Social Policy In Canada

The Minister of Finance, Paul Martin, announced that Canada had a record a surplus of $2. 9 billion, their promises of tax relief have been executed and the unemployment rates has fallen to 7. 5 per cent, its lowest level in more than nine years (Finance Canada). The costs of this good news are the budget cut of the federal government on social welfare programs in recently years. Hospital rejected to accept new patients. Toronto High Schools was shut down. Homeless people sleep outdoors. Is the monetary policy that Mike Harris exercising harms the people? The aim of this article is to look at historical reason of Canada being a welfare state and being changed to a more capitalistic society. The era of Keynesian Welfare State (KWS) and contemporary Neo Liberalism and the effects of Mike Harris† government policy will be discussed In 1878, McDonald national policy was introduced. McDonald introduced a set of import tariffs to protect the domestic market. This policy became the diving force of Canadian economy until 1930†³s with the problems of the great depression, world economic crisis and government deficit. In 1936, John Maynard Keynes published his book â€Å"The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money†. He argued that a depression was a short run phenomenon because of a lack of demand. If the government could inject money to the private sector, the private sector would be better off and spending money and the government could collect tax. It has been called as demand-management policy. The crises were solved by the breakout of the Second World War (WWII) in 1937. After WWII, many governments (including Canada, UK and US) pursued Keynesian demand-management policy. On the level of production, in 1940†³s, Henry Ford decided to bring a new method of production, assembly line production, with a 5 dollars day policy. His idea was to create a new type of workers who could afford to own cars and to avoid alienation of workers. Ford also brought along many workers† benefits such as consultants to make the workers concentrating on their jobs. This concept, Fordism, became a system that there was a matching of mass production with mass consumption. Fordism also led to the recognition of collective bargaining power. Unions were established to bargain for their rate of wages and everyone automatically became a union member. The power of unions was continually growing up while word output grew at an unprecedented rate of 3. 9 per cent annually during the golden age (1950-1973) (Held 164). On the level of finance, the Bretton Woods agreement was also signed during KWS period in 1944. The core of Bretton Wood System (BWS) was the agreement of International Monetary Fund (IMF). † The purpose of IMF is to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability†¦ o provide temporary financial assistance to countries under adequate safeguards to help ease balance of payments adjustment† (IMF). With the BWS, capital outflows were strictly controlled. For nearly three decades, governments were relatively free from the constant treat of capital withdrawal as today. Away from the treat enabled them to â€Å"be far more responsive to demands from the electorate – demands that usually involved policies aimed at achieving full employment and developing social programs. † (Howlett 540). In Canada, government introduced new social and welfare programs, for example, unemployment insurance, family allowance, Canada assistant plan and health care program. Post-secondary education was funded. By the demand management policy, the fund to welfare programs would be automatically adjusted with the number of unemployment. These were the origin of our existed social welfare program. Capital controls also created stable currency values that helped to promote World Trade. After1945, the size of government sharply increased as new government institution and new programs were added. The government grows and the government expenditure made up to around 40% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Any major decision made by the government would have a great influence to the market. On the other hand, business corporations lost their influence to government as they had during the era of National policy. On the level of trade, the primary international trade agency, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was formed for tariff negotiations in 1947. The aims of GATT were â€Å"Raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing olume of real income and effective demand, developing the full use of the resources of the world and expanding the production and exchange of goods, Being desirous of contributing to these objectives by†¦ the substantial reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade and to the elimination of discriminatory treatment in international commerce† GATT formed the framework for seven rounds of global tariff reduction negotiations. During the golden age, the Canadian experienced a low unemployment rate, low inflation rate and small deficit on government. However, with the increasing activities between nations, KWS started to face new problems. Firstly, the rise of the Eurocurrency market in the 1960s placed increasing strain on the BWS. US dollars became under the pressure the inflation and a growing trade deficit and finally on 15 August 1971 President Nixon shocked the world financial market by announcing that the dollar was no longer to freely convertible into gold, effectively signally the end of fixed change rates. This action increased the pressure on BWS. By 1973, the BWS had collapsed. Secondly, the collapse of Bretton Woods was compound in 1973 by the decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to quadruple the price of oil, effecting a huge transfer of funds from oil-importing countries to oil-exporting countries. Oil-exporting countries were left with a large surplus to invest on international money market. The banks lent increasingly to developing countries. In the process both the intensity and the extensity of global flows were transformed. (202). Thirdly, the rate of growth is declined as Fordism reached its maximum marginal value of production. The rise of the price of oil also played a role in the declining marginal value. In 1970†³s, the economy experienced a stagflation that there were both high inflation and high unemployment rate existed. There was an increasing deficit because of decreasing tax revenues and increasing expenses on welfare programs as the function of automatic stabilizer. Since Keynesian provided no explanation and solution to stagflation, monetarism helped to explained it. Milton Friedman was a monetarist and he argued that â€Å"any attempt to manage the level of demand in a Keynesian way would simply be destabilizing and make things worse. The role of government is simply to use its monetary policy to control inflation and supply-side policies to make market work better and reduce unemployment† In 1975, the bank of Canada officially adopted monetary policy. On the level of production, Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have grown there has been a significant transnationalization of production expressed in the emergence of global production and distribution networks. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) encourage the development of three major market: Canada, Mexico, US such that â€Å"MNCs have been induced to locate production insides each of these blocs† (David 243). Since Mexico have little regulations toward employment†s welfare, environmental protection and US has been the major investor of Canadian manufacture sector, Canada has to deregulate many laws in order to attract US and other foreign investments to continue investing on Canada. In 1989, the trade relationship between Canada and US have moved forward, culminating in the establishment of†¦ Canadian – American Free Trade Agreement (FTA) (Howlett 540). In worldwide, many production sites were shift to the Third World Countries where had no unions or little power on unions and no regulations on working condition and environment protection. On the level of finance, during the 1970†³s and 1980†³s the national capital controls became less and less effective because of grow of Euromarket and the collapse of BWS. One of the aims of World Bank, which is founded in1944, is to â€Å"Promoting reforms to create a stable macroeconomic environment, conducive to investment and long-term planning† (World Bank). World Bank provide nearly $30 billion in loans annually to its client countries, therefore we can see the political and economic influences it has on these countries. IMF also plays an important role on providing financial help to its client countries. However, the rules accompany the agreement on the loan may not a good news to the people. One of the rules is to decrease deficits of the government and the most efficient way to decrease deficits is to cut social welfare programs. Reducing the subsidy to certain industries will lead to lose of jobs. An argument which come up lately is that US government argues that the health programs in Canada is a form of subsidy to industries because in US, workers need to buy health insurance and hence increasing the cost of production. This is violating the agreement of FTA. This kind of rule is seriously hurting the benefits of the workers in Canada. Knight noted that â€Å"ceilings on interest rates reduce the efficiency of financial intermediation and the signals for profitable investment† (Knight 17), but not for the benefit of working class. If the interest rate is high, the working class have to pay more interest on their mortgage payment. On the level of trade, the formation of Business Council on National Issues in 1976 has a long-term effect on Canadian policy making. Since most of the members of BCNI are large corporation, they have the power to influence government policies though business action. It had helped to solve the Albert oil crisis and the establishment of NAFTA. When the politics are making decision that will effect business realm, they will concern the reaction of those investment companies, but they do not spend so much concern on unions. 0 per cent of Canada-U. S. trade is concentrated in the hands of just 200 companies. A survey of the employment practices of companies belonging to BCNI shows that 37 members of this powerful group that lobbied so hard for the FTA and NAFTA have reduced their payroll by a total of 215,414 employee between 1988 and 1994 (Dillion, 95). Social programs cut over the last seven years, big business has successfully campaigned for less government regulation and for the weakening of social programs in â€Å"the name of leveling the playing field number† (Dillion, 96). we are to stop the headlong race to the bottom for our economic, social and environmental affairs as well as the erosion of our culture†said Dillion (98). Now, we are not racing for our public goods. If we continue to allow corporation lobbies to influence our government decision making, our existing public goods will be disappeared too. Though 1980†³s to 1990†³s, many government programs were cut, industries like communications were deregulated, and many government services and corporations were privatized at both the federal and provincial levels. According to McQuaig, even though governments were powerless to bring down unemployment by using the key levers of monetary and fiscal policy, they were able to reduce it by taking away crucial social support systems, thereby making the worker feel more desperate to work. † (McQuaig 37) This is the policy that Mike Harris† government doing right now. During 1995 to 1996, these two year, Federal Government cut her health expenditure from 9024 millions to 1077 millions, education expenditure from 6254 millions to 3355 millions (drop nearly 45 per cent), transportation and communication expenditure from 5192 millions to 3306 millions. Only General-purpose transfers expenditure was increased from 10429 millions to 23834 millions dramatically (Statistics Canada). By 1998/99 the liberals will have cut $7 billion in social transfers to the province (Red book, p. 74). When the government cut the budgets on welfare and on the other hand cut the tax together, the victims will be the lower class family. Cutting the education funds presents students have to pay more tuition fees and increase the burden of their family. Cutting the health expenses lead to hospital refuse to accept new patients and hurt the people who need medical attention. Since the government does not provide low rent housing, many families, not a single person, cannot afford to live in a decent home and need to live outdoor with the danger and harsh weather nearby. Only 34. 9 per cent of unemployment workers received UI benefit (Godin). Federal government also sets new rules that people who are receiving UI need to do volute works but they ignore the fact that some people need to take care the children and cannot go to work. People also need to pass drug test to be eligible for receiving UI. Privatizing public corporations such as hydro will eventually lead to increase the fees and thus in add burden to the poor. Ontario sells Highway 407 to private company and about half years later the fees are increased. â€Å"Canadians values have moved away from the socially responsible and pragmatically interventionist liberalism that had for decades been their dominant characteristics† (Pratt). It is true that Canadian economy is benefit from these changes and brings our economy away from the crisis of the deep depression. However, we will lose the public good that have been existed in our society for nearly 50 years if our society approach the format of capitalism. Although adopting monetary policy hurts the benefit of the workers, it is clear that we cannot go back to the period of KWS. Howlett noted, â€Å"Keynesianism also includes the concept of market failures and economic efficiency† (Howlett 540). If we can find a balance between Keynesianism and Neo-Liberalism, we can still have the benefits of our welfare and economic efficiency.

