Communication Strategies

There are about as many things that happen to a person in his lifetime as there are a million stars in the sky. Not every experience is given much thought of because of the sheer number of encounters but keeping in track of these experiences will at least make it possible for the person to relieve the experience some other time. And when we finally seize that opportunity to reflect on these experiences, that is when we get to learn from it. Franziska Tschan, a researcher, found out that for a group to reach optimum performance an ideal cycle should start with a communication referring to task preparation -- that is, orienting or planning -- and should end with an evaluation. (Tschan, 1995)

For this group presentation, there were three stages that were involved. First stage is the conceptualization and building. Second is the implementation. Third is the assessment stage. Since the first two stages are finished, we are left to discuss the last. And in discussing the assessment stage, we will also be able to reflect on what happened during the planning and implementation of this project. This reflective essay will rely heavily on the ideologies forwarded by Joseph A. Raelin in his management papers.

Introduction
My involvement in this group presentation is in researching for the data that the group will use in preparing for the visual aids. But before I am able to research for data, my group mates and I must first be able to analyze the problem carefully in order to seek for the right answers. At this point, we adopted the Standard Agenda procedure (Rothwell, 1998) in order to identify the problems that need to be answered in our group activity.

I am also tasked to analyze the information in our annotated bibliography and find out which of these reseources will be used for the soecific tasks we want to accomplish in our presentation. The theories that will be used in this reflective essay would be those that were mentioned in Raelins management books, particularly Work-based learning The new frontier of management development.

Work-Based Learning
Raelin lists the identifying factors of WBL
1. views learning as acquired in the midst of action and dedicated to the task at hand
2. sees knowledge creation and utilization as collective activities wherein learning becomes everyones job
3. demonstrates a learning-to-learn orientation that frees learners to question underlying assumptions of practice. (Raelin, 2000)

This type of learning strategy gives emphasis on the practical approach. It is centred around reflection on work practices. (Gray, 1999) This group presentation is a good example of the WBL. Since the instructor of the course gave us the task of creating a presentation, we are made to practice WBL as we acquire knowledge while doing this presentation.

It also fulfills the second factor of the WBL which is to make the learning process a collective activitiy. In contrast with activities that promote individual tasks, group activities become a more efficient and more desirable means of harboring knowledge. Why is this so We have witnessed and experienced first hand how people in groups try to arrive at a consensus after hearing dissenting opinions about an issue.  More likely, youll be weighing the difference in opinions before coming to a decision. (Tan) Unlike in an individualist setting wherein no dissenting voices will be present to offer you a perspective undermined by the position you want to adopt, group activities will be able to give you a more holistic perception about a particular matter.

And since the learning process is a first-hand experience, they are in the best position to question the principle of practice. Like for us in this presentation, it has become imperative for us to observe the relationship of this reflective essay with the literature at hand. But if we see that some of the theories are going against practical knowledge gained from operationalizing it then we can argue against it under the WBL model.

Part 1 Conflict Resolution The Upside and Downside of the Group
The first thought that came to my mind when the task was given is about time management. Considering that this is not the only subject I am taking for this term, I knew there will be a need to budget my time carefully so as not to cram my output contribution for the group. I started by looking at my groupmates and by thinking of their previous dealing with group activities. I realized as well that it will be very difficult to deal with people who are not my type. At first I didnt know what to do with this kind of grouping since I am more used to individual tasks. Later on, I learned that it is a fulfilling and experience to work in a group.

There will be always something positive or negative about staying with a group. Management experts will always warn people who are in groups to beware of group thinking (Consensus-seeking tendency in groups, 2010) too often. This is a term coined by Irving Janis who developed the concept of groupthink as a way to explain the way in which groups try to strike a consensus when there are differing opinions within the working circle. This became a downside during our group discussions especially since many different opinions aer being voiced out during conferences. Conflict management thus became an invaluable skill to avoid possible conflicts with groupmates.

On the other extreme side of this consensus-seeking tendency is the Spiral of Silence theory (Littlejohn, 2008). Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann proposed this theory saying that some of the views that a person wants to express doesnt get voiced out after all because their ideas are undermined by prevailing ideologies. Neumann says that the spiral of silence occurs when individuals who perceive that their opinions are popular express them, whereas those who do not think their opinions are popular remain quiet. (Littlejohn, 2008) It becomes self serving to only the ruling ideology of the majority while the minority continues to keep their ideas to themselves.

Since these things are already known to us right now (honestly, groupthinking and spiral of silence was present during our convening dates for this assignment but we were not able to resolve), I am confident that it will be easier for us to detect the signs of these theoretical phenomemnon and of they are present in a group activity. Next time around, it will be easier for us to resolve it as well.

Part 2 Development
In William Goldings movie entitled Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys find themselves stranded in an island after a plane crash. While all of them want to survive, they have not assigned to each person a specific task in order to get what they wanted. (Hare, 1996) Being aware of this, we were able to preempt the necessity of assigning specific tasks to each member in order to achieve our common goal to finish this activity with flying colors.

People have always been wary of groups because there is a sense of balance that must be achieved in the output given by the members. If one members works harder than another then the former might feel cheated by the latter who might be called a free loader. For our group, there are also existing issues such as this one but we did not let it cloud our vision. Instead, we had to work it out as we try to communicate the issues raised such as unbalanced division of labor.

As for the theory, group work success is always dependent on the team work among members. Personally, I felt that team work is present in our group and that paved the way for the success of this activity. It is possibly brought about by the Result Oriented Management (Result Oriented Management) that the group has adopted. We have visualized how we would want to accomplish this task not only successful but with flying colors, specifically attractive to our target audience, and within the time frame allotted for the project. Operating with this kind of apporach, we have achieved two goals first is that we have a clearly defined concept of success and second, we identified what should be done in order to reach that end point.

Part 3 Reflection on SuccessFailure
Studentscome to us with differing expectations and needs, differing orientations toward education, differing baseline skills on which to build, and differing ways of processing information. (Gorham, 1999) We know that we came from different perspectives and we used that to our advantaged rather than making it a source of conflict.

All in all, I and my groupmates consider this task as a successful one. We have been able to reach our goal. Communication transactions are dependent on listening. (Harris, 1993) Listening became both a skill and a virtue in our group discussions. Nevertheless, with the proper allotment of time perhaps we could have finished this activity faster and allotted more time in assessing how it can be further improved. The new insights that I got from this group presentation is that it feels even better if one savors the journey rather than focus on the end goal. And when you enjoy each others company, it is easier to focus on what you want to achieve.

Conclusion
We are born into a social group (the family) and, as we grow, come to play a more active part in an increasing number and range of others. (Hargie, 2003) We were made to live as part of a group and it will always be the case from time to time.

In the end, there will always be a name for a groups failure or a successwhichever is more appropriate. But it is up to the members to try to use it to their advatage or allow it to discourage them and dismantle the groups output. No matter if the theories say that something is good or bad for your group, the members (and the leader of the group, specifically) should stick to what they hold int heir hearts to be right. For our group, we believe that being ignorant of these existing theories helped rather than deter us from being successful. It is so because we did not try to fit the mold of the successful groups who have made it way before we did.

The improvement of this group output will be measured not by analysing our success rate and simply giving more time and effort to make our craft better. It will be even better if the groups weaknesses and shortcomings are the ones that will be noted. And from these shortcomings, the group will be able to reflect on how to get rid of it.

Corporal punishment has been widely used as a way of shaping behavior in the children. However, its approach is been improved everyday so that it can be more effective and fruitful to the recipient. Indeed, there are people today who thank their parents for having punished them while in their tender age. They confess that, were it not for the time they were pinched or flogged, they would not be what they are today. This is impressive and should be the sole goal of corporal punishment. On the contrary, there are adults who still go through a lot of psychological trauma due to the punishment they received from their parents or teachers. They grow with a sense of insecurity and hostility. Now, to this extent corporal punishment administered to them loses its value and meaning. This study seeks to critically evaluate the aspect of corporal punishment and its impact on family communication. It will consider the following themes theories of punishment parenting styles purpose of discipline corporal punishment and its modalities cultural and generational influences on the discipline patterns and finally recommendations to corporal punishment.

Punishment Theory
It is the act of punishing where the subject undergoes suffering, pain or loss that serves as retribution. It is a fine against the wrongdoer through judicial procedure. It is a severe, jagged or disastrous treatment. Some pain or penalty in the light of law, imposed on a person as a result of a grave misconduct or for the commission of a criminal act punishable by law (Lectric Law Library, n.d.).

