Recruitment Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Recruitment Process - Essay Example The USA Staffing recruiting system has been designed by the federal government to cater for the special and unique requirements as determined by the federal recruitment and staffing. The application process is done online and the applicants can use USAJOBS and the DEA Career Gateway by USA Staffing recruiting system (DEA, 2015). The advantage of the application process is that it is convinient and the applicants can contact the application manager in the event that they have encountered some problems. On the other hand, the applicationprocess to Join Los Angeles Police force begins by downloading an application form which needs to be completed by the applicant. This process is comprised of seven steps. According to Los angeles Police Force website, the first step in the application process involves Preliminary Background Application (PBA) and Job Preview Questionnaire (JPQ) which is completed online. This aims to help the applicant identify issues that help them better understand the force and check if they have the potential to qualify. The second step is The Personal Qualifications Essay (PQE) which is comprised of essay questions related to judgment and decision making and behavioral flexibility and the applicant’s communication skills are also evaluated. The third step involves background investigation and poligraphy examination. This is meant to obtain the applicant’s background information and family members may also be interviewed to obtain this information. The fourth step involves Physical Abilities Test to measure strength as well as capability in terms of performance. The fifth stage involves interviews where the panelists seek to assess your personal accomplishments, motivation communication skills as well as interpersonal skills to see if you are capable of doing the job. The sixth step involves medical and

Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Strategy - Essay Example the people at the project level may not be well informed about the strategy of the business in detailed except in just a general manner. Those in top management may be unwilling to share the picture out of fear of commercial sensitivity (particularly of the future direction). Strategic planning is a vital tool within an organization and should be embraced within any level of management (Barry J. Witcher, 2010). A good organizational planning process is that which brings the organization together. It the process where clear vision of the organization is articulated and also the direction in which it intends to go. A strategic organization makes deliberate actions towards the future direction by coming up with ways to measure and benchmark the progress. Several organizations are faced with the challenges of adopting to changing business environment. The conventional view is that for firms to acquire competitive advantage, core competencies, it has to strategically allocate resources so as to be adoptive in the rapid changing environment. As a result, organizations should streamline their efforts and carry out extensive planning and analysis in selecting markets and products which to engage. The evolutionary, or ecology of population, perspective suggests the degree of organizational change is very high that adaptation is almost impossible; instead organizations grow to adopt into an environment through natural selection. At the other end are those who are of the opinion that the contemporary changes in environment are so high and unanticipated that planning becomes difficult, somewhat, organizations have to be adoptable and nimble. Critically, the metaphor that organizations as entities trying to adopt to their changing environment expresses a sense naturalness and inevitability that covers the discretion and internal conflicts of

Disaster in Franklin County Essay Example for Free

Disaster in Franklin County Essay The role of the major public health personnel, including the public health nurse, is to provide the public with accurate information, and to assure the community, as well as ensure the immediate safety and well-being of the members of the community, while being competent compassionate and accessible. The public health director was contacted by the incident commander to attend the incident briefing due to immediate and long term public health impacts. The fire chief gave report concerning how many people were confirmed dead, what time it occurred and what county(s) were affected. He made the public aware if any hazardous materials had been released and where and whether the hazardous materials team had been dispatched. He also notifies the community of areas of flooding, and any impassable roads and the roads that are closed, as well as any power outages, and possible long term problems that may occur from power loss such as water contamination, and food loss due to spoilage. The fire chief also informs the public that the plan for search and rescue has been initiated. The public health staff had previously had National Incident Management System (NIMS) training. The deputy director sets up the incident command center and does the head count of available responders. The most ideal personnel were not totally available; there were an appropriate number to set up section chiefs and command staff. The chain of command that was used in the simulation consisted of the Public Health Team which included the County Public Health Director, Environmental Health Specialists, and Community Health Nurses, as well as Franklin county staff members, mental health, and social workers, which allowed the community health nurse to have resources available that were used to deal with situations that were outside the nurse’s scope of practice included reporting to EOC well treatment hazardous waste removal. Actions taken by the community health nurse when she encountered possible emergency situations during the door-to-door interviews was to Calm and triage families and offer reassurance and instruction on safety. The public health personnel had to deal with multiple problems both during the initial period and after the immediate danger had past. Actions taken by the community health nurse to help the people who were interviewed cope with the situations after the flooding were: to advise them to stay at shelter where there is electricity and food to contact Environmental health specialists for toxic waste To contact Social services to address immediate needs and resources. To arrange for instruction on safe use of generators in English and Spanish. To make arrangement for medications to be delivered the next day. Techniques that were used or could have been used to calm the fears of the people interviewed are to use short and concise statements. Perform active listening and confirm statements by repeating it back to the person being spoken with, use confrontation avoidance, and De-escalation. The other nursing personnel could be prepared to help in responding to a similar emergency with a much larger affected area (e.g., the effect of Hurricane Katrina). Through the development of a well-organized disaster response plan. Public health staff requires National Incident Management System (NIMS) training. Emergency preparedness training should be performed at least every six months. There needs to be a method of communication in case power lines, towers and electricity are not available; have a backup system in place and know where they are located (e.g. include, walkie talkies, Morse code and emailing). Community nurses should have car stock that includes protective gear (PPE) such as N-95 mask, barriers for CPR, gloves, biohazard containers and isolation gowns. Knowledge of the basic steps that are needed to take to ensure patient safety, such as safe evacuation, and early notification will help prevent unnecessary casualties during emergencies (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. www.ahrq.gov/prep. Accessed July 21, 2006. References Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://cpheo1.sph.umn.edu/fcs/index.asp Health Care: Public Health Emergency Preparedness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/prep