“Discussion on any three specialized branches of accounting

1. 1 Introduction: Accounting is a very interesting field. Accountancy is the science of recording classifying and summarizing transactions so that relation with outsiders is exactly determined and result of operation during a particular period can be calculated and the financial position as the end of the period may be shown. There are many specialized branches of accounting. In our assignment we discuss only three specialized branches of accounting. They are cost accounting, managerial accounting and human resource accounting.In the case of cost accounting cost calculations are done keeping historical and estimated costs cost accounting and the process calculating costs vary accounting to nature of business manufacturing activity or operating activities. Managerial accounting applies to all types of businesses–service, merchandising and manufacturing. Managerial accounting deals with the needs of the management rather than strict compliance with generally accepted accounting principles. It involves budgeting and forecasting, financial analysis, cost analysis, evaluation of business decisions, and similar areas.Human resource accounting is an extension of the Accounting principles of matching the costs and revenues and of organizing data to communicate relevant information. The Quantification of the value of Human resources helps the management to cope up with the changes in its quantum and quality so that equilibrium can be achieved in between the required resources and the prove. Human Resource Accounting provides useful information to the management. 1. 2 Objectives: (1) To know about the three specialized braches of accounting. (2) To know about their importance. (3) To know about their limitations.(4) To know about their effect in decision making. 1. 3 Limitations: (1) Lack of accounting knowledge. (2) Lack of information (3) Shortage of time 2. 1. 1Cost Accounting: Cost accounting is the accounting of the cost. It is made of two words- Cost and Ac counting. The term cost denotes the total of all expenditures involved in the process of production. Thus, it covers the costs involved in the production and the cost involved while receiving it. Accounting, on the other hand, collects and maintains financial records of each income and expenditure and make avail of such information to the concerned officials.Thus, cost accounting is a practice and process of cost which determines the profitability of a business concern by controlling the cost with the application of accounting principle, process and rules. Cost accounting includes the presentation of the information derived there from for purposes of managerial decision making. Thus, cost accounting is an arts as well as science. It is science because it is a body of systematic knowledge having certain principles. It is an art as it requires the ability and skill with which a cost accountant is able to apply the principles of cost accounting in various managerial problems.According to W. W. Bigg – â€Å"Cost accounting is the provision of such analysis and classification of expenditure as will enable the total cost of any particular unit of production to be ascertained with reasonable degree of accuracy and at the same time to disclose exactly how such total cost is constituted. † According to R. N. Carter, â€Å"Cost accounting is a system of recording in accounts the materials used and labor employed in the manufacture of a certain commodity or on a particular job. † Thus, cost accounting is considered as an art as well as science.It is also a prime part of accounting system which records systematically the cost involved in raw materials and labor used in the process of production and the same time determines the total cost and unit cost of product, the process of recording classifying and analyzing of cost is the cost accounting. 2. 1. 2 Importance of Cost Accounting: Management of business concerns expects from Cost Accounting detailed cost information in respect of its operations to equip their executives with relevant information required for planning, scheduling, controlling and decision making.To be more specific, management expects from cost accounting information and reports to help them in the discharge of the following functions: (a) Control of material cost: Cost of material usually constitutes a substantial portion of the total cost of a product. Therefore, it is necessary to control it as far as possible. Such a control may be exercised by- (i) Ensuring un-interrupted supply of material and spares for production. (ii) By avoiding excessive locking up of funds/capital in stocks of materials and stores. (iii) Also by the use of techniques like value analysis, standardization etc. to control material cost.(b) Control of labour cost: It can be controlled if workers complete their work within the standard time limit. Reduction of labour turnover and idle time to help us, to control labour cost. (c) Control of overheads:Overheads consists of indirect expenses which are incurred in the factory, office and sales department; they are part of production and sales cost. Such expenses may be controlled by keeping a strict check over them. (d) Measuring efficiency: For measuring efficiency, Cost Accounting department should provide information about standards and actual performance of the concerned activity.(e) Budgeting: Now-a-days detailed estimates in terms of quantities and amounts at* drawn up before the start of each activity. This is done to ensure that a practicable course of action can be chalked out and the actual performance corresponds with the estimated or budgeted performance. The preparation of the budget is the function of Costing Department. (f) Price determination: Cost accounts should provide information, which enables the management to fix remunerative selling prices for various items of products and services in different circumstances.(g) Curtailment of loss during the of f-season: Cost Accounting can also provide information, which may enable reduction of overhead, by utilizing idle capacity during the off-season or by lengthening the season. (h) Expansion: Cost Accounts may provide estimates of production of various levels on the basis of which the management may be able to formulate its approach to expansion. (i) Arriving at decisions: Most of the decisions in a business undertaking involve correct statements of the likely effect on profits. Cost Accounts are of vital help in this respect.In fact, without proper cost accounting, decision would be like taking a jump in the dark, such as when production of a product is stopped. 2. 1. 3 Limitations of Cost accounting: Cost Accounting is not an exact science like other branches of accounting but is an art which has developed through theories and accounting practices based on common sense and reasoning. These practices are changing with time. There is no stereotyped system of cost accounting applicable to all industries. It lacks uniform procedure. Concepts, methods and techniques of cost accounting understood and applied differently by different industries.It is used only by big enterprises. The limitations of cost accounting are as follows: 1. The system is more complex: Cost accounting needs to identify the different types of expenses and allocation of expenses is considered as a complicated system of accounting. It needs different forms and formulas to collect the data and preparing the reports. Also it requires number of steps in ascertaining such details. So it involves a more complex system. More complex and complicated system of cost accounting is one of the limitations facing by the cost accounting. 2. It is expensive:In installing and maintaining cost accounting system requires more man power and resources. More analysis, allocation and absorption of overheads requires considerable amount of additional work. If the expenses incurred in ascertaining the cost is more than what is derived from it, then the process of cost accounting is meaningless. In short, the expenses of cost accounting should not be more than the profit derived from cost accounting. Many companies do not adopt cost accounting owing the fact that it is more expensive and not economical. 3. Inapplicability of costing method and technique:Technique and methods of cost accounting differ from organization to organization. One standard method is not adequate for all the requirement of different organizations. It depends on the nature of business and the type of service/product manufactured by the firm. If wrong technique or method is used, it will affect the result. So inapplicability of same costing method and technique is the one of the main limitation of cost accounting. 4. Not suitable for small scale units: One of the limitations faced by the cost accounting in installing it in all types of business is that it is not applicable to small scale units.Through the traditional accounti ng, small scale units can control the cost effectively. 5. Lack of Accuracy: Use of notional cost such as standard cost, estimated cost etc. would not bring out the actual cost of the product. So the cost accounting lacks the accuracy of its results. 6. Lacks social Accounting: Social accounting is outside the scope of cost accounts. Cost accounting fails to take into account the social obligation of the business. 7. Need preparation of frequent reconciliation to verify accuracy: Results shown by cost accounts differ from those of financial accounts.Preparation of reconciliation statements to verify the accuracy is frequently required. This leads to unnecessary increase in workload. 8. Duplication of Work: Many industrial units function effectively and control the cost effectively with the financial accounting. Preparing cost accounting is unnecessary for them and it involves duplication of accounting work. 9. Use of Secondary Data: Cost accounting depends on financial statements fo r a lot of information. Any errors or short coming in the information will affect the results. 10. Lack of cooperation of employees: Cost accounting depends heavily on the cooperation of employees concerned.Lack of cooperation of employees will affect the overall performance of cost accounting. Non-cooperation or opposition from employees will affect the results. 11. Does not control Cost by itself: Cost accounting will not control the cost. It only brings out the possibility of areas which needs control. If the organization does not have an efficient management, the reports and results brought out by the cost accountant is useless. So cost accounting will not control the cost by itself. It needs an effective and efficient management to use it. 12. It is based on estimation and previous data:Most of the data used by a cost accountant is based on estimation of indirect costs, assumptions and previous data. Not using the actual data and costs is the limitation of cost accounting. 13. It only brings out the cost of goods or services: To find out the operational results, we need to depend on financial accounting. Cost accounting will not bring forth the financial status of the company. 14. It serves the information need of the management: We cannot depend on cost accounting for the financial information required by the shareholders, creditors, employees and the society at large.It only serves the requirement of information needed by the management. 15. Not useful for determining the tax liabilities: We cannot treat cost accounting as a basis for determining the tax liabilities of the business. Financial accounting is required for the determination of tax liabilities. 2. 1. 4 Cost Accountings effect on decision making: Managers make decisions that govern how a company reaches its goals. Many of these goals have financial aspects, such as revenue and profit targets. The level of costs included in such decisions has a major impact on the finances of the company.Relia ble reporting of actual costs, accurate estimation of projected costs and the appropriate integration of such costs in managerial decisions is a key component of business operations that meet their targets and further the goals of the company. Relevant Costs: Typical managerial decision making selects one of two or more alternatives. Costs that remain the same no matter which alternative the manager chooses are not relevant to the decision. In a cost-based decision on out-sourcing, a manager has to consider the cost of the subcontract and the savings in-house.For example, if the company still has to pay the full rent despite having fewer employees, the rent is not a relevant cost. If the company can move to a smaller location and pay less rent, the rent becomes relevant. Fixed Costs: The type of cost impacts a manager's decision making. Fixed costs are totals that remain the same independently of the volume of production. Higher production levels result in a reduced cost-per-unit as far as fixed costs are concerned. Typical fixed costs are facility related, such as heating and insurance.They are important for managerial decisions regarding optimal production levels because they influence the product cost and, through the cost, the pricing and profit levels. Variable Costs: A type of cost with a different impact on managerial decisions is the variable cost. Variable costs stay the same on a cost-per-unit basis, but their totals increase with the volume of production. Typical variable costs are materials used in production and direct labour to make the products. Variable costs are important for overall company budget decisions and planning for financing.Managers add variable costs as per-unit-costs times’ production volume to fixed costs to determine total production costs. Step Costs: Step costs are a combination of fixed and variable costs that a manager has to consider to avoid major discrepancies in cost calculations. They act as fixed costs up to a c ertain limit and then change to a new value. Typical step costs are those associated with machine capacity or batch processing. If production volume exceeds certain limits, costs rise substantially to a new, higher level as the company needs an additional machine or has to produce an additional batch.The importance of including step costing in managerial decision making is to either avoid exceeding step limits or to include the relevant higher costs. 2. 2. 1 Management or Managerial Accounting: Management accounting or managerial accounting is concerned with the provisions and use of accounting information to managers within organizations, to provide them with the basis to make informed business decisions that will allow them to be better equipped in their management and control functions. Managerial accounting information provides data-driven input to these decisions, which can improve decision-making over the long term.Small business managers can leverage this powerful tool to hel p make their business more successful by understanding how management accounting benefits common business decision contexts. According to the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA): â€Å"Management accounting is a profession that involves partnering in management decision making, devising planning and performance management systems, and providing expertise in financial reporting and control to assist management in the formulation and implementation of an organization's strategy†.The Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) states â€Å"A management accountant applies his or her professional knowledge and skill in the preparation and presentation of financial and other decision oriented information in such a way as to assist management in the formulation of policies and in the planning and control of the operation of the undertaking†. Management accountants therefore are seen as the â€Å"value-creators† amongst the accountants.They are much more interested in forward looking and taking decisions that will affect the future of the organization, than in the historical recording and compliance (score keeping) aspects of the profession. Management accounting knowledge and experience can therefore be obtained from varied fields and functions within an organization, such as information management, treasury, efficiency auditing, marketing, valuation, pricing, logistics, etc. 2. 2.2 Importance of Management or Managerial Accounting: The main aim of managerial accounting is toimprove the efficiency and quality of operationsby providing program owners and all others with suitable and applicable cost based performance information to permit for nonstop improvement in distributing the output to outcome the stockholders. Managerial accounting has been developed and used with all from the beginning times to help all the directors to understand the costs of running a project.Modern managerial accounting is created during the industrial rev olution during the difficulties of running a large scale business which show the way to the development of scheme for recording and checking costs to help business proprietors and managers to finalize and make conclusions. So, to conclude, for any business unit starting from the smallest business activity to the largest multinational business to be succeeded requires the use of managerial accounting concept and practices. This accounting provides data to owners for preparation and scheming of rating products and services for customers too.The main focus of managerial accounting is to help the managers for making better decisions. Because of all these reasons, businesses and organizations hire on managerial accountants and thereby, they are becoming integral persons of decision making teams instead of just data providers. 