American History Since 1877

Law Enforcement Race and Domestic Calls

Law Enforcement Race and Domestic Calls Introduction In order to remain legitimate, citizens ought to have confidence in the criminal justice system. If these citizens think of the institution as trustworthy, just, and fair, then chances are that they will concede to it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Law Enforcement Race and Domestic Calls specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Law enforcement is one of the most critical components of the criminal justice system because it interacts with almost all members of society. Ethnic minorities and poor people predominantly contact the government through the criminal justice system. It, therefore, makes sense for law enforcers to appear just to this group of people. When policemen act differentially or in a biased way against a member of society, then they send the message that the political and social system of the country is unreliable. It is imperative to study one aspect of police interactions with the public; dome stic calls, in order to determine whether such injustices exist. In this paper, it is hypothesis is as follows: law enforcement officials will respond quicker to domestic calls in a white neighborhood than calls from predominantly black neighborhoods because of the perception of repeated crimes in such areas. Literature review It is necessary to look at theoretical underpinning of crime in order to understand the context of the research hypothesis. Two theories are insightful in this analysis; they are the social disorganization theory and the conflict theory of criminology. The social disorganization theory postulates that crime rates will be high in areas with dysfunctional communal institutions and minimal communal relationships. Lack of strong communal ties minimizes people’s cooperative behavior and hence their ability to prevent criminal behavior.Advertising Looking for essay on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% O FF Learn More If a community engages its members in communal institutions such as schools, churches and family, then chances are that these people will have a strong bond with each other. Consequently, they are less likely to commit crimes against one another. Analysts often apply the theory to people in small geographical units such as neighborhoods or communities (Bursik, 1988). The social disorganization theory arose in the early 1900s and criminologists used it to explain high rates of crime in Chicago. At the time, numerous immigrants had entered the city and few of them associated with each other on the community level. Chicago, which had consisted of a peasant society, became a multicultural city. Inconsistencies and disorganization replaced the uniformity and harmony that existed in the peasant society. Individualism and economic competition disintegrated the family unit as well as other communal institutions. Since families were agents of social control in t he previously homogenous society, then the heterogeneous society undermined government control. As a result, crime and delinquency persisted in Chicago. It is possible for a certain area to experience high rates of crime irrespective of the racial or biological composition of the residents. In the social disorganization theory, social conditions perpetuate crime and delinquency. Such areas are disorganized and lack the mechanisms for reinforcing laws. In the absence of these controls, crime will thrive (Groves Sampson, 1989).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Law Enforcement Race and Domestic Calls specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A number of researchers have studied the social disorganization theory in real-life settings. A case in point was a study done by Elijah Anderson. He summarized his findings in a piece known as the â€Å"Code of the Street†. The author studied an inner city African American community in Philadelphia. He found that a street code existed in this community, and there were sincere and insincere adherents of the phenomenon. Anderson (1999) explains that families in this community can either be ‘street’ or decent. Decent families hold mainstream values and inculcate the notions of self reliance and hard work among their family members. Nonetheless, they still teach their children how to behave in dangerous situations so as to protect themselves. Members of decent families will put on the street persona when faced with difficult situations so as to protect themselves from attacks. Conversely, street families orient their family members into a violent subculture. A high degree of disorganization exists among these families thus causing them to engage in self destructive behavior such as violence, alcoholism and drug abuse. These findings indicate that when a high degree of social organization exists, then crime will abound. Therefore, the study testifies t o the viability of the social disorganization theory. It will be useful to understand how the social disorganization theory relates to the effectiveness of police response to domestic calls in this study. One can use the theory to understand why law enforcers sometimes have a bias in this area of police work.Advertising Looking for essay on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The conflict theory of criminality is also quite useful in understanding criminality and hence police reactions to possible crimes. Karl Marx postulated that capitalist societies consist of two key groups; the working class (proletariat) and the elite (bourgeois). The resource owners always perpetuate their self interests by exploiting the masses. They control resources and use their positions of power to maintain the status quo. On the other hand, unequal distribution of resources causes members of the working class to become frustrated by the prevailing order thus prompting them to oppose the elite. A continuous conflict will always exist between the proletariat and the bourgeois because of this inequality. Crime manifests in capitalist societies because poor people need a method of survival; only minimal economic opportunities exist for the working class (Kelley, 2011). Additionally, Marxists believe that inequality alienates the poor from the rich and propels them into crime. Ma rxism and other conflict theories may also be used to explain why certain law enforcers behave the way they do. Adherents of this theory believe that the elite preserve the status quo by treating the law as an instrument. It is one of the many institutions (religion, education, and mass media) used to keep power among the ruling class. This is the reason why crimes committed by poor people solicit more severe punishments than those committed by the rich. Differential application of the law among members of a certain population perpetuates a hegemonic control of the masses. Biases in applications of law prove the existence of these hegemonies. For instance, only 2.7 % of all the Caucasians that law enforcers capture go to prison while an astounding 10.2% of blacks go through the same. There is a homogenous population in prison that preserves the status quo of the white majority. Additionally, white collar crime causes plenty of harm in society, but it do not solicit the same punitive actions from law