Rape Law Reform in England and Wales

Rape Law Reform in England and Wales 1. Introduction The beginning of the 21st Century has seen a major overhaul of the sexual offences legislation in England and Wales. Prior to this reform the law on sexual offences was based on legislation implemented in 1956[2], with some parts dating as far back as the 19th Century. It goes without saying that this legislation was grossly dated and unsuitable for the 21st Century. A number of important amendments had been made since the 1956 legislation, including the inclusion of marital rape and male rape in 1994[3]. However, these piecemeal changes resulted in very confusing laws, to the extent that many different Acts had to be accessed in order to decipher where the law stood on any given matter. The Home Office acknowledged that this had led to a ‘patchwork quilt of provisions (Home Office, 2000, pg. iii). The previous law was also plagued by anomalies, inappropriate language[4] and discrimination, some of which may have been construed as violating human rights legislation. Starting with a pledge by the newly elected 1997 Labour government to help victims of sexual offences obtain justice, a detailed and lengthy review process was initiated in 1999 (the Sexual Offences Review). This was followed by a Sexual Offences Bill and then, finally, the arrival of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which came into force in May 2004. This article outlines the criticisms feminists have previously made about rape law in England and Wales and describes and evaluates as far as possible the new legislation as it relates to rape. 2. The attrition problem The criticisms feminist academics and activists have highlighted in terms of rape law in England and Wales are similar to those described in other countries with adversarial legal systems. These include: the difficulties in proving non-consent; cross-examination; rape myths; the use of sexual history evidence in court; and the 1976 ruling in Morgan[5] that an ‘mistaken but ‘honest belief in consent should lead to an acquittal even if this belief in consent is not a ‘reasonable one. The incredibly high attrition rate for rape cases has been a major concern underpinning many of these criticisms and acted as a strong push factor towards the strengthening of the law on sexual offences. Quite simply, most rape victims who report the offence to the police will never even see their case reach court, never mind see the perpetrator convicted for rape. Many studies have documented the high attrition rate and how it has increased over time. While more and more men are being reported to the police for rape, the proportion that are convicted for rape has been steadily falling since records began (Smith, 1989; Chambers and Miller, 1983; Lees and Gregory, 1993; Harris and Grace, 1999; HMCPSI and HMIC, 2002; Lea, Lanvers and Shaw, 2003). These studies show that the ratio of rape convictions to reported rapes has steadily fallen from one in three in 1977 to one in 20 in 2002 (Kelly, 2004). Comparative analysis has found that the high rape attrition rate is not confined to England and Wales but is echoed to different extents across Europe (Kelly and Regan, 2001). Bearing in mind that most rapes are not even reported to the police[6], this of only one in twenty is particularly concerning and has been the basis of much campaigning by activist groups. Moreover, Kelly (2002) warns that attrition may actually be even higher than research has fo und because such studies do not take into account rapes that are reported to but not recorded by the police, or any convictions that are overturned on appeal. New research has found that around one in ten convicted rapists later have their convictions overturned or sentence reduced on appeal (Cook, 2004). 3. The reform process The Sex Offences Review began in 1999 and aimed to achieve ‘protection, fairness and justice within the Home Offices overall aim of creating a ‘safe, just and tolerant society (Home Office, 2000b)[7]. The reviews terms of reference were: ‘To review the sex offences in the common and statute law of England and Wales, and make recommendations that will:  · provide coherent and clear sex offences which protect individuals, especially children and the more vulnerable, from abuse and exploitation;  · enable abusers to be appropriately punished; and  · be fair and non-discriminatory in accordance with the ECHR and Human Rights Act. This third point is likely to have been an important factor in why the Government felt the pressing need for legislative reform; in October 2000 the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force and thereby incorporated the rights guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) into the domestic law of England and Wales. Although the Human Rights Act 1998 did not actually give citizens any ‘new rights it gave judges the power to make a statement of incompatibility if a piece of legislation failed to respect an individuals human rights. Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights has in the past held states accountable for violations of human rights where they failed to enact appropriate rape legislation[8]. An internal steering group and external reference group were set up as part of the review; the latter including established feminist academics[9], representatives from feminist organizations working with victims of rape[10] and feminists campaigning for rape law reform[11]. Intentionally or unintentionally, the review was therefore guided by a strong feminist influence. Two lengthy documents were then produced, consisting of literature reviews, reports from consultation seminars and recommendations (Home Office 2000a, 2000b) and from this review, the white paper ‘Protecting the Public was published (Home Office, 2002) setting out the Governments proposals. In the foreword by Home Secretary David Blunkett, he described the existing law on sexual offences using words such as ‘archaic, ‘incoherent and ‘discriminatory. The Sexual Offences Bill was introduced in January 2003 into the House of Lords, where some amendments were made. The Bill was passed to the House of Commons in June 2003 where it was reviewed by a Home Affairs Committee. In July 2003 this review was published, along with oral and written evidence submitted as part of an inquiry into specific sections of the Bill (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, 2003). The Sexual Offences Bill was given Royal Assent on the 20th November 2003 and became the Sexual Offences Act 2003 with effect from May 2004. This replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and its various amendments. It is widely acknowledged that the new Act represents the largest overhaul of sexual offences in over a century (Editorial, Criminal Law Review, 2003). 