It is important to note that an attempt to define punishment is not invitation to justify it. Again, punishment is administered by institutions who in turn define the ways in which punishment on offenders is to be carried out. In this case therefore, to justify the practice of punishment is not tantamount to justifying the act of carrying out this punishment. Either the practice of punishment or the act of punishment should be in tandem with certain set of guidelines such as prescribed laws, rules, standards, and fundamental moral principles. All these set of guidelines become the frame within which practice of punishment or act of punishment may be implemented or justified.

Punishment can take different modes, for example, it can mean to inflict pain on someone like in the case of corporal punishment in schools or a parent thwarting her children or police flogging a group of demonstrators on illegal mass protests et cetera. It can also mean to deprive of someone certain fundamental needs, for example, food, water, air, or conjugal rights just to mention a few. The punishment widely accepted is the one under law. In fact, punishment today is associated with legality. The judicial system is seen as an institution to punish offenders and further to this as an institution that should state what punishment for what offence is to be undertaken.

Parenting Styles
Transitively speaking, corporal punishment must proceed from an agent. Therefore, it is important to understand the nature of the agent it is argued in Latin that nemo dat non quod habet to mean that one cannot give what she does not possess. A parent cannot give love to the child if she does possess or value love a parent cannot confer discipline to the child if she is not disciplined or a parent cannot promote peace and cohesiveness in the family if she is not peaceful et cetera.

So, it is expected that the kind of parenting style there is in a family underscores the kind of punishment the same parents will accord to their children. For instance, there are parents who are very authoritarian such that they never let their children express themselves to them. In such a case, there is tension among the children such that they fear their parents very much. Of course, with such parents, there is expected uncontrolled discipline, even beating the children unnecessarily, or what one would call arbitrary punishment.

Some parents are very authoritative and democratic. They give their children a chance to express themselves to them. They do not value much in punishing their children every now and then. They prefer dialogue and only confer punishment when it is really necessary. On the contrary, there are parents who are so much absorbed in their everyday duties such that they never get to monitor the growth of their children. They are too permissive, so to speak. Such parenting style ignores the importance of controlling and guiding the childrens behavior even, at least, punishing them by use of a cane.

Purpose of Corporal Punishment
Those opposed to corporal punishment of children are a bit concerned of its extensive use and the severity accompanied with it. They note that corporal punishment is rarely used as a last resort, but is conferred regularly and for the smallest of infractions. They actually take note of the exaggerated harshness of many instances of corporal punishment. This seizes to be effective punishment and as such becomes child abuse. Literally speaking, corporal punishment involves infliction of pain on the body of a person. It can also entail forced labor and mutilating torture (Benatar p.238). He writes further that his main focus is how corporal punishment can involve infliction of physical pain without injury. Corporal punishment can be characterized by beating, hitting, spanking, paddling, swatting and caning. As mentioned earlier, corporal punishment takes place in different settings like in school or homes. In both cases punishment is by and large, inflicted without formal trials and in most cases for nonstatutory offences, that is, offences that are ordinarily perceived as moral wrongdoings.

From a consequentialist point of view, corporal punishment acts as a deterrent or reform, while on the contrary, retributivists uphold that punishment is justified if is deserved. Unlike the utilitarianists who will be more concerned with the end results of punishment, the retributivists will regard the means of punishment as more fundamental.

As such, corporal punishment should never lead to abuse, degradation, psychological torture, should never occasion the wrong lessons, should never jeopardize the relationship between the child and the parent and so on and so forth. Punishment, as such, should be an amicable way that parents or elders use to correct their children.

The essence of punishing the children must be that one wants them to grow in the right direction. Despite the kind of punishment that a child will go through, she must always feel that she is loved and all her needs are adequately met. The best way is to make sure that punishment be accompanied by dialogue. For instance, a parent can explain to the child why she got punished and the value attached to it. It is bad and offensive when parents injure their children in the name of punishment. For instance, a parent can break the hand of the child in the cause of punishing her. Therefore, one must always pay attention not to hit the child to the point of injuring her. It can happen that parents discriminate whenever they are punishing their children. When child X errors she receives more punishment compared to child Y. This is wrong There should be a fair and neutral way that parents use to discipline their kids at all times. It should not be a case where males receive much of the punishment and females get less of it.

Corporal Punishment versus Family Relationship
It can be argued and justifiably so that corporal punishment can enhance family building or it can destroy it. The aim of punishing the children is actually to make them feel that they are loved. Any feeling that they do not belong to their parents or they are not loved by their parents is unfortunate. Practically, there are children who fear their fathers in their entire life because of the punishment they got from them. They are not free to share their problems, or even chat. This is terrible Out rightly there is no cohesion and trust between the child and the parent. Such undesired outcomes are what make corporal punishment less valuable and useless.

Children should intuitively grow more in love and trust towards their parents in the event they receive some punishment. Please take note of the term intuitively. This is because a child cannot be forced to trust her parents or family members she will nurture that feeling herself. She can detect that hisher parents want the best out of her, yes they can intuitively capture that truth. They must grow more intimately towards their parents share their problems with them at no costs.

Parents will argue that they need to punish their children for the sake of putting discipline in them. It is however important to understand the system of discipline it circumvents within those boundaries of parenting behaviors that facilitate the parent child relationship, reaffirmation or reinforcement of positive behaviors, and reduction of undesired behaviors. All the three aspects mentioned are required for effective discipline in the childs behavior. It is pointless to work in a system of discipline that fails to honor the three components (Howard p.809).

What children need are good role models, whom the children are concerned about and intend to copy and please, mainly their parents. Therefore, before a parent picks up a cane or a whip on the child, she must evaluate hisher behavior. Is it portraying a good example It is pointless for a parent who comes home drunk and does not care about the children especially their basic needs, to punish the children whenever they go wrong. It is true that she has a duty to foresee the growth of the children, but on the other hand, she is not portraying a good example to them. It will be a contradiction to punish the children considering hisher status.
Children will respect and obey their parents not because they have been punished, but because their parents are well-behaved only if this is met that the children will value the punishment. Parents should always be closer to their children, talking to them more about life, helping them discover their inner strengths and potentialities, and above all reinforcing their positive behavior. A parent who rewards for good work done by the child as well as punishes for wrong doings, is a good and just parent. She can be sure that the children are finding it positive whenever they receive any form of punishment from her. It is important to reiterate that undesired behavior in the children should never go unpunished. Parents should never love their children more, that they cannot even discipline them for their wrongdoings. As mentioned earlier long, permissive style of parenting is not the best as parents will let their children do what they want.

Spanking as a form of punishment just teaches children that by hurting others are the best and effective in changing their behavior. One can think that by hurting children by hitting them is conferring discipline no, it is the opposite. This just nurtures in them a feeling that by hurting others, they will change their behavior. What is worse They will respond the same to their parents.  For instance, they could return blows and kicks in those situations that their parents hurt them.

The Impact of Corporal Punishment
There are studies to show that corporal punishment has affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes (Oddone, p. 197). There are controversies as to whether corporal punishment should be outlawed or maintained as a form of punishment. In Canada and United States, the controversy still persists regarding the value and right of parents to use reasonable force in nurturing discipline in their children. Notably, Sweden and five other countries have instituted non spanking laws again, Canada and Germany are contemplating outlawing corporal punishment (Straus  Paschall, cited in. Oddone, p. 197).

It is believed that use of reasonable force by parents which does not constitute abuse or neglect can effectively and necessarily be a discipline practice. Corporal punishment is beneficial if it proceeds from emotionally supportive parents who also spend some of their time interacting with their children. However, physical practices of disciplining fabricate harmful, instant, and long-lasting emotional, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes on children. Such situations spur a deformed personality with no value for social interaction.

There impact of corporal punishment is both short-term and long-term on its object. It can damage the self-esteem of the child especially in the case where they grow up in fear. There is a greater potentiality of depression occurring in the children, even in their adult life especially due to unpleasant memories of the punishment they underwent in their childhood. Fear of punishment only attracts unpleasant environment which the children will struggle to get rid off. In instances that they cannot evade such unpleasant situations, feelings of learned helplessness and eventual depression suffice. Again, corporal punishment may make the child grow to be a very selfish person what one would call egocentrism as opposed to altruism. When a parent constantly punishes the child, the message she is sending is that the child should be concerned with avoiding hisher pain. This blocks her capability to think about others and caring for them.

Recommendations
Parents should always strengthen their affective bond with their children inasmuch as they would punish them for their wrongdoings. The punishment should be constant and close to the behavior needing change the child must somewhat intuitively perceive it as fair it should be developmentally and temperamentally suitable and it should nurture a desire for self-discipline.