2. 2. 3 Limitations of Management or Managerial Accounting: Though management accounting is helpful tool to the management as it provides information for planning, controlling and decision making, still its effectiveness is limited by a number of reasons. Some of the limitations of management accounting are as follows: 1.Based On Accounting Information: Management accounting is based on data and information provided by financial accounting and cost accounting. As such the correctness and effectiveness of managerial decisions will depend upon the quality of data provided by cost and financial accounts. So, effectiveness of management account is limited to the reliability of sources of information.2. Lack of Knowledge: The use of management accounting requires the knowledge of number of related subjects. Deficiency in knowledge in related subjects like accounting principles, statistics, economics, principle of management etc.  will limit the use of management accounting. 3. Intensive Decisions: Decision taking based on management accounting that provide scientific analysis of various situations will be time consuming one. As such management ma y avoid systematic procedures for taking decision and arrive at decision using intuitive. And intuitive limit the usefulness of management accounting. 4. Management Accounting Is Only A Tool: The tools and techniques of management accounting provide only information and not decisions. Decisions are to be taken by the management and implementations of decisions are also done by management.5. Evolutionary Stage: Management accounting is still in a development stage and has not yet reached a final stage. The techniques and tools used by this system give varying and differing results. It is still named as internal accounting and/ or operational accounting. 6. Personal Prejudices and Bias: The interpretation of financial information may differ from person to person depending upon the capability of the interpreter. Analysis and interpretation of data and information may be influenced by personal basis. As such, the objectivity of decision may be affected by personal prejudices and bias.7. Psychological Resistance: Changes in traditional accounting practices and organizational set up are required to install the management accounting system. It calls for a rearrangement of the personnel and their activities and framing of new rules and regulations which generally may not be liked by the people involved. 8. Persistent efforts: The conclusions draws by the management accountant are not executed automatically. He has to convince people at all levels. In other words, he must be an efficient salesman in selling his ideas. 9.Wide scope: Management accounting has a very wide scope incorporating many disciplines. It considers both monetary as well as non-monetary factors. This all brings inexactness and subjectivity in the conclusions obtained through it. 10. Top-heavy structure: The installation of management accounting system requires heavy costs on account of an elaborate organization and numerous rules and regulations. It can, therefore, be adopted only by big concerns. 1 1. Opposition to change: Management accounting demands a break away from traditional accounting practices.It calls for a rearrangement of the personnel and their activities, which is generally not like by the people involved. 2. 2. 4 Managerial Accountings effect on decision making: Small business owners are faced with countless decisions every business day. Managerial accounting information provides data-driven input to these decisions, which can improve decision-making over the long term. Small business managers can leverage this powerful tool to help make their business more successful by understanding how management accounting benefits common business decision contexts. Relevant Cost Analysis:Managerial accounting information is used by company management to determine what should be sold and how to sell it. For example, a small business owner may be unsure where he should focus his marketing efforts. To evaluate this decision, an accounting manager could examine the costs that d iffer between advertising alternatives for each product, ignoring common costs. This process is known as relevant cost analysis and is a technique that is taught in basic managerial accounting courses. The same process can be used to determine whether to add product lines or discontinue operations. Activity-based Costing Techniques:Once the company has determined what products to sell, the business needs to determine to whom they should sell the products. By using activity-based costing techniques, small business management can determine the activities required to produce and service a product line. Embedded in this information is the cost of customers. Deciding which customers are more or less profitable allows the business owner to focus advertising toward the consumers who are the most profitable. Make or Buy Analysis: A primary use of managerial accounting information is to provide information used in manufacturing.For example, a small business owner may be considering whether t o make or buy a component needed to manufacture the company's primary product. By completing a make or buy analysis, she can determine which choice is more profitable. While this technique is certainly useful, small business owners should only use these analyses as a factor in the decision. There could be other non-financial metrics that are important to consider that would not be part of the analysis. Utilizing the Data: Managerial accounting information provides a data-driven look at how to grow a small business.Budgeting, financial statement projections and balanced scorecards are just a few examples of how managerial accounting information is used to provide information to help management guide the future of a company. By focusing on this data, managers can make decisions that aim for continuous improvement and are justifiable based on intelligent analysis of the company data, as opposed to gut feelings. Information: Accounting management is usually referred to as managerial acc ounting or cost accounting. The main role of accounting managers is to analyze the financial information of a company and to make future decisions for the company.All the decisions accounting managers make are for internal company use only. The information they provide is not given to outside sources at all; it is strictly for upper-level management and owners of the company. The information they provide is used only to increase a company's profitability. Revenues: One of the main roles of accounting managers is to study the revenues of a company. Studying the revenues consists of examining all sources of revenues and looking for ways to increase them. Accounting managers try to make decisions the company can implement that will increase overall revenues.This includes ways of increasing sales and other ways of increasing revenues such as renting out extra space. Expenses: Expenses in a business need to be controlled and monitored. One way company increases profitability is by elimin ating or decreasing unnecessary expenses. Management accountants examine all expenses and look for ways to decrease them. Often this involves cost accounting, which is a process of calculating production costs of goods, and finding the most efficient way of making them and the most efficient quantity they should make at a time.Decisions: With the revenues and expenses analyzed, accounting managers determine what parts of the company are working well and what needs to be changed. This is where the managers make decisions and they give this information to those above them who will implement the ideas they have. Budgets and Forecasting: Another role of accounting managers is determining a budget and forecasting future plans and goals. With the information they've analyzed, part of their job is to create a realistic budget for the company to follow.They also forecast future ideas for increased growth within the company. 2. 3. 1 Human resource Accounting: Generally we can say that, Human Resource Accounting (HRA) is the process of assigning, budgeting, and reporting the cost of human resources incurred in an organization, including wages and salaries and training expenses. In other words, Human Resource Accounting is the process of identifying and reporting the Investments made in the Human Resources of an Organization that are presently not accounted for in the conventional accounting practices.In simple terms, it is an extension of the Accounting Principles of matching the costs and revenues and of organizing data to communicate relevant information. The Quantification of the value of Human Resources helps the management to cope up with the changes in its quantum and quality so that equilibrium can be achieved in between the required resources and the provided information. The American Accounting Association’s Committee on Human Resource Accounting (1973) has defined Human Resource Accounting as â€Å"the process of identifying and measuring data about hu man resources and communicating this information to interested parties†.HRA, thus, not only involves measurement of all the costs/ investments associated with the recruitment, placement, training and development of employees, but also the quantification of the economic value of the people in an organization. Flamholtz (1971) too has offered a similar definition for HRA. They define HRA as â€Å"the measurement and reporting of the cost and value of people in organizational resources†. At last, we can say that, Human Resource Accounting is the process of assigning, budgeting, and reporting the cost of human resources incurred in an organization, including wages and salaries and training expenses.It’s the activity of knowing the cost invested for employees towards their recruitment, training them, payment of salaries & other benefits paid and in return knowing their contribution to organization towards its profitability. 2. 3. 2 Importance of Human Resource Account ing: Human Resource Accounting provides useful information to the management, financial analysts and employees as stated below:- Human Resource Accounting helps the management in Employment and utilization of Human Resources.It helps in deciding transfers, promotion, training and retrenchment of human resources. It provides a basis for the planning of physical assets via human resources. It helps in evaluating the expenditure incurred for imparting further education and training of employees in terms of the benefits derived by the firm. It helps to identify the causes of high labor turnover at various levels and taking preventive measures to contain it. It helps in locating the real cause for low return on investment, like improper or under-utilization of physical assets or human resources or both.It helps in understanding and assessing the inner strength of an organization and helps the management to steer the company well through the most averse and unfavorable circumstances. It p rovides valuable information for persons interested in making long term investments in the firm. It helps the employees in improving their performance and bargaining power. It makes each employee understand his contribution towards the betterment of the firm via the expenditure incurred by the firm on him. 2. 3. 3 Limitations of Human Resource Accounting:Human Resource Accounting is the accounting methods, systems, and techniques, which coupled with special knowledge and ability, assist personnel management in the valuation of personnel in their knowledge, ability and motivation in the same organization as well as from organization to organization. It means that some employees become a liability instead of becoming a human resource. HRA facilitates decision making about the personnel i. e. either to keep or to dispense with their services or to provide mega-training. There are many limitations which make the management reluctant to introduce HRA.Some of the Attributes are:- 1. There is no proper clear cut and specific procedure or guidelines for finding costs and value of human resources of an organization. The systems which are being adopted have certain drawbacks. 2. The period of existence of Human Resource is uncertain and hence valuing them under uncertainty in future seems to be unrealistic. 3. The much needed empirical evidence is yet to be found to support the hypothesis that HRA as a tool of management facilitates better and effective management of human Resources. 4.As human resources are incapable of being owned, retained, and utilized, unlike the physical assets, there is a problem for the management to treat them as assets in the strict sense. 5. There is a constant fear of opposition from the trade unions as placing a value on employees would make them claim rewards and compensations based on such valuations. 6. In spite of all its significance and necessity, the Tax Laws don’t recognize human beings as assets. 7. There is no universally a ccepted method of the valuation of Human Resources. 2. 3. 4 Human Resource Accountings effect on decision making:The effect of human resource investments as well as other decisions and management styles are now represented as a human resource condition precedent to the ultimate productivity or effectiveness of the organization. HRA is not useful to the management alone in achieving its economic goals. It could also be the source of important information for investment decision purposes. The inclusion of appropriate human resource data in published financial statements would, in all likelihood, make such statements for more meaningful in predicting future performance which is, of course, the principal concern of investors (Jawaharlal Lal, 2009).When managers go through the process of HRA measurement treating human resources as capital assets, they are more likely to make decisions that treat the company's employees as long-term investments of the company. Flamholtz (1976) describes t he HRA paradigm in terms of the â€Å"psycho-technical systems† (PTS) approach to organizational measurement. According to the PTS approach, the two functions of measurement are: first, process functions in the process of measurement and second, numerical information from the numbers themselves.Whereas one role of HRA is to provide numerical measures, an even more important role is the measurement process itself. The HRA measurement process as a dual function attempts to increase recognition that human capital is paramount to the organization's short and long-term productivity and growth. When managers go through the process of measuring human resources, they are more likely to focus on the human side of the organization and are more likely to consider human resources as valuable organizational resources who should be managed as such.These are also the effects which are necessary in decision making- Employment and utilization of Human Resources. Information for persons intere sted in making long term investments in the firm. Locating the real cause for low return on investment. Planning of physical assets via human resources. Deciding transfers, promotion, training and retrenchment of human resources. 3. 1 Findings: 1. From our assignment we find the specialized branches of accounting. 2. This assignment helps us to know about the importance and limitations of cost management and human resource accounting. 3.From this assignment we also find how cost, management and human resource accounting effect in decision making. 3. 2 Recommendation: 1. If we want to apply cost accounting in all business related sectors this system should be simple. 2. we think cooperation of employees is necessary for the overall performance of cost accounting. 3. cost accounting should not be expensive. 4. Management accounting knowledge should be broader. 5. We think proper clear cut and specific procedure or guidelines should be created for finding costs and value of human resou rces of an organization. 6.Universally accepted method should be created for the valuation of Human Resources. 3. 3 Conclusion: Cost accounting is not an exact science like other branches of accounting but is an art which has developed through theories and accounting practices based on common sense and reasoning. Management accounting is helpful tool to the management as it provides information for planning, controlling and decision making, and the main aim of managerial accounting is to improve the efficiency and the process which provides useful information to the management, financial analysts and employees.