4. The Sexual Offences Act 2004 In order to secure a conviction for rape it is necessary to prove beyond reasonable doubt not only that the defendant committed an act that meets the legal definition of rape but also that the defendant knew that the victim was not consenting. These are known as the actus reus (the guilty act) and the mens rea (the guilty mind, or criminal intent). These two aspects of rape are now described in turn in terms of the reforms that have taken place. 4.1 The actus reus (guilty act) The actus reus of rape within the Sexual Offences Act 1956 was simply defined as unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman, which was amended in 1976[12] to unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent. The 1990s saw two major changes relating to the actus reus of rape. In 1991, after over 100 years of feminist campaigning rape within marriage became illegal within the common law system and this was placed into statute in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 when the word ‘unlawful was removed from the definition. It had previously been judged in common law that married women had no capability or authority to ‘not consent: ‘The sexual communication between them is by virtue of the irrevocable privilege conferred once for all on the husband at the time of the marriage †¦ (R v Clarence, 1888). ‘But the husband cannot be guilty of rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for their matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband, which she cannot retract. (Sir Matthew Hale, 1736 History of the Pleas of the Crown) The criminalisation of marital rape was controversial within legal circles. This is because when it was criminalized in 1991 it was seen as being criminalized by judge-made law rather than the elected government. The case in question was R v R[13] where it was alleged a husband had attempted to have sexual intercourse with his estranged wife without her consent and physically assaulted her by squeezing her neck with both hands. In this case the issue was not whether he had attempted to force his wife to have sexual intercourse without her consent, but rather whether this fell under the legal definition of ‘unlawful sexual intercourse. Relying upon Hales now infamous statement (cited above) the defence argued that because the acts were against his wife this could not be classed as unlawful. In considering this defence, Mr Justice Owen argued that Hales statement could not longer be seen as valid because it was ‘a statement made in general terms at a time when marriage was indissolvable. However, this dismissal of Hale appeared to relate more to the fact that there was physical force used in the attempted rape than the lack of consent per se: ‘I am asked to accept that there is a presumption or an implied consent by the wife to sexual intercourse with her husband; with that, I do not find it difficult to agree. However, I find it hard to believe †¦ that it was ever the common law that a husband was in effect entitled to beat his wife into submission to sexual intercourse †¦ If it was, it is a very sad commentary on the law and a very sad commentary on the judges in whose breasts the law is said to reside. However, I will nevertheless accept that there is such an implicit consent as to sexual intercourse which requires my consideration as to whether this accused may be convicted for rape. Mr Justice Owen ruled that the act could be classed as attempted rape and sentenced the defendant to three years imprisonment. The defendant appealed, arguing that Mr Justice Owen had been wrong to rule that rape within marriage was against the law when the marriage had not been revoked. The appeal was dismissed unanimously at the Court of Appeal[14], where Lord Lane dismissed Sir Matthew Hales statement as being a ‘statement of the common law at that epoch, where ‘the common law rule no longer remotely represents what is the true position of a wife in present-day society. The Court of Appeal concluded: ‘We take the view that the time has now arrived when the law should declare a rapist a rapist subject to the criminal law, irrespective of his relationship with his victim. This judgement was later upheld on appeal to the House of Lords[15] and at the European Court of Human Rights[16]. The second of the two previously mentioned changes was also made within the 1994 Act when it was acknowledged that a man could be a victim of rape and the actus reus of rape was amended to cover vaginal or anal intercourse against a woman or another man without their consent. Although other parts of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 were revised between 1995 and 2003, the actus reus of rape retained its definition as in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 until the new definition in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 defines the actus reus of rape as penile penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of another person without their consent. Therefore, in terms of its actus reus, rape has slowly changed over nearly half a century from unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman to penile penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of another person without their consent. The widening of the actus reus to include penile penetration of the mouth is based on arguments made in the Sexual Offences Review that other forms of penetration (for example: penile penetration of the mouth, or vaginal or anal penetration with an object or another part of the body) should be treated just as seriously as penile penetration of the vagina or anus. It was decided that rape should be extended to include penile penetration of the mouth, on the basis that ‘†¦ forced oral sex is as horrible, as demeaning and as traumatising as other forms of penile penetration (Home Office, 2000a, pg. 15)[ 17]. This means that it remains a gender-specific offence with regard to the perpetrator (i.e. the act requires a penis) but a gender-neutral offence with regard to the victim. A new offence of assault by penetration was introduced to cover penetration by objects other than a penis, as with rape carrying the maximum sentence of life imprisonment[18]. The second part of the actus reus relates to a lack of consent. There are generally three lines of defence used in rape cases; that intercourse never took place, that it took place but not by the accused or that it took place but that the victim consented to it or that the accused believed that the victim consented to it (Baird, 1999). Baird (1999) highlights that there are very few rape cases that are ‘whodunnits, and the defence that sexual intercourse never took place is also rare. These defences are likely to have become even less common since developments in DNA testing (Lees, 1996). The issue of consent is therefore what many rape defence arguments focus on, and one of the aims of the review of sexual offences was to ‘clarify the law on consent'[19]. The root of the ‘consent problem lies with the requirement of the prosecution to prove the absence of consent (rather than requiring the defence to prove that they had taken steps to ascertain consent), and in many ways this problem is unique to rape cases. If, for example, a person reported that their car had been stolen it would not be necessary to prove that it had been taken without their consent. Similarly, if an individual were physically assaulted, for example punched in the face, they would rarely be asked if they agreed to be punched in the face. A further problem in rape cases is that the only direct witness is likely to be the rape victim, which means that cases often come down to one persons word against the other. If the defendant says that the victim consented and the victim says she did not consent then it is difficult to validate either persons statement of the act[20]. Because of the nature of sexual offending it is unlikely there would be a third party availab le to directly corroborate either statement. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 was the first to use the term ‘consent in statute – previously it had been force that was named as the relevant factor. However, consent had been an issue within common law since 1845 in Camplin in which the woman was drugged with alcohol and it was ruled that, although no force had been used, it was clear that the act was against the womans will and that she could not have consented to it. Since then, there have been other cases where consent is automatically deemed to be absent[21], which Temkin (2000) refers to as the ‘category approach. The case of Olugboja[22] in 1981 however, appears to have changed the standards needed to show non-consent. In this case it was ruled that consent was a state of mind and that the jury should be directed to make up their own minds as to whether consent was present based on the victims state of mind at the time of the rape. This appears to overturn the legal standards that had been develop ed using the ‘category approach. However, this is unclear and Temkin (2000) described the situation as having a ‘threefold uncertainty. The first element of uncertainty was because there was no statutory definition of consent. Secondly, the Olugboja decision individualised cases regarding consent hence moved away from the idea of a legal standard of non-consent. Finally, there was uncertainty regarding whether or not Olugboja had replaced the previous common law ‘category approach. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 addressed these uncertainties by defining consent as ‘a person consents if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice (section 74) and by returning to the category approach by listing the categories in statute. However, the 2003 Act differentiates between six categories where consent is presumed to be absent, unless there is sufficient evidence to the contrary to raise an issue that the defendant reasonably believed that the victim consented, and two categories where consent is conclusively presumed to be absent. This means that the issue of consent still, to some extent, relies upon the mental state of the defendant, even in cases such as where the victim was asleep, experiencing violence from the defendant, or unlawfully detained[23], although the burden of proof is reversed in these situations with the defendant required to demonstrate the steps he took to ascertain consent. 4.2 The mens rea (guilty mind) This second part of the offence of rape – the mens rea – is based on the premise that an individual should not be punished for an act that they did not know they were committing at the time of the act. Although the actus reus and the mens rea are components of all crimes, the mens rea only becomes relevant when the conduct in question contains some level of ambiguity. The need to prove both the actus reus and the mens rea is applicable to other crimes besides rape. The most regularly used example is the crime of trespass; it is against the law to trespass onto anothers property, but a person cannot be convicted if they did not know they were trespassing (i.e. if private property was not clearly marked). Whether or not a person intended to commit a crime is probably more central in rape cases than for other criminal offences when it comes to proving the ‘guilty mind. Previously, if a man committed the actus reus of rape – the guilty act, but he honestly believed that the woman was consenting regardless of how unreasonable that belief was, he can not be convicted of rape because the mens rea[24] – the guilty mind – was not present. This was known formally as the ‘mistaken belief clause and informally as the ‘rapists charter (Temkin, 1987) because it meant that a woman could be actively non-consenting, even shouting ‘no and struggling to free herself, and a man could still be acquitted of rape. It is a defence that is very difficult, if not impossible, to disprove because the defence relies upon what was going on the defendants mind. The ‘mistaken belief clause was first introduced in Morgan[25] in 1976 when a husband colluded in the raping of his wife by three of his friends. He allegedly told his friends that his wife would struggle and say ‘no, as though she did not want to have intercourse with them, but that this ‘turned her on because she was ‘kinky. The accused men claimed that they honestly believed she was enjoying it and consenting and that they did not intend to rape her – in other words they never had a guilty mind. Although in the Morgan case the men were convicted, and the husband convicted of aiding and abetting, this case set a new precedent. The House of Lords ruled that if a man honestly believed that a woman consented, regardless of how unreasonable this belief was, he could not be found guilty of rape. Feminist activist groups campaigned for many years that the mistaken belief defence should be based on some test of reasonableness or that the mistaken belief clause should be abolished altogether. These are issues that have been widely debated throughout the common-law world. In Australia this issue divided rape law reform campaigners into two groups; the ‘subjectivists who argued that the Morgan ruling should be upheld – i.e. if a man honestly believes that a woman consents to sexual intercourse regardless of how unreasonable that belief is he should not be found guilty of rape, and the ‘objectivists, who argue that the belief should be reasonable (Gans, 1997). In Victoria, Australia, the argument against the amendment or abolishment of the ‘mistaken belief defence was based upon data from an empirical study commissioned by the Law Reform Commission of Victoria. This research found that in an examination of 51 rape trials the ‘mistaken belief defence was used in 23 per cent of cases. Furthermore, it was found that acquittals were actually less likely in these cases (Law Reform Commission of Victoria, 1991a, 1991b). They concluded that although the adoption of objectivism would have some effect on the outcomes in rape trials, this impact would be very slight (Law Reform Commission of Victoria, 1991b). This opinion did not meet with universal agreement, and Gans (1997) argues that the methodology, and hence the findings, of this part of the research was fundamentally flawed, invalid and misleading. He criticises the research for not taking into account pre-trial decisions on attrition, and argues they should have included all reported rape cases when publicising the conviction rate rather than just those cases that got to court. Gans also