enforcers as crimes committed by the working class. Even white collar crimes can be tax deduced once a judge passes the sentence. If a court fines an organization, it will often require only a small portion of its earnings and thus protect the interests of the company owners. For instance, it may pay a $1.8 million-fine yet company profits stand at $1.7 billion. Therefore, the punitive abilities of those fines are highly questionable. One may think of crime and deviance in a heterogeneous society as a consistent struggle between those in power and those outside the locus of control. Individuals in positions of authority will strive to expand their level of control over resources by defining the activities of others as deviant. Therefore, members in authority will always claim that others are a threat to the existing order. To the elite, the existing order is always the legitimate one. Matsueda and Drakulich (2009) carried out a study in which they wanted to build o n the conflict theory of social control. They analyzed African American’s perceptions of the criminal justice system and determined whether these perceptions undermine the legitimacy of institutions within the country. According to group conflict theories, the elite maintain control over subordinates through the legal system. Therefore, the biases, as dispensed through the criminal justice system, serve to disenfranchise economically-disadvantaged people continuously. The authors found that prejudices against African Americans exist, and these serve to damage the authenticity of such institutions. It is these racial injustices that cause many African Americans to support affirmative action as well as other liberal policies. Anderson (1999) further supports this notion in his analysis of a predominantly black neighborhood. The author states that institutional racism demoralizes African Americans and denies them opportunities for economic empowerment. Therefore, many of these c itizens choose crime (drugs and violence) in order to make financial gains that they would not have accessed had they tried mainstream society. Many African American drug dealers will enter the life of drug dealing in order to access material things and boost their status in society. In the conflict theory, deviance stems from the proletariat’s need for social mobility. This is the case with black youth in the ghetto. Many of them seek to strengthen their status by acquiring the money needed to buy fancy things. An economically disadvantaged group, such as the community under analysis, will often use deviant behavior in order to oppose the status quo (Anderson, 2002). Chambliss and Seidman (1982) further argue that the legal system serves an authoritarian order. Here, law enforcers have the work of implementing the law while politicians make it. Additionally, it is this authoritarian structure that causes deficiencies in the legal system. For instance, attorneys are the only ones who know most of the legal dialect in the law and this makes it inaccessible to the masses. Furthermore, appellate courts often make decisions that support the status quo. As a result, the elite will keep preserving their privileged positions through legal structures. It will be insightful to know how the conflict theory will relate to police reactions to callers. The theory will be useful in explaining why police are reluctant to respond to calls from predominantly black neighborhoods, if the bias exists. Additionally, the theory will contribute towards knowledge of the motivations for racial prejudice within the criminal justice system. Research findings Occurrences Police misconduct entails any act that abuses police authority, such as extortion, bribery, abuses, excessive force or failure to offer assistance to distressed callers. The latter situation is the subject of analysis in this paper. If police fail to act appropriately when a person calls for help, it is necessary to determine why they acted in such a manner. Several studies have looked into the issue of police misconduct and found that the behavior is likely to occur in neighborhoods with structural mobility issues. This can be easily explained through the social disorganization theory. Additionally, police misconduct may also stem from changes in the population; that is, racial bias (Kane, 2002). In fact, when these two factors exist in a certain location, then residents’ call for police help will not receive the much needed attention that it requires. The history of citizens and police interactions with one another has a large role to play in determining whether law enforcers will respond accordingly to a distress call from a black neighborhood. Anderson (1999) carried out his research in Germantown Avenue. He found that most residents did not trust the police owing to their indifference to their situations. Police helping behavior would dramatically reduce when in a predominantly b lack neighborhood. Some of the residents even reported cases of abuse from law enforcers who should have assisted them. For instance, instead of dealing with the matter at hand, police would ask them about unrelated issues such as the sale of drugs. Sometimes this would spiral out of control and lead to the arrest of a victim of a crime. Respondents in the latter study indicate that police were often present in the streets, but they did not have the residents’ interests at heart. The locals claimed that police officers have a low opinion of African American citizens, so they are less likely to assist them. Given this negative relationship between law enforcers and black citizens, it is safe to say that police response to African American domestic calls from black neighborhoods would be lackluster. A distinct difference exists between the provision of police services in black neighborhoods and white communities; law enforcers make these decisions based on the economic predispo sition of the residents as well as their racial composition. Brown and Coulter (1983) confirmed that an inequality exists in distribution of police services based on ethnicity. Sun and Payne (2004) further clarified that police do not act in the same way across all neighborhoods; their behavior changed according to their locations. The number of victims that received assistance in these locations was not as high as the number of incidences that occurred. Furthermore, citizens were likely to result to their own ways of seeking justice in these areas. Weitzer (2000) also found that racialized policing was a reality in predominantly black neighborhoods. The author compared police treatment of individuals across three neighborhoods in Washington DC. One neighborhood consisted of a predominantly lower class black community while the second one was a middle class white society. The third community was a middle class black community. Respondents gave their insights about how police treated them in relation to other communities. Weitzer (2000) found that the predominantly black, lower class community experienced racial bias from the police fraternity. If a member of the black community interacted with a police officer outside a black neighborhood, then police biases against them would disappear (Weitzer, 1999). Therefore, race becomes a problem in law enforcement when taking into account one’s neighborhood. The differential