Analyze Henrik Ibsen's(1879) and Susan Glaspell's(1916) treatment of Essay

Analyze Henrik Ibsen's(1879) and Susan Glaspell's(1916) treatment of relationships and roles in the time period plays were written - Essay Example When the play "A Doll's House" was performed for the first time in Copenhagen in 1879, it revoked severe criticism from the society as it was against the society's values and attacked men's dominance over women (Templeton 142). Similarly, the play "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell was written, at the time when, like other educated women at this time, Glaspell "grew restless with the numerous restrictions on women and became inspired by the avant-garde social, political, and cultural movements happening in the United States and Europe" (McMichael, et al. 1108). At the time when "A Doll's House" was written by Henrick Ibsen, the role of women was limited to bringing up children, supporting their husbands and keeping their house clean and comfortable. Society disliked women who wanted to step out for their authority and freedom. Politics, decision making and work was left for men and they had authority over women because women had little role in business, politics or social activities. In this setup; freedom, liberty and equality of women were regarded as a bad thing which the society frowned upon. Ibsen's portrayal of the society emphasizes how middle-class life is limiting, brutal, and unforgiving. He cleverly exposed these hypocritical norms and faults of society and suggested the outcomes of this suppression of womenfolk which compelled Nora to secede from the society's values and decided to leave her husband and children just to live a life of her own: "There is another task I must undertake first. I must try and educate myself--you are not the man to help me in that. I must do that for myself. And that is why I am going to leave you now (Act III). This clearly indicates the relationship between husband and wife. In this play, the relationship and role of characters are characterized by the desire of dominance and authority. In the first act, we see Torvald trying to dominate over Nora by dictating her not to be extravagant and spendthrift. Then we come across ill fate of Nora when her husband is nearly on death bed and needs to be taken to Italy for treatment. Nora's compulsion is exploited by Nils Krogstad who extracts a bond from her, which later in the play, he uses for threatening her and ultimately ruins her whole life. The role of Nils Krogstad demonstrates hypostatical values of society and a lust for power with mala fide intention. His relationship with Nora exposes faults of society and the law which have nothing to do with humanistic aspect of Nora's sufferings and to save her husband's life. The best presentation of the relationships and roles is given by Henrick in the last act of "A Doll's House" when we find Nora in dejected situation with Torvald. Nora tells her husband that h er husband and father were alike in that both of them used her to amuse and play with her and never thought of herself in context of her own imaginations and desires. In "Trifles" we find women struggling for their identification being unduly treated by their husbands. Minnie is sick of her husband and comes up to the point to strangle him just because he had strangled the Canary. This story begins with Martha leaving her home and accompanying Mrs. Peters to the Wright farm. There they find Minnie strangled her husband. The sympathetic women tried to discover the reason

The impacts of the recent recession on consumer behaviour with airline Dissertation