argues the Victorian research ignored the role of the ‘honest belief within juror decision making and had vague coding categories around consent and honest belief. He suggests that, by re-c oding the data, at least 74 per cent rather than 23 per cent of the trials actually had at least some element of the ‘mistaken belief defence and warns that while successful law reform should be based upon empirical research, caution should also be exercised. In England and Wales no empirical research has ever addressed this subject, and it is therefore impossible to know the scale of the problem here[26]. In the Sexual Offences Review there was much debate about the mistaken belief defence, but no clear agreement was reached as to what should be recommended. Around a third of the respondents to the rape and sexual assault section of the Review argued that Morgan should be changed so that a belief must be both honest and reasonable (Home Office, 2000a). Alongside these responses, a postcard campaign to Jack Straw (then the Home Secretary) was organised by the feminist activist group Campaign to End Rape, which called for a total dismissal of the Morgan ruling. The debate within the review was not whether Morgan should be changed per se (the Home Office rape seminar and the Reviews External Reference group agreed that it should be changed), but rather how it should be changed, and what, if anything should replace it. After much debate, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 defined the mens rea of rape as if ‘A does not reasonably believe that B consents (section 1c). Whether or not the belief is classed as reasonable is determined after regarding all the circumstances, including any steps A may have taken to ascertain whether B consents. It is too early to consider what impact this may have had, and the lack of any baseline s makes evaluation difficult unless this were to be conducted retrospectively or using interviews with lawyers. 5. Conclusions The reformed rape law, as of May 2004 can thereby be summarised as if ‘A intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of ‘B with his penis, and if ‘B does not consent to the penetration and ‘A does not reasonably believe that ‘B consents (paraphrased from section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003). Although there were piecemeal reforms made between 1956 and 2003, none of these had any impact on the continued decrease in the conviction rate. It is too soon to know how the 2003 Act will be interpreted and what, if any, impact it will have. Although consent has now been defined in statute, this does not solve many of the issues relating to consent. It remains a problem that the law equates passivity or non-resistance with consent (Henning, 1997), especially when there is no evidence of physical violence or if the victim had consented in the past (Harris and Weiss, 1995). The re-wording of the mens rea so that the belief in consent must be reasonable is a significant step forwards, however it is too early to know how ‘reasonable will be interpreted in case law (i.e. reasonable to who? under what circumstances?). There was some scepticism relating to what impact the Sexual Offences Act 2003 would have even during the consultation stages. In 2001, for example, Rumney warned that the review might lead to ‘another false dawn (pg. 890) because of its sole focus on the black letter law. In other words, it is unlikely that men will ‘decide not to rape simply because the laws have been slightly strengthened. Similarly, the high attrition rate is not solely related to how rape is defined in law, so the impact here may also be marginal. Goldberg-Ambrose (1992) suggests that law reform should focus on the trial process, particularly on how rules of evidence and the ways in which rape cases are constructed relate to social perceptions of gender, coercion and sexuality. This suggests that it may be necessary to look further than the ‘black letter law towards the trial process in an attempt to explain why the problems around the prosecution of rape persist. Although campaigning for rape law reform is important it may not be enough. This has been acknowledged by feminists for some time; for example, in 1984 Jeffreys and Radford argued that reforms can only ever be effectively implemented alongside a transformation of mens attitudes. In its most simple terms, it is likely that laws are easier to change than prejudiced attitudes (Gaines, 1997). Although there remain many issues relating to the prosecution of rape defendants, few feminists in England and Wales will deny that the reformed rape law represents a huge step forwards. The same can be said for the other sexual offence laws that were reformed and with regard to the new offences that the legislation created. Decades of previously dismissed feminist campaigning have now come to fruition and the new legislation tempts ‘told you so type comments in some places. The major achievements of the legislation can be held as being: the retention of rape as a gendered offence in terms of its perpetration; the need for an ‘honest belief in consent to also be ‘reasonable; and a complete revision of what it means to truly consent. However, it is highly unlikely that a new law alone will see an end to the problems women who are raped face within the criminal justice system and it is important that monitoring of the new Act begins and is made publicly available as s oon as possible. References Baird, V. (1999) Changes to section 2 of Sexual Offences Act 1976, Medicine, Science and the Law, 39 (3), 198-208. Chambers, G. and Miller, A. (1983) Investigating Rape, Edinburgh: HMSO Cook, K. (2004) Rape Appeal Study: Summary Findings, available at www.truthaboutrape.co.uk Gans, J. (1997) Rape Trial Studies: Handle with Care, The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 30, 26-35. Hale, M. (1736, published in 1971) The History of the Pleas of the Crown, London: Professional Books. Harris, J. and Grace, S. (1999) A question of evidence? Investigating and prosecuting rape in the 1990s, London: Home Office. Harris, L.R. and Weiss, D.J. (1995) Judgements of Consent in Simulated Rape Cases, Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 10 (1), 79-90. Henning, T. (1997) Consent in sexual assault cases: the continuing construction, Violence Against Women, 3, 4-10. HMCPSI and HMIC (2002) A Report on the Joint Inspection into the Investigation and Prosecution of Cases involving Allegations of Rape, London: HMCPSI and HMIC. Home Office Review of Sex Offences (2000a) Setting the Boundaries: Reforming the law on sex offences (Volume 1), London: Home Office Communication Directorate. Home Office Review of Sex Offences (2000b) Setting the Boundaries: Reforming the law on sex offences (Volume 2), London: Home Office Communication Directorate. Jeffreys, S., and Radford, J. (1984) Contributory negligence or being a woman? The car rapist case, in P. Scraton and P. Gordon (eds) Causes for Concern, London: Penguin books. Kelly, L. (2002) A research review on the reporting, investigation and prosecution of rape cases, London: HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary. Kelly, L. (2004) Legal Reform, Sexual Autonomy and the Justice Gap: Sexual Offences Law in the 21st Century, paper presented at the European Rape Congress, Brussels, 1st – 2nd April 2004. Kelly, L. and Regan, L. (2001) Rape: The Forgotten Issue? A