International Journal of Accounting and Financial Essay

ABSTRACT The role of Indian mutual fund industry as significant financial service in financial market has really been noteworthy. In fact, the mutual fund industry has emerged as an important segment of financial market of India, especially in channelizing the savings of millions of individuals into the investment in equity and debt instruments. Mutual funds are seemingly the easiest and the least stressful way to invest in the stock market. Quiet a large amount of money has been invested in mutual funds during the past few years. Any investor would like to invest in a reputed Mutual Fund organization. Mutual funds are financial intermediaries concerned with mobilizing savings of those who have surplus and the canalization of these savings in those avenues where there is a demand for funds. These intermediaries employ their resources in such a manner as to provide combined benefits of low risk, steady return, high liquidity and capital appreciation through diversification and expert management. Reforms in the  Indian economic system and the opening up of the economy have been the reasons for the tremendous growth in the Indian capital market. This study analyzes the impact of different demographic variables on the attitude of investors towards mutual funds. Apart from this, it also focuses on the benefits delivered by mutual funds to investors. To this end, 200 respondents of Solapur City, having different demographic profiles were surveyed. The study reveals that the majority of investors have still not formed any attitude towards mutual fund investments. KEYWORDS: Mutual Fund, Investors, Solapur City INTRODUCTION Mutual fund is a pool of money collected from investors and is invested according to certain investment options. A mutual fund is a trust that pools the saving of a no. of investors who share a common financial goal. A mutual fund is created when investors put their money together. It is, therefore, a pool of investor’s fund. The money thus collected is then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciations realized are shared by its unit holders in proportion to the no. of units owned by them. The most important characteristics of a fund are that the contributors and the beneficiaries of the fund are the same class of people namely the investors. The term mutual fund means the investors contribute to the pool and also benefit from the pool. The pool of funds held mutually by investors is the mutual fund. A mutual fund business is to invest the funds thus collected according to the wishes of the investors who created the pool. Usually the investor’s appoint professional investment managers create a product and offer it for investment to the investors. This project represents a share in the pool and pre status investment  Pritam P. Kothari & Shivganga C. Mindargi  objectives. Thus, a mutual fund is the most suitable investment for a common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at relatively low cost. EVOLUTION OF INDIAN MUTUAL FUND INDUSTRY The formation of Unit Trust of India marked the evolution of the Indian mutual fund industry in the year 1963. The primary objective at that time was to attract the small investors and it was made possible through the collective efforts of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. The history of mutual fund industry in India can be better understood divided into following phases: Establishment and Growth of Unit Trust of India – 1964-87 Unit Trust of India enjoyed complete monopoly when it was established in the year 1963 by an act of Parliament. UTI was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and it continued to operate under the regulatory control of the RBI until the two were de-linked in 1978 and the entire control was transferred in the hands of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). UTI launched its first scheme in 1964, named as Unit Scheme 1964 (US-64), which attracted the largest number of investors in any single investment scheme over the years. UTI launched more innovative schemes in 1970s and 80s to suit the needs of different investors. It launched ULIP in 1971, six more schemes between 1981-84, Children’s Gift Growth Fund and India Fund (India’s first offshore fund) in 1986, Mastershare (Inida’s first equity diversified scheme) in 1987 and Monthly Income Schemes (offering assured returns) during 1990s. By the end of 1987, UTI’s assets under management grew ten times to Rs 6700 crores. Entry of Public Sector Funds – 1987-1993 The Indian mutual fund industry witnessed a number of public sector players entering the market in the year 1987. In November 1987, SBI Mutual Fund from the State Bank of India became the first non-UTI mutual fund in India. SBI Mutual Fund was later followed by Canbank Mutual Fund, LIC Mutual Fund, Indian Bank Mutual Fund, Bank of India Mutual Fund, GIC Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund. By 1993, the assets under management of the industry increased seven times to Rs. 47,004 crores. However, UTI remained to be the leader with about 80% market share. 1992-93 UTI Public Sector Total Amount Mobilised 11,057 1,964 13,021 Assets Under Management 38,247 8,757 47,004 Mobilisation as % of Gross Domestic Savings 5.20% 0.90% 6.10% Emergence of Private Secor Funds – 1993-96 The permission given to private sector funds including foreign fund management companies (most of them entering through joint ventures with Indian promoters) to enter the mutal fund industry in 1993, provided a wide range of choice to investors and more competition in the industry. Private funds introduced innovative products, investment techniques and investor-servicing technology. By 1994-95, about 11 private sector funds had launched their schemes. Growth and SEBI Regulation – 1996-2004 The mutual fund industry witnessed robust growth and stricter regulation from the SEBI after the year 1996. The mobilization of funds and the number of players operating in the industry reached new heights as investors started showing more interest in mutual funds. A Study of Investors Attitude towards Mutual Fund with Special Reference to Inversotrs in Solapur City Investors’ interests were safeguarded by SEBI and the Government offered tax benefits to the investors in order to encourage them. SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 was introduced by SEBI that set uniform standards for all mutual funds in India. The Union Budget in 1999 exempted all dividend incomes in the hands of investors from income tax. Various Investor Awareness Programmes were launched during this phase, both by SEBI and AMFI, with an objective to educate investors and make them informed about the mutual fund industry. Growth and Consolidation – 2004 Onwards The industry has also witnessed several mergers and acquisitions recently, examples of which are acquisition of schemes of Alliance Mutual Fund by Birla Sun Life, Sun F&C Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund by Principal Mutual Fund. Simultaneously, more international mutual fund players have entered India like Fidelity, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund etc. There were 29 funds as at the end of March 2006. This is a continuing phase of growth of the industry through consolidation and entry of new international and private sector players. Indian mutual fund industry reached Rs 1,50,537 crore by March 2004. It is estimated that by 2010 March-end, the total assets of all scheduled commercial banks should be Rs 40,90,000 crore. The annual composite rate of growth is expected 13.4% during the rest of the decade. In the last 5 years there is an annual growth rate of 9%. According to the current growth rate, by year 2010, Mutual fund  India assets will be double FEATURES THOSE INVESTORS LIKE IN MUTUAL FUND If mutual funds are emerging as the favorite investment vehicle it is because of the many advantages. They have over other forms and avenues of investing parties for the investors who has limited resources available in terms of Capital and ability to carry out detailed reserves and market monitoring. These are the major advantages offered by mutual fund to all investors: Professional Management Mutual Funds provide the services of experienced and skilled professionals, backed by a dedicated investment research team that analyses the performance and prospects of companies and selects suitable investments to achieve the objectives of the scheme. Diversification Mutual Funds invest in a number of companies across a broad cross-section of industries and sectors. This diversification reduces the risk because seldom do all stocks decline at the same time and in the same proportion. You achieve this diversification through a Mutual Fund with far less money than you can do on your own. Convenient Administration Investing in a Mutual Fund reduces paperwork and helps you avoid many problems such as bad deliveries, delayed payments and follow up with brokers and companies. Mutual Funds save your time and make investing easy and convenient. Return Potential Over a medium to long-term, Mutual Funds have the potential to provide a higher return as they invest in a diversified basket of selected securities. Pritam P. Kothari & Shivganga C. Mindargi Low Costs Mutual Funds are a relatively less expensive way to invest compared to directly investing in the capital markets because the benefits of scale in brokerage, custodial and other fees translate into lower costs for investors Liquidity In open-end schemes, the investor gets the money back promptly at net asset value related prices from the Mutual Fund. In closed-end schemes, the units can be sold on a stock exchange at the prevailing market price or the investor can avail of the facility of direct repurchase at NAV related prices by the Mutual Fund Transparency You get regular information on the value of your investment in addition to disclosure on the specific investments made by your scheme, the proportion invested in each class of assets and the fund managers investment strategy and outlook Flexibility Through features such as regular investment plans, regular withdrawal plans and dividend reinvestment plans, you can systematically invest or withdraw funds according to your needs and convenience Affordability Investors individually may lack sufficient funds to invest in high-grade stocks. A mutual fund because of its large corpus allows even a small investor to take the benefit of its investment strategy. Well Regulated All Mutual Funds are registered with SEBI and they function within the provisions of strict regulations designed to protect the interests of investors. The operations of Mutual Funds are regularly monitored by SEBI. DISADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS Above I have mentioned the various advantages of Mutual Funds but it also suffers from a lot of drawbacks as the market is volatile and it is ever affected by national as well as international factors, these days we can see that crude oil prices in International market has become an important factor  in determining the market movement. Here are some disadvantages as cited by me and by survey: Fluctuating Returns Mutual funds are like many other investments without a guaranteed return: there is always the possibility that the value of your mutual fund will depreciate. Unlike fixed-income products, such as bonds and Treasury bills, mutual funds experience price fluctuations along with the stocks that make up the fund. When deciding on a particular fund to buy, you need to research the risks involved – just because a professional manager is looking after the fund, that doesn’t mean the performance will be always good Diversification Although diversification is one of the keys to successful investing, many mutual fund investors tend to over diversify. The idea of diversification is to reduce the risks associated with holding a single security; over diversification (also known as diversification) occurs when investors acquire many funds that are highly related and, as a result, don’t get A Study of Investors Attitude towards Mutual Fund with Special Reference to Inversotrs in Solapur City the risk reducing benefits of diversification. At the other extreme, just because you own mutual funds doesn’t mean you are automatically diversified. For example, a fund that invests only in a particular industry or region is still relatively risky. For example: Sect oral Funds Cash and More Cash As you know already, mutual funds pool money from thousands of investors, so everyday investors are putting money into the fund as well as withdrawing investments. To maintain liquidity and the capacity to accommodate withdrawals, funds typically have to keep a large portion of their portfolios as cash. Having ample cash is great for liquidity, but money  sitting around as cash is not working for you and thus is not very advantageous. Costs Mutual funds provide investors with professional management, but it comes at a cost. Funds will typically have a range of different fees that reduce the overall payout. In mutual funds, the fees are classified into two categories: shareholder fees and annual operating fees. The shareholder fees, in the forms of loads and redemption fees are paid directly by shareholders purchasing or selling the funds. The annual fund operating fees are charged as an annual percentage – usually ranging from 1-3%. These fees are assessed to mutual fund investors regardless of the performance of the fund. As you can imagine, in years when the fund doesn’t make money, these fees only magnify losses. Figure 1: Structure of Mutual Fund A mutual is a set up in the form of trust, which has sponsor, trustee, assets management company (AMC) and custodian. Sponsor is the person who acts alone or in combination with another body corporate and establishes a mutual fund. Sponsor must contribute at least 40% of the net worth of the investment managed and meet the eligibility criteria prescribed under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) regulations, 1996. The sponsor is not responsible or liable for any loss or shortfall resulting from the operation of the schemes beyond the initial contribution made by it towards setting up of Mutual Fund. The Mutual Fund is constituted as a trust in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 by the Sponsor. Trustee is usually a company (corporate body) or a board of trustees (body of individuals). The main responsibility of the trustee is to safeguard the interest of the unit holders and also ensure that AMC functions in the interest of investors’ and in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996 the provisions of the Trust deed and the offer Document of the respective schemes. The AMC is appointed by the Trustees Pritam P. Kothari & Shivganga C. Mindargi as the investment Manager of the Mutual Fund. The AMC is required to be approved by SEBI to act as an asset management company of the Mutual Fund. The AMC if so authorized by the Trust Deed appoints the Registrar and Transfer Agent to agent the mutual fund. The registrar processes the application form, redemption requests and dispatches account statements to the unit holders. The Registrar and Transfer agent also handles communications with investors’ and updates investor records. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Lenard et., al. (2003) empirically investigated investor’s attitudes toward mutual funds. The results indicate that the decision to switch funds within a fund family is affected by investor’s attitude towards risk, current asset allocation, investment losses, investment mix, capital base of the fund age, initial fund performance, investment mix, fund and portfolio diversification. The study reported that these factors are crucial to be considered before switching funds regardless of whether they invest in non-employer plans or in both employer and non-employer plans. Bollen (2006) studied the dynamics of investor fund flows in a sample of socially screened equity mutual funds and compared the relation between annual fund flows & lagged performance in SR funds to the same relation in a matched sample of conventional funds. The result revealed that the extra-financial SR attribute serves to dampen the rate at which SR investors trade mutual funds. The study noted that the differences between SR funds and their conventional counterparts are robust over time and persist as funds age. The study found that the preferences of SR investors may be represented by conditional multi-attribute utility function (especially when SR funds deliver positive returns). The study remarked that mutual fund companies can expect SR investors to be more loyal than investors in ordinary funds. Walia and Kiran (2009) studied investor’s risk and return perception towards mutual funds. The study examined investor’s perception towards risk involved in mutual funds, return from mutual funds in comparison to other financial avenues, transparency and disclosure practices. The study investigated  problems of investors encountered with due to unprofessional services of mutual funds. The study found that majority of individual investors doesn’t consider mutual funds as highly risky investment. In fact on a ranking scale it is considered to be on higher side when compared with other financial avenues. The study also reported that significant relationship of interdependence exists between income level of investors and their perception for investment returns from mutual funds investment. Saini et., al. (2011) analyzed investor’s behavior, investors’ opinion and perception relating to various issues like type of mutual fund scheme, its objective, role of financial advisors / brokers, sources of information, deficiencies in the provision of services, investors’ opinion relating to factors that attract them to invest in mutual and challenges before the Indian mutual fund industry etc. The study found that investors seek for liquidity, simplicity in offer documents, online trading, regular updates through SMS and stringent follow up of provisions laid by AMFI. Singh (2012) conducted an empirical study of Indian investors and observed that most of the respondents do not have much awareness about the various function of mutual funds and they are bit confused regarding investment in mutual funds. The study found that some demographic factors like gender, income and level of education have their significant impact over the attitude towards mutual funds. On the contrary age and occupation have not been found influencing the investor’s attitude. The study noticed that return potential and liquidity have been perceived to be most lucrative benefits of investment in mutual funds and the same are followed by flexibility, transparency and affordability. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Mutual funds have their drawbacks and may not be for everyone. No investment is risk free. If the entire stock market declines in value, the value of mutual fund shares will go down as well, no matter how balanced the portfolio. A Study of Investors Attitude towards Mutual Fund with Special Reference to Inversotrs in Solapur City Investors encounter fewer risks when they invest in mutual funds than when they buy and sell stocks on their own. However, anyone who invests through a mutual fund runs the risk of losing money. All funds charge administrative fees to cover their day-to-day expenses. Some funds also charge sales commissions or â€Å"loads† to compensate brokers, financial consultants, or financial planners. When he invests in a mutual fund, they depend on the fund’s manager to make the right decisions regarding the fund’s portfolio. If the invests in Index Funds, they foregoes management risk, because these funds do not employ managers. Though these are the problems in the investment of mutual funds, in the recent days most of the investors preferred to invest their funds on mutual funds. In this background, the research has made an attempt to study the investors’ preference for mutual funds in Solapur City. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The present study is based upon the results of survey conducted on 200 mutual fund investors. The implications of the study are subject to the limitations of sample size, psychological and emotional characteristics of surveyed population. SCOPE OF THE STUDY This paper provides Future of Mutual Funds industry information as well as awareness level amongst people for Mutual Funds. Also this project report of Mutual Funds gives an outlook to management as to how the mutual funds are performing in the current market situation as a result what may be the future of this industry. This paper on mutual funds is informative the students who want to understand and undertake assignments in the industry. This study also facilitates the general people who can understand the importance and explore the new option for investment in Mutual Funds. Different financial institutions provide services that are both complementary to and competitive with each other. A well built financial system directly contributes to the growth of the country. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This study is descriptive in nature based on survey method. The study aims at finding out the attitude of the investors towards investment in mutual funds in Solapur city. This study was based mainly on primary sources. The primary data was collected from the investors of mutual funds with help of the questionnaire. The secondary data were collected from the books, records and journals. By adopting convenience sampling, 200 respondents were selected for this study. The essential data were collected with the help of questionnaire. The data collected from the period of January 2011 to April 2011. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Figure: 2 Showing Pattern of Investment Pritam P. Kothari & Shivganga C. Mindargi From above figure it is clear that 75% investors are invested in open ended schemes where as 15% invested in closed ended schemes in mutual fund. Figure: 3 Reason for Investment in Mutual Fund From above figure it is clear that and 42% investors say that they invested money in mutual fund for tax assumption. 33% investors say that they invested money in mutual fund for higher returns. 16% investors say that they invested money in mutual fund for value creation in fund. 9% investors say that they invested money in mutual fund for other reason. Figure: 4 Showing the Reason of Investors that not Invested Money in Mutual Fund From above figure is clear that 50% investors say that they not interested to invest money in mutual fund. 33% investors say that they have imperfect knowledge in mutual fund, so they are not invested. 8.5% investors say that they invested in govt. bond. 8.5% investors has other reason so they not invested money in mutual fund. Figure: 5 Showing Type of Investment Investors Should be Preferred A Study of Investors Attitude towards Mutual Fund with Special Reference to Inversotrs in Solapur City From above figure it is clear that investors invest money in fixed deposits. 15 25% investors invest money in gold/real estates. 17% investors invest money in mutual fund. 8% investors invest money in bond/debentures. Remaining 17% investors invest money in shares. Figure: 6 Showing Returns Investor get from their Investment From above figure it is clear that 70% investors are gaining 5-15% returns from their investment. 23% are gaining 15-30% returns from their investment. 5% investors are gaining 30-45% returns from their investment. Remaining only 2% investors is gaining above 45% returns from their investment. Figure: 7 Showing Duration of Investment From above it is clear 80% investors are dealing in short term duration whereas 20% investors are dealing in long term duration. Figure: 8 Showing the Investors Experience in Mutual Fund Pritam P. Kothari & Shivganga C. Mindargi From above figure it is clear that 73% investors say that they are having bad experience in mutual fund. 12% investors say that they are having good experience in mutual fund. Remaining 15% investors say that their experience is ok. FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS Findings †¢The trend for investment is changing rapidly besides the traditional pattern of investment and people today they are ready to undertake risk and also bear the volatility of changing mutual fund market scenario. †¢This shows that people with Middle Income Group are more attractive this market and are ready to bear the risk. †¢It is observed that 75% investors have invested open ended schemes that they want higher returns on their investment rather than investing in closed ended schemes in mutual fund. †¢It is observed that 42% investors have invested money for tax assumption.33% investors have invested money for higher returns in their investment.16% investors have invested money for value creation in fund. And remaining 9% investors have invested money for other reason. †¢It is observed that 50% investors have not interested to invest money in mutual fund.33% investors have imperfect knowledge so they not invested money in mutual fund.9% investors find govt. securities bond is better that’s way they not invested money in mutual fund. And remaining 8% investors have other reason so they not invested money in mutual fund. †¢It is observed that more businessmen were inclined towards investing in current account. The ladies were inclined to invest their money in Gold and jewelleries. Service class people and retired class people prefer more saving and fixed deposits People with high income. †¢It is observed that 70% investors have invested to getting returns in the range of 5-15% which shows in short span of time they are getting good returns and more than expectations. †¢It is observed that 80% investors have invested in short term duration which indicates the investors have not ready to invest in long term period due to various risks associated with long term duration of investment. †¢On asking how they get knowledge of mutual fund a large number of them attributed to print media. Even banks today follow the role of the investment advisors. Very few get any information from the e-media or Hence, AMCs must increase the awareness about their product through Electronic media (TVs, Cables, Radios etc.) as well as and should not just constrained itself to the print advertisement those who do not read newspaper. SUGGESTIONS Investor’s Point of View The question that entire customer, irrespective of the age group and financial status, think of is- Are mutual funds are a safe option? What makes them safe? The basis of mutual fund industry’s safety is the way the business is defined and regulation of law. Since the mutual fund invests in the capital market instruments, so proper knowledge is essential. Hence the essential requirement is well informed seller and equally informed buyer who  understands and helped them to understand the product (here we can say the capital market and the money market instruments) is the essential preconditions. A Study of Investors Attitude towards Mutual Fund with Special Reference to Inversotrs in Solapur City Being Prudent Investor One Should †¢Ask one’s agent to give details of different schemes and match the appropriate ones. †¢Go to the company records or the fund house regarding any queries if one is not satisfied by the agents. †¢Investors should always keep an eye on the performance of the scheme and other good schemes as well which are available in the market for the closed comparison. †¢Never invest blindly in the investments before going through the fact sheets, annual reports etc. of the company. Since, according to the Guidelines of SEBI The AMCs are bound to disclose all the relevant data that is necessary for the investment purpose of investors. Company’s (Mutual Fund Companies) Point of View  Following measures can be taken by the company for getting higher investments in the mutual fund schemes: †¢Educate the agents or the salesmen properly so that they can take up the queries of the customer effectively. †¢Set up separate customer care divisions where the customers can anytime pose their query, regarding the scheme or the current NAV etc. These customer care units can work out in accordance with the requirements of the customer and facilitates them to choose the scheme that suits their financial status. †¢Conduct seminars or programs about mutual fund where every information about the product is outlined including the risk factor associated with the different classes of assets. †¢Brokers should reduce the brokerage charges for intra day and delivery based so that the investor can save more amounts to generate extra investment for the investor as well as for the Mutual Fund companies. †¢Mutual Fund companies should try to increase the promotion and advertisement strategies for awareness of Mutual fund in solapur city. CONCLUSIONS The mutual fund industry is growing at a tremendous pace. A large number of plans have come up from different financial resources. With the stock markets oaring the investors are attracted towards these schemes. Only a small segment of the investors still in Mutual Funds and the main source  sources of information still are the financial advisors followed by advertisements in different media. The Indian investors generally invest over period of 2-3 years. Also there is a tendency to invest in fixed deposits due to the security attached to it. In order to excel and make mutual funds a success, companies still need to create awareness and understand the psyche of the Indian customer. REFERENCES Agapova, Anna, 2011, „The Role of Money Market Mutual Funds in Mutual Fund Families , Journal of Applied ‟ 1. Finance, Vol. 21, Issue. 1, pp. 87-102. Agarwal, Vikas; Boyson, Nicole M.; Naik, Narayan Y, 2009, „Hedge Funds for Retail Investors? An Examination of Hedged Mutual Funds , Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, Vol. 44, Issue 2, pp. 273-305. ‟ 2. 12 Pritam P. Kothari & Shivganga C. Mindargi 3. A. Vennila, R. Nandhagopal(2012) â€Å"Investors’ Preference towards Mutual Funds in Coimbatore City European Journal of Social Sciences ISSN 1450-2267 Vol.29 No.1 (2012), pp. 115-125 4. Binod Kumar Singh (2011) â€Å"A Study on Investors’ Attitude towards Mutual Funds as an Investment Option† JOURNAL OF ASIAN BUSINESS STRATEGY, VOL. 1(2): 8-15 5. Badrinath, S.G & Gubellini, S, (2011), „On the characteristics and performance of long-short, market-neutral and bear mutual funds , Journal of Banking & Finance, Vol. 35 Issue 7, pp.1762-1776. ‟ 6. Dranikoff L, Koller, T. and Schneider, A, â€Å"Divestiture: Strategy’s Missing Link†, Harvard Business Review, May 2002, 80 (5). 7. Dr.Nishi Sharma (2009) â€Å"Indian Inverstors Perception towards mutual funds† Business Management Dynamics Vol.2, No.2, Aug 2012, pp.01-09 8. Gil-Bazo, Javier; Ruiz & Verd, Pablo, 2009, „The Relation between Price and Performance in the Mutual Fund Industry , Journal of Finance, Vol. 64, Issue 5, pp. 2153-2183. ‟ 9. Hansen M and Nohria N, â€Å"What’s your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?† Harvard Business Review, MarchApril, 1999, 77 (2).1 10. Journal of Marketing, 32 (October), 65-68, 1968. 11. Rajeswari, T.R., and V.E. RamaMoorthy, 2001, An Empirical Study on Factors Influencing the Mutual Fund Scheme Selection by Retail Investors . Retrieved on May 2010 < http://www.utiicm .com/Cmc/PDFs/ ‟ 2001/rajeswari.pdf>. 12. Singh, Chander, 2004, „Performance of mutual funds in India – an empirical evidence , ICFAI journal of applied ‟ finance December, pp. 81-98. 13. Subbash C. Jain, â€Å"Marketing Planning and Strategy†, South Western College Publishing, Sixth Edition, 2000. 14. Singh, B. K. and Jha, A.K. 2009, „An empirical study on awareness & acceptability of mutual fund , Regional ‟ Student s Conference, ICWAI, pp. 49-55. ‟ 15. Winer, C. Strategic Thinking: An executive Perspective, Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall, 2000