Normally, virtue is in the middle, one should avoid the extremes at all times. Whereas corporal punishment is seen as constructive, it can also be destructive. This happens if the parents do not exercise caution and prudence. As mentioned above, authoritarian style of parenting is dangerous permissive style of parenting is equally dangerous. It is good to settle for an authoritative style of parenting where parents value communication through dialogue. They will sit with their children and explain to them why it is not good to do this or that. In moments when they intend to thwart their children for wrongdoings, they will do it with a lot of love and affection, moderation and without discrimination.

There are better ways to punish, for instance, time-outs, where the parents can prevent their children in doing what they like most. For instance, one can be made to stay without watching TV for sometime as a form of punishment.

Conclusion
I believe that every person today cherishes a moment when she got punished by hisher father or mother due to some wrongdoing. There are those punishments that we received that make us grateful to our parents on the contrary, there are those that make us feel that we did not deserve or it was unfair. I believe that what we remember most is when our fathers came back from work and eventually, punished us with their belts. This was never easy. This only makes sense if one feels that it changed a bad habit one had. Personally, I would have grown being a TV maniac but after some few thwarts here and there from my loving dad, I changed and today I exercise moderation when it comes to such entertainment. I believe that my passion for studies would have been at jeopardy today, if my dad left me to watch TV uncontrollably. Today, am more close to my dad than anybody else. He is my hero

I believe that corporal punishment can be good, and indeed, it is good. It should not be abolished either what is important is to make sure that parents use it not to scare their children but to make them feel more loved and cared for.  It should be a uniting factor and not a dividing factor in the family.

The development of Information and Communication Technologies has had impacts in the social setting of different people. This paper gives an overview of the concept of digital divide and the difference it has brought. It also analyzes the various aspects of transferring information from one person to the other in an effective and efficient way.

Digital divide is defined as the huge social and economic gap seen in two groups of people those with opportunities and those either without it or incompetent to these opportunities. In Digital divide, opportunities are offered by Information and Communication Technologies. The latter group does not get the equipments and or have no knowledge on how to use them (Norris, 2006).

The digital divide implies that there are two distinct groups of population. There are those who are bound to benefit compared to others in the economy. These populations have better economic opportunities. There are three stages of digital divide namely Economic Divide, Usability Divide and Empowerment Divide. Economic Divide basically means that there are a group of people who are not able to own computers. Usability Divide is considered worse than Economic Divide and it implies that due to the complexity of technology, few people are not able to use computers. Even for the few who use them, they do not benefit wholly from these computers due to illiteracy. There are many people who are illiterate when it comes to website use. The companies have not established easier versions that could be understood by the illiterate in the society. This illiteracy affects even people who are senior in the society (Nielsen, 2006).

Internet use has been widely spread among the younger generations. Most companies have ignored the poorer and the older generation. Empowerment divide implied that people would still not make full use of the available technology such as internet. As the internet use grew, there has been participation inequality which means that only a small percentage of the population contributes in the social networks that they use. Very few users know how to use features like search engines (Nielsen, 2006).

The internet has both the good side and the bad side. Many unskilled users have been conned via the internet. Access to technology leads to an improved and better life with various opportunities (Arrison, 2002). Digital divide still exist today in internet and media accessibility and use. Some people are still illiterate while others still cannot access the technology. Due to the hard economic times, this technology will still be a mirage to them (Foulger, 2002).

A good information resource should have five qualities namely accuracy, clarity, flexibility, availability and integrity. Clarity covers aspects such as the language, method of presentation in relation to the target audience whether male or female and the age. The integrity of information refers to how the audience will react to the information. The source of the information should be a trusted one. The information should be flexible and easy to update at any time. Lastly, the information resource should transfer the message to many of its audience to ensure that everyone benefits (Payne, 2010).

Information should be shared with others and this process is known as replication. It helps to enhance consistency and reliability. Data can be replicated and stored in different devices. The previous information can be updated over and over (Schafer, 2001).

Conclusion
There is need to embrace the ever changing technology to ensure that every person benefits from it. Accessibility to these technologies such as computers and the use of internet will help in achieving this. Moreover, education on the use of the different technologies used in communication will assist in improving the speed at which information is transferred from one person to the other.

Upon careful study of our production line in the creation of Pal the Panda, our health resource technical team has found irregularities in the appropriate posting of safety standards in the packaging of the toy. In congruence to the new health rules and mandate concerning appropriate manufacturing and packaging of toys, our current line of Pal the Panda does not adhere fully to these new policies and can become a primary issue for litigation from concerned government agencies if not acted upon immediately.

Assessing the Problem
The main issue here for United Toys Manufacturers correspond to the new batches of Pal the Panda has been delivered to corresponding distributors. Given the demand for the toy in the market today, it is then crucial to provide and meet the requirements of consumers. Due to this, the company had to recall Pal the Panda products to distributors and hold the production line until specific safety standards have been accomplished and completed. Seeing this problem, it can create delays in the capacity of United Toy Manufacturers to meet the demands of suppliers until the specific design for packaging passes the safety regulation checklist.

Proposing Solutions
Given the current dilemma, I have coordinated with managers from different managers to create and establish specific adjustments to meet the targets accordingly. In particular, the marketing team has been assigned to design a new packaging that incorporates these safety requirements and coordinate with the regulators for approval. At the same time, correspondence has also been given to different sales managers to assure distributors that changes are in the process and they shall be updated of its progress and development. Lastly, the manufacturing manager has been instructed to coordinate specific policies to adjust the packaging of Pal the Panda by utilizing specific strategies among employees in the production line once the designs have been approved accordingly. Rest assured, proper remuneration shall be appropriated to employees subjected by overtime and excess hours in accordance to the objective of providing solutions to this situation.

In the end, the pursuit of this endeavor corresponds to the commitment of United Toys Manufacturers to ensure that it remains adherent to standards. Such capacity then infuses greater responsibility towards our target clients and offer the best quality of our products. The impediment brought about by the Pal the Panda creates better means for the company to respond and address specific strategies effectively and efficiently.

Upon careful analysis by our RD, the division pointed out that the new batches of Pal the Panda does not meet the specific requirements in terms of the associated health label. Our marketing team who designs these boxes realized too late this problem as the first batch of deliveries have already been given to different distributors. Seeing this, United Toys Manufacturing has to make specific adjustments in order to address the issue and prevent the possibility of liabilities.

Root of the Problem
It can be seen that the amendment provided by the health department concerning providing new safety labels in toy boxes such as Pal the Panda were given to the RD department three months before the initial phase of production. However, miscommunication was made as this department petitioned further adjustments to apply to all United Toys Manufacturers. The problem here is that the letter of decline came after the first batch of Panda Pals have been made and the next batch is almost ready. Due to this, immediate modifications must be made since the process of approval takes around one (1) week to complete. Such directions can then hamper our ability to meet our targets for the next 3 months. Not to mention our commitment with our distributors.

Options Available
Given the corresponding challenges pertaining to this issue, specific approaches can be utilized by United Toys Manufacturers in order to control the damage it created not only to our supply chain but also production and growth. Here are some options for you to consider alongside its associated strengths and weaknesses

(a) Gradual Changes - this process corresponds to allowing the first and second batch of Panda Pals to stay the same. Since the third batch for this toy still remains in the production line, proper adjustments can be made in order to equip the new packaging design after the approval of the health regulator and incorporation of new safety protocols.

Strengths - this approach can help reduce our corresponding costs in terms of production. Similarly, it addresses the demands of our distributors and consumers accordingly. Such approach can then help balance the losses that can be incurred with the additional design to be incorporated on the product package.

Weaknesses - the main setback here is the associated liabilities that the company can face in the future. Given the specific and strict standards of the health and safety department, it may become a viable cost for the company in the future due to litigation cases and fines associated with our violation of what is expected from United Toys Manufacturers.

(b) Recall of Products - this approach points out the application of product recall of the first batch of Panda Pals toys for immediate changes in its packaging. This then would allow the company to address new changes associated with health standards and provide better means for assessing its overall value and worth for the company.

Strengths - the key strength of this approach corresponds to the ability to prevent incurring further costs due to litigation and fines coming from violations of these standard. At the same time, it can be a good marketing strategy to promote a good image for the company.

Weakness - the weakness of this however strategy corresponds to the costs that the company would have to spend to address these issues immediately. Here, it would entail paying additional wages for manpower in order to address the tasks. Similarly, it would require a comprehensive planning and coordination with different departments in delegating specific responsibilities in order to meet the demands of the task.