European research and networking project, University of North London: Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit. Law Reform Commission of Victoria (1991a) Rape: Reform of Law and Procedure: Appendixes to Interim Report No 42, Melbourne: LRCV. Law Reform Commission of Victoria (1991b) Rape: Reform of Law and Procedure, Report No 43, Melbourne: LRCV. Lea, S.J., Lanvers, U. and Shaw, S. (2003) Attrition in rape cases; developing a profile and identifying relevant factors, British Journal of Criminology, 43, 583-599. Lees, S. (1996) Carnal Knowledge – Rape on Trial (1st edition), London: Hamish Hamilton. Lees, S. and Gregory, J. (1993) Rape and Sexual Assault: A Study of Attrition, London: Islington Council. Rumney, P.N.S. (2001) The Review of Sex Offences and Rape Law Reform: Another False Dawn? Modern Law Review, 64 (6), 890-910. Smith, L.J.F. (1989) Concerns About Rape, Home Office Research Study No. 106, London: HMSO. Temkin, J. (1987) Rape and the Legal Process, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Temkin, J. (2000) Literature Review: Rape and Sexual Assault, in Setting the Boundaries, London: Home Office www.bristol.ac.uk/sps [1] Nicole Westmarland is a Research Associate in the area of gender and violence at the University of Bristol, UK and a PhD candidate at the University of York, UK. Her activism work includes Tyneside Rape Crisis Centre and the Truth About Rape Campaign. [2] Sexual Offences Act 1956 [3] Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 [4] For example the use of the term ‘defective for individuals with learning disabilities. [5] Morgan v DPP [1976] AC 182 [6] Research on non-reporting in England and Wales vary depending on who is conducting the research and when the research was conducted. Recent governmental research found that two in ten women who have been raped reported the incident to the police (Myhill and Allen, 2002). However, dated non-governmental research suggested this may be even lower at one in ten women (Painter, 1991). [7] This is part of an overall Labour strategy to put support victims of crime and bring more criminals to justice. (c.f. ‘Justice for All; ‘Speaking up for Justice; the Criminal Justice Act 2003, and plans for a new Victims and Witnesses Bill in the future) [8] In X and Y v The Netherlands in 1985 the Netherlands was held to have violated the rights of a mentally handicapped 16 year old girl because of a loophole in the law which meant that she was not able to make a rape complaint. In M.C. v Bulgaria in 2003 Bulgaria was held to have violated the rights of a girl because she could not prove non-consent because the legal definition of non-consent required force to be used and she was not physically restrained during the rapes. [9] Including Professor Jennifer Temkin and Professor Liz Kelly [10] Rape Crisis Federation [11] Campaign to End Rape [12] Sexual Offences Amendment Act 1976 [13] R v R [1991] 1 All England Law Reports, 747 [14] R v R [1991] 2 All English Law Reports 257 [15] R v R [1991] 4 All England Law Reports 481 [16] CR and SW v UK [17] Previously, pe

Regulation of Genetic Engineering

Regulation of Genetic Engineering At 43 years old, Bruces life was almost completely destroyed by one disease that infected 1.7 million people and killed 594,690 thousand people in 2016 just in America according to the American Cancer Society. This disease is famously known as cancer. Bruce went to his doctor for a regular check-up and took a routine blood test. Bruce felt fine and felt no symptoms of any disease. The next day, Bruce got a call from his doctor. The doctor told him he had an elevated level of alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme in his blood he never heard. The doctor explained to Bruce that there could be problems with his liver or bones and more tests were conducted. The tests returned and Bruce found out his liver was fine, so the doctor recommended a full-body bone scan. The doctor told Bruce, Dont worry, its not like you have cancer. The full-body bone scan took place and halfway through scan, the technicians began to speak in hushed tones. Did you injure your leg recently? they asked. I broke my leg when I was five, Bruce explained, hopeful that would help explain things. The technicians started chattering more intensely. More tests were ordered, an x-ray, then an MRI. Then one afternoon, Bruce got a call from his doctor. The tumor in your leg is not consistent with a benign tumor, the doctor said. It took a second for Bruce to convert that negative info into a much more horrifying affirmative: he realized he had cancer. Bruce sat and thought about how his life would change. He was not worried too much about himself, he was worried about his twin three-year-old daughters. Would they wonder who I was? Bruce thought. Would they yearn for my approval, my love, my voice? Bruce was facing the reality that he might never be able to walk again. Thankfully, Bruce found a doctor that was able to cure his cancer after 15 hours of surgery and chemotherapy. Afterwards he had 500 additional hours of physical therapy. Bruces life could have been saved by genetic engineering if researched more, but could have negative effects even worse than cancer if done incorrectly. Genetic engineering, if researched more, has the potential to be able to completely eliminate cancer. Genetic engineering does need to be researched more and researched very carefully. If genetic engineering is researched incorrectly and something or someone was genetically modified, possibilities of consequences could happen. Not only can Genetic engineering incorrectly lead to physical consequence, genetic engineering can also have moral consequences. Genetic engineering has the ability to also play the role of God. Genetic engineering can allow a person to create a human workshop, allowing them to build humans in however they want. Genetic engineering can be very confusing so some definitions needs to be explained. Genetic engineering and genetic cloning are often referred to as the same thing. Genetic engineering and genetic cloning are actually two different things. Genetic engineering refers to the technology used to alter and transport genomes and organisms, effectively shaping them to the desire or will of the geneticist. Genetic engineering can also be referred to as Genetic Modification or Genetic Manipulation (Genetics). Organisms that undergo or are created by the process of genetic engineering are referred to as Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs for short. Genetic cloning produces genetically exact copies of organisms. Another definition needed to be described is aesthetics. Aesthetics is described as cosmetics or individual reasons personal own benefit that does not involve with any medical issues. Because genetic engineering is tied to many major areas in science, limitations are needed. Genetic engineering can also be used in domestic breeding, but I will only talk about molecular genetic engineering on DNA. This discussion will be talking about genetic engineering globally. Genetic engineering is an issue that happens outside America as well as inside. In fact, the first genetically engineered embryo was in china. To understand genetic engineering more, the history and background will need to be discussed.