Huckleberry Finn Chapter 16 Analysis Essay

I just finished reading chapter 11 of my book The Adventures of Huckleberry fin. The woman lets Huck into the shack but thinks that he’s up to sometimes. Huck introduces himself as â€Å"Sarah Williams† from Hookerville. The woman chatters about a variety of subjects and eventually gets to the topic of Huck’s murder. She reveals that Pap was a suspect and that some townspeople nearly hanged him. Then, people began to suspect Jim because he ran away the same day Huck was killed. Soon, however, suspicions again turned against Pap, after he bought alcohol with the money that the judge gave him to find Jim. Pap left town before he could be lynched, and now there is a $200 reward being offered for him. Meanwhile, there is a $300 bounty out for Jim. The woman has noticed smoke over Jackson’s Island and has told her husband to look for Jim there. He planed to go there and fin him that night with another man and a gun. The woman looks at Huck suspiciously and asks his name. He replies, â€Å"Mary Williams.† When the woman asks about the change, he tries to cover himself by saying his full name is â€Å"Sarah Mary Williams.† She has him try to kill a rat by throwing a lump of lead at it, and he nearly hits the rat, increasing her suspicions. Finally, she asks him to reveal his real male identity, saying she understands that he is a runaway apprentice and claiming she will not turn him in to the authorities. Huck says his name is George Peters and describes himself as an apprentice to a mean farmer. She lets him go after quizzing him on several farm subjects to make sure he is telling the truth. She tells Huck to send for her, Mrs. Judith Loftus, if he has trouble.Back at the island, Huck built a decoy campfire far from the cave and then returns to the cave to tell Jim they must leave. They hurriedly pack their things and slowly ride out on a raft they found when the river flooded. Because Huck lied to the women giving her his fake identity, allowed him to potentially save Jim’s life. After the lady let him go he set up a fake campfire so the people that were going to kill jim went to a different place, which allowed Huck to find Jim and escape safely before anyone could kill either of them. His lying saved Jim’s life and even though he’s not the best kid he’s a genius. We see in these chapters that Huck, though open-minded, still largely subscribes to the Southern white conception of the world. When Jim assesses their â€Å"adventure,† Huck does admit that he has acted foolishly and risked Jim’s safety, but he qualifies his assessment by adding that Jim is smart, for a black person. Huck also genuinely struggles with the question of whether or not to turn over Jim to the white men who ask if he is harboring any runaway slaves. In some sense, Huck still believes that turning Jim in would be the â€Å"right† thing to do. Over the course of these chapters, as he spends more time with Jim, Huck is forced to question the facts that white society has taught him and that he has taken for granted. The arguments Huck and Jim have over Huck’s stories provide remarkable mini-allegories about slavery and race. When Huck tells the tale of King Solomon, who threatened to chop a baby in half, Jim argues that Solomon had so many childre n that he became unable to value human life properly. Huck’s comments lead me to compare Jim’s assessment of Solomon with whites’ treatments of blacks at the time as infinitely replaceable bodies, indistinguishable from one another. Later, Huck tells Jim that people in France don’t speak English. Huck tries to convince the skeptical Jim by pointing out that cats and cows don’t â€Å"talk† the same, and that, by theory, neither should French people and American people. Jim points out that both are men and that the theory is not fair. Although Jim is misinformed in a sense, he is correct in his assessment of Huck’s analogy. Jim’s argument provides yet another subtle reminder that, in American society at the time, not all men are treated as men. We see the moral and societal importance of Huck and Jim’s journey in Huck’s profound moral crisis about whether he should return Jim to Miss Watson. In the viewpoint of Southern white society, Huck has effectively stolen $800—the price the slave trader has offered for Jim—from Miss Watson. However, Jim’s comment that Huck is the only white man ever to keep his word to him shows that Huck has been treating Jim not as a slave but as a man. This newfound knowledge, along with Huck’s guilt, keep Huck from turning Jim in. Huck realizes that he would have felt worse for doing the â€Å"right† thing and turning Jim in than he does for not turning Jim in. When Huck reaches this realization, he makes a decision to reject conventional morality in favor of what his conscience dictates. This decision represents a big step in Huck’s development, as he realizes that his conscience may be a better guide than the dictates of the white society in which he has been raised.