The impacts of the recent recession on consumer behaviour with airline industry - Dissertation Example In marketing management customers are the key concern. This means that understanding the behaviour pattern of the customers is essential for the managers. Traditional marketing management emphasized on product features and competitive positioning of the product (Abramovich, 2005). The conventional marketing management theory focuses on the customer relationship with the marketers of the company and the product value (Statt, 2011). The purchasing behaviour of the consumers relates strongly to the segmentation of the markets. There are three types of segmentation; geographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and demographic segmentation. Geographic segmentation means to divide the market area according to the location of the potential customers. Psychographic segmentation means to segregate a consumer’s characteristics and behaviour. Demographic segmentation means the division of consumer groups according to variables such as wealth, gender, age and education level etc (B lythe, 2008). The managers of the company can strengthen their relationship with the consumers. The relational bonding between customers and employees will enable the managers to develop a product which will fulfil the consumer wants and needs. An established connection with the consumer provides the marketers information regarding the consumer behaviour. For example, the marketers would like to repurpose their products and services without hampering the core value of the product. This means that the marketers would meet the consumers’ needs without impacting the brand itself (Bjerre, Knudtzen and Heding, 2008). From basic necessities to luxury items, consumer purchasing behaviour is dependent on psychological influences of the customer which includes brand loyalty, changing attitude of the consumers etc (Vanhuele, Wright and East, 2013). Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour during Recession 1) Economic Factors i) Personal income: If the personal income of the consumer is hig h and is not affected by the impact of the recession then the demand of the products will remain high. However, if the income of the consumer is affected by recession then the consumer will not buy the product or depend on its substitute whose price is lower. ii) Family income: The income of the family plays a significant role in the purchase decision making. A rise in the income of the family member will motivate another family member to increase his/her spending however, if there is fall in the income of the family member during recession then the spending of the family will decrease. During recession the family members spend on necessary items. iii) Government policy: During recession the government policy may change and have a significant impact of the economy. An increase in the price of the food items and non food items will make the consumer calculative. When there is a rise in price of the food items then consumers do not decrease their expenditure as food is a necessary ite m but they decrease their expenditure on other non food items (M.Trehan and R. Trehan, 2007). 2) Socio- cultural Factors i) Family: There is a significant impact of the family size and the structure on the consumer decision making. If the family size is large and there is an increase in the prices of the consumable items during recession, then the

Should the United States pursue free-trade agreement Essay

Should the United States pursue free-trade agreement - Essay Example The benefits of the free trade agreements for the United States and other relevant arguments will be discussed further to support this statement. First of all, free-trade agreements (FTAs) provide the United States with greater opportunities to open up foreign markets to U.S exporters (Textbook, 41). Reduction of trade barriers and tariffs for export, diplomatic and national security, increased stability and transparency of both investment and trading environment, positive public relations with potential investors – are the main benefits the U.S. and its FTA partner country/countries will gain (Trade.gov, n.p.). As FTA’s involve smaller number of countries, the negotiation process is more flexible and has substantially greater chance for success than multilateral trade negotiations (Ewing-Chow, 264). Not only the United States will benefit from the new FTAs but also the other countries involved. Moreover, some experts believe that the other countries will be even in more beneficial position than the USA due to smaller sizes of their economies (Arnold, n.p.). Proponents of the multilateral trade agreements and trade liberalization might criticize this position, arguing that this will undermine the role of WTO and Doha Round multilateral trade liberalization agreement. Even though, the WTO has undertaken some efforts and initiatives for global trade liberalization and increased market openness, the final agreement has not been achieved. The Doha Development Agenda, launched in 2001 as the first round of global trade negotiations, has reached an impasse (Francois, van Meijl, van Tongeren, 350). One of the reasons of the series of launch-delays is the divide of the interests of the major players: developed and developing countries (Evenett, 143). With the increased global â€Å"weight† of such countries as China, and India, it might be very challenging to reach mutual agreement. Developing countries do not want to being taken advantage of by the developed

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 36

Discussion - Assignment Example The presentation’s ideas on motivation are impressive. The knowledge of internal and external motivation can help people know how to control the impacts of undesirable sources of motivation (Adams 24). This knowledge is important to people especially students because of the negative effects of peer pressure. The anecdote of brick walls is suitable in the discourse of prioritization, adjustment, and redirection of an individual’s attention and energy. The presentation’s exposition on time management has valuable information. The six components of time management are workable and individuals can cultivate and master them without difficulty. I think the idea of self-assessment can be instrumental to an individual when taking stock of the areas in which they have been wasting their time and conceptualize ways of closing those loopholes. It is intriguing to know that there exists hidden time. This is the last thing that could have occurred to me and it is an idea that can be investigated further (Adams

Critical review the opportunities and constraints of ecotourism Thesis

Critical review the opportunities and constraints of ecotourism development in Hong Kong - Thesis Example Despite the diversified resources for ecotourism development in Hong Kong, the ecotourism industry has not germinated to become a prosperous industry. The government has already started to provide funding for the development of ecotourism in 2001 (Yeung et al., 2004). However, the ecotourism industry could not make any progress. Could it be attributed to the fact that our resources are not good enough to attract tourists? If not, what went wrong? In this context, the present chapter seeks to find the way ecotourism can capitalize the potentialities of the environmental resources including human beings for the development and growth of the economy. The researcher attempts to review the resources available in the country in detail with projection of opportunities for further development in the sector and thereby economic development. The chapter contains factual information on resources in the country supported by researcher’s assessment of how these resources are turned into means of ecotourism development. An attempt is also made by the researcher to analyze the impact of ecotourism on country’s resources. It is desirable that the study of the identification of resources for ecotourism development must precede the exploration of whether the country is really having the potentialities to make use of the resources. As understood by everyone, ecotourism is not supposed to endanger the environment and cultural heritage of a country. It must seek to find ways to enjoy the natural beauty of the country and should in no way affect the culture and lives of the local populace. One of the significant study by Cater remarked that during the 1980s, annual tourist arrivals in certain ‘ecotourism destinations’ are more than doubled and tourist receipts grew tenfold (Cater, 1994). In the early 1990s, one of the official reports of World Tourism Organization (WTO) predicted that there

Managing Creativity and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Creativity and Change - Essay Example The pyramid scheme structure looks reflects the organization of authority. The hierarchical organization structure is common in both the public and private sectors. In a typical private organization or public institution, departmental heads, as well as, unit managers report directly the general managers or the vice presidents, who in turn report to the president (Marlow, 2011). In small businesses, the layers are lesser than the layers in the large organizations. Although hierarchical organizational structures may be effective as far as managing thousands of employees is concerned, they have numerous weaknesses, which will result in them being less evident in the future. In today’s business world, the level of competition in every industry is growing rapidly. One of the key factors behind the ever-increasing competition is the fact that globalization is ever increasing. In other words, the ever-increasing interconnectedness has substantially contributed to the rapidly increasi ng competition. Companies are spreading their operations outside the local borders to take advantage of new markets. Another key reason why countries are going global is to take advantage of the hap labor especially in the emerging markets including China, India, and Brazil among other emerging economies. Firms that are taking advantage of the cheap labor in today’s competitive world are enhancing their competitiveness. Production using cheap labor translates into competitive prices for the goods and services. Therefore, for all the global organizations that have shifted some of their operations to some of the cheap labor economies are becoming more competitive. This is because they are able to supply their goods and services at competitive prices in both the local and international markets (Dutz, 2011). The global economy has significantly changed in many ways. Countries are more dependent on each other than ever before. The world has become a global village and an external effect on a single major economy or region has direct, as well as, indirect effect on the global economy. For example, a major economic outcome in the U.S. could positively or, negatively affect the whole world. This is because of the increased interconnectedness and dependence amongst nations. If there were an economic boom within the U.S., other countries including the small ones would benefit from the high demand of goods and services in the world’s largest economy. On the other hand, a recession in the world’s largest economy could adversely affect the rest of the world. For example, following the 2007/2008 global financial crisis, the poor economic state in the U.S. affected the entire global economy (Ofd.ncsu.edu, 2013). The world’s economy is shifting from hierarchical organization structures to flat organization structures. The expectations amongst employees are different under the tall and the flat structures. For example, under the hierarchical structu res, employees feel that they have a job security. This is because of the fact that this type of organizational structure is present in large organizations, which have attained a higher level of stability. In these organizations, the level of innovation is lower, compared to organizations that embrace flat structures. This is because of the fact that the senior high-level management keeps a close eye to the employees. In other words, there is more

First Ancient Civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

First Ancient Civilizations - Essay Example Religion is of crucial importance to society since it facilitates the guarding of morals in society. The word Mesopotamia in the Greek language means ‘the land between two rivers’, because the civilization began between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It was in the Eastern Mediterranean, had the Zagros Mountains to the northeast and the Arabian Peninsula to the southeast, and corresponded to the present-day Iraq, most parts of Iran, Turkey and Syria. It was called Al Jazira by the Arabs and has been termed to as the Fertile Crescent. This civilization is the earliest in world history and, one which lasted for the longest time having begun around 3500 BC and ended in (Chadwick, 2005). It had much influence in western civilizations and most of these civilizations laid their foundations based on its example. Unlike other civilizations, Mesopotamia was a collection of various cultures, which were only bound together by their gods, writing and how they treated women. Mesopotamia is regarded as the cradle of civilization because it was the first to build cities, use the potter’s wheel, to develop writing, to organize armies, use large quantities of bronze and is called the place where history began. The yellow river civilization in china began in 4000 BC in China. Since water is known to play a critical role in the development of a civilization, the yellow river civilization owed its origin and development to the yellow river. The yellow river occupies a place of importance in china and has been known as the mother river of china. Just as the Egyptians credit their existence to the river Nile, the Chinese also attach great importance to the yellow river, referring to it as the cradle of Chinese civilization. The yellow river population was the centre of politics, economy and culture of the Chinese. It was also the center of science and technological advancement. It existed for 2000 years, covering the period