ÂÂ   Genetic engineering is trying to be used in medical uses as of right now. Genetic engineering is very similar to surgery in many ways. The original intention of surgery and genetic engineering is to heal people. The first surgeon dates back to around 800 BC, the surgeon was named Sushruta Samhita.ÂÂ   Francis Bacon foretold genetic engineering in 1627. The first genetically engineered organism was created by Herb Boyer and Stanley Cohen in 1972. According to an article in New Statesman by Caroline Daniel, the Human Genome Project is an international scientific collaboration, this project started in 1990. More than two billion pounds were funded by the European public to this project. The United States is the main country in favor of this research into genetic engineering. The human Genome Projects goal was to sequence every human gene before the year 2005. In late 1997, 50,000 genes had been mapped. As of 1998, around 250 gene therapy trials were being conducted around the world. Leroy Walters, the project director, said gene transfer might eventually cure genetic disorders. After ten years in the operation, there is only one successful gene transfer, as opposed to the 400 unsuccessful protocols conducted worldwide. The first genetic engineered human embryo happened in 2015. This embryo was not created to be given birth, just tested. There will be three points talked about in the following discussion. The first point is genetic engineering needing regulations in the moral aspect. The second point is genetic engineering needing regulations in the commercial aspect. The final point is genetic engineering needing regulations in the medical aspects. These three points will specify why there are regulations needed for genetic engineering. Widely known as a revolutionary scientific breakthrough, genetic engineering has been on a path toward changing the world since its introduction in 1973. However, as genetic engineering slowly enters the lives of humanity, the morals and ethics are entering public attention, and as a culture we are left to question whether the change brought on by such a discovery brings benefit and positive change, or damage and destruction to everyone. Genetic engineering is justified through applied bioethics and despite arguments against its societal implantation, should be utilized in efforts to develop into the 21st century to create a better society. There is the concern that mankind is playing God, that we as a species and as a society are exceeding our natural reach and thus operating outside of our traditional boundaries, where our cultural sense of ethics and morality may not even be right. In more research and studies, scientists will be able to design children however they want. Using genetic engineering will allow parents to choose what traits their child will have. For example, the color of the childs eyes, skin and hair will be decided. As well as, choosing the height of the baby and weight it will be able to be. Using genetic engineering to help the child live a healthy, disease free life is one thing, but as soon as that becomes blurred with the desires of the parents of trying to control every possible genetic outcome, that is when genetic engineering crosses the lines of genetic manipulation. The dictionary defines manipulation as, to control something by yourself. Parents would be manipulating their unborn child to be something that they do not even know if it wants to be. Genetically engineering children for personal gain of the parents is lazy parenting. There are plenty of other ways to improve a childs intelligence and athletic capabilities without interfering with genes. If genetic engineering doesnt start to raise enough ethical concerns for the greater population, there will be an uproar on discrimination. In the past whites and colored people werent allowed to be married, and in the future those who were genetically engineered will not be advised to marry those who were conceived without being altered. Society has a problem with the way they look, talk, and act now. Designing children isnt natural. Natural would be in the womb and not in a petri dish. Those who design children are just lazy. They are practically saying they have no time to put into their childs future so they will just pay for it. God created everyone in his own image in his way. Regulations are needed for this because allowing humans to change Gods creation on humans is immoral. Another way that genetic engineering can play the role of God is benefiting ones self. Researchers have found that genetic engineering could have the capability to make a humans life longer. Many people are even looking to use genetic engineering to make humans live forever. Due to sin in the world, humans are selfish and just want to make themselves as happy as possible, even if the action is immoral. Some humans love themselves so much that they want to clone themselves. Genetic cloning has been successfully tested and is in current research as of right now. Regulations on cloning humans are definitely needed because God has created each person in a unique way. The only benefit of having a clone is so that the person does not have to do work and so they can be lazy. The bible even talks about being lazy. Proverbs 13:4 says The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. The only reason to create a clone of ones self is for selfish reasons. There are also ethical concerns in cloning. Many people would just have twins walking around and one would be real and one would not be a clone. This could cause an outrage in humanity. If a regulation is not set between using genetic engineering for treatment and using genetic engineering for enhancement, many parents could use it for eugenic purposes. This could cause ethical concerns but also social concerns as well. This would give the rich even more advantages than they already have to begin with and drive the social classes even farther apart. The use of genetic engineering may also lead towards genetic discrimination. As the world is already full of discrimination, genetic engineering would increase the numbers of discrimination against people. With genetic engineering, scientists would be able to change unborn children to make them acceptable to the human world. Every genetic engineered human would be fake, and not be of Gods creation but the creation of somebody else. The entire world would be composed of humans that would not be themselves, but rather other people they wish to become. People would wish they would have been genetically engineered because of advantages in genetic engineering. Some might say that genetically engineering humans for enhancements and cosmetics makes the person happy and we should not get rid of happiness. The purpose of our life is not to be happy, but to glorify God in whatever we do. Treatments in genetic engineering is different than aesthetics. God has given humans to have free will and choice but just because something is available for us to do, does not mean it is good. God already gave us our lives the way he made them. Exodus 4:11 says, The LORD said to him, Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? This does not mean that we should not heal the blind or the deaf, God created us in his own way specifically. God allowed humans to have medicine, but just because allows sickness in the world does not mean that we should not use medicine. Regulations are needed in genetic engineering in the moral aspect. References B. (n.d.). Bruces Story | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Retrieved from https://www.mskcc.org/experience/hear-from-patients/bruce Beatty, J. (2016, June 8). My Polio Story is an Inconvenient Truth to Those Who Refuse Vaccines | Shot of Prevention. Retrieved from https://shotofprevention.com/2016/06/08/my-polio-story-is-an-inconvenient-truth-to-those-who-refuse-vaccines/ Ifgene home page: Students Help Desk A History of Genetic Engineering. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sciencegroup.org.uk/ifgene/history.htm Kamat, K. (n.d.). Genetic Engineering: Playing God? How Far is it Ethical? Retrieved from http://www.jivdaya.org/genetic_engineering.html Long, K. (n.d.). What is the Difference Between Cloning and Genetic Engineering? | Education Seattle PI. Retrieved from http://education.seattlepi.com/difference-between-cloning-genetic-engineering-4545.html Saraf, S. (n.d.). Internet Scientific Publications. Retrieved from http://ispub.com/IJPS/4/2/8232