Assessing If Animal Experimentation Should Continue Sociology Essay

Assessing If Animal Experimentation Should Continue Sociology Essay Pet experimentations have already been thoroughly utilized in items and medical studies screening because the 1980s. Nevertheless, the usage of creatures for items screening and medical studies has just worried about individual advantages. What about your pet rights? Does advantages that are individual usually allow it to be authorized for all of US to intervene your pet rights? The problem whether it's essential and moral to utilize creatures for items screening and sciences continues to be intensely discussed to get a time period. Although Pet Rights Activist recognized animal-rights have been morally intruded by vivisections, Laboratory Animal Study of America National Academy thought pet studies is important in several places. Europeans for Medical Improvement which also other this problem shows dog experimentations unreliable and as ineffective. This composition analyze and may define their sights to be able to develop the author's own stand-over issue of animal experimentations . Laboratory Animal Study of Sciences' U.S. National Academy proposes there are requirements for pet studies to become extended to safeguard people from harmful items and illnesses. These said that contemporary systems for example advanced computers continue to be rare to represent the relationships between microorganisms, cells, areas, areas and substances like vivisection does. Scientists stated the experimentations were completed centered on moral methods defined legally and therefore refuse the problem of cruelty and creatures' misuse included throughout the studies. Additionally they state that many study doesn't include discomfort of course if therefore, the discomfort is relieved with anesthetic or medication medications. Researchers also claim concerning the parallels of people biology and creatures that has permitted them to build up vaccines, new medicines and assist them for more information about our anatomies and just how its purpose. Based on National Association for Labo ratory Animal Science, the information collected are just useless in comprehension people, its does additionally useful in knowing our other along with animals, wildlife creatures also (Utilization Of Creatures in Biomedical Research. n.d. p1). Despite the fact that this problem continues to be intensely discussed to get a very long time, the clear answer to prevent it appears complicated and nevertheless too much. Whilst the notion on animal-rights, integrity, and creatures' survival grows through the years, animals proceeds possibly performed within medical, humanely correct, and moral concepts although getting used in study. This enhancement was developed consequently in the introductions of Manual for that Treatment and Utilization Of Laboratory Animals from the National Research Council (NRC) of America. This manual that worried about animal-rights offers the establishments with short traces to handle the study within moral, gentle, and medical concepts. For example, the launch of three Rs technique - alternative, accomplishment, and decrease - were created whilst the primary principle towards humanely pet scientific tests (National Research Council, 2010). Within the 1950s, researches which concerned separating baby monkeys at-birth from their moms hasbeen completed as a way to look at on maternal starvation. Nevertheless, many researchers have firmly criticized this course of action since it is morally incorrect to test individual mental issues that problem interpersonal, genetic and social factors. Mental dog tests that trigger to animals can be viewed as as inhumane as you will find facts that demonstrated creatures likewise experienced exactly the same selection of feelings as people. Animal Rights Activists thought their to be handled as people is deserved by creatures. Including the best to become guarded from any type of tenderness. As people, creatures ought to be regarded quite simply being in the place of home. German and Europe has had some actions in match this problem. In 1992, Europe has recognized animals to be in the place of issues or home (Kayasse, ELIZABETH, S, n.d), while German additional creatures' safety undernea th the structure in 2002. Europeans for Medical Improvement has its stay to disapprove the usage of creatures in medical studies although Pet Rights Activists compared animal experimentations about animal-rights. Whilst the systems create, you will find more and more physicians and researchers began to claim about the stability of utilizing creatures in medical studies and medicals. The study performed on 2004 has shown the facts that vivisection is unreliable and ineffective. For study can be viewed as as improper anymore development in systems today has created addiction on creatures. Furthermore, newly-developed methods that's affordable has offers persuasive outcomes when compared with animal studies. Rats have already been utilized significantly whilst the most dependable animals within the lab to complete on the study. Nevertheless, it had been documented within the Laboratory Pet journal that rats is really a bad versions in knowledge a way of remedies for common cancers along with the system of disease. It had been confirmed the variations between people along with other creatures in mobile and essential innate, molecular has improbable supply efficient lead to looking for the cancer therapies. Furthermore, the efficient therapy examined on creatures has reflected extreme unwanted effects and bad effectiveness when it's put on people. Since 1987, over 100 HIV vaccine studies have been financed by U.S. National Institute of Sensitivity and Infectious Illnesses in people. Despite the fact that 30 vaccines and over 50 vaccines have shown excellent results against HIV/helps with creatures, the tests has didn't respond in people. The parallels between creatures biology and people has allow the researchers make therapy for individual desires and to discover about illnesses. Nevertheless, this declaration isn't relevant anymore while there is growing study results-which exhibited in looking for the remedy animal experimentations didn't show its stability. This process of study preserve proceeds despite the fact that the restriction of vivisection was confirmed, for many factors. Why animal experimentations continue so far among the most dependable businesses within the area has exposed the reasons. Based on the Medical Research Modernization Board, dog testing is essential particularly in chemical sectors due to their own advantages (Anderegg, D. et al. 2006, p19). It features as authorized refuge for that businesses in instances of clients' reduction and impairment due to substance utilized in these products. The patients don't have any to prosecute from the organization whilst the items were officially recomm ended examined on creatures. Furthermore, dog testing is keeping until nowadays for many reasons that function the scientists' governmental, skilled and financial requirements. Medical study that associated with people often include plenty of time-consuming and costs, normally vivisections can very quickly get submit within short-period of time. Medical contemporary development right now and huge improvement in engineering has allowed the development of options which in a position to exchange animals' usage in medical study. Epidemiological may be the efficient and most dependable reports in determining the fundamental reasons for individual illnesses centered on population documents (Anderegg, D. et al. 2006, p15). The easiest way to review individual illnesses is none but to carefully tracking individuals that are individual. Humane Society of America shows that each year significantly more than twenty five thousand creatures hasbeen employed for training functions, and study, screening. Aside from preserving a large number of creatures' existence, epidemiological reports are far less inconsistent to explain therapy methods, efficient reduction and the systems. It's unnecessary to analyze creatures to find what causes some illnesses out. As options, the development of contemporary noninvasive imaging products for example DOG, MRI, KITTEN and SPECT tests therefore and have changed medical analysis decrease the addiction on creatures for medical study (Anderegg, D. et al. 2006, p16). Additionally, advanced computer-modeling has additionally changed animal tests which usually take decades or weeks for that outcomes which were simply within minutes today. Plus or "Episkin" created by L'Oreal study group possibly may provides some expectations from endure lab tests (Episkin to a large number of numerous creatures: Developing Skin within the Laboratory. 2007). Animal experimentations shouldn't be stored continuing in conclusion, although Laboratory Animal Study of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences proceeds to test on creatures within moral methods for that benefit to find therapy and protect people from dangerous item. Both reasons for Medical Improvement from Animal Rights Activist are tangible and undeniable to rebut the U.S. National Academy of Sciences claims' Laboratory Animal Study. Powerful helps from Medical Research Modernization Board, plus have offers plain details regarding vivisections the truth is. With no doubt, the author thought that pet studies ought to be finished since recently create systems may overcome the restriction of animal experimentations that has today clearly not regarded as reasonable anymore.

Review the Files for Three Scenarios and Advise the Crown Prosecutor Essay

Review the Files for Three Scenarios and Advise the Crown Prosecutor Supervising Your Training - Essay Example Notably, this has significant impacts on his credibility and would greatly influence any decision for prosecution. In this scenario, it is also worth noting that the suspect’s divorce case has direct implications on his attitude towards the case. This should be put in consideration because to a great extent, it could have probably influenced the decision that he made with respect to committing the crime. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the suspect had been drinking. In this regard, alcohol and relative drinks have negative implications on the decision making capacity of an individual. Influence of alcohol undermines objective decision making and can make an individual to indulge in activities without understanding the implications for this. The suspect’s decision to settle the case out of court also has direct impacts on decision making in this respect. This implies that he has already assumed criminal responsibility and understands the legal implications of his actions. On the level of public interest, there are various factors that need to be considered and analyzed accordingly. Legal provisions at this point assert that although out of court settlements have been made, factors pertaining to the criminal record of the offender as well as the seriousness of the offence can inform prosecution. According to research, there are certain facts whose presence in the scenario increases the likelihood of the suspect being convicted (Howell, 2011, p. 51). As aforementioned, the suspect has committed the same offence for the second time. The previous offence regarding smashing of an office window had similar facts as this one. Seemingly, it also occurred after an argument with the contractor and involved smashing of a glass window using a stone. Although he has already footed the current damages, this trend implies that he is likely to repeat the crime in future. Put differently, the criminal behavior of Nathan is likely to be repeated in future. Th e sentence for the offence is three months imprisonment and or a level 4 fine. Notably, this sentence is not significant as compared to the sentences of other criminal offences such as assault. However, this offence involved a threat of violence. Presumably, the suspect could have used the stone to cause more harm to the victim, her children or the victim’s property. Further, the fact that this offence was committed in the close proximity of two children increases its likelihood for prosecution. From a legal standpoint, children are protected by the law and committing an offence within their proximity should be avoided at all costs. Conversely, there are factors whose presence in the scenario reduces likelihood for conviction. To begin with, Nathan has exhibited compliance with regard to out of court settlement. He has already affirmed that he indeed committed an offence and has taken practical steps to pay for the relative damages. Basing on the preceding analysis, Nathan sh ould be prosecuted for the criminal offence. He has committed an offence with similar facts for the second time, did this in the proximity of the children and was under the influence of alcohol. Arguably, he exhibits a significant level of irresponsible behaviour and basing on his criminal record, he is likely to r

Creativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Creativity - Essay Example Morris 2006 gives a different definition of creativity when compared to the thoughts of the author of this paper. Morris suggests that the characteristics of creativity firstly involves ‘thinking or behaving imaginatively.’ Secondly, creativity is ‘imaginative’, thirdly, ‘something original’ must be the result of the process and fourthly, ‘the outcome must be of value in relation to the objective.’ Further, Morris adds additional elements to this definition. Creativity is also seen as the connection of body and mind in search of ‘new knowledge’ and includes a ‘risk’ factor in its outlook. (Pann Baltz, quoted in Morris 2006) If creativity is determined by one’s willingness to allow oneself to explore one’s inner workings then clearly some people are more ceative than others. Just like some leaders are born and some are made I believe that creativity within a particular individual can be nurtured to develop into an awesome resource. It is therefore dependent on the environment and the level of encouragement that one obtains that boosts creativity. Howard Gardner in his theory on multiple intelligences suggests that each individual can learn in different ways. Hence one can deduce that individuals can be creative in distinctive ways as well. Pablo Picasso claims that â€Å"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.† Children in particular are naturally creative. They are curious, imaginative, purposeful and appreciate beauty. Therefore there is an innate dimension of creativity deposited in the young at heart. In the same vein , however, children’s natural creativity can be stifled and destroyed by some adults who refuse to allow them to explore and demonstrate their inner self. We can encourage children to be creative by giving them the latitude they need to explore their inner being and their environment to