treatment of citizens by law enforcement officials can be manifested through the rate at which police respond to calls. Consequently, such variations prove that the research hypothesis in true. Racial composition and social-economic backgrounds of callers determine police reactions. It should be noted that the existence and extent of community policing in a certain neighborhood has adverse effects on how police respond to neighborhood calls. By its sheer nature, community policing represents a shift from reactive law enforcement to proactive work. Neighborhoods with a sound community policing strategy connect well with police and inform them about crimes before they occur. They have a strong relationship with police because police respond suitably when they call for help. Weitzer (2000) found that predominantly African American neighborhoods had poor relations with their police officers even when community policing existed. Study subjects stated that the police had no interest in engaging with them, and they were highly unwelcome. Such opinions from the residents stemmed from the fact that the police had failed to come through for them when they needed their help. Residents continually get negative feedback from police when they warn them about crimes (for instance through domestic calls), and this leads to resentment from them. It should be noted that these findings change dramatically when black officers enact community policing in predominantly black neighborhoods. Sun and Payne (2004) explain that differences in be haviors were present between black and white officers policing predominantly black neighborhoods. Findings indicated that black officers engaged in supportive activities when in black neighborhoods while white officers used more coercive tactics in these communities. As a result, one can assume that differential treatment of victims of crime is true, and this implies poor response during domestic calls. Theoretical explanations of police reactions to calls from African American neighborhoods In order to understand why the police behave so differently, it is necessary to look into the theoretical explanations of their behavior. Conflict theories indicate that people in positions of authority will act in a way that protects the interests of those in power. One can define a dominant group on the basis of economic status. Since American society largely consists of a white, middle class population, then poor, black citizens represent the opposite spectrum of those in power. When police r espond inadequately to domestic calls from low income, African American societies, they are protecting the interests of those in power. Wearing police uniform and belonging to the police fraternity gives many law enforcers a strong sense of identity, which tempts some of them to abuse their positions. One may thus perceive law enforcers as agents of social control (Chambliss and Seidman, 1982). In line with the above argument of social conflict, one may assume that unsatisfactory responses to domestic calls from African American callers stem from the lack of effective mechanisms for punishing racist behavior. The prevalence of a dominant race causes them to implement policies that preserve their place in the social hierarchy. Placement of mechanisms that deter racist behavior among police officers would undermine efforts designed to protect members of the dominant class. If proper disciplinary measures existed to correct such abuses of power, then the elite would no longer be signif icant. Police officers’ misconduct during call responses also stems from their perceptions of entities in control. Many law enforcers feel that the only genuine source of their authority stems from the majority, where they belong (Jacobs and O’Brien, 1998). On the other hand, police act discriminatorily during their response to distress calls owing to the social disorganization theory described in the literature review. Police may presume that predominantly black neighborhoods already have a high concentration of crime so their interventions will do little to change that. Consequently, this perception causes them to slow down their reactions to domestic calls. The temptation to do nothing or to act inappropriately is much higher in crime-prone neighborhoods than in neighborhoods without such incidences. Sampson and Bartush (1998) confirm these assumptions. They asserted that when the level of violent crime in a neighborhood became statistically insignificant, then poli ce indifference to residents also reduced to unusually low levels. This supports the notion that the police associate African American neighborhoods with a high degree of violence, and this makes it difficult to respond to them. It should be noted that Sampson and Bartusch (1998) do not support police biases; they were merely assessing perceptions and explanations for differential police behavior in divergent neighborhoods. One can look at this differential treatment by police using the opportunity model of social disorganization. In places where a high degree of crime already exists, it is likely that more opportunities for law enforcers’ misconduct exist. Neighborhoods with high crime rates often have a large proportion of police patrols. In fact, saturation patrolling is a common phenomenon in such locations. Police resident contacts are too frequent, and this often leads to friction between the two groups. This elevates the potential for hostile encounters between reside nts in high-crime neighborhoods. This means that when citizens need help, most of them will not find it from police officers. Law enforcers already have an abrasive attitude with them so this makes them less likely to help. Cases of over policing usually exist when law enforcers find the crimes. However, if local residents take the initiative to inform the police about these crimes, they are likely to receive a poor response. Additionally, because street crime is common in these neighborhoods, then police have more opportunities to act in a corrupt way. They can ignore calls for help and get away with it because of the degree of social disorder in those neighborhoods (Jacobs and O’Brien, 1998). Terrill and Reisig (2003) found that police tend to be more corrupt and inefficient in disadvantaged areas. Law enforcers are inefficient because of stereotyping members of low class African American communities as troublesome. Kane (2002) also makes a powerful argument when explaining why certain police officers fail to act satisfactorily after receiving domestic calls from predominantly black neighborhoods. Using the social disorganization theory, he explains that most of these residents lack the power to constrain corrupt or biased behavior. Residents in socially disorganized locations are powerless against abusive law enforcement. They do not have the capacity to lobby against police mistreatment, while residents in affluent or middle class neighborhoods know policy makers who can mobile against unethical police. As a result, police can get away with indifference against distressed callers from predominantly poor neighborhoods even when this behavior is continuous. Recommendations Police institutions need to take responsibility for their actions by being their own critics. They need to implement mechanisms for diagnosing inappropriate responses