Assignment 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Assignment 6 - Essay Example It is mostly associated with research and development projects whereby, there are very many uncertainties and unknowns. This includes system development and analysis. CPM, however, is mostly used in tasks and projects that are repetitive in nature. Such tasks are normally known to have definite starts and complete dates. CPM is mostly applied in developing projects such as building construction and software development. The critical path is the shortest path identified in the critical path method, and that shows the minimum possible duration of a project. In the given assignment, there are three possible paths ABCCDG, ADG and ADG. The shortest path will be ADG while the critical time taken to complete the assignment will be 3days. This is the advantage of CPM since it enables the optimization of time. Here, slack can also be calculated; hence, preparation for any eventualities. The relationship between lectures and teachers can be put in form of ERDs. These entities (Teacher and students) can be interdependent or dependent in nature. There are three types of relationships between entities (Diagram 1). On Diagram 2 shows a typical example of the one to one entities. Diagram 3 however gives a perfect scenario of a many to many ERD. The learning the analysis tools and components has proven to be a very important and helpful process. This is because all this information will come in handy during the practical execution of the theoretical learning that I have been doing in the course work. System analysis deals with projects. Projects are normally broken down into simpler manageable chunks that make up the complete project. These chunks are given estimated timelines and periods under which they can be completed. Learning about the project management tools and analysis tools and components will ensure professional application in projects to achieve the maximum results. Some project

Psychological Abnormality Essay Example for Free

Psychological Abnormality Essay There are many ways of defining psychological abnormality; the two I will be discussing is deviation from social norms and failure to function adequately. Deviation form social norms is a person’s thinking or behavior being classified as abnormal if it violates the rules or norms about what is expected or acceptable behavior in a particular social group. An example of this can be anorexia, more common in females where the person sees themselves as overweight even when extremely thin and person is terrified of weight gain. The media create unrealistic, and for most people ideal images, especially of women. Most models are well below normal weight for their age and height Sufferers desperately want to be accepted and valued and tend to feel that they are not. However self-starvation is seen as abnormal in terms of social norms. Strength of deviation from social norms is that this definition takes into consideration the effect that behavior has on others in which deviance is defined in terms of breaking social rules which are usually made in order to help people live together. There are many limitations with the definition of deviation from social norms, beliefs about abnormality and social norms or morally acceptplable behavior changes over time for example homosexuality was included in the American classification system for disorders up to the 1960s. Since then attitudes have changed and homosexuality it no longer seen as a disorder. Another limitation is that context is import as we distinguish between normal and abnormal according to social norms of the time. Much of our behavior is context specific and take out of context may seem bizarre for example if you saw a person suddenly jump up from a park bench and start talking to themselves you might think of them as being very strange on the other hand if you saw a camera crew you would have thought of it being bizarre. Also culture relativity can be a limitation as different cultures have different ideas about acceptable behavior fro example some African societies cut themselves as a sign of inner beauty but in Western societies we se it as self harm. Another definition of abnormality is failure to function adequately this is when abnormal behavior interferes with daily life/functioning i. e. people are unable to live a normal life. An example of this can be when people cannot work and lose the motivation to care for themselves properly and agoraphobia or fear of crowds which is defined as an abnormal behavior where a person may have a fear of open space and can’t go shopping, school and do other everyday things because they have a fear of crowds. Strength of this definition is that it is easy to judge who is failing to function adequately because it is easy to . ist behaviors that show people are not functioning properly in their everyday lives e. g. unable to dress themselves, can’t get up in the morning etc. Limitations of this definition can be the context as starving yourself is irrational, unpredictable and maladaptive. However it is understandable when political prisoners go on hunger strike as a political pro test, so context is important. Also some people may not have psychological disorder but still have failure to function adequately e. g. dues to economic conditions it may not be possible to hold down a job and support family. Another limitation is that some people are able to maintain an adequate or high level of functioning even if they have a psychological disorder for example some people with anxiety or depression can still function. Similarity between both definitions is that they both have a limitation of culture relativity as different societies have different rules and norms of what’s normal and abnormal. A problem with both definitions is that context is important as we distinguish what is normal and abnormal behavior according to what is expected in a given situation according to the social norms at the time.

Social Phenomenon Warrants Sociological Research Essay Example for Free

Social Phenomenon Warrants Sociological Research Essay There are several social phenomenon’s and social problems that warrant sociological research however, there is one that stands out more in this mind than in any other one. Being a church going individual something that truly needs sociological research are the Mega Churches. What defines a mega church? Its basic description is â€Å"a congregation which has two thousand or more worship attendees in a week† (Thumma, 2007, para. 1). The megachurch is an organization unlike any other. In order to fully the megachurch, it must be viewed as a phenomenon rather than incredible growth or outstanding successful spiritual ventures. After investigating the megachurch there are several common characteristics that appeared. One of these common characteristics is obviously size, which is the most common characteristic; however, the list of traits is much longer. There are three distinctive ways of expressing the megachurch message. They are nontraditional, the conventional, and the composite. Just like all general descriptions of social phenomena, any megachurch will vary in its characteristics. On the other hand, these congregations have too much in common not to be seen as a distinctive social and religious reality. Megachurches are a new phenomenon. The megachurch is more than a church with a massive attendance. â€Å"It is a congregation with a distinctive pattern of organization, programmatic ministries, and membership relations† (Thumma, 2007, para. 5). The rapid growth of this form of congregations has become more and more within the last several decades. Almost all the current megachurches were founded after 1955; however, they mainly came about more around the decade of the eighties. Since Durkheim, sociologists have been interested in the church as a social phenomenon. Now Mega churches are a growing phenomenon in U. S. ociety. They attract the attention of scholars, religious leaders and journalists. Although most churchgoers in the United States still attend smaller churches, the attention of religious practice into large associations is an issue for sociologists studying religion and organizations. The problem with the megachurch is that there is a social issue there, such as questions like how do such large organizations function and survive? How does one minister, pastor, or reverend, attend to the need of so many people? I would research this social phenomenon by using the scientific method. The only real way to do it. I identified the problem, which is how do such large organizations function and survive? and how does one minister, pastor, or reverend, attend to the need of so many people? I then formulated the hypothesis of them having several associate pastors, and leaders in the church to help out with different activities and sections of the church. Then, I reviewed different literature on megachurches and how they operate and function. Lastly, I drew the conclusion to the research and found out how they function and hold things together. It turns out that the main or senior minister or pastor is not the only leader of the church. It turns out that there are large numbers of staff and volunteers. As the church grows, the number of â€Å"employees† so to speak grows too. They help coordinate and facilitate through the week and on the weekends. In my research I found out that â€Å"megachurches average 20 full-time paid leadership staff positions and 9 part-time positions. These churches also have on average 22 paid full-time and 15 paid part-time administrative or support staff positions† (Thumma, 2007, para. 36). On average there are more than 284 volunteers that put in more than five hours of work a week. More than 50% of these volunteers put in between 20 to 40 hours a week in service to the church. This therefore, supports my hypothesis that the minister has help in running the megachurch. In conclusion, based upon the research done a megachurch is a social phenomenon. Having so many people who socialize, sociologists have so much to research so that others can understand how things like this work. Through sociological research American society can get a better perspective on how different things go that not everyone is a part of. Therefore, giving sociologists a great demand.