Charles Messier's Butterfly Cluster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Charles Messier's Butterfly Cluster - Essay Example He actually searched for comets and to avoid confusion between comets and Messier objects, he and his colleagues compiled them in a list in 1771. It was a remarkable achievement. The list is known as the Messier Catalog or Messier Object List. The list contains a total of 110 objects. The list contains nebulae, galaxies and star clusters. Body During the process of these observations, the first object they observed was the Crab Nebula (M1). A total of 103 objects were listed by Messier and his colleagues (Burnham 73). The Crab Nebula is a ball of gas left over from a supernova explosion. M2 is a globular cluster of stars in Aquarius, M3 is located in Canes Venatici, and Messier 4 to Messier 7 are located in the constellation of Scorpius. The Butterfly Cluster is Messier 6. This object can be seen by telescope clearly, and in the grayish color by naked eye. The Butterfly Cluster existence was first noticed by Giovanni Battista Hoderna in 1654. Ptolemy discovered it while he was observ ing M7, and declared it as a part of M7. After that, Phillips Loys de Cheseaux (1945-1946) observed it and recognized it as â€Å"a very fine star cluster.† And finally it was catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764 in the list of Messier objects (The Griffith Observer 259). The Butterfly Cluster is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scorpius known as Messier 6 or the Butterfly Cluster as it resembles a flying butterfly with open wings and antennae. The stars of the cluster twinkle, and it looks very beautiful in the sky. It is visually a very rewarding object; the butterfly pattern is very visible and obvious. It has been placed in the 6th position in the list of Messier objects. Scorpio is located in the Milky Way and contains many massive objects other than M6 and Messier 7. The Butterfly Cluster has a magnitude of 4.2, an angular diameter of 25 arc minutes, and lies at a distance of 1,600 light years with a luminosity of 8,300 suns. The Butterfly Cluster is ab out 50 million years old and can be seen in summer nights clearly with binoculars. The objects (M6 and M7) are the summer’s finest and brightest clusters. Different astronomers have different opinions about M6’s age. According to Burnham, it is 100 million years old; WEBDA estimates its age to be around 95 million years, and 51 million years according to the Sky Catalogue 2000.0. Messier objects of the â€Å"Messier Summer Chart† are clearly visible on summer nights. Messier objects help astronomers to adjust the distance scale of the universe. The above image shows the view of M6 (outcropped). The image was taken through the Astrograph, Takahashi E-180. How Can It Be Seen? It can be seen about 3/ 1-2 degrees northwest of M7 which is located near the tail of Scorpius. It appears as a hazy patch in the dark sky but it should not be confused with Messier 7. Messier 7 is brighter than Messier 6. M7 is seen in between and the Butterfly Cluster is on its lower side. Messier 6 contains many other Messier objects such as M21, M23, NGC 6167, and NGC 6193. Its magnitude is fainter than M7, and fills the field of 25 angular diameter. One of the ways to find the Butterfly Cluster is to identify the two well-known asterisms of Scorpios and Sagittarius. It has two irregular loops of blue and white stars on both wings and at 40-50x, it has three bright stars in the butterfly’s body. The Butterfly Cluster contains almost 80 stars (Plotner 400) with B type blue (hottest) and K type orange stars (BM Scorpii, HD 160371). The brightest K type orange star is a semi-regular

Industrial and biotechnology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Industrial and biotechnology - Essay Example Its revolution rides on a series of concurrently related advances in three areas: genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics. It is now possible to manipulate genetic information and design products, or to even tweak gene expression and genetic information can be transferred between markedly different groups of organisms. Recombinant DNA technology and molecular manipulations have been exploited to improve the production by increasing titers and yields of microbial processes. Introduction Industrial biotechnology is the application of biotechnology for production and processing of chemicals, materials, pharmaceuticals, and bio-energy with less energy consumption, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, higher yields and reduced waste. It uses enzymes and micro-organisms to environmentally friendly manufacturing of products by maximizing and optimizing already established and utilized biochemical pathways. Industrial biotechnology, also known as white biotechnology, has developed rapidly in t he last several decades and has enormous potential and versatility in manufacturing with higher yield and titer. The industry’s economy i.e. Bioeconomy has made a substantial impact in the world economy, is growing at rate without historical precedence. It has no doubt, revolutionized almost every sector of economy whether, it is agriculture or healthcare or petroleum industry. Today, biotechnology is a major participant in global economy and promise to be a major player in next a couple of decades. According to Steve Burrill, President and CEO of Burrill & Co at BIO (Biotechnology industry organization) conference, May 2010 in Chicago, USA said with his trade mark optimism that â€Å"those in the industry were fortunate to be alive at this time, when all current world problems -- climate change, sustainability, energy security, food production and security, and healthcare reform could be tackled if not solved by biotechnology†. To-day’s world’s economy i s facing a range of environmental, social, and economic challenges, development and deployment of biotechnology tools can provide opportunities for renewed economic growth. No doubt, it has already successfully established in some sectors, is still in its infancy. It is a market reality and has consumer demand, from new innovative approaches with huge promise to lower the carbon footprint. Major Products of Industrial Biotechnology Industrial biotechnology has provided products that have impacted our lives. These products have profoundly changed our lives, environment, and economy. They include industrial and agricultural products, food additives, healthcare products, and biofuels. The development of penicillin fermentation in the 1940s marked the beginning of industrial biotechnology. This resulted in production of a large number of metabolites of commercial importance by fermentation. Primary metabolism inside a living organism involves a cascade of enzyme mediated catabolic, and anabolic reactions which provide biosynthetic intermediates and energy, and convert biosynthetic precursors into essential macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides. It is finely balanced and intermediates are rarely accumulated. By deregulating primary metabolism, overproduction of many primary metabolites has been achieved in the fermentation industry. There is enormous use of biotechnological processes in production of primary and secondary

Recruitment and selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Recruitment and selection - Essay Example Recruitment and selection are identified as a fundamental to success of an organisation. Placing a deserving candidate at a right place, at a right time ensures that the organisation would not perform below its targeted objectives. Within that context, a process of recruiting and selecting possesses a paramount importance as it is that door that facilitates new comers to become a part of a team.However, online recruitment and selection have considerably revolutionized this concept from the management points of view and from a potential applicant’s point of view Placing a deserving candidate at a right place, at a right time ensures that the organisation would not perform below its targeted objectives. Within that context, a process of recruiting and selecting possesses a paramount importance as it is that door that facilitates new comers to become a part of a team. However, online recruitment and selection have considerably revolutionized this concept from the management point s of view and from a potential applicant’s point of view. 13 Boots and Waitrose are two companies who are analysed from the management’s perspective. The former sets a certain expectations. And, for that purpose it uses the images and pictures in a way to influence over the thinking of potential candidates for employment in Boots. It portrays the pictures and images of its employees as being satisfied with the environment and they enjoy working with Boots. The Boots management considers and values such depictions as a way to communicate with the potential employees. They believe that the content and messages being displayed on its recruitment website must be simple, easy to read and understandable, and it must deliver what the management expect that content to. On the other hand, Waitrose do not use images and pictures of its employee to depict the inside environment of Waitrose. Instead, Waitrose believe in using more professional content and professional use of words in a way to satisfy the expectations of potential employees. For example, its use the word â€Å"partners† instead of using â€Å"employees†. This sort of management philosophy highlights how much values Waitrose attaches with its current and potential partners. They give them a sense of partnership rather than a concept of employee-employer relationship. 13 5.2 Recommendations 14 6.0Bibliography 15 7.0Appendices 16 7.1Peer Review Forms 16 7.2 Interview Questions 19 Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction Recruitment and selection is one of the most important factors to consider for an organisation. Welch and Welch (2005:81 as cited in Banfield & Kay, 2008) said â€Å"†¦nothing matters more in winning than getting the right people on the field.† This is exactly the same when it comes to organisations, recruitment and selection is responsible for ensuring that they have the right people working in the best positions for the organisation to succeed. The use of on line recruitment has increased in more recent years, it is claimed by Price (2007) that 90% of large US businesses use online recruitment. This is becoming a vital part of the recruitment and selection process in the 21st century as more and more jobseekers are turning to the internet in order to find a job that suits them. It is also claimed that web based recruitment can decrease cost of recruitment by 95% from more traditional methods (Price, 2007). This has obvious financial advantages for organisations, but other benefits to organisations include reduced staffing cost as they do not need employees to process large amounts of applications and it allows organisations to shortlist applicants in a much more efficient fashion. Online recruitment is aimed at the younger applicants (Hankins et al, 2005 as cited in Bratton & Gold, 2007) which suggests that it would particularly focus on employing fresh graduates with the high levels of talent and enthusiasm. This report is going to foc us on the online recruitme

Corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate governance - Essay Example 12). This paper seeks to compare and contrast the theoretical framework of corporate governance, and explain how agency theory can be used to explain corporate governance arrangements in modern companies. The agency theory emanates from the separation of control from ownership such that professional managers manage the firm on behalf of the original owners. The theory draws strength in the rise of conflicts when the owner of a firm perceives that professional managers do not follow the best interests of the owners (Wong and Mwanzia, 2011, p., 2011, p. 16). The theory focuses on analyzing and resolving relationship between owners and shareholders of a firm and the agents or top management, this is based on the basic assumption that the role of a firm is to maximize the wealth and investment of its owners and shareholders. The agency theory works based on a form operating with limited information and uncertainty in its operations. As a result, the firm remains exposed to possibilities of agency issues such as adverse selection and moral hazard. Adverse selection in this case occurs when principals fail to determine, with certainty, whether an agent accurately portrays his or her ability to execute the duties with which they are charged. On the other hand, moral hazard refers to a condition under which a principal cannot ascertain the probability of an agent putting or giving their best towards the wellbeing of a firm (Wong and Mwanzia, 2011, p. 16). The theory also purports that availing superior information on a firm to professional managers gives an edge to agents over the owners. This is because the top managers of a firm may bear more interest in individual welfare than that of the firm or its shareholders and owners. This way, managers fail to act maximally towards the returns of a firm unless proper governance structures are out in place as a means to safeguard the interest of shareholders (Wong and Mwanzia, 2011, p. 16). As a result, the agency theory call s for curtailing the potential of managers to behave in ways that contradict the best interests of shareholders and owners of any given firm. In addition, the theory brings to light the strength of top management in having the stock of a firm held in a wide manner by many shareholders, and the composition of the board of directors being that of people with little knowledge on the firm. According to this theory, the management should be in a position to own stocks of the firm they manage in order to create a positive relationship between corporate governance and the amount of stock owned by the top management (Wong and Mwanzia, 2011, p. 16). This way, the agency managing the form can put the interests of the firm ahead of their own, and the conflict between ownership and agency can end. Thus, because of having a substantial amount of stock in their name, top management becomes more willing to take responsibility for the decisions it makes concerning the firm. In addition of concern, is the issue of generating rules and incentives