to domestic calls from African American neighborhoods, and find immediate remedies for them. Sometimes law enforcers are too quick to defend themselves or defend actions of their officers. It is necessary to have self critical measures that would eradicate this form of racism from the police. Since differential responses to callers emanates from power relations, then policemen need to be subjected to immense scrutiny in order to avoid the abuse of power. Regardless of the reasoning applied police should not respond differently to callers; this is an unjustifiable act that must be corrected. Some of the positive steps that police departments can take include establishments of an anti-racism policy and provision of training. An anti-racism policy should specifically talk about consistent and effective response to domestic callers. In precincts where a lot of divergent behavior towards white and black communities thrives, a Race Relations unit ought to be instated. The unit would solve conflicts when they arise. It would also provide information and mediate between those individuals who were victims of prejudiced behavior during phone calls. Additionally, the unit would furnish the precinct with the necessary information on the matter. Alternatively, such divisions can set up community relations units for handling these biases (Ungerleider, 1992). Aside from the use of reactive measures, to curb the practice, institutions ought to have preventive methods that would ensure police protect individuals irrespective of their economic status, race, or any other factor that causes bias. First, administrators can set up evaluation mechanisms that assess arrest rates from predominantly black neighborhoods. They should determine whether these arrests occurred because of additional crime or because of negative attitudes held by police officers. Such attitudes should be nipped in the bud before they manifest in poor helping behavior among black victims. Failure to do so could even lead to a high number of deaths among the group. Police divisions ought to change their hiring programs in or der to include members of diverse origins. Although this approach may not be the ultimate solution to racial biases in the police, at least it can be a useful tool for exposing officers to people of divergent origins. Daily associations with such members can cause many of them to alter their attitudes towards people who are different from them. When instating the program, racial quotas should be met in order to realize the benefits of such a strategy fully. Another preventive measure that should be employed by the police force is the implementation and improvement of community policing in predominantly black neighborhoods. As stated earlier, failed community policy can lead to resentment and disengagement between the police and residents. This breeds an attitude of indifference that becomes visible when citizens make domestic calls. Administrators should train police officers on how to carry out community policing effectively. Genuine engagement with residents should be the main poi nt of focus. Diversity management policies should be considered by those in charge in order to ascertain that racist behavior does not occur. Prevalence of a code of conduct in an institution should be implemented so that it can have a real impact on the group concerned (Ungerleider, 1992). Since some of the prejudices that police officers hold stem from the rest of society, then stakeholders should talk to the media about their approach to reporting crimes. When law enforcers arrest a member of an ethnic minority group, the media will often describe the suspect using the person’s racial identity, yet they do not do the same for white suspects. The use of these racially-based descriptions creates the perception that members of a certain race have criminal predispositions thus causing a bias in the public. These sentiments can rub-off on police officers who do their job based on these prejudices. Conclusion Studies support the research hypothesis; that police are slow to respo nd to domestic calls from predominantly black neighborhoods. They, however, respond quickly to domestic calls from predominantly white neighborhoods. The history of interactions between the police and members of predominantly black neighborhoods illustrates this. Police develop an attitude of indifference to these communities and are thus less prone to act when they get distress calls from them. Law enforcers also believe that such neighborhoods have a lot of repeat crimes, so they see no need to intervene in any situation hastily. Additionally, people in these neighborhoods have no ability to constrain or fight against corruption, so police can ignore their calls and get away with it. The country lacks institutions that can punish people with racist behavior. Consequently, some of them may engage in this behavior when getting distress calls and no authority will persecute them. Lastly, the police themselves perceive their positions to be powerful, and they also want to perpetuate t he interests of those they perceive as powerful. These reasons explain why officers handle calls from predominantly black neighborhoods improperly. Police divisions should alter the hiring programs and train their officers on how to respond to such calls consistently. Police departments should also enact evaluation policies on how police deal with cases from ethnic minorities. References Anderson, E. (1999). Code of the Street. NY: Norton. Anderson, E. (2002). The ideologically driven critique. American Journal of Sociology, 6, 1533-1550. Brown, K., and Coulter, P. (1983). Subjective and objective measures of police service delivery. Public Administration Review, 43 (6), 50-58. Bursik, R. (1988). Social disorganization and theories of crime and delinquency. Criminology, 26(3), 56-68. Chambliss, W. Seidman, R. (1982). Law, order and power. National Criminal Justice, 084636, 12-88. Groves, B. Sampson, R. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social disorganization theory. A merican Journal of Sociology, 94(4), 774-802. Jacobs, D. and O’Brien, R. (1998). The determinants of deadly force. A structural analysis of police violence. American Journal of Sociology, 103, 837-62. Kane, R. (2002). The social ecology of police misconduct. Criminology, 40(4), 867-96. Kelley, H. (2011). Elijah Anderson’s code of the street. Studies in the Social Sciences Research Journal, 1(1), 1-6 Matsueda, R. Drakulich, K. (2009). Perceptions of criminal injustice, symbolic racism and racial politics. The Annals of the American Academy, 10, 1-13 Sampson, R. and Bartusch, D. (1998). Legal cynicism and sub cultural tolerance of deviance. Law and Society Review, 32, 777-804. Terrill, W. and Reisig, M. (2003). Neighborhood context and police use of force. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 40, 291-32 Ungerleider, C. (1992). Police intercultural education-promoting understanding and empathy between police and ethnic communities. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 16(1), 51-66. Weitzer, R. (1999). Citizens’ Perceptions of Police Misconduct: Race and Neighborhood Context. Justice Quarterly, 16(4), 819-46 Weitzer, R. (2000). Racialized Policing: Residents’ Perceptions in Three Neighborhoods. Law and Society Review 34(1),129-55.