The Background And History Of Bullying Psychology Essay

The Background And History Of Bullying Psychology Essay Bullying can lead suicide and death, According to Centers for Disease Control suicide is caused death number three in adolescent. Study by Yale University (2008) adolescent that became victim of bullying 2 to 9 times more likely concider to suicide. Suicide case related bullying must be prevent, this situation contrary with the reality that even bullying occurs in school, but sometimes people does not aware or just think that as naughtiness of the children. From CDC (2011) prevelance of student who involved in or affected by bullying are 43.9% students middle school and 30.5% students high school, study by Owusu et al. (2011) found that 40.1% of the total sample student being bullied and likely significant have negative psycological health than students who do not become bullied. Study by Allison, Roeger and Reinfeld-Kirkman (2009) show that nearly one-fifth of adults reported having experience of bullying when they at school and this study also found that those who had been bullied significantly poorer mental and psychological health. Acording data from Global School Health Survey (GSHS) of WHO, 2007 prevalence of bullying in Indonesia is 49 %, Thailand 27,8% in 2008 and Filiphina 35.7% student in 2004. Moreover with a population of adolescents are 1,2 billion in worldwide which is 18-25% adolescent in Asia (WHO,2010) and there are 3,6 million adolescent or 18 % of the total population in Indonesia (National office of Statistic,2010) if we did not immediatly addres this problem, the future of the adolescent will be dangerous. The studies show evidenced that bullying is very dangerous for the future of students as it could cause depression or even suicide. In 2010, Kvarme, Helseth, Sateren and Natvig found that school children who have been bullied felt helpless, lonely and excluded when they were bullied, students who have been bullies have an increased risk of developing anxiety, depression. Study by Owusu, Hart,Oliver and Kang, (2011) also found that victim of bullying were significantly more likely to report negative psychological health such as signs of depression, suicide ideation, being so worried that affect sleep and loneliness. Moreover study from korea shown that Victim perpetrators reported more suicidal/self injurious behaviors (Kim, Koh,Laventhal, 2005). In 2010, Patchin and Hinduja found that Students who experienced cyberbullying both as a victim and an offender, had significantly lower self esteem than who had little or no experience with cyberbullying and also study by Schneider, ODonnell , Stueve and Coulter (2012) found that victim of bullying report low school performance and school attachment, psychological distress was highest among victim of bullying. Study about the intervention also have been conduct to overcome bullying. Blosnich and Bossarte (2011) found that having adults and staff that supervising hallways was associated with 26% decrease of peer victimization. The impat of the Olweus prevention ptogram study by Bowllan (2011) found that teacher statistically significant improvements in their capacity to identify bullying, talk to students who bully and talk with them. Study by Boulton, Bishop, Baxandall, et al. (2007) found that a majority of participant want that peer counselling as problem solving related bullying. Also study by Li, Washburn, Dubois, et.al (2011) found that student who involved with Positive Action Program have 37% fewer violence behaviors and 41% fewer bullying behavior. The intervention program did not effective if we did not understand the bullying as problem. Topic in this study about bullying in adolescent, this topic will be help us to undestand bullying as problem. To support this topic and to identify the gap of knowledge in the community, about 25 articles that related with this topic has been colected. The articles that used were publish in 2004-2012 at the data base at Ebsco Host and Science Direct. This paper will help student to gain more knowlegde, support the idea about the bullyingin adolescent and will help to conducting the tesis in the future. In order to make a better understanding about the content of the paper. This paper will summarize the article from the definition of the phenomena, the objective, design, sample and the result of the study. And finnaly will expalin about gap of knowledge and how to fulfill the gap as the tesis plan. Summarizing Result Definition of phenomena 1. Bullying Definition of Bullying is repeated intentional infliction of injury or discomfort (physical or nonphysical) on another person over time in an imbalanced relationship (Olweus,1994). In addition to physical and nonphysical forms, bullying can also be categorized as direct or indirect, Direct bullying includes threatening, stealing, hitting, and verbal abuse, whereas indirect bullying involves social isolation, spreading rumors, and ignoring ( Van der Wal MF, de Wit CAM, Hirasing RA, 2003). Bullying as a type of interpersonal violence in which there is a power imbalance between victim and bully, typically characterized by repeated aggressive verbal and/or physical behavior with intent to harm or disturb the victim (Nansel et al., 2001; Olweus, 1993, 1994). According of Royal College of Psychiatricts (2006) Bullying is a form of aggresion that can be hurtful manner such as hit or punch other,kick or trip other up, take or spoil other things, call other names, tease other, give other nasty looks, threaten other, make nasty rumours or story about other, spread nasty rumours or stories about other, not let them join in play or games and not talk to them. The operational definition of Bullying is agression behavior that hurtful manner in direct (threatening, hitting, puch other) and indirect (verbal abuse, teasing, give other nasty looks, and make nasty rumours abot ather) with effect to physical dan phycological health which done by other people with more power in some periode of time. 2. Adolescent The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) defines adolescents as being between the ages of 10 and 19 this definition same with World Helath Organization (WHO) about adolescent. according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Adolescents divided into three stages early adolescent (11-13 year of age), middle adolescent (14-18 year of age) and late Adolescent (19-24 year of age). According to United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) in 2005, The stages of adolescence can be separated into three: early (10-13 years of age), middle (14-16), and late (17-19). In early adolescence, physical changes include physical and sexual maturation. These changes continue through middle adolescence into the late stage, adolescents are thought to be less concerned with their body image than they are during early adolescence. Cognitively, adolescents in the early stage develop concrete thinking abilities, while in middle and late adolescence, the young person moves to thinking abstractly and can develop reasoning skills. Emotionally, adolescents in the early stage are beginning to explore decision-making opportunities, while in the middle stage, they begin to develop a sense of identity, established more fully in late adolescence. Socially, during this stage, peers become a bigger influence and sexual interest usually begins. During the middle stage of adolescence, peers continue to hold influence, and sexual interest develops further. Finally, in the late stage, transitions to work and further schooling take place. Overall, The operational definition of the adolescent is young people that age around 10-19 years old. Objective of the study The most objectieve of the previous studies was the assosiation bullying with psychological distress(Schneider, ODonnell, Stueve,et all.,2012; Undheim and Sund, 2010; Kim, Koh and Leventhal,2005), Risk factor of bullying (CDC,2011; Fitzpatrick, Dulin and Piko, 2007), Psycological adjustment (Wei and Williams,2009; Owusu,Hart, Oliver,et all.,2011), School safety (Blosnich and Bossarte,2011), Psychosocial environment (Meyer-Adam and Conner,2008), Depression (Kaltiala-Heino, Frojd and Marttunen,2010; Fleming and Jacobsen, 2009), Self esteem ( Patchin and Hinduja, 2010), Preception about bullying (Frisen,Jonsson and Persson, 2007; Juvonen and Gross, 2008), Program intervention (Bowllan and Nancy, 2011), Health quality of life (Allison, Roeger and Reinfeld-Kirkman, 2009), Suicide (Kim, Koh and Leventhal,2005) and also to examine the prevalence of bullying such as study by Schneider, ODonnell, Stueve,et all.(2012) . The other objective was to explore the bullying experience (Kvarme,Helseth , and Natvig, 2010; Willis and Griffith , 2010), Peer councelling (Boulton, Trueman and Bishop, 2007) and perspective of bullying (Brown, Birch and Kancherla, 2005). Design Most of the article using quantitative design for their study which is Cross sectional studies (Wei and William, 2009;,Owusu, Hart, Oliver,et all.,2011; Undheim and Sund, 2010; Blosnich and Bossarte, 2011;Hensershot, Dake, Price and Lartey, 2006; Kim, Koh and Leventhal,2005; Fitzpatric, Dulin and Piko,2007; Juvenen and Gross, 2008; Patchin and Hinduja,2010), and Retrospective studies (Meyer-Adams and Conner,2008; Allison, Roeger, and Reinfeld Kirkman,2009; Brown, Brich and Kancherla,2005; Bond, Wolf, Tollit, Butler and Patton,2007; Chapell,Hasselman, Kitchin et all.,2008;Gukin and Lewis,2006). The rest of the article use descriptive study (Schneider, ODonnell, Stueve,et all.,2012), , Quasi experimental (Kaltiala-Heino, Frojd and Marttunen,2010 Bowllan and Nancy, 2011), Randomised Control Trial (Li, Washburn, Dubois et all.,2011) and the qualitative study that use explorative design ( Kvarme, Helseth, Sateren and Natvig, 2010 Willis and Griffith, 2010) and phenomenological (Boulton, Truemen, Bishop et all.,2007 Frisen, Jonsson and Perddon, 2007). Sample /participant Most of sample that use in that studies were students and only one study that use nurse as sample (Schneider, ODonnel, Stueve, et all.,2012). Range of the sample size was from 11 (Willis Griffith, 2010) to 20,406 (Schneider, ODonnel, Stueve, et all.,2012). The type of sampling that most use in 25 articles was random sampling (Hendershot, Dake et all.,2006; Patchin and Hinduja,2010; Allison, Roeger and Reinfeld,2009; Guckin and Lewis,2006) and the other use purpose sampling, clustered sampling and total sampling with survey and the rest of the article did not explain about the method that use to take sample. Most of the studie were conduct in America and Europe from 25 articles only 2 studies that conduct in Asia which is in Taiwan by Wei and Williams (2009) and in Korean by Kim, Koh and Levental (2005) . The age of the sample size that use in was student in middle school and high school or both of them example study by Schneider, Shari Kessel, ODonnell, Lydia, Stueve, Ann, Coulter, Robert W. S., (2012) sample was use student in grade nine-twelfth. Instrument Most of the instruments that used in the previous studies are different. Only study by Owunsu, Hart, Oliver et all.(2011) and study by Flemming Jocebsen (2009) are same used Global School Based Health Survey (GSHS). This instrument develop by WHO and conducted among students aged 13-15. This instrument used to identify health behavior and protective factor among student aged 13-15. This instrument did not specific to identy bullying but there are some content about bullying in GSHS. The instrument that specific to identify bullying was Olweus Questionnaire in this instrument identify of bullying about exposure to various physical,verbal, indirect, racial, and sexual forms of bullying/ harassment, how students bully others, where bullying occurs, pro-bully and pro-victim attitudes, and the extent to which the social environment that used in study by Bowllan and Nancy (2011). The other instrument to identify bullying was Gatehouse Bullying Scale (GBS) whis is in good to moderate test- retest reability (rho 0.65) that used in study by Bond, Wolfe, Tollit et all.