Disuss being and non-being in lao-zi's concept (&#32769;&#23376;) Essay

Disuss being and non-being in lao-zi's concept (è€ Ã¥ ­ ) - Essay Example Since nobody knew the name, they called it Tao – the mystery of mysteries. According to the Western culture there is a division between subject and object and prevents the subject from realizing the inner self. Material desires keep mounting and this affects efficiency leading to social problems. LaoZi’s idea of non-being can lessen such desires and enable people to develop with equilibrium. According to this philosophy, ‘being’ is not normal whereas ‘non-being’ is normal. ‘Being’ is not constant; there is continuous movement. ‘Non-being; is actually the denial of ‘being’. ‘Being’ is not limited to concrete material forms but includes abstract ideas and theories. The cosmic process consists of first by giving birth to all things by Dao and then the process of returning all things to Dao. Nonbeing (wu) and being (you) can be seen as the two ontological moments through which the dao manifests itself. From the state of nothingness, from the state of non-being, some forms are realized in the form of being. Hence to become being is to take the form of body. The realm of being comes rarely but the realm of non-being is much richer (Shen, n.d.). Human beings have great potential. Laozi says they should cherish what they have but always remain open to the unfathomable possibilities because the origin is the non-being. In the realm of being, all beings are constituted of opposites, you and wu being one such pair of opposites. You and wu can be analyzed on three different levels of meaning. In the first level, ontologically, you means the real, the actual, the being; wu means non-being, the potential or the possible. Spiritually you means fulfillment and constraint whereas wu means transcendence and freedom. Thirdly, you also means full, presence, whereas wu means void or absence. Non-being or nothingness is the natural state. This state is simply Dao to LaoZi.

History of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Essay Example for Free

History of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Essay The assignment was to select a significant event in the development of psychological testing, such as the Chinese use of essay exams for civil service selection, the use of alpha and beta testing in World War I, Wundt’s laboratory, or the development of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). This paper will discuss the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI); explain its significance and how it has affected the development of psychological testing in the 21st century. Significance The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was published in 1940 and the second revised version was published in 1989 (MMPI-2). It is used to measure adult psychopathology and is the most commonly used measurement in the world (Drayton, 2009). The test was developed with a set of answers that healthy adults would answer and then provides indirect questions as to prevent individuals from being able to skew their answers to get a more favorable result. This allows clinicians to have an objective measure rather than basing a diagnosis off of their minimal assumptions. The test (MMPI-2) is a self-report measure of a person’s psychological state and includes 567 items of true/false questions. According to Drayton (2009), â€Å"It has nine validity scales (or ‘lie’ scales), assessing for lying, defensiveness, faking good and faking bad and among others. These scales make it very difficult to fake the MMPI-2 results. The measure has many clinical scales assessing mental health problems (i.e. depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder), personality characteristics (i.e. psychopathy) and general personality traits such as anger, somatization, hypochondriasis, ‘type A behavior’ addiction potential, poor ego strength and many others† (p. 135). The MMPI-2 can be used to assess major social and personal maladjustment, identify potential applicants for high-risk public safety positions as well as give the ability to support a clinician’s expert testimony. It can also assess clients in substance abuse programs and assist in selecting the most beneficial treatment methodology. With rising divorce rates, this assessment can provide valuable insight for marriage and family counseling. Lastly, this test has affected the college and career counseling sector by providing support for recommendations (Ben-Porath Tellegen, 2008) Conclusion This paper discussed the brief history of the MMPI and the MMPI-2, what it measures and what is included in the assessment as well as the significance it has in modern culture. Included was the intended use of the assessment, the basic principles that the test contains as well as the vast modern use of the MMPI-2.

Investigation into temperature change Essay Example for Free

Investigation into temperature change Essay Introduction. The following is an experiment into temperature change in an exothermic reaction taking place between Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and Hydrochloric acid (HCl) and also how the concentration of the acid will vary these results. The characteristics of the reaction feature a neutralisation, an energy change (shown as a temperature change) that is usually exothermic (gives out heat). The reaction of neutralisation is exothermic because of the bonds being broken and made in the reaction. When bonds are broken, energy in those bonds are taken in, and in this case, are noted as a temperature change, the temperature increasing. If it were an endothermic reaction, the temperature would lower, because the reaction is using up more energy breaking the bonds, this is noted and a temperature change, this time, showing how temperature decreases. The acid and alkali compounds dissolve into water, acid into hydrogen ions, and alkali in hydroxide ions. Neutralisation with hydrogen and a hydroxide, at the end, the product is water (also with left over sodium chloride). There is energy released in kilojoules when a reaction takes place. The main aim is testing the effect of different concentrations and the effect it has on temperature. Variables. To make this test fair, we must only change one variable, that being the concentration of the hydrochloric acid, but we must also make sure, that the alkali concentration is constant. Also, for the sake of fair testing, the room temperature must stay the same, as is will vary results greatly on day to the next. Trial run. The trail run was to determine a number of details; The first, being the correct ratio of concentration, what I mean to say is, how many cubic centimetres the solution of acid and water will vary each time we do the experiment. We have decided to each time, keep the volume constant at 25cm cubed, but diluting the acid by 5cm cubed each time. Also, we decided that the use of polystyrene insulation was not needed as in the trail run; it had no real effect on the end temperature. Apparatus. The following is a list of apparatus we used with the experiment: 1) Burette 2) Measuring cylinder X 2 (0-50cm3) 3) Digital thermometer (with a temp range of -50 degrees Celsius to 150 degrees Celsius.) 4) Beaker Safety. Within safety, basic labs rules apply, these include, clear workstations and no loose clothing, but special safety rules must be out in place for this, as the use of acids and alkalis, safety goggles need to be worn. Step by step plan. First, gather up all equipment needed in experiment, then, measure volumes and concentrations that are needed in the experiment. Then, record the start temperature, after that, mix together the acid and alkali in the beaker, and wait until its peak temperature, then record it. Repeat this three times in order to check for reliability. Use exact guidelines on this to repeat experiment for different concentrations. Accuracy. In accuracy, we use the preset variables we also make sure that volumes and concentration are constant and accurate. Prediction. My prediction of what will happen is that when the acid is added to the alkali, the reaction will cause the temperature to go up, but with each concentration the temperature rise will go up, but not to the same extent of what is was beforehand. This prediction was come to with collision theory in mind; the double the temperature the double the amount of successful collisions, meaning double amount of heat being given off. Once the acid is in excess there will be no further temperature rise. Results Table Conclusion In conclusion, I conclude that my graph follows the directly proportional trend because the science in my prediction was correct (higher temperature, more collisions, more heat given off). This shows my prediction was correct, and that all the science within this experiment in. Evaluation My repeats in the experiment were close, and that would mean that they were, and still are reliable. Also, within these repeats there were no anomalous  results, this again showing a well carried out experiment. My method worked extremely well, and I feel it is the best possible method to use in further experiments. But if needs be to change the experiment in some way, perhaps difference in the concentration of the alkali instead of the acid, may alter the results in someway. Even the use of either more controlled conditions or different insulation is something to look into. Choosing another variable to control is also a feasible option.