Recommendations
Seeing the two strategies, I do believe that following the second prospect best serves the interest of the company in terms of maintaining responsibility and accountability. Since the problem corresponds to a management mistake and beyond our control, it may be crucial to address this in today with additional costs than in the future where our name and reputation can be tarnished. Seeing this, the second strategy not only complements what the company believes, it remains to a feasible option to solve our current dilemma.

With your approval, I shall equally coordinate and send a memorandum to all employees and managers concerning the problem and delegate tasks immediately so that we can still fulfill our obligations and achieve our targets. By acting promptly, we can respond to this problem in a more effective manner and prevent the increasing costs associated with our choice to delay.

Press Release
Recall for Pal the Panda United Toys Exercises Responsibility

United Toys Manufacturers continue to exercise its responsibility and values with its decision to recall its Pal and Panda products to distributors. It shows how the company remains committed to its mission of establishing customer satisfaction and recognition of their health and safety needs.

The main reason for the pullout of Pal the Panda products among their distributors is due to their ability to change and provide additional safety labels in this product. Given that a new rule and mandate concerning toy safety has been implemented, the company had to respond promptly to make the necessary arrangements for immediate action. This is to ensure both consumers and the health and safety department that appropriate responses are being made in response to this issue.

Seeing this, the recall process has already initiated. According to Anthony Scott, Vice President for Operations in United Toys, considerable arrangements have already been met to address the problem, we can expect Pal the Panda to be back in the stalls again in the next two to three weeks. The length of this process depends on the approval coming from the health regulator and how long it shall be communicated to our divisions accordingly, Anthony Scott adds.

Since its inception in 1994, United Toys had always catered to the needs of children by offering toys that promote learning opportunities. The current hurdle of changing its packaging only goes to show the continued commitment towards its overall interest to serve the needs of its clients. This case serves both as an chance for acquiring new inputs and exercise accountability on elements vital to the growing child.

Mentorship has been with us for long time, probably it is as old as mankind. The concept was introduced by the ancient Greek and later institutionalized during the Middle Ages (Hill, 56). Mentorship as defined by (Hill, 21) is a process whereby the mentored receive values, passions, traditions as well as attitudes from the mentor. The aim of this is to help transform lives of the mentored through the internalization of the shared ideas (Hester, 79). Research has shown that students well being is affected as they move up to graduate schools. Many factors like lack of self esteem, sense of insecurity and even great workload are some of the problems students have to contend with. During this transition period, studies suggest that students go through a lot of anxiety and stress, to cope up with the demands of education. Mentoring therefore is one process the students can be helped to cope with the changes around them as they move up the academic ladder (Hill, 58).

Effects of the Mentor on the Student
The willingness of any mentor to share his or her own personal values, valuable time and skills as well as talents on any student is the beginning of encouragement to the student. Exposure to any mentor ready to share is the most vital experience a good student would count on (Hill, 34). First for the goals and objectives of the experience and relationship to be realized, proper stuructures have to be in place. Then the second most important thing is that the mentor must be a good match for the student. Thus in such environment, the student would find it easy to get new insights and personal rewards.

One great effect, mentorship has on the students is career advancement. Research has shown that most mentored students were likely to advance faster in their professional career than those who are not mentored (Hester, 68). Most students see their mentors as role models, as source of mental support and encouragement. The students thus benefit from such mentors who set examples.

Students would much benefit from those mentors who enjoy the learning process and understand their needs. In this sense, the mentors would be seen by the students as a source of support and encouragements. Research has also shown that most students find encouragement to learn from mentors who provided intellectual stimulation. Students would rapidly take advantages of learning opportunities once they realized the mentors efforts to facilitate their learning process (Hill, 63).

Research has underscored the vital role mentorship plays in improving the performance of women. A study showed that where women had equal earnings with their male counterparts, the women had at least one mentor (Kraus, 68). This shows how mentorship can improve the earning power of women long after school.

Mentorship program helps the adolescents establish proprieties as well as have long term goals well set. The adolescents have been found to experience a lot of problems when it comes to career planning. Those adolescents who pass well in high school seem to like and know everything. It is at this point that most find it hard to choose what to do with their lives. Therefore this is the point where mentors would offer a mature guidance to the students. Mentors like businessmen, scientists, artists and even scholars would be suitable at this stage of development. The students would be able to develop vision of their future, and focus their energies to particular goals in life (Kraus, 72).

Mentorship programs could have a positive influence on the students from disadvantaged populations. Studies have shown that there are greater outcomes when students from poor socioeconomic background are mentored by professionals who possibly faced the same adversities (Hester, 96). The bright students from disadvantaged populations could be matched by professionals from all backgrounds. This would help lift the students low self-confidence. The mentors would also be able to inspire the students as their encounters develop. These disadvantaged students would get the sense of the course of the professionals education and subsequent lifestyle (Kraus, 78). The students would always derive inspirations from such mentors that may help them to focus and set long term goals. These relationships can always built beyond the schools compounds, as mentors may become colleagues later in life.

Students mentorship can be very mush beneficial in improving social relationship. A group mentoring  mostly witnessed in sporting activities, may help students nurture their social skills. The group mentoring programs would help the students develop their communication skills, through less inhibition. Through such programs, students may as well learn conflict resolution skills and how to manage their anger (Hester, 65).

Mentorship programs are also vital in preparing the students for future mentoring roles. A good mentor would therefore inculcate skills and experiences that would essentially help the students in their future roles. Through positive criticisms, for example, a student would be able to learn and adjust to the requirement of the study (Gray  Smith, 1546).

Mentorship relationships do not normally just end (Hester, 67). A true one would stay on and both the mentor and the mentored would continue to learn from one another. Mentorship is a process, and therefore needed at every stage in life. It would mutual help those in such relationships to grow in the professions as well as in their personal lives. It thus leaves indelible imprint on the life of the mentored and the mentor.

Mentorship Shortcomings
Much can be done by the mentors, but one paramount factor that determines the success of any mentorship program is the collaboration of the students. The influence of any mentorship program would start with the collaboration of the students (Gray  Smith, 1547). The performance and future success of any student is always greater for those who collaborate. The effects of mentors would not be realized much on those who do not co-operate. This therefore shows that mentorship programs are collaborative efforts between the mentor and the students.

Conclusion
Mentorship programs have strong influence on the overall growth and development of students. It is both beneficial to their personal and professional development. It is therefore paramount that parents identify mentors for their children at a very early age. Teachers should form the first line of mentors while all professionals should offer mentoring sessions to students as a way of giving back to the society. All the efforts of the mentors must be repaid by the students through collaboration.

Leadership is a process by which a leader uses to get his or her subjects fully and without resistance commit to new and required actions to achieve the common set goals by holding on to the common values. For a long time, people have come up with different types of leadership models and theories to be adopted by leaders and managers to achieve success in managing of a firm.

The four main models of leadership include Transformational leadership, which their leaders inspire, motivate and encourage their team members who are their followers beyond the job description. They bring change to their working environment through improvement of existing situation at whatever cost thus they anticipate for problems in advance and take necessary steps Charismatic type of leadership occurs when the leaders possess the natural ability attracting and inspiring people into committing to their course of action. The third leadership model is the transactional one in which its leaders set standards of performance and evaluates how their followers have performed. There management style is exceptional and they believe in contingent reward Whereas visionary leadership is by leaders who have the ability to see the activities that will happen. They dont concentrate on the things at current. They manage to attract followers as result of their attractive visions.

Transformational leadership
Such leaders presume that they will be followed by those people they inspire and that a person who has a greater vision and undying passion will always achieve bigger things. They concentrate on encouraging their teammates to be enthusiastic and have greater motivation and energy. Working for such a person is good and it uplifts an individual as a result of the passion and motivational energy they put in everything, the care they give and the desire they have for to succeed.

They develop a vision through viewing the future, which will excite and attract potential followers. The vision is either designed by the leader, senior team or be as a result of major discussions. The selling process then begins in which the vision is constantly sold. It needs more commitment and motivational energy as it will attract few people immediately and others will join slowly. The leader uses every available opportunity and will inject whatever procedure that will work to convince teammates to join.  He has to concentrate on creating trust and positively sell the personal integrity they possess thus selling both the vision and themselves. The leader then finds the way forward putting in mind that they will be some failures and correctional steps to take thus need to ensure progress hence their happiness. The last stage is to be upfront and at the center of the action (Jasper, 2005). They should always be visible and ready to be counted rather than hide behind their teammates. Their attitudes and actions should be a guideline on the rest of the team of what is expected of them. They motivate and rally their following crowd as they show them their total commitment, which will keep them going, even in hard times.