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Case Study Example generic fluoxetine, etc.) (1). To prevent other pharmaceutical companies from grabbing a large portion of Eli Lilly’s market shares in the selling of antidepressant drugs, Eli Lilly and company is considering the need to replace Prozac with its successor. Eventually, the successor of Prozac is expected to be launched at least 18 months prior to the date wherein Prozac’s patent right would expire (18). The New Antidepressant Team (NAT) is composed of people from Eli Lilly’s R&D and marketing department (7). During the initial stage of searching for Prozac’s successor, members of NAT investigated a total of five (5) assets known as: (1) R-fluoxetine; (2) olanzapine-fluoxetine combination (OFC); (3) 5HT2 antagonist SSRI; (4) business development opportunities; and (5) Cymbalta (duloxetine) (7 – 8). In general, there are serious constraints in the first four (4) assets. Therefore, the members of NAT decided to pursue the future development of Cymbalta a s the best option. For instance, even though the use of R-fluoxetine can prevent the side effects of Prozac which include sexual dysfunction and insomnia, this particular drug composition is patented by Sepracor. In the process of entering a license agreement with Sepracor, Eli Lilly will have to share part of its profit with the said company. Furthermore, the use of R-fluoxetine can trigger serious side effects on the part of the patients. Therefore, it is not advisable for Eli Lilly to invest in the future development of R-fluoxetine. Although OFC has been approved by the FDA, investing in the future development of OFC is also questionable because of the small market size of people with bipolar depression (2.5 million patients or less than 1% of U.S. population) as compared to individuals with major depressive disorder (10% of U.S. population). It means that focusing on the development of OFC would mean less sales and profit on the part of Eli Lilly. The 5HT2 antagonist SSRI is ef fective in terms of reducing side effects such as anxiety, agitation, insomnia, restlessness, and sexual dysfunction. However, it is not advisable to invest further on this option because of its toxic effects on animals. Lastly, there was an issue of business conflict in Eli Lilly’s in-license compound from other pharmaceutical companies (8). As a potential successor of Prozac, the NAT has to decide on three (3) options for Cymbalta before the official NDA submission. These options include: (1) the need to prove the efficiency or effectiveness 60 mg of Cymbalta once a day (QD) when treating major depressive disorder; (2) conduct a clinical trial which aims to allow the company to come up with an entirely new pain indicator for Cymbalta on top of presenting the drug efficacy using 20 to 40 mg of Cymbalta at least two times a day (BID); and (3) postpone the NDA submission for several years until option 1 and 2 has been satisfied (15). Analysis and Evaluation In search for Proza c’s successor, conducting a marketing research is important in terms of determining the target market and the future expected sales and profitability of Eli Lilly. Specifically the end users of Cymbalta include all individuals who are suffering from major depressive disorder. In line with this, it is necessary to take note that consumer behavior about certain drugs is highly dependent on what they physicians would prescribe to them. In this context, it is clear that

Hume's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Hume's - Essay Example ence of the miracle.† Here, Hume is determined to interpret the fact that final principle by which we must deduct whether a miracle has taken place is higher than it is the case of other cases asserting to identify some extraordinary or unanticipated occurrence. It is consequently not a miracle if a healthy person in unlikely events dies. Though an occurrence of this form may be impractical, it does not sometimes take place. Nevertheless, if a miracle occurs, we are asked to consider something that is divergent to all other understanding. Hume thus far argues that â€Å"miracles must be unique or (almost unique) occurrences otherwise fall within cumulative course of nature despite how rare and extraordinary the activity may be.†Provided with this interpretation of miracles, known desecrations of the decree of nature, how we should we analyze assertions that miracles have taken place? Hume depends on a principle that claims that a logical person proportions his belief to the testimony (Hume, 2007). Hume differentiates between two types of skepticism, that is, antecedent and resultant skepticism, both of which come in deep and decent style. Hume establishes the great type of skepticism with the cumulative suspicion of Descartes. These delves into questioning all former perceptions and thus far the acknowledgment of the senses. Hume hence suggests that though this great precursor skepticism is impracticable and that it is better in the moderate form. It comprises merely in producing unprejudiced views, advancing by inch by inch from sound first principles, an assessing one’s conclusion regularly and cautiously. The skepticism of Enquiry is viewed as a form of resultant skepticism. This are consequent skepticism questions our customary deductions and reasoning by doubting the premise on which they are secured. According to Hume, the specific testimony of senses, which imply to us the subsistence of a world outward to and free of our senses. He asserts that we are

IB Biology Substrate Specificity of Digestive Enzymes Planning Essay

IB Biology Substrate Specificity of Digestive Enzymes Planning Investigation - Essay Example There are two proposed mechanisms by which enzymes specificity can be put forward, 1) Lock and key model; where substrate act as key for enzyme as lock or in other words enzyme possess specific grooves where only specific substrate can be fixed 2) Induced fix model; where enzyme creates site for substrate when it comes in contact with it. In the given experiment we will investigate the substrate specificity of enzyme amylase towards its substrate Starch. We will also investigate the effect of various physical parameters like temperature, pH, enzyme concentration etc. 3. Hypothesis: Amylase has absolute specificity toward starch and will not act on any other polysaccharides. Similarly rate of conversion of starch to glucose is highly influenced by various factors like temperature, enzyme concentration and pH. The tubes were arranged and 5ml of Starch, Cellulose and glycogen solution was added to them and incubated at 37C in water bath for 2-3min to allow the temperature of solution reach to 37C (water bath was switch on before experiment was started and was at set temperature). Tubes were observed for red to brick red color indicating liberation of glucose. Appropriate blanks were kept to validate overall experimental procedure that includes Starch solution without amylase, tubes without starch or substrate etc. Development of red color indicates activity of Amylase and thus generation of glucose. 7. Control variables: Temperature: Test tubes were arranged as mentioned earlier and 5ml of starch solution was added to them. Three different temperatures were used in this experiment. The water baths were set at 20C, 37C and 45C. When the substrate attained the temperature, 1ml of saliva was added to each tube and further incubated for 15min. After incubation few drops of benedict's reagents were added to each and further incubated for 5 min. Color development was observed as above and noted.