Analysis Of O. Henrys art And The Bronco :: essays research papers

Art and the Bronco summary O. Henry’s "Art and the Bronco" tells the story of Lonny Briscoe, a cowboy who is also an aspiring artist. It follows his quest to sell his first painting to the state legislature; to have it hung in the capital building. Lonny sees the sale of the painting as validation of his talent and worth as a painter. What he ends up learning is that the actual value of the painting turns out to be secondary to what other feel they can gain from it. The story takes place in San Saba, a place trying to shed its image of "†¦barbarism, lawbreaking, and bloodshed." It presents itself as a much more refined place now, one which is now safe for tourism and business. The Legislature was lending subsidy to the arts to enhance this image. Lonny’s painting is hanging in the capital building. It is a large painting "†¦one might even say panorama," depicting a cowboy and steer, hung in a gilt frame. At the capital, we are introduced to senators Kinney and Mullens, who only care about getting what they want from each other and getting re-elected. They see Lonny’s painting as a means to both ends. In the beginning, Kinney sees nothing of value in Lonny’s picture. In fact, he implies that it is awful, saying that he "†¦wouldn’t give six bits for the picture without the frame." Mullens agrees with Kinney’s assessment of the painting. He says that the painting is secondary to the artist—the grandson of Lucien Briscoe, a legendary local hero who is said to have "†¦carved the state out of the wilderness." The painting quickly fades to the background as both the senators see that pushing the state to give this hero’s grandson money is a quick way to gain public favor. Lonny’s cowboy friends ride into town to push the paintings merits as well, adding their admiration for the gilt frame, so big and beautiful. They are very simple and undereducated, as evidenced by Skinny Rogers’ act of leaping away from the painting yelling "†¦Jeeming Cristopher! Thought that rattler was a gin-u-ine one," and are not as concerned about the merits of the painting as they are with the idea of one of their own getting money for it. They always speak loudly when they think there might be someone around to whom their comments might be "†¦profitably addressed."

Gateway Essay -- essays research papers

Gateway Inc. Issues:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The US personal computer market continued to struggle and Dell had just lowered its prices about 20%. As a result, its stock price rose 13% and it gained more market share.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How should Gateway respond to Dell and its recent price cuts? o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lowering Gateway prices could jeopardize gross profit margins o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Conversely, unit sales were already down so there was the threat of additional sales loss  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Resource Allocation: o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Should Gateway focus on US consumer sales more or US business sales?  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keeping in mind that Gateway planned to discontinue company-owned operations outside North America at the end of 2001 o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How should Gateway run its sales and advertising operations? (Keeping in mind, the 2001 advertising budget is about $20 million less than in 1999 at $239.6 million)  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How much emphasis should be placed on PC’s and PC-related units v. â€Å"beyond-the-box† products and services?  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Where should Gateway’s marketing efforts be directing customers: telephone and its website or to its Country Stores?  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Operating issues in regards to selling, general and administrative (s, g, a) expenses: o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall company s, g, a expenses would decline due to:  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Closing of North America manufacturing, sales and service operations  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reduction in the number of Country Stores  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Less advertising fees and expenditures  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  End of alliance with OfficeMax o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, decisions about continued s, g, a expenses still needed to be made:  §Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Does the Gateway store concept need more thought pertaining to Gateway’s business model of operating as built-to-order?  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gateway’s gross margin and operating costs needed attention in order to once again be profitable o  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The influential aspects among its customer sales mix, its product sales mix and its sales mix across its 3 distribution channels needed to be monitored a... ...f both and combat Dell’s lower prices. Ways in which this could potentially happen is by offering basic beyond-the-box products with the purchase of a PC and aggressively encourage upgrades and additional features customers can’t refuse. Another way to counter other PC manufactures is through differentiation. By Gateway focusing on operating its build-to-order method as efficiently as possible, exploiting its distinct third channel of stores and staying technologically as innovative as possible, it is able to differentiate itself apart from its competitors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lastly, in addition to its pursuit of the consumer market, I think Gateway could benefit from more assertively targeting the business segment that has been ruled by Dell. It’s a fact, that PC’s sold for business-use tend to be of a higher quality and therefore, more expensive with higher margins. In 2000, 65% of Dell’s PC sales went towards the business sector whereas Gateway’s main market was from consumer sales, which is often less profitable. If Gateway could go after the business market, without completely losing its consumer sales base, it would be able to better compete, especially with Dell.