intellectual ability and their rebellious nature. Specifically, the original Greek heroes had god-like physiques and were deadly and unstoppable warriors. One of the most prominent Greek heroes, Odysseus, demonstrates these qualities in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. Odysseus first displays his inhuman strength in the cave of Polyphemus, the Cyclops. His men prepare a large olive stake to thrust it into Polyphemus’ eye and Odysseus â€Å"drives his weight on [the olive stake] from above and bores it† (Homer, 223) in, an astounding feat of which only Odysseus is capable. Odysseus demonstrates his physical dominance again when he escapes the whirlpool Charybdis by â€Å"springing for the great fig tree† above and then escapes from Charybdis need I say/high... ...he example of each (smart for equality, fighting social boundaries for jane) but now that you say both do that (which is true for the most part) after â€Å"mentally brilliant† such as Equality and Jane, and fight their social boundaries as opposed to physical armies and foes. In Greek society, those who were fearless and muscular fighters were the ones that were honored and praised, comma needed but in modern society, people who are exceptionally bright and courageous can become honorable heroes. A perfect example of a modern hero is Barack Obama. Barack is extremely intelligent, as this is required of any president to run a country. He is the first African-American president, an act rebellious against the normal customs of American presidents. He cannot defeat an entire army of suitors by himself, but he has used his courage and intelligence to become a hero for many.

Makerbot: The way forward Essay

The Objective of this paper is to recommend a market strategy and target market for MakerBot industry to gain better competitive advantage in the 3D printing market. The company has done greatly by focusing on the open innovation approach which incooperates the customers in the task of creating what they are going to consume. However, this could have serious hiccup on the growth of the company because sharing a patent free innovation could result in copycat machines. But the advantages of Open sources far outweighs the disadvantages as it is large enough to sustain the growth and profit of the firm. Market segmentation should be in the United State where industrialization is at its peak and the respect for innovation and invention is imminent. The survey in Exhibit 1, revealed the prospect of concentrating on two major target market for the 3D printing industry. MarkerBot should include in its target market those that uses 3D printers for commercial purposes such as manufacturers/entrepreneurs, and should also continue to focus on the hobbyist who derives contentment by creating and sharing technological invention. However, the company can decide to shift it market target to the government and non-governmental institutions in the long run. The consumer level 3D printing industry has grown very rapidly and thus, becoming intensely competitive over the last couple of years and this is in part to the open source approach by the players in the industry. MakerBot can distinguish itself by shifting it market target in the future to government institutions and NGO’s such as American Composites Manufacturers association (ACMA) and top manufacturing industries in the U.S. The government is getting more robust after the recent economic depression and so is the opportunity for the 3D printing industry. President Obama spoke recently about a possible Public-Private partnership to revive  the crumbling manufacturing city of Youngtown in Ohio using the 3D technology as a tool to meet developmental demands. The Objective of MakerBots is to build an inexpensive open-source 3D printer. If the company can continue to focus on the low end DIY’s, the market share could turn favorably to them as it has the potentials of attracting plenty of industrial customers. Strong commitment to Research and Development with targeted customers is also very important in other to keep abreast with present societal demands. The pursuit of low cost printing materials like the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is the right step in other to reduce overhead cost for end users. MakerBot has lived up to its mission statement by making it brand accessible to all. Exhibit 1 Reference: Doug Gross â€Å"Obama’s speech highlights rise of 3-D printing† Wed, February 13, 2013 (source:http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/tech/innovation/obama-3d printing/index.html)