Its effects to the contemporary society
Such leaders may contribute either negatively or positively to the growth of an organization. On the positive side the leader can transform both the organization and the followers hence the followers can become the product of transformation. Their enthusiasm and energy levels always help to boost the overall morale of the followers hence leading them to achieving set goals for the firm.

The energy that may get the followers going might also make them give up as a result of relentlessly applying too much enthusiasm that wear out others. Concentrating on the large picture and leaving out the details may also lead to failure. There main focus is to transform so when working in organization that do not need transformation they result to frustration. Finally, their confidence may be misunderstood for the reality or truth on the ground, which leads to very big falls.

Charismatic Leadership
Such a leader needs charming personality and grace to create followers. They need to believe in themselves for it is their personality that makes them and to be followed no power from outside or authority. The leaders talk to individuals one by one, which make them think they are the most valuable people in the world at that time. They scan and read there environment attentively thus able to study the moods and needs of individuals and groups at large. They then apply necessary action and valuable words to cool the situation.

They use a wide range of procedures and methods in upholding their image. They win trust by engaging in personal sacrifices and risks in support of what they believe in. They use both verbal and body language in showing their charisma. this is a style of leadership common with the politicians and they try as much as possible to make their group unique from the rest making it look superior. They get attached to the group so much to avoid any opposition given by the rest of the group.

Differences and similarities between the charismatic and transformational leader
The main similarity is that both leaders have some level of charisma. The main differences come into effect when looking at their focus. The transformation leader is concerned with transforming both the followers and the organization but the charismatic leader may not be interested in transformation. The charismatic leader cares only about himself and not his followers contrary to the transformational leader who values about the success of the followers. The charismatic leaders values may destroy or build a firm for they are highly significant and unquestionable unlike the transformational leader whose actions may be questioned. Lastly leaders with charisma are intolerant to any opposition and view themselves as irreplaceable hence problem of succession.

Transactional leadership
This is type of leadership in which the leader understands what his followers want from their job and ensures that they get it if at all his or her performance is good. He gives rewards and encouraging promises to the followers efforts. If at all the self interest of the follower will get the job done, he will respond positively by helping him get whatever it is that he needs.

This is very different from the charismatic leadership as the leaders main focus is on the followers not himself. It is also different from that of a transformational leader for he can fit in both organizations that need and do not need change. The leader also does not impose to the followers strict course of action and high level of enthusiasm if at all he sees that they are not up to the task. This is very important to the contemporary society for organizations most valuable resource nowadays is the human resources.

Visionary leadership
Many leaders have decided to practice this kind of leadership because as much as a firms operation are determined by the present and past, the organizations stable performance can only be maintained by looking into the future. The leaders determine the necessary training and programs that would be required by the employees to make sure that they are par to the rapid changes in technology. The leaders main point of focus is developing his employees through which he can gain competitive advantage. It is very different from that of transformational, which has no business looking into the future rather than what the manager believes is the right course of action. It has similarities with transactional one for they both concentrate on how to improve their employees to achieve set goals. The only difference is that the transactional leaders main area of focus is on the present need of employing while the visionary leader is not only concerned with present but also what the employee will need.

Conclusion
At the end of the day a leaders main concern is meeting the set goals of his team. However, the leader should try as much as possible to consolidate that with the needs of the followers in his team. This requires that a leader should be flexible to adapt to the changes in his environment as fast a possible. If at all what the employees are asking for is very crucial to the stability of the firm he should be in a position to respond to that no matter his or her beliefs (transformational and charismatic leadership).

It is clear that the transactional and visionary models are key to the success of the firms as both the followers and firm can grow and they both use the situational leadership, which comes up as a result of a situation and participative leadership in which they value what their followers have to say.

The term homosexuality is not a discovery of the 21st century, the term and its behavioral patterns and implications are as ancient as Man himself. There was once a time when topics or issues related to homosexuality, impotency, lesbianism and gayism were considered a taboo and discussion on such topics were looked upon as outside the boundaries of ethics and moral principles. But with the age of technological renaissance playing a pervasive part in the lives of people in contemporary times people all over the globe demonstrate a better understanding and level of awareness when such issues are discussed on appropriate platforms. It is the attribute and development in the technological sector and parallel to it innovations in the news media that has helped people understand the true nature and consequences of these problems and has in myriad ways provoked people to mobilize themselves to accept these people as an integral part of the society and to ensure that they are not treated as a discriminated group in the society, but on the flip side there are still multitude forces that have been working and are still proactively involved in propagating information and rumors which pose a serious threat to the movement working for equality and harmony.  

The problem, the improvement
The topic under limelight is the influence that mass media has made in the depiction of gays and lesbians and assessing the respective repercussions and impact the portrayal of such depiction of homosexuals has made in the minds of their target audience. In this context perspectives of prominent media educators such as Larry Ross and George Grebner are of exceptional significance when they say that contemporary mass media are involved in the symbolic annihilation of gays and lesbians by promoting a culture that has led to the development of negative stereotyping about them in peoples minds. Both of them argue that homosexuals are mainly portrayed in characters which are either far from reality or violent enough to declare them as real psychopaths. They are not provided roles through which people can actually relate to their situation or through the toils and troubles they go through every day. An important reason which can explain such an attitude of media towards homosexuals is the present day situation of media industry. It is no more a concealed fact that media industry today is a multimillion dollar one and their prime revenue generator for the smooth running of the organization comes from advertising revenues. If media organizations today alter their policies of portraying homosexuals in realistic or human interest roles they would in one way or the other alienate investors, advertisers and also audience a choice that would push them out from the competition race they desperately want to be a part of. All in a nutshell functions and objectives that define the presence and existence of large media baron organizations today are based purely and solely on commercial means and seldom for creating social awareness and developing a welfare for the elements of the society.

For whatever the reasons may be what is seen today as being today for the welfare of homosexuals is a comprehensible manifestation that people have travelled a long journey from where we started. In 1998 a case study analyzing a period of 50 year portrayal of gays and lesbians in magazines like Time and Newsweek showed that news media reinforces messages that play a pivotal role in inculcating chauvinism and discriminations against homosexuals in people. The analysis which was done by Lisa Bennett showed that gays and lesbians were often interpreted synonymous to anti social elements like deviance and juvenile delinquency convincing people that this faction of the society is inherently inferior to others. This discriminatory behavior continued in mainstream media until the 1970s when they gay and lesbian rights movement initiated, but in tandem to this movement it was the spark of the HIVAIDS which boomed to suppress the movement designed for the better social status of homosexuals. Once again mainstream media got the opportunity of marginalizing gays and lesbians from all kinds of coverage other than what portrayed them as held them responsible for the dissemination of lethal diseases like HIVAIDS in the society due to their promiscuous sexual activities.

Conditions did not improve for homosexuals till the 1990s when the movement for the rights of gay and lesbians started to bore fruit, but coverage provided to these people was only in times when they perceived to be plunging in crisis. Even though the societal framework has experienced substantial restructuring many people still argue that since gays and lesbians comprise 4-5 of the entire demographic distribution of countries like USA and Canada their issues and problems must be readily and appropriately addressed on platforms through which a better change in their living standard can be anticipated. Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and other organizations still maintain the fact that issues related to homosexuals are not being addressed or talked about in the manner they should be.

But on the contrary with all such chaos and rumors circulating to malign homosexuals there has also been a bleak hope through which once can anticipate that reformation in their lives is not to far way. An article that was published by Benot Migneault in a 2001 issue of the National Library of Quebecs monthly publication  rayons ouverts, stated that  mainstream media has exhibited considerable improvement in the ways it use to provide coverage to homosexuals earlier. This can be justified in the way that in comparison to the eighties where only fifteen articles were published in dailies, in 2001 number of articles addressing their issues skyrocketed to 400. In addition to that it is also important to mention that the tone which is applied for writing these articles is much flexible and sympathetic in comparison to former years which demonstrates that the earlier stereotypes and false perceptions developed in peoples mind have started to change and mainstream media is playing an effective role in promoting harmony and equality between all social groups prevalent in a society. Furthermore all kinds of intentional or unintentional disinformation disseminated by media earlier to bring malice to homosexuals is being are also being altered into responsible and credible reporting.