Interventions to Reduce Risk of Sexual Abuse

Interventions to Reduce Risk of Sexual Abuse Introduction Various intervention strategies have been implemented to try and reduce the risk of sexual abuse in those persons with a learning disability. There is a general consensus that education programmes directed towards the perpetrator are least effective and that techniques aimed at fostering assertiveness and communication in the learning disabled adult are the best preventative measures. In this review I found there to be a significant lack of research that measured the effectiveness of these interventions and further support and investigation is needed into researching these intervention strategies, advocacy and community awareness studies. Methods of obtaining research In recent years the number of articles on ‘sexual abuse in people with a disability’ found in databases such as Medline and Proquest have increased although there is still a considerable lack of quality statistically significant research. Political and media exposure has unsurfaced the need for this group to be protected. For example, the European ‘Valuing People’ agenda unsurfaced serious inequities.3 Some of the most in-depth studies come from research in which women with learning disabilities have been interviewed directly about their experiences including the ground breaking work of Michelle McArthy.3   A number of factors can limit the disclosure of abuse and lead to an underestimation of the extent of this problem. For example, an individual that has had limited exposure to prevention programs and sexuality education may not recognise the abusive nature of sexual contact they have experienced.4 Disclosure may also be inhibited by feelings of confusion, guilt or denial especially if the abuse occurred from a care-giver or a person that was trusted by the victim.4 This paper aims to criticize interventions and assess the most appropriate methods used to help educate those with learning disabilities about sexual abuse and foster prevention rather than looking at ways to support post-abuse. I haven’t addressed the issue on whether sterilization is appropriate in this review as it steers away from the autonomy of the mentally disabled adult and it is more appropriate to concentrate on education as a tool of prevention and looking at the efficacy of training methods. Method of obtaining papers for literature review All papers in ‘British Journal of Social Work’, Medline via PubMed and Medline via ProQest from 1995 – 2005. Keywords used were ‘learning disability’, ‘sexual abuse’, ‘mental handicap’, ‘prevention’, ‘intellectual disability’, ‘consent sexual relationships’, ‘learning disabilities’, ‘sexual act’, ‘sexual malpractice’. Search terms were grouped as follows:- ‘education, sexual abuse, disabled’, ‘education, sexual abuse, handicap’, ‘education, sexual, disabled’, ‘assertiveness training, sexuality, disabled’ and ‘sexuality, training, mentally disabled.’ Papers found that concentrated on adults only were used and those articles found on sexual abuse pertaining to children were omitted apart from one paper that examines the use of a Computer-Based Safety Programme that could be useful in edu cating mentally disabled adults. Papers that addressed interventions used to prevent abuse from occurring were included in the review. Definitions A ‘learning disability’ is defined as â€Å"a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the reduced ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.†2 Disorders not included are â€Å"learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities or mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.†2 It is not necessarily the person’s learning disability that makes them more vulnerable to the sexual abuse as to the situation they are placed in so that if we took a person of normal mental capacity and placed them in the same environment the risk of sexual abuse for that person would be greate r as well. Sexual Abuse refers to any form of sexual contact to a vulnerable party and violates the victim’s rights as they are not fully aware of the situation. Sexual exploitation is evident when done by anyone in a position of trust or authority towards a person or where the victim has a relationship of dependency with the perpetrator. There are various definitions of sexual abuse used in the literature and widely diverging definitions tend to be used in studies of adults with intellectual disabilities.5 Brown and Turk (1992) also distinguished between non-contact and contact abuse. Another definition of sexual abuse was â€Å"any sexual contact which is unwanted and/or unenjoyed by one partner and is for the sexual gratification of the other†.6 This is still ambiguous as sometimes sexual contact is misunderstood and it could still be enjoyed it is just that the victim is unaware of what the full extent of the act means. I believe that a better definition of sexual abuse is any sexual act performed on a victim in a position of vulnerability. That is one party is not fully aware of the act being performed and there is an imbalance in power. Could this then exclude those persons with an intellectual disability from having a relationship with a person of normal mental capacity? Perhaps, if there is balance in t he relationship and the learning disabled adult can make decisions in other aspects of the relationship this would be a more equally distributed balance of power and this person may be able to fully make decisions on relationships at their own accord. There are varying degrees of mental handicap and this makes research difficult as ethical dilemmas on whether there is full consent and understanding of sexual contact can be ambiguous. However, there are also clear cut cases such as when a disabled person is institutionalized or the primary care-giver is the perpetrator. For the purpose of this review it is important to move more onto preventing the abuse in those that are vulnerable and critiquing methods used to empower those with disabilities rather than focus on the definition of abuse. Protection of those that are in a more vulnerable position and empowerment of individuals already victims of abuse should be fore-front in the social literature. Prevalence of Sexual Abuse There is an increase in the prevalence of sexual abuse in children with learning disabilities. A study conducted by the US National Center on Child Abuse and neglect (1993) found that caregivers abused children with disabilities 1.7 times more than children without disabilities.11 The violation of children can foster the development of low self-esteem and lead onto abuse into their adult lives. A research study by Sobsey found that the risk estimate of abuse of people with disabilities may be as high as an increase of five times greater than the risk for those that aren’t disabled.8 A study by Zemp (2002) found that 64% of female and 50% of male participants were sexually exploited and that disabled room mates were the predominant group of perpetrators for the male and third important for the female participants in the study.9 The statistics in the current literature does vary and â€Å"the wide variation in the figures is due to differences of abuse, the differences in the populations sampled and differences in research methods.†7 Vulnerability For children with disabilities the risk factors for sexual child abuse are increased. A child with a learning disorder has more difficulty in understanding and communicating and has an increased level of vulnerability. As they are unable to understand tasks as well as other normal children of the same age they are often brought up with low self-esteem as their care givers perform more of the tasks for them than they would for other children. This also leads onto a greater vulnerability and increased risk of sexual abuse than what is seen in children of the same age and normal development.1 This low self-esteem can continue into adulthood resulting in the learning disabled adult also possessing low-self esteem and greater risk factors of vulnerability in comparison to other adults. For those adults with intellectual disabilities there is a difficult balance to be met between empowering the individual to make their own sexual choices and to be leading more of a normal life and to claim their sexual rights and protect them from sexual abuse.4 Murphy et al (2004) suggests that services should be guided as to whether a person has the capacity to make their own sexual choices, however, the ability to assess this capacity to consent hasn’t been clearly defined. It is obvious that a caregiver would be taking advantage of their position of trust and it would be defined as sexual abuse. However, relationships outside this sphere are much more difficult to assess. Sexual acts between two adults of diminished mental capacity for instance and with adults outside the care-giving role. A more appropriate definition in this case may be â€Å"where a person is used by another in order to satisfy certain needs without being informed or giving consent†. This focus is more on the perpetrator as satisfying their sexual needs while the victim does not gain anything by the relationship so the victim is in a position of vulnerability and may not be able to represent themselves. Review of Intervention Techniques as a method of preventing Sexual Abuse in the learning disabled adult Lobbying the Government and changes to policy The manner in which sexual abuse is dealt with in a community reflects the way disabled people are regarded by in society. A report was released in 2004 that spoke about the changes the government is try to initiate as part of the ‘Valuing people: Moving Forward Together’ project.12 According to the Health and Social Care Act 2001, an annual report must be given to Parliament on learning disability. The Leaning Disability Task Force report for 2004 was called ‘Rights, Independence and inclusion’ and addressed the Sexual Offences Bill. Part of the Bill that talks about capacity and consent was changed to reflect the rights of people with learning disabilities to a full sexual life. The British Home Office is now working on helping others understand the Sexual Offences Act fully. Change has taken place and inclusion in helping to form government policy can be considered ‘morally and ethically the most appropriate form of education’. The acceptance of the disabled person as an individual is important not only at school level but right through to parliament. Behavior modification in the learning disabled adult; empowering the victim It has been suggested that programs aimed at re-educating the perpetrator have had little success and interventions aimed at modifying the behavior of the victim have a much greater success at reducing the risk of sexual abuse in adults with learning disabilities (Bruder et al, 2005). To be able to protect themselves against perpetrators, the adult with learning disabilities needs to learn how to assess whether a situation is inappropriate, must have the assertiveness to say no and seek help and to report the event. The eleven papers chosen for review are listed in Table 1 in the Appendix. Burke et al, 1998, suggested that one way a care provider can lower the risk of sexual abuse in a learning disabled adult is to help provide functional communication skills. The adult may use their own form of communication whether this be symbols or words and their form of communication should be encouraged so that they are able to express their needs. Communication is empowering to the individual and enables them to be able to get a message to their Caregiver. Often those with intellectual disabilities are hard to understand and the carer should ask themselves if they have tried to read non-verbal behavior or begun to establish an alternative form of communication. Burke et al, 1998, also suggested that it was the Carer’s role to provide sexual education to limit the risk of abuse. This education then becomes a way of communicating the common language of sexual health. It is important that the individual understands what appropriate sexual behavior is and understands how to trust their feelings by ‘validating, rather than dismissing or minimizing, them’. The person also needs to be made aware of the appropriate forms of touch so that they can maintain and understand personal boundaries. Burke has suggested that these adults need to have a plan for when somebody doesn’t obey their personal boundary rules so that they are able to get themselves out of the situation and avoid sexual abuse altogether. It doesn’t mean being afraid of strangers but learning how to remain safe. Burke has suggested ways of empowering the learning disabled adult and reducing the risk of sexual abuse. These methods may not be useful when the caregiver is the perpetrator and it could be suggested that a teacher outside the carer role provide this type of education so that the individual is then able to recognise when a person in close association with them has crossed personal boundaries. It does not give ways to avoid abuse altogether and aims to reduc e the risk when the person knows what types of behavior is inappropriate and requires reporting. The main downfall of Burke’s research was that she didn’t quantitatively measure the reduction in risk of introducing a communication skills program so further research is needed to assess whether the implementing education on sexuality and encouraging communication strategies actually lower the incidence of sexual abuse. Earle, (2001), agreed that those with learning disabilities are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse due to the disabled person’s dependent environment, difficulty in articulating their abuse and understanding when abuse has taken place. She suggested that ‘whilst disabled people have the right to be protected from sexual abuse and exploitation, it could be argued that a concern with this risk should not be used as a smokescreen to deny disabled people their sexual identity.’ Earle also postulated that by not discussing sexuality and creating an atmosphere where ‘sexuality is taboo’, this may in fact increase the incidence or worsen the experience of the sexual abuse. Earle also found that nurses tended to think of their disabled patients as asexual and in denial did not address the sexual needs of the patient at all. She also found that disabled individuals have been unable to access information and services on sexuality. Earle admits in this paper that ‘the purpose of this paper has not been to provide answers’,’ nor has it been possible to explore all of these issues in depth’ but to show that the issue of sexuality should be given greater emphasis in a holistic health care framework. The missing link is whether empowering the disabled individual to make their own sexual choices and discover their own sexual identity actually reduces the incidence of sexual abuse. Teaching refusal skills to sexually active adolescents was introduced in a study by Warzak et al (1990). The training was given to sexually active handicapped female adolescents who lacked an effective refusal strategy. Role-plays were used to help teach effective strategies using ‘the who, what, when and where of situations which resulted in unwanted sexual intercourse.’ The skillfulness and effectiveness of the subjects’ refusal skills were judged to be improved as a result of the training. This study did not have a control group. The research did have a long-term follow up after 12 months and this showed a decrease in sexual activity for each girl. Singer (1996) introduced a programme to seven intellectually disabled adults that lived in a residential group home. The programme consisted of weekly sessions of assertiveness training, group exercises, role-plays and information giving. The participants had previously been subjected to verbal, physical and emotional abuse by previous members of staff and Singer aimed to teach them how to respond appropriately and assertively in situations of abuse. The trainers assessed each client individually to evaluate how they would initially act in a situation of abuse and also measured their social behavior, assertiveness skills, use of verbal and non-verbal behavior and reading and writing skills. They were given ratings on assertiveness in each role play and it was found that after the training was implemented, the participants did not show improvements in scores where authority figures were the perpetrators but that an overall general improvement in assertiveness scores was established. T he staff did comment that the residents showed an increase in confidence, communication and positive attitude post-intervention. This type of study would be great implemented on a larger scale. The difficulty in establishing whether this research has been effective is due to the small numbers. The long-term effects of the trainings are also unknown as there has not been any follow up study. The research study is lacking statistical analysis and a control group so it is difficult to assess whether the trainings actually reduced the risk of further sexual abuse. Mazzucchelli (2001) introduced a ‘Feel Safe pilot study of protective behaviors programme for people with intellectual disability.’ The programme was designed to increase personal safety skills by teaching ways of recognizing unsafe situations and developing a range of coping and problem-solving skills. This research study implemented the use of a control group. There were ten participants in each group. This intervention program was originally developed in the 1970s for children and was then used in this research study with learning disabled adults. Another main focus of the training was â€Å"Nothing is so awful that we can’t talk to someone about it.† The training programme involved the research group participating in role-plays and then evaluating how they behaved to promote self-regulation of behavior as well as using the role-plays in real, everyday situations. Questionnaires were used to evaluate quality of life and protective behavior skills and con ducted by assessors that weren’t involved in delivery of the programme. The experimental group did show a statistically significant increase in performance on the Behavioral Skills Evaluation in comparison to the control group from pre-test to follow-up suggesting that the programme did improve favorable behavioral skills but did not improve the participant’s quality of life. The six-week follow up may have been too soon to appropriately evaluate any change in quality of life. Mazzucchelli also had a small number of participants which led to difficulties in showing statistical significance for the research. The themes which showed the greatest increase from pre-test to post-test were â€Å"we all have the right to feel safe†, â€Å"it is acceptable to be non-compliant or ‘break rules’ during an emergency and self-assertion skills. The researchers Lee et al (2001), examined the effectiveness of a computer-based safety programme for children with severe learning difficulties that could be implemented into an adult training programme. Three groups were established. One group was offered the safety programme, one was a control and the third group was given the intervention programme much later in the study. All of the participants were tested for cognitive ability and knowledge of personal safety concepts pre-training. Two post-tests were conducted 1 week and 2 weeks after the safety programme. There were 18 candidates in the control group and 31 children in the experimental group. None of the schools had previously implemented formal personal safety training programmes although some of the teachers had started to discuss personal safety with their students. The computer programme went through role-plays illustrating types of behavior and the experimental group was divided into ‘less able’ and ‘ more able’ depending on cognitive ability. The researchers used two interviews to establish the student’s perception of authority figures and their knowledge of personal safety. MANOVA analysis found authority to have an independent effect on the respondent’s safety scores and this authority awareness was independent of the participant’s cognitive ability. These researchers found that those involved in the safety programme have significantly improved their knowledge of safety concepts and maintained this increase in knowledge for 15 weeks. There was also a statistically significant result in those going through the programme for the skill of ‘being able to tell someone’ and the study illustrated that they would repeatedly tell someone even after being dismissed the first time and they could also provide a reason for this disclosure. The research showed that there was no significant increase in knowledge attained by the control group leaving t hese untrained students as potential targets by perpetrators. Lee et al (2001) also found that the increase in knowledge post-training was greater in the ‘more able’ group so that training may need to be repeated for those with lower cognitive ability. By the end of the programme all the students were able to produce a list of people that they would tell if they experienced an incident. The researchers also explored the importance of acknowledging authority issues when designing a personal safety programme. This research illustrates that learning disabled students can benefit from training programmes on personal safety. The implementation of these programmes with adults may prove beneficial. Education of teachers, health care providers and caregivers Howard-Barr et al (2005) explored the beliefs in teachers regarding sexuality training of mentally disabled students. The researchers also investigated the range of sexuality topics they would teach and their professional preparation. The participants in the study believed that sexual education should be taught, they rated their current delivery as inadequate and expressed that they needed much more preparation. The number of participants was moderate (n=494) although only 206 candidates actually returned the questionnaire resulting in a response rate of 42%. There were 36 sexuality topics presented and out of the top 6 most important skills, the concept of personal skills was rated the highest. Teachers of mentally disabled students rated personal skills topics such as finding help, assertiveness, communication and friendship more important than human development topics such as reproduction, anatomy and body image. Subjects such as masturbation, human sexual response and shared sexu al behavior were the most neglected topics. The limitations of this study included the inability to assess the quality of teaching and whether the teacher was actually addressing any specific areas of the 36 topics. This research topic did not address the effectiveness of education as a risk reduction method for sexual abuse however it did examine the beliefs of the teachers in the type of topics covered in sexuality education of mentally disabled students. It also revealed a general feeling of professional inadequacy in this area. Fronek et al (2005), conducted a research study that examined the effectiveness of a Sexuality Training Program for patients post-spinal cord injury. They found that there was evidence to support consideration of the client sexuality and a lack of training given to caregivers in this area. This study evaluated the attitudes of staff before and post-sexuality training. The researchers based the training on the Specific Suggestions and Intensive Therapy (PLISSIT) model. The sample group (n=89) was divided into a control group and experimental group randomly. A series of one-day workshops were conducted to the experimental group. Topics covered included identification of professional boundaries, limit setting, maintaining boundaries, development of sexual identity and case studies. This training programme was not focusing on the prevention of sexual abuse, rather the education of staff to being able to be open and teach their patients about sexuality. The staff assigned to the treatment group showed a significant improvement on all subscales of the KCAASS (Knowledge, Comfort, Approach and Attitudes towards Sexuality Scale) post-training and these changes were still significant three months later. In comparison, the control group did not show any significant changes on the KCAASS. Those patients suffering from spinal cord injury are not necessarily affected cognitively and may be only physically affected so this study is limited in assessing how sexuality training of staff could benefit the needs of people with a learning disability. The training was conducted over a one day period and a longer programme may be more beneficial to staff. There was a reporting bias shown by the control group as they were not assigned to receive training initially and the researchers believe that feelings of resentment and a tendency to over-estimate knowledge resulted from being assigned into the control group. Whether improvements can be maintained for longer periods of time (>3 mon ths) is uncertain and refresher courses may be necessary. The research did not examine the effect this education has on the patient in improving their own sexual identity and further studies would be useful in examining whether this limits the risk of sexual abuse. The PLISSIT model has been widely used to implement staff training and sexuality rehabilitation interventions within various clinical disciplines and could be an effective model to use to train carers of mentally disabled people. This model also allows for staff involvement according to level of comfort, previous knowledge and counseling skills. Community awareness Rogow (1998) discusses the impact of different forms of abuse in two case studies and expresses the need for comprehensive preventative or pro-active intervention strategies. The author discusses the release of an education campaign that consists of a video, handbook, workshop series and public service announcements for broadcast media that is aimed as a preventative to educate people involved with disabled youth. These publications are not specifically addressing prevention of sexual abuse in mentally disabled persons although, these forms of media could be used to help foster community awareness of this subject. The effectiveness of these media releases has not yet been evaluated and requires research. The video and handbook is being supported by government and private agencies and made in co-operation with parents and organizations advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. Advocacy Leicester Cooke (2002) expressed a need for further advocacy to those individuals to whom the giving of informed consent is difficult (individuals who are most likely to be among those labeled as having ‘severe learning disabilities’). These researchers also suggest that advocates, in representing other people, must attempt to work out what the learning disabled person would choose and not necessarily what they would choose. Advocates needs to have high levels of empathy and the ability to know when and how to set their own beliefs and values aside. Assessing the ability to use advocacy to reduce the risk of sexual abuse in learning disabled persons is yet to be researched. Recommendations for social work practice at local level There are several great projects currently in place that foster the empowerment of the learning disabled adult to help them protect themselves and also to be able to make their own choices about sexual relationships. For example, The Disability Pride Project explores avenues that promote safety and support by promoting awareness within the community and developing healthy sexuality workshops for people with disabilities.10 This group teaches community specific advocacy and self-advocacy skills, organizes workshops for personal attendants and institutions about sexuality in the lives of people with disabilities and creates opportunities for young women with disabilities to be mentored by older women with disabilities.10 These educational sessions could be implemented by Social Workers, carers and other educators internationally to foster empowerment in the learning disabled adult to help prevent abuse and instill confidence and responsibility in both the disabled adult and the caregivers. In this review I have critiqued papers that have researched the effectiveness of education of both the carer / teacher and the learning disabled adult and it is evident that there is an extreme lack of research in this area and there is a need for more statistically significant, large numbered studies that investigate the effectiveness of intervention strategies. Conclusion The studies on interventions used to prevent sexual abuse in those with a learning disability are limited. There is some suggestion from the research that advocacy and changes to policy will help to encourage greater understanding of learning disabled people in the community. Greater awareness can foster independence and boost self-esteem which may then lower the risk of sexual abuse in this minority group. Some of the research papers presented in this review have shown that intervention strategies such as improving communication skills in the learning disabled and education of both staff and carer may be beneficial. The implementation of behavioral strategies including role-plays may help the intellectually disabled person gain an increase in confidence, assertiveness and develop a strategic plan if placed in danger of a sexual predator. These training programmes could be introduced by the social worker or some other authority figure apart from the actual care-giver as there have be en cases where the carer is actually the perpetrator of the abuse. More studies of greater numbers using both an experimental and control group are necessary to determine whether these intervention strategies will be successful at significantly reducing the risk of sexual abuse in the learning disabled adult. Although, an increase in confidence and assertiveness in these people would also be a great benefit so even if the studies are unable to show significant risk reduction of sexual abuse the training could positively influence other aspects of their lives. References Abuse of Children with Disabilities. NCFV. Public Health Agency of Canada. www.phac-aspc.gc.ca http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/sped/projects/ose/categories/ld.html#defin Brown, H. 2004. A Rights-based Approach to Abuse of Women with Learning Disabilities. Tigard Learning Disability Review. Volt 9, Is 4, pp41-44. Murphy, GH and O’Callaghan, A.2004. Capacity of adults with intellectual disabilities to consent to sexual relationships. Psychological Medicine, Volt 34, Is 7, pp 1347 Brown, H and Turk, V. 1992. Defining sexual abuse as it affects adults with learning disabilities. Mental Handicap Volt 20, pp 33-55. McCarthy, M. 1993. Sexual experiences of women with learning disabilities in long stay hospitals. Sexuality and disability Volt 11, pp 277-286. McCarthy, M and Thompson, D.1996. Sexual abuse by design: an examination of the issues in learning disabilities services. Disability and Society. Volt 2, pp 205-224. Subset, D. 1994. Violence