Banking Sector Fragility Causes

Banking Sector Fragility Causes Discuss factors which have decisively contributed to the fragility of the contemporary banking sectors, as revealed in the form of the recent global financial crisis. Prepared by: Ivan Gnatiuk 37193 Artem Zaiets 36981 Mark Pohodin 37141 Introduction Firstly, crisis was originally started in US where it was a result of provided social policy. In particular, government allowed, even insisted, on distribution of house mortgages not only among wealthy part of society but also among poor one(so called NINJAs No Income, No Job, no Assets). Second part of this policy was an allowance on sell of sets or securitized bundles of mortgages among banks. Market at that time was at the expansion at that time i.e. expectations were positive and market accepted securitized sets of mortgage loans they spread not only among US but also around the whole world. In detail, banks became holders of risky assets in a large quantity that give good return during the expansion but become sources of risk during recession. Second important factor was an asymmetry in information i.e. banks who sold this bundles known all about their debtors and buyer of securitized bundle has no idea about quality or ability to pay of debtors in this bundle. Thus, mortgage b undles were spread around the world with no information about ability of money return just before market fall i.e. with a change in liquidity to very low as a result of negative expectations and following mistrust of banks with respect to each other. As a result, bundles lost their value because of that fact that opportunity of repayment thus value was very low thus collected debt obligations become a worthless and cold be just deleted form asset list of bank they currently situated. Therefore, many not only American but also European banks, pension founds and even insurance companies suffered of recent financial crisis. Moreover, interdependence in euro area only strengthened an effect. Firstly, securitization is a methodology where mortgages and loans with a different maturity collected into large sets for further sell on the market. The problem of such a way operation provision is an asymmetry in information i.e. only seller know what percent of credits are trustful and have a large opportunity of repayment in the future. In contrast, now, Federal Reserve has a regulation that require keeping a fraction of loans i.e. not to sell all loans given on the financial market that intense banks to be more careful with their debtors. Main reason of fall was an unpredicted unification of two factors. These factors were fall of housing market not only in one particular city or area but it spreading among the whole country with further fall of financial markets. This effect was accelerated by interdependence of banking system. For example, complicated structure of interbank loans such as credit-default swaps where in case third party default seller agreed to compensate buyer. Fall of such a large bank as Lechman Brothers created not only panic among creditors but also mistrust among banks. It was one of the most hitting factors. Banks started to keep a large amount of cash. In such situation banking system become ineffective and only damage economy; collecting cash and decreasing overall liquidity i.e. banks become a cash collectors and only reduce money multiplier. When money demand is inelastic, increase in money supply does not have an effect on liquidity i.e. monetary policy become ineffective i.e. at some point holding of cash become more profitable than any other investment. Thus, central bank loose quantitative instrument of market control. Banks start to buy safe government bounds with aim of protection of their capital and limit their credit distribution to reduce risk of not repayment of credits given. The volatility of banks In particular, banks play a very important role in determining the crisis. Problems encountered banks were due to great mistrust by customers. That is, the customer confidence in banks declined and that had a great influence on bank returns and stock prices. Stocks are more risky, which in term increase banks stock volatility. In finance, volatility refers to the standard deviation of continuously compounded by the return of a financial instrument for a certain period of time horizon. Thus, the return fluctuates over time and, therefore, an important determinant for the price of the shares. This is because the volatility shows the standard deviation of stock returns and depends on the risk of these stocks to hold. As a result, an increase in volatility leads to lower stock prices and vice versa. According to Choi et al. (1992)xi the interest rate variable is important for the valuation of common stocks of financial institutions because the returns and costs of financial institutions are directly dependent on interest rates. Moreover they mention a model which states that three different shocks affect bank’s profit during a given period namely; interest rate, exchange rate and default shocks. Since these three factors have a great influence on the profits of banks, it has also a great influence on its volatility of stocks. The interest rate directly has a great influence on the volatility. Profits of banks are determined by the interest rate. As mentioned, the revenues banks obtain are the interest payments of customers. The costs are the payments made to the customers. So an increase in the interest rate the banks gain will increase the banks’ profits and thus make those banks’ stocks more attractive. Investors can get more dividends on investment but al so can earn money by buying low and selling high. So when a bank is doing well, stocks prices will increase and that results in a saver investment. This causes a decrease in the volatility of those stocks. So an increase in the interest rate, at which banks lend, leads to a decline in the stock volatility and on the contrary. The interest rate at which banks ‘borrow’ has another influence on its stocks. A growth in that interest rate will rise banks costs, and thus decrease the banks’ profits. That 13 make the stocks less attractive and causes a decline in its prices. So the growth of that interest rate causes an increase in banks stock volatility and vice versa. Grammatikos et al. (1986)xii investigated the portfolio returns and risk associated with the aggregate foreign currency position of U.S. banks. They found that banks have imperfectly hedged their overall assert position in individual foreign currencies and exposed themselves to exchange rate risk. This f act suggests that exchange rate risk may importantly affect bank stock returns. Thus, it also affects the volatility. To make business internationally you always need to convert your money. That is why it is especially for banks an important factor. Companies dà Ã‚ ¾ business with other corporations internationally via banks. Banks hold the foreign currency which investors and companies have to buy in order to invest or do business internationally. Moreover the exchange rate defines also in