Apart from countries like USA and Canada there are many other countries like Thailand and Singapore where the issues of homosexuals have experienced considerable alteration and restructuring with the passage of time. Talking about Singapore in particular the country was extremely hospitable and welcoming to homosexuals in every way. In his interview to Time Asia the countrys then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said that the country has changed its policies to provide homosexuals enjoy all kinds of facilities on an equal footing in all kinds of civil and government jobs. It was the first time that homosexuals were able to make the leads of newspapers in the country as earlier than this policy of Singapore had been very conservative and unjust towards homosexuals. Moreover publicly discussing homosexual related issues were considered a serious taboo in the society and therefore many people were completely ignorant to the kinds of problem this section of the society was encountering in the country. It was not until the prime ministers statement that things took a drastic turn and mainstream media commenced to provide massive coverage to gays and lesbians and started unearthing their issues and problems.

In 2003 an annual gay party that was also held two years earlier attracted homosexuals from all over the world making it one of the most happening homosexual event of the year. There was also news that Singapore in coming years would emerge as a tough contender for Thailand in terms of homosexual attraction, but conditions did not remain the same after that. By the end of the year 2004 conditions for homosexuals started to thicken again when it was announced that Singapore was showing a sharp rise in the carriers of HIVAIDS due to the rising promiscuous sexual activity exhibited by homosexuals. Once again gays and lesbians made headlines in mainstream media, propaganda started to boil again and anti-homosexual laws were once again promulgated, screening for the detection of HIVAIDS started for both homo and heterosexuals. By 2005 the government of Singapore began to deny permits for the events that were being organized for homosexual recreation in the country.

In short, there are still gays and lesbians in Singapore but most of them live a dismal life in city ghettos. Media has once again developed a hush hush tome when it comes to openly discussing topics like sex, lesbianism and homosexuality.

Conclusion
Even though much has been done for the reformation of homosexuals all over the world the efforts are still not very appreciable. Many countries are not ready to get rid of their conservative approach and policies and acknowledge them as an integral part of the society. Some of the factors that constitute this conservative thinking also involve orthodox religious beliefs which serve as a major factor obstructing towards gay and lesbian rights. Countries like USA and others encourage same sex unions but with necessary precautions exercised and implemented, other countries must try to implement similar policies before its too late.

Domestic Violence is a predicament that can happen to anyone. It can happen between couples under matrimonial vows, or even unwed sweethearts. It can happen over any sexual preference among heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual partnership. Added to that, the dilemma encompasses all societal range age, cultural background, and economic levels. Domestic Abuse refers to the behaviors, physical or emotional, used by one person in an intimate or marital relationship to dominate the other. Domestic Violence specifically refers to the physical actions a dominating person might do to his partner (Smith and Segal, 2010).

Domestic violence can also refer to family violence such as physical, verbal, sexual or emotional abuse done in a household (NAPCAN Foundation). It can take on any form, and may be unnoticeable or bearable most of the time. It includes physical assault, which can be classified into two (1) Minor Violent Acts  throwing objects, pushing, grabbing, shoving, slapping, spanking (2) Severe Violent Acts Kicking, biting, hitting with fist or with an object, beating up, threatening or actual use of  gun or knife (Sewell  Sewell, 2000).  Stalking can also be classified under domestic violence. Added to that, it also involves unwanted or forced sexual activity. Emotional, psychological and financial abuse does not necessarily equate to domestic violence, but they are forms of domestic abuse and can later on lead to violence itself (Domestic Violence Organization, 2009).

Yet, it is a societal problem often under assessed, overlooked, or denied. Acknowledging the violence is the first step towards solving the problem. Wherever one is in the status quo, a person needs to feel valued and respected.

More often than not, the media today portrays the women as the common victims, but it is undeniable that men in a matrimonial relationship experience abuse too, especially verbally and emotionally (Smith and Segal, 2010). Domestic Violence should be examined and analyzed carefully, based on scientifically gathered data and statistics, and not merely be governed by gender politics (Sewell  Sewell, 2000).  

The America Bar Association has compiled a survey of statistics performed by different organizations with regards to the occurrence of domestic violence. One of the data given was from a study conducted for the time span 1995-1996, including 50 States and the District of Columbia. Based on survey of 16,000 participants, with equal male and female participants, nearly 25 of women and 7.6 of men were raped andor physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, live-in partner, or intimate partner at some point in their lifetime (Tjaden  Thoennes, 2000).

In a study done by the year 2000, it was found out that annually approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner in the US. (Tjaden  Thoennes, 2000).

In addition, still by the year 2000, 1,247 women and 440 men were actually killed by an intimate partner. In recent years, a partner killed approximately 33 of female partners and 4 of male partners Also, domestic violence was found to make up 20 of all nonfatal violent crime experienced by women in 2001 (cited in American bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence ).

The statistics aforementioned all say that a higher number of women are more domestically violated than men. Even in the current portrayals of the media, the women are always the poor and battered partners. In fact, when most people hear of domestic violence, it is almost equated to violation on womens rights. The news always report of domestic violence against women wives being tortured, battered, and so on and so forth. While there are very rare instances where one can watch a news report where the husband gets battered by the wife. Thus, it becomes very questionable if men also experience domestic violation. The answer can be a no, because the big fat husband can never be assaulted by his weak wife. But if yes, why isnt there much publicity about the matter Perhaps it is because the men are tolerant of physical abuse so they would not speak up, or it is a matter shame and dignity. Imagine a husband or a male partner going to police station to report physical abuse from a wife or girlfriend. Or is there some sort of twisted truth trying to fraud the real statistics, in favor of gender politics Whatever the underlying reasons are for this seemingly unequal perspective can be blamed on the media. For instance, in a television show, when a husband and wife argue and the wife would throw plates on a husband coming home late at night, that would be a funny scene. But when a man throws his wife some plates, now that is something to report to the police.

The current and imminent conceptions of various organizations that encourage women to speak up and empower womens rights have been highly-publicized. Resulting from its publicity, these women empowering organizations gain support from politicians, big organizations, media and civilians which by the way, continuously fund them. The reason behind women shelter movements not mentioning statistics on domestic violence on men can be attributed as a purposeful fund raising tactic. The misleading statistics and the use of distorted police reports to highlight the suffrage of women is a deliberate attempt to make the society support and give financial assistance to the womens groups (Sewell  Sewell, 2000). This statement of the authors, from the Family and Resources Research, has created a spur of negative reactions, harsh complaints, and objections. True claim or not, what can be arguable here is that there are really quite a number of men experiencing domestic violence, but are not highly-publicized. This turns to be a high jack the essential and legitimate issue of family violence, and an attempt to divert it into gender politics.
 
Consequently, many critics  researchers have been blaming it all on the media for the blatant blasphemy of the real situation. While reports here and then contain figures of women being abused, battered, hurt, or raped, the figures on domestic violence on men remain on the shadows. An alarming number of men also experiencing domestic violence equally, if not, even more. It should be noted that this paper aims to examine domestic violence in highly-fair heterosexual approach. It is not aimed to revolutionize negative ideals about women.

Spousal Assaults Expressed As Rate Per 1000 Couples
Minor Assaults
Year   Assault by   Assault by
husband       wife
1975       98          98
1985       82          75
1992       92          94

Severe Assaults
1975       38          47
1985       30          43
1992       19          44

Wives Report They Have
been severely assaulted by husband     22 per 1000
severely assaulted husband             59 per 1000

Husbands Report They Have
been severely assaulted by wives       32 per 1000
severely assaulted wives               18 per 1000

Husbands  Wives Both Report
wife has been assaulted                20 per 1000
husband has been assaulted             44 per 1000
Figure1 (Sewell and Sewell, 2000)

Recognizing is the first step in putting an end to domestic violence. Whether it is the man or the woman who have committed criminal abuse, abusive behavior is never acceptable. It is important to recognize who was wrong, so that the person can get help psychologically, before heshe commits any more grave assaults. It is also necessary to determine who got wronged, so to gain assistance in any way possible, psychological, emotional, medical, and financial.  There are several organizations to cater such needs, like American Institute on Domestic Violence, Asian Task Force against Domestic Violence, Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, Emerge Counseling and Education, and many others (Stingley, 2010). The list of organizations has been particularly sympathetic over women and children who have been victims of domestic violence.

Upon getting help from families, friends, relatives, andor organizations, victims of domestic violence is advised to go through counseling. Counseling helps them to assess what went wrong with the relationship and to rebuild their lives from the unfortunate incident.