(2007). Study by Undheim and Sunud (2010) was to asses prevalence of beeing bullied and behaving aggresively toward other and the psychosocial characteristics of exposed student, so they used the Mood and Feeling Questionnaire to identify psychosocial characteristic of students. The other instrument that used were Beck Depression, Rosenberg self esteem and ect. Main result Study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011), shown that student who involved in or affected by bullying are 43.9% students middle school and 30.5% students high school, and ussualy Bully victims were more likely to report violent family encounters than bullies and bullies were more likely to report such encounters than victims. the prevelance of cyberbullying and school bullying was 15.8% of students reported cyberbullying and 25.9% reported school bullying in the past 12 months with a majority of cyberbullying were also school bulying and then Victimization was higher among nonheterosexually youth. The Victims report low school performance and school attachment. Psychological distress was highest among victims of both cyberbullying and school bulying. (Schneider, Shari Kessel, ODonnell, Lydia, Stueve, Ann, Coulter, Robert W. S.,2012). The school nurses identified the most common barrier to dealing with bullying, which included bullying taking place where the nurse is not supervising (49%), someone else in the school being more qualified to address bullying (41%), not having enough time (26%), and not beeing prepared to handle the problem (25%). Only 14 % stated that there were no barriers to dealing with student bullying. (Hendershot C; Dake JA; Price JH; Lartey GK, 2006). In African American Adolescents Bullying behavior was higher than reported for other general student. And age, family violence, negative peer relationships and behavioral risks all contributed to increased odds of students reporting bullying behavior. (Fitzpatrick KM; Dulin AJ; Piko BF.,2007). The ages which most students had been bullied at school were between 7 and 9 years. Bullies said bullying took place when they were 10 to 12 years old. The most common reason as to why individuals are bullied was that they have a different appearance. (Frisà ©n A; Jonsson A; Persson C., 2007). When bullied, almost half said they fight back, about a fourth tell an adult, and 20% do nothing; only 8% try to talk to the bully. Nearly two thirds claimed they tell or try to stop bullying when they see it, but 16% do nothing, and 20% join in. Frequent bullies were more likely to think it is cool, to fight back when bullied, and to join in when others are bullied. Two classes of victims were apparent. Victims who also bully often said that bullying occurs because others are not friendly to bullies or because bullies want to get their way, many also admitted that they do not know how it can be stopped. Victims who do not bully were most likely to do nothing when bullied but to try to stop th e bullying of others. (Brown SL, Birch DA, Kancherla V., 2005). Data from Northern Ireland the incidence of victimization within the peer group of respondents was very high in comparison not only to previous. The report 59.2% of the respondents said that schools were proactive in bullying and did have an official policy in place and one quarter of respondents and victims who would approach the teacher and also 50.4% of all respondents believed that their school provided real help for victims. (Guckin CM, Lewis CA.,2006). Study by Kvarme LG; Helseth S; Sà ¦teren B; Natvig GK. (2010). Nearly one-fifth of adults reported having experience bullying when they were at school. Those reporting that they had been bullied experienced significantly poorer mental and psycological health compared to those who had been bullied (Allison S; Roeger L; Reinfeld-Kirkman N., 2009). The students felt helpless, lonely and excluded when they were bullid, students who have been bullies have an increased risk of developing anxiety, depression and They wanted the bullying to be recognized, assistance from the staff to stop the bullying, and to be included by their peers and from other study Victim of bullying were significantly more likely to report negative psychological health compared with those who reported not beeing bullied.such as signs of depression, suicide ideation, being so worried rried that it affects sleep and loneliness. (Owusu, Andrew, Hart, Peter, Oliver, Brittney, Kang, Minsoo. 2011). Moreover, study from korea shown that Victim perpetrators reported more suicidal/self injurious behaviors and suicidal ideation in the previous 6 months. In female students, all 3 school bullying groups had increased suicidal ideation for the previous 2 weeks but not in male students. (Kim YS; Koh Y; Leventhal B, 2005). Students who experienced cyberbullying both as a victim and an offender, had significantly lower self esteem than who had little or no experience with cyberbullying (Patchin JW; Hinduja S., 2010). Students who reported being bullied in the past month were more likely than nonbullied students to report symptoms of depression. A higher number of days of being bullied in the past moth was associated with a statitcally significant increase in reported rate of sadness and hopelessness. (Fleming LC, Jacobsen KH. 2009). Conceptual framework Most of the study did not use conceptual framework, some of the study use the conceptual framework example study by Kvarme, Helseth, Seteran and Natvig, (2010), used Quality of Live (QOL) and Solutions Focus approach and famework and also study by Wei and Williams, 2009 use The information Processing Model as a framework.. Limitation The article that review have some limitation in some study data sorce use self-reported single item such as study by Schneider, ODonnel,Stueve et all.(2012), CDC(2011), Undheim Sund (2010), Hendershot, Dake, Price et all (2006), Boulton,Trueman, Bishop et all( 2007), Juvenen and Gross(2008), self-report of negative behaviours was used as a basis for outcome measures in study by Brown, Birch and Kancherla(2005) and self report as subject to recall and social desirability bias, but some study use multiple source, cause discrepancy between measure (Wei and Williams, 2009). In the content of study did not explore contextual influences on the behaviors and the complex role that bystanders student and parents and adults in the community study by Schneider, ODonnel,Stueve et all.(2012) , The sample size that use only small sample (Kvarne, Helseth, Deteren and Natvig,2010), The sample was limited to school nurses who were member of NASN (Hendershot, Dake, Price et all,2006), Knowledge about theoretical framework to analysis and interpretation data of school nurses and researchers are limited. Use cross sectional study and causality cannot be implied (Kvarne, Helseth, Deteren and Natvig,2010), The result cannot be generalized to similar age out of school adolescents (Owusu, Hart, Oliver et all.,2011; Undheim Sund, 2010; Willish Griffith, 2010;Fitzpatrick, Dulin and Piko, 2007; Frizen, Jonsson and Persson,2007, Meyer-Adam Conner, 2008, Kaltiala-Heino, Frojd, and Marttunen, 2010; Patchin Hinduja, 2010; Bowllan Nancy, 2011; Li, Washburn , Dubois et all., 2011) with only one moderatly size city and participant restricted age range, None of the questions used in the analysis assessed the source of bullying, since there no item in the survey(Owusu, Hart, Oliver et all.,2011),The questionnaire must be more specific (Blosnich and Bossarte, 2011; Kim, Koh and Leventhal, 2005; Fleming and Jacobsen, 2009) and the length of the survey are limited (Fleming and Jacobsen, 2009). Gap of the Knowledge The article that have been review can be categorize become three part. Article that shown the prevalence of bullying or phenomena of bullying. The ages which most students had been bullied at school were between 7 and 9 years. Bullies said bullying took place when they were 10 to 12 years old. The most common reason as to why individuals are bullied was that they have a different appearance. (Frisà ©n A; Jonsson A; Persson C., 2007). In African American Adolescents Bullying behavior was higher than reported for other general student. And age, family violence, negative peer relationships and behavioral risks all contributed to increased odds of students reporting bullying behavior. (Fitzpatrick KM; Dulin AJ; Piko BF.,2007). Article that shown the effect of bullying. Study by Kvarme LG; Helseth S; Sà ¦teren B; Natvig GK. (2010). Nearly one-fifth of adults reported having experience bullying when they were at school. Those reporting that they had been bullied experienced significantly poorer mental and psycological health compared to those who had been bullied (Allison S; Roeger L; Reinfeld-Kirkman N., 2009). The students felt helpless, lonely and excluded when they were bullid, students who have been bullies have an increased risk of developing anxiety, depression and from other study Victim of bullying were significantly more likely to report negative psychological health compared with those who reported not beeing bullied.such as signs of depression, suicide ideation, being so worried rried that it affects sleep and loneliness. (Owusu, Andrew, Hart, Peter, Oliver, Brittney, Kang, Minsoo. 2011). Moreover study from korea shown that Victim perpetrators reported more suicidal/self injurious behaviors and suicidal ideation in the previous 6 months . (Kim YS; Koh Y; Leventhal B, 2005). Article that shown about the intervention that can be solution to bullying. The school nurses identified the most common barrier to dealing with bullying, which included bullying taking place where the nurse is not supervising (49%), someone else in the school being more qualified to address bullying (41%), not having enough time (26%), and not beeing prepared to handle the problem (25%). Only 14 % stated that there were no barriers to dealing with student bullying. (Hendershot C; Dake JA; Price JH; Lartey GK, 2006). The review from the article found that most of the studies conduct in the America and Europe and only two studies that conduct in Asia. Hence, the study about bullying must be improved in Asia especially in Indonesia which is have large population and did not have specific program about bullying. Bullying that have been study most of them shown the high of prevelance of the bullying, eventhough the prevelance of bullying high but we can see this as real situation condition because the sample that used was only one group of the students so the result of the study can not be generalize. Moreover the adolescent that have been categorie as the stage developmental, so to realy know about phenomena of bullying and prevalence of bullying in adolescent study about bullying in three stage of developmental in adolescent must be conduct in the future. Understand the effect of bullying and the urgention of this problem, prevention program and intervetion program to decrese prevelence of bullying must be done. But the problem is the program will be fail if we give the program in the wrong student. So identify the student that can be victim of the bullying will be help to prevent the bullying. What the determinats of personal factors that related to victim of bullying and the association bullying with self esteem which is part of self concept . Who the victim ? Effect of bullying Bullying Intervention of bullying How to fullfill the gap The gap of knowledge that we found can become reseach question. The reseach question that we found were who the victim of bullying?, how the bullying in indonesia and how the relationship between bullying and self esteem? Reseach question must be answered with study in the future. To answer the reseach question the purpose of the study must be setting. From reseach question in above, the objective of the study are : The prevalency of bullying in indonesia To examine the determinants of personal factors that related to bully victim The association bullying with self esteem. Instrument The instrument that used to answer the reseach questian are : The Olweus bully/ victim questionnaire The Rosenberg scale of self esteem The reseach design of this study are cross sectional with regression. Sample The sample that used are student from the 10-19 years old. With type of sample are stratified sampling. The conceptual framework In this study will use conceptual frame work of the developmental of adolescent and the concept of self esteem