which country it is attractive to do investments. For example, when the exchange rate is low for Europeans so that the euro/dollar is low, it is attractive for Europeans to make investments in America. It is advantage for European banks because European investors are now buying dollars from the bank. Since investors have to pay fees for that and banks have more money to lend out, the profits are growing which means that the volatility is decline. So an increase in the exchange rate decreases th e volatility. Default shocks are according to Choi et al. the last determinant of the banks profit and thus banks stock volatility. Default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract. This can be that he has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan condition of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may appear if the debtor is either unwilling or unable to pay their debt. This can appear with all debt obligations including bonds, mortgages, loans, and promissory notes. So it is an important factor in the banking industry. When huge amount of customers default, the banks have a high bad debt expense. This leads to an increase in the volatility. Furthermore if the risk of default rises, the interest rate rises as well because banks want to be compensated for this risk. As we have seen, an increase in the interest rate means a decline in volatility. So shocks in default mean shocks in volatil ity. This can be either up or down. When we take a closer look at the determinants of the volatility of banks stocks, we can see that it all depends on the state of the economy. When the economy is healthy, there are a lot of 14 actions in the markets as well as in the banking market. Corporations are investing a lot and thus are borrowing from banks; the housing market is doing well which means a lot of mortgage loan for banks. Overall there is a huge amount of business for banks which means that banks are doing well and thus stock prices are increasing, which indicates low volatility. On the contrary, during economic crises it is the other way around which we will see in the next part. Banks volatility in crisis During economic crises, we have seen that the economy in general is depreciating, during these years banks carry a lot of risk that customers are going to default. That is, the risk of having a lot of bad debt expanses rises. That risk causes fluctuation in the volatility of banks. During the last financial crisis, the housing market collapsed which caused a lot of default on mortgage loan. Because of the rise of default the interest rate is increasing and the currency is becoming cheaper. The three factors that affecting the volatility of banks according to Choi et al. were all affected during the last financial crisis, which caused increase in the volatility of banks. Moreover during banking panics, the volatility also increases. A banking panic means a bank run that appears when a huge number of customers withdraw their deposits because they think that the bank is, or might become, bankrupt. As amount of people who withdraw their deposits increases, the likelihood of default incre ases, and this leads to further withdrawals. This can destabilize the bank and finally lead to bankruptcy. So the bank carriesuncountable amounts of risk at that time. Because of that risk, investors are not willing to buy stocks of that bank and investors holding the stock already, want to sell their stocks. As a result the price of its stocks will decline and eventually be very low. Therefore the volatility will be very high. To sum it up, we have seen that the major determinants of the banks stock volatility are the interest rate, the exchange rate and the default shocks. More importantly, these three factors are all indicators of the state of the economy. When the economy is doing well, the factors influence the volatility negatively. However during financial crises and banking panics, the volatility will rise. So the volatility of banks’ stocks is affected by the health of the economy, which is indicated by the three factors mentioned. Globalization, as important crisis factor In this part we would like to reference such sector of banking as regional instability. Since the beginning of 21st century, the fragility of singular unit of the banking system was determined as a factor that affects only this particular institute. With increased globalization and technological progress, we have faced the new problem, which is a result of our own actions. Everyone loves traveling, but no-one likes to have big amounts of cash, casually lying in their pockets. This is the reason why we use plastic cards. Little do we think that they are a result of hard work and complicated connections between thousands of institutions. Such companies as Visa and MasterCard are offering us freedom of movement, in some way, and since the 90-th they grant us wide range of possibilities which we would never have in other way. We should state that both Visa and MasterCard, went public just recently before financial crisis, in October and may of 2006. This simply means that they became big enough, that there were a need of external financing, so the companies can expand even faster and bring their services to broader audience. The process of globalization brings us to the point of time, when there will be no more ways of globalizing without bringing any harm to economy of the world or even humans. Willing to expand, â€Å"systems† will fight over for the customer. Thus is when we meet the term that was implemented just recently – â€Å"reverse globalization† In the face of great economic risks, a lot of countries have started to implement the policy of protectionism. For example, in 2013, more than 2000 trade restrictions had been implemented by different governments, including United States and China. Another problem is that most companies which have their manufacturing powers abroad, mainly in china, report that their departments there are getting even more profitable. So we see the creation of the link between such countries. If one of them will be affected by the stroke, other one is going to feel the result as well. Banks are also taking part in such policy, or at least they used to. Since 1995 we can observe the steady trend to an increase in number of the foreign banks, from 780 to more then 1300, in 2007. The amount of new foreign banks, entering the market in OECD countries, peaked in 2007 at 132 in a year. The financial crisis dramatically reduced the number banks, up to the point when for the first time, since 1995, net exit of banks appeared to be bigger than net entrance. With the peak number being 1350, in 2009, it has been reduced to 1272 in 2013. Though this impact was intense, we can see even more radical change in the number of domestic banks. Here the number of facilities fell from 2704 to 2384, in 2007 and 2013 respectively, increasing market share of foreign banks up to 35%, from around 33% previously. The most interesting effect crisis had on banks of emerging and developing countries. Firstly, the amount of banks