The Solution-Focused Therapy is one of the revolutionized forms of counseling to help the victims. The Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is developed by Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg, and their colleagues beginning in the late 1970s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As the name suggests, SFBT is future-focused and goal-directed form of therapy. The form of questioning and specialized conversation focuses on solutions, rather than on the problems that brought clients to seek therapy. In this way, clientsvictims will have a clearer vision of the solution and become more optimistic with regards to the problem. It also helps them to have a positive vibe despite the incident (Dolan).

It uses techniques and set of questions in the form of specialized conversations. Much focus is placed on the present and the future, instead of the past. Added to that, compliments are given to the victims in the form of appreciatively toned questions so they will get more encouraged in life. Miracle questions is a questioning tool used to generate the first small steps of  the solution,  by helping victims to describe small, realistic, and doable steps they can take as soon as the next day. Scaling questions ask victims to rate on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess their own situations, track their own progress, or evaluate how others might rate them. Coping Questions serve as a powerful reminder that all clientsengage in many useful things even in times of overwhelming difficulties. For instance, victims are asked How have you managed tocarry on. This tone of questioning invite a positive feel on the victim that heshe is actually coping well and doing good despite what happened (Dolan).

Lindforss and Magnusson conducted a randomized study on the prison recidivism in Hageby Prison in Sweden. A group of clients received an average of five SFBT sessions and the control group their usual available services. Clients were followed at 12 and 16 months after their discharge from prison. The SFBT group consistently did better than the control group. In addition, a number of researchers have conducted studies with a range of clients in various settings and geographical locations. Based on the reviews, the studies offered preliminary support that the SFBT approach could be beneficial to clients. SFBT opens a different way of looking at a victims resiliency and determination (Dolan).

Amidst any situation, the resiliency, or positive capacity of people to cope with stress and catastrophe, should always triumph.  It is understandable that it is difficult for some victims to be resilient because they think that there is no more life after all the pain and mess the violence has brought into their lives. In addition, the love over the person who inflicts the abuse rules over them, that they choose to endure the suffering because they dont want to be apart from that loved-one. Though, it should always be remembered that in any relationship, no one should live in fear of the person they love. So in cases of initial signs of domestic abuse, counseling and good conversation between the involved individual should immediately be done.

The violence will stop if proper counseling is given to the violator and the one being violated, before the situation gets worse. Families, friends and organizations also play a quintessential role in this process. Helping victims of domestic violent rebuild their lives is also in the context of welfare reform (Knitzer, 2000).  The society should be more aware, helpful, and assisting to these cases. A promotion of a love and nurturing environment is the key, as prevention is always better than cure.

The theory of semiotics can be used to interpret meanings in our everyday lives and in our surroundings. As Berger (2000) noted, the very simple objects such as eyeglasses and teeth can be used to convey meanings from a signifier to the signified. According to Berger (2000), eyeglasses are used as fashion statements to mean a variety of things and to become a costume, manifesto, clothing for the face, and social fetish (p. 49). A variety of meanings are associated with different types of glasses to show that the structure (shape, color, etc) of the object affects or introduces variety to the messages conveyed by the use of eyeglasses. For example, Berger (2000) cited that eyeglasses with black plastic rims are used to convey the message that the person wearing it uses glasses and there is no regard for being handsome or beautiful while wearing it. In other societies, the use of eyeglasses can be used to mean that the person is a nerd or an intelligent person.

Similarly, several meanings can also be attached to the teeth (Berger, 2000). When an image shows a pale man, a person would know that the image belongs to a male individual. However, when two sharp teeth are added, the person looking at the same image would interpret it to be a vampire (Berger, 2000). The importance of messages conveyed by the teeth of a person is further emphasized by the advertisement of Morley and an associate that is cited by Berger (2000). According to the advertisement, the alignment, shape, color and condition of your teeth are powerful communicators to friends, family and business associates (Berger, 2000, p. 50). For example, disarrayed teeth may show that the person is not beautiful or dumb.

However, it is to note that the meanings associated with the both the teeth and the eyeglasses are subjective based on a persons experience and cultural standards (Berger, 2000). One of the well-known examples where eyeglasses and teeth are used to convey a meaning is in television show, Ugly Betty. In reality, the person acting as Betty in the said television show is beautiful according to the cultural standards of the American Society. In order for her to be well-suited for the role, thick rimmed eyeglasses and braced teeth were used. According to the American culture, the use of braces and eyeglasses is associated with the need to correct a facial feature and a desire to make the person beautiful. Surprisingly, an observation of the television shows of Ugly Betty in other countries showed that the characters still wore eyeglasses and braces to signify the ugliness of the person. While the uniformity can be attributed to the fact that the producers in other countries may want to imitate the original Betty, the use of eyeglasses and braces are still accepted in the show as factors that make the character ugly. Nonetheless, it is possible that other societies view braces to be a form of fashion statement, which shows that norms and culture play a significant role in the understanding of semiotics.

A more common application of semiotics theory is found inside the toilet. When a person enters a public toilet for the first time, chances are heshe does not know whether the water flowing out of the faucet is hot or cold. However, it is easy for people to understand that when a faucet is colored red, it means that the water coming out of it is expectedly hot. On the other hand, a faucet that is blue is expected to give out relatively colder water. The association of heat with the faucet colored red is because the meaning usually associated with red. Moses (2007) mentioned that red is the color that is associated with anger, heat, fire (p. 33). Thus, people easily understand that the red-colored faucet is the one that gives hot water even without a sign that says so. The same is true with the blue-colored faucet where people associate colder temperatures with the color blue.

Communication and our actions are greatly influenced by the values, beliefs and the attitudes we hold about the different things in the world. For example the case of Steve, he holds a negative attitude towards women. He believes they are inferior to men .Thus feels that women are objects to be sexually harassed by men. Everybody communicates with each other for many different reasons. One of the reasons may be to behave or think in a way that one desires (Rokeach, 2000)

Attitudes refer to what an individual believes or feels towards something. Attitudes are mainly reflected in how a person acts according to her or his beliefs. Once attitudes are formed, it is very difficult to change. Attitudes are learned. People acquire attitudes during the socialization process from childhood to adolescence stages. Attitudes are global, evaluated and emotional. Attitudes are evaluated in that, having an attitude implies that you have already categorized and have some prejudgments of its net worth or value. Attitudes involve emotions, they express, love and hates, repulsions and attractions, dislikes and likes. Attitudes influence actions and thoughts. Attitudes allow people to categorise people, events and places.
They influence behaviour.they guide our actions and guide us to doing what we believe. Attitudes can be either positive or negative. Over time, attitudes may change (Wang, 1994). It takes efforts like in Steve case where Jack has to talk to him through the importance of having a high regard for women as equals. Steve agrees with Jacks, he changes his attitude and in turn, he becomes the most vocal and supporter of the policy of women at work place.

Values are ideals they are the guiding principles in an individuals life. Values are the overarching goals that individuals struggle to acquire. They are what individuals consider to good means and final actions. Values tend to conflict and collide, choices are hard to make.

Beliefs are the main components of attitudes. Either beliefs may be descriptive beliefs or they may be prescriptive beliefs. Descriptive beliefs are hypothesis that people have about the world in general.presriptive beliefs are statements expressing conceptions of the world with preferred end states, which people hold. Beliefs are the assumptions that individuals make about themselves, others and how they except things to be in the world. It is what individuals think things are, what the truth is and therefore the consequences that follow (Rokeach, 2000).

Influence examines the cause of individuals change whether the change is change of behavior, attitude or a change of belief. Influencing a change in an individuals behavior is known as compliance. Persuasion is inducing a change in an individuals attitude. Depending on an individuals perspective inducing a change in an individuals belief is referred to as either propaganda or education.

PERSUASION THEORY
Persuasion is defined as the successful intentional efforts of influencing a persons mental state and attitudes through communication the persuaded has some measure of freedom.

Persuasion is one of the effects of communication .It is achieved only through effective communication with a person. Persuasion involves the change of mental state that is ones beliefs, value and attitudes. The change in the mental state results to the change in behavior ,after Steve changes  his mind state about his opinion of women, his behavior too changes he becomes advocates for the women harassment policy at work place. The persuaders objective is to influence the actions of the other person. In persuasion theory and research, mental state is characterized by attitudes (Wang, 1994). The relationship between attitudes and persuasion may vary but a closely linked. Persuaders ultimate aim is the change of anothers behavior his objective is attained through the process of attitude change, since attitudes are the processors of behavior. Change of attitude is the principal determinant of behavioral change of an individual.persuasion theory can be applied in politics to change opinions of masses to vote your favored candidate, in business for advertising, and in conflicts and negotiations.

The process of persuasion theory involves two phases. The first phase requires that the communicator take an audience analysis to establish the beliefs, values, attitudes and motives of the audience on a specific issue or topic. He makes use of surveys, interviews or any other form of applied knowledge of the audience. In the second phase, the communicator is required to change the attitudes of the audience. This is done by trying to change the beliefs of the audience or by modifying the motives or values that drive the group to a more mature belief. There are four factors, that reinforce and facilitate the process of persuasion they include the following The credibility and reputation of the communicator. It facilitates the acceptance of the message by the receiver the level of persuasion is high if the producer of the message is considered reliable and credible (Rokeach, 2000). The order of statements is of great importance, it creates the flow of information hence determines whether it is convincing or not. Completeness of statement increases the level of persuasion if the message contains both contrasting and supporting statements regarding the opinions and views. If the audience agrees on certain opinion n and is not educated, it is advisable that the message includes only the merits of opinion supported. When it has negative effects of persuasion, relevant topics about the opinion is left out in the content of the message. Announcement of the conclusion, when a receiver is interested in the message it is advisable not to state the conclusion of the message.

Persuasion works best when its purposes are realistic, when it takes in to consideration the audience values, beliefs, motives and attitudes. Persuasion mainly strives for the following creating uncertainty, this is the case where the communicator is facing an audience that completely opposes her views. The way out is to destroy, some certainties in the audience mind. In such a situation, you attain success by reducing comfort with a defined attitude of the audience. Persuasion is aimed at reducing resistance if the audience opposition to the communicators is average, the communicator should move the audience attitude from a negative one to a neutral ground. This may be achieved by asking the audience to accept the validity of the communicators view and opinions, rather than hold what they are not sure. Persuasion may also be aimed at changing the attitude of his audience. This happens when the communicator is faced with a neutral and open-minded audience, and a group that holds no prior attitude. A persuader may also be interested in amplifying behavior where the audience is already moderately into the communicators views and attitudes. A communicator may be aimed at gaining behavior of the audience where he wants the group to take actions in accordance to his shared attitudes (Wang, 1994).

There are several strategies of promoting persuasion. A party may ask another party to look at a situation from his point of view, to try to take the role of the other party. This serve to make the other party understand his or her intentions. It lays down a good foundation for a harmonious relationship between the two parties. Another form of persuasion is where a part B indicates the complementary that are enhanced by taking the option. Party B may benefit in a way or the other from the option that party A seeks. There are also persuasive arguments to turn divisive issues in to problem that is common to parties and requires a mutually satisfactory solution (Wang, 1994). Reframing ensures the adversary to seethe issue on a different perspective and return from an already stated singular position to anew one that is shared. Interlocking conflicts is another kind of influence. Where parties A and B may be in a conflict over number of issues, they may share antagonist against whom they may join to work together against. The concern is shared and it is of greater importance than the parties are differences. Persuasion also arises through appeals to norms and common values (Rokeach, 2000).

Limitations of persuasion
Persuasion is a cost effective means of solving many conflicts. Persuasion does not require weapons and expensive research. The protagonist is able to get the counter part influenced to change his or her behavior and attitudes in a desired way. However, persuasion is not always successful. Efforts in persuasion are effective when they seek to build on already existing values beliefs and attitudes fewer efforts are required to change peoples values or to build new ones for them. Persuasion is mainly used in radios, televisions, newspapers, arts and education and those who do not enjoy or use such materials are less likely to be persuaded (Rokeach, 2000). Persuasion is best effective when a communicator is building on an already existing beliefs and values .an attempt to create or change peoples values and beliefs has proved highly ineffective. It is very difficult to change an existing culture.

Conclusion
Persuasion theory involves the change of individuals values, beliefs and attitudes. It involves an individual influencing anothers attitude to his desired attitude so that he may hold similar perspective as you. Change of attitudes ultimately leads to change of behavior or the way of doing things. For persuasion to take place communication must occur whether verbal or non-verbal. Communication helps to identify a persons values attitudes, values and attitudes, once the persuader is aware of ones stand he is able strategies on the best way to influence an individual. The process of persuasion requires that the speaker make claim that he supports adequately in such a way that the listeners appreciates them that is they are persuaded. Successful persuasion strategies call for the use of speaker credibility, arguments that are logical and psychological appeals.

Explain 1-3 instances of how the participants show sequential understanding of one another. AND Explain 1-3 instances of how the participants show understandings about social membership.

Introduction
Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis are important tools for identifying and understanding social behavior by observing conversations.

According to Pomerhantz and Fehr (1997), to carry out a conversation analysis, five steps, as illustrated in Figure 1, must be implemented.

Using the method described above, this paper will analyze a transcript to demonstrate a social behavior  how participants show sequential understanding of one another and demonstrate an understanding of social memberships. Sequential understanding is knowing that some things go together and understanding how they go with each other (OConnell  Gerard, 661). Social memberships are realizing which types of people go together socially.

Analysis  Sequential Understanding
In the following transcript portion, Kay and Des demonstrate a sequential understanding of one another. In line 190, Des is narrating the story with specks of laughter, laughs a little and tells more of the story. When she continues telling the story (in line 191) after having laughed, Kay automatically smiles at this (line 192).

He smiles when she has stopped laughing but is still telling the story. The fact that he smiles while she is telling the story without laughing (lines 191 and 192) shows that Kay understood the hilarity in Dess story. Kay understood that smiling was important because it went with Dess story at the moment, regardless of what Dess action was laughing or not laughing.

Assuming, Des telling the story without laughing is event 1 and Kay laughing is event 2. Kay demonstrated sequential understanding by knowing that event 2 goes together with event 1.

In the following excerpt, more sequential understanding between Des and Kay is set off. Des is still telling the story she tells Kay how she told the lifeguard what her apartment number is. Kay, however, gets confused for a bit, cuts her laughter and instead of laughing with her, asks her a question (line 204). Des is still going on (line 205) until she hears what Kay is saying and immediately answers his question without putting much effort into it. She knows exactly what the question referred to. She confirms it with such easiness that it shows the sequential understanding between the two participants.

When Kay interrupts Des, she just knows which part of her story Kays question was related to, even though she had moved on from that part and there was no explicit mention by Kay as to what part his question referred to.

Assuming that Des telling story about the apartment number is event 1, Kay asking a question about the apartment number is event 2, and Des answering the question is event 3. When event 2 occurs, Des understands that it sequentially goes together with event 1.

Another example of sequential understanding is shown in the following excerpt. Des is telling a story when suddenly something goes wrong with their connection. Des does not know that her voice is breaking up, so she goes on with her story. When it starts to break up, Kay signals it out. She takes a pause to understand what is going on and asks Kay (line 223). As soon as Kay starts telling her the part that he missed out. She mentally calculates where her voice must have started breaking up and immediately recognizes the point where it did. She looks for a confirmation by asking Kay but before he can answer (line 226), she continues with the story (line 227).

This shows that she understood what Kay was saying and knew exactly what to relate it with. Dess understanding of how the two things were related demonstrated sequential understanding.

Analysis  Understanding Social Memberships
In the following excerpt, Des and Kay both show an understanding of social memberships that is knowing and understanding how people are grouped together in a social context.
They demonstrate this understanding when Des is talking about John, another lifeguard that Ann had worked with in the past. She knows John from somewhere else. While she is talking to Ann, Lizzie is on the phone with John.

This is when Des sees the connection between the two people. She sees that they are both in the same profession lifeguards. She also realizes the requirements in order to make the connection work, a single relationship status and preferably a high income.

She tries to group them together socially by informing Anna about all of Johns such traits (lines 231and 232). Therefore, Des has a concept of social memberships.

Kay, on the other hand, laughs as soon as Des narrates about how she mentioned Johns income to Ann (line 233). He, therefore, understands this to be a more important requirement for a social membership. Thus, he also has an understanding about social memberships, only (probably) in a slightly different context that Dess understanding.

Another excerpt where only hints of social membership were set off is as follows. This is
when Kay expresses how he expected Des to have quietly got into the pool instead of having a conversation with the lifeguard. Des responds to this by saying that she started talking to her because she thought that Ann was funny. Therefore, Des acted differently because she thought that she would socially go together with Ann. She demonstrates an understanding of her social membership circle by hinting that she hangs out and gets along well with people who hve  asense of humor and who are friendly by nature.

Had this not been the case, had Ann been a stern old lifeguard, des would have stayed on the low. However, she acted differently socially because of her impression of her own social membership domain.