there didn`t decrease, but rose by 30. Also significant amount of banks that have been opened in European countries, had an actual headquarters in developing country. So, in regards to regional economy, European banks had the greatest reduction, as 29 foreign banks left the market. Nevertheless, we had an increase of such in Sub-Saharah Africa, where it peaked on the mark of additional 31 bank. The trend of developed countries being in lead, by an annual net entry, had been changed, when emerging and developing countries took this spot, even though developed countries are still shoving positive rates in all years after, except 2013. Concluding this point, we can assume that increasing amount of banks is not useful for overall health of world economy. Also such actions on the behalf of new banks can create issues for regional economies, as they tend to accumulate resources from citizens and not being effective as allocating institute. Such point leads us to the point that banks, as institutes which are supposed to be an effective tool for cash flows allocation, can be harmful for small regional economics. They create risks of collapsing and creating systematical problems, through connections between small banks and systems of such institutions. Finalizing all the information above, we would like to mention that banks, as fiscal institutions, are a source of great possibilities, but they may create bigger problems. Analyzing such data we see that market economy is self-efficient in some respect. It naturally clears itself during each crisis peaks. The problem is that banks link different economies, some of which are better and some are not that healthy. That just means that some links must be destroyed and thus operations of such banks are not necessary. In future risks of crisis fluctuations will be higher, as there will be even more banks to create harder connections, and thus world economy will suffer from those â€Å"small depressions† even harder with each next starting its action. Conclusion To sum it all up, from our research we have seen that crisis of 2007-2008 show us the fragility’s of banking system and the factors, which have decisively contributed to the fragility of banking sectors. We saw that some strengths of banking system in light of global financial crisis become fragilities. Banks volatility increased over the time period of a crisis especially during the last financial crisis. We can say that the volatility of banks increased during the financial crisis of 2008 and that the main driver is the GDP growth rate and that the less important drivers are the interest rate the exchange rate. In addition, we can say that increasing amount of banks is not useful for overall health of world economy. Also such actions on the behalf of new banks can create issues for regional economies. Bibliography Launch of 2013 Depth Index of Globalization: http://www.iese.edu/en/about-iese/news-media/news/2013/november/launch-of-2013-depth-index-of-globalization/ Why globalization is going into reverse, by Carol Matlack: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-11-25/why-globalization-is-going-into-reverse Rising Costs, Protectionism Hit U.S. Companies in China, Says Survey: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-10-10/rising-costs-protectionism-hit-u-dot-s-dot-companies-in-china-says-survey The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Banking Globalization; by Stijn Claessens and Neeltje van Horen, October 2014: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp14197.pdf http://www.nber.org/papers/w4532 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/842a1f88-d41c-11e4-99bd-00144feab7de.html#axzz3XyHF1cLC http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-15/good-volatility-eludes-banks-trading-revenue-hits-3year-low http://www.voxeu.org/article/high-volatility-breeds-high-correlation-new-analysis-european-bank-stock-prices Business Cycles, Financial Crises, and Stock Volatility, by G. William Schwert, 1989:http://www.nber.org/papers/w2957.pdf http://geomar-search.kobv.de/authorSearch.do;jsessionid=54AC3C46B1787F442C4032CE1265C4A1?query=Kopecky%2C+K.+J.plv=2 Stock volatility and the crash of ’87, byG.W. Schwert, 1990: https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/2954.html The Financial and economic crisis of2008-2009 and developing countries Edited by Sebastian Dullien Detlef J. Kotte Alejandro Mà ¡rquez Jan Priewe:  http://unctad.org/en/Docs/gdsmdp20101_en.pdf

Living with Damage to the Hypothalamus Essay -- Brain Neurology Medica

Living with Damage to the Hypothalamus Living with some-one who has a tumor or lesion; caused by an accidental trauma to the head, a stroke or a penetrating projectile, ect., can affect many aspects of normal life. Damage to the hypothalamus can produce many different problems in the body. According to James Kalat; the hypothalamus is a small area near the base of the brain just ventral to the thalamus. It has wide spread connections with the rest of the forebrain and the midbrain. The hypothalamus contains a number of distinct nuclei. Partly through nerves and partly through hypothalamic hormones, the hypothalamus conveys message to pituitary gland, altering its release of hormones. Damage to a hypothalamic nucleus leads to abnormalities in one or more motivated behaviors, such as feeding, drinking, temperature regulation, sexual behavior, fighting, or activity level (Kalat, 2004). Some of the most predominant diseases that affect the family and the home life are; neurophysical diseases, adenohypophysical diseases, and other hypothalamic syndromes. The most common neurophysical diseases affected by damage to the hypothalamus are: Diabetes Insipidus, (SIADH) Syndrome of Inappropriate ADH Secretion and Cerebral Salt Wasting. Adenohypophysical diseases include: Panhypopituitarism (Simmonds Disease), abnormalities in growth and Cushing Disease and Cushing Syndrome. Other Hypothalamic syndromes that would affect family life include: Precocious Puberty, Adiposogenital Dystrophy (Froelich Syndrome), disturbances in regulation of temperature, appetite and sleep, lastly the Pineal Gland and Melatonin (Bostrom, 2003). The Hypothalamus serves as the â€Å"head ganglion† of bo... ...ontributing to a healthy relationship. Open communication may help family members deal with feeling of guilt, self-esteem, anxiety, and empathy towards the victim. Also, support for the spouse in planning the patient’s care regarding the specific issues and problems is extremely important for both parties. References Boller, Francois. (1982). Sexual Dysfunction in Neurological Disorders. New York, New York; Raven Press. Bostrum, Donald. (2003). Psychiatric Nursing. St.Louis; Mosbey Publishing. Engel, Jerome., Williamson, Peter. (1997). Fundamental Mechanisms of Human Brain Function. New York; New York; Raven Press. Kalat, James W. (2004). Biological Psychology. (8th ed.).Belmont; Wadsworth/Thompson Learning. Ropper, Allen H., Victor, Maurice. (2002). Manual of Neurology. (7TH ed.). International Edition, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.