Teachers Perception Of Gender Bias In The Classroom Education Essay

One of the first things that we do when a kid is born is to happen out its sexual class. This announcement at birth, male child or miss, is the most important statement that governs one ‘s development as a individual throughout one ‘s life. Harmonizing to Weiss ( 2001 ) , a individual ‘s gender marks his/her full life from within and without. How our gender structures the manner we learn has been studied extensively by societal scientists, psychologists, educationalists, and women's rightists. They all agree that non merely 1 ‘s ain sense of gender individuality affects the acquisition procedure really significantly, but others besides play a definite portion in this position. Teachers play a cardinal function in act uponing larning patterned advance from when the kids begin school. Harmonizing to David and Myra Sadker â€Å" sitting in the same schoolroom, reading the same text edition, and listening to the same instructor, male childs and misss receive really different instructions † ( Weiss, 2001, p. 44 ) . Their research illustrates that male pupils non merely have more of the instructors ‘ attending in mention with the figure ( and quality ) of the inquiries asked in the schoolrooms, but the same is besides true in instance of the follow-up inquiries. Harmonizing to them, male pupils besides receive more precise and helpful feedback ; while female pupils bear the consequence of their instructors ‘ asymmetrical distribution of energy, endowment, and attending ( Weiss, 2001 ) . Frequently, elusive gender prejudice is at that place in the schoolrooms but is barely noticed by the instructors. It remains elusive and is difficult to trap down. Teachers, being wedged between several determinations every twenty-four hours refering the course of study and schoolroom direction, happen small room to contemplate and analyze their interactions with male and female pupils in their schoolrooms. While a the survey done by Marshall & A ; Reinhartz ( 1997 ) showed that the instructors ‘ communicating with their pupils has a cardinal influence on the current and prospective accomplishment and achievement of both male and female pupils, another survey by Crawford and Macleod ( 1990 ) ( as cited in Lundeburg, 1997 ) , discovered that colored schoolroom interaction leads to decrease assurance in their rational abilities by female pupils. A big figure of surveies exhibit that instructor behaviours institute the foremost contributing factor for a higher grade of student-pa rticipation in the schoolroom by male pupils than the female pupils. ( Kosmerl, 2000 ) . Male pupils are likely to acquire a greater portion of instructors ‘ attending and have more specific feedback. However, female pupils are less likely to have congratulations or redress for the rational content of their replies than male pupils ; conversely, the female pupils are more likely to have an acknowledgement response from their instructors ( Sadker and Sadker, 1994 ) . It is non common to happen instructors waiting for more than 5 seconds for a response from their pupils ; it is even more uncommon to see instructors naming on non-volunteering pupils to arouse their responses. Teachers ‘ behaviours such as these tend to breed schoolroom unfairnesss by promoting aggressive male pupils ( Lundeburg, 1997 ) . Another survey by Sadker and Sadker ( 1986 ) ( as cited in McGee Bailey, 1996 ) provides grounds that instructors ‘ discriminatory behaviors in the schoolroom are non chronic but modifiable. However, instructors are mostly non witting of their ain unjust behaviors in the schoolrooms, and are frequently found to be gender-blind, unless their attending is drawn to the affair. This can hold many detrimental effects, because it is about impossible to work out a job that is difficult to acknowledge in the first case. Nonetheless, preparation in gender equity is barely of all time an ingredient of instructor instruction ( Lundeberg, 1997 ) , particularly so in Pakistan. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM While a important sum of research exists in context of pupils ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in the schoolroom, there is small research on manus sing instructors ‘ perceptual experiences of the same capable affair. This survey is intended to concentrate on the modern-day perceptual experiences of instructors sing gender prejudice. Since pupils continue to have different instructions, it is of import to place how instructors may continue to detect, respond, lessening, and avoid gender prejudice. PUROSE OF STUDY The intent of this survey is to exemplify the perceptual experiences of instructors on the topic of gender prejudice as measured by a questionnaire. The aims of the survey are: I ) To measure instructors ‘ perceptual experiences about gender prejudice. two ) To measure instructors ‘ educational preparation sing gender prejudice. three ) To measure instructors ‘ experiences with gender prejudice. Research HPYOTHESES Hypothesis I: Even if instructors do non province that they have been involved in gender prejudice in their ain schoolrooms, they will describe they have witnessed or heard of gender prejudice issues in their schools and/or others. Hypothesis II: Teachers will describe they wish that they had received some or more educational preparation sing gender prejudice. Hypothesis Three: Teachers will describe they have received small or no educational preparation sing gender prejudice. adapted from ; Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Katherine M. Kosmerl, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf REFRENCES Kosmerl, K. M. ( 2000 ) . Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf Lundeberg, M. ( January-February, 1997 ) . You Guys Are Overreacting: Teaching Prospective Teachers About Subtle Gender Bias, Journal of Teacher Education, 48 ( 1 ) , 55-61. Marshall, C. , Reinhartz, J. ( July/August, 1997 ) . Gender Issues in the Classroom. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jstor.org/pss/30185879 McGee Bailey, S. ( May, 1996 ) . Shortchanging Girls and Boys. Educational Leadership, 53 ( 8 ) , 75-79. Cited in: Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Katherine M. Kosmerl, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf Sadker, D. , Sadker, M. ( 1994 ) . Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls. New York: Simon & A ; Schuester. Weiss, R. ( 2001 ) . Gender-Biased Learning. Training & A ; Development, 55 ( 1 ) , 42-48. Cited in: Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Katherine M. Kosmerl, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf

Nike Financial Statement

NIKE, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME Year Ended May 31, 2001 2000 1999 (in millions, except per share data) RevenuesIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Costs and expenses:Cost of sales IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Selling and administrative IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Interest expense (Notes 4 and 5) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Other income/expense, net (Notes 1, 10 and 11) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Restructuring charge, net (Note 13)IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Total costs and expenses IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Income before income taxes IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Income taxes (Note 6) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Net income IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Basic earnings per common share (Notes 1 and 9) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Diluted earnings per common share (Notes 1 and 9)IIIIIIIIIIIIIII $9,488. 8 $8,995. 1 $8,776. 9 5,784. 9 2,689. 7 58. 7 34. 2 (. 1) 8,567. 4 921. 4 331. 7 $ 589. 7 $ 2. 18 $ 2. 16 5,403. 8 2,606. 4 45. 0 23. 2 (2. 5) 8,075. 9 919. 2 340. 1 $ 579. 1 $ 2. 10 $ 2. 07 5,493. 5 2,426. 6 44. 1 21. 5 45. 1 8,030. 8 746. 1 294. 7 $ 451. 4 $ 1. 59 $ 1. 57 The accompanying notes to consolidated Nnancial statements are an integral part of this statement. 24 NIKE, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS ASSETS May 31, 2001 2000 (in millions) Current Assets: Cash and equivalents IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts of $72. 1 and $65. IIII Inventories (Note 2) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Deferred income taxes (Notes 1 and 6) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Prepaid expenses (Note 1) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Total current assets IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Property, plant and equipment, net (Note 3)IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IdentiNable intangible assets and goodwill, net (Note 1) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Deferred income tax es and other assets (Notes 1 and 6)IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Total assets IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII $ 304. 0 1,621. 4 1,424. 1 113. 3 162. 5 3,625. 3 1,618. 8 397. 3 178. 2 $5,819. 6 $ 254. 3 1,569. 4 1,446. 0 111. 5 215. 2 3,596. 4 1,583. 4 410. 9 266. 2 $5,856. 9 $ $ 0. 2 2. 6 459. 4 (9. 9) (152. 1) 3,194. 3 3,494. 5 $5,819. 6 0. 2 2. 6 369. 0 (11. 7) (111. 1) 2,887. 0 3,136. 0 $5,856. 9 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Liabilities:Current portion of long-term debt (Note 5) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Notes payable (Note 4) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Accounts payable (Note 4) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Accrued liabilities IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Income taxes payable IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Total current liabilities IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Long-term debt (Notes 5 and 14)IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Deferred inc ome taxes and other liabilities (Notes 1 and 6) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Commitments and contingencies (Notes 12 and 15) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Redeemable Preferred Stock (Note 7) IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Shareholders' Equity: Common Stock at stated value (Note 8): Class A convertible I 99. 1 and 99. shares outstandingIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Class B I 169. 5 and 170. 4 shares outstandingIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Capital in excess of stated value IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Unearned stock compensation IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Accumulated other comprehensive incomeIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Retained earningsIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Total shareholders' equity IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Total liabilities and shareholders' equity IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 5. 4 855. 3 432. 0 472. 1 21. 9 1,786. 7 435. 9 102. 2 I 0. 3 50. 1 924. 2 543. 8 621. 9 I 2,140. 0 470. 3 110. 3 I 0. 3The accompany ing notes to consolidated Nnancial statements are an integral part of this statement. 25 NIKE, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS 2001 Cash provided (used) by operations: Net income IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Income charges not aAecting cash: DepreciationIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Non-cash portion of restructuring chargeIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Deferred income taxes IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Amortization and other IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Income tax beneNt from exercise of stock options IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Changes in certain working capital components: Increase) decrease in accounts receivable IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII (Increase) decrease in inventories IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Decrease in other current assets and income taxes receivableIIIIIIII (Decrease) increase in accounts payable, accrued liabilities and income taxes payable IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Cash provided by operati ons IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Cash provided (used) by investing activities: Additions to property, plant and equipmentIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Disposals of property, plant and equipment IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Increase in other assets IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Increase in other liabilitiesIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Cash used by investing activitiesIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Cash provided (used) by Nnancing activities:Reductions in long-term debt including current portionIIIIIIIIIIIIIII (Decrease) increase in notes payable IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Proceeds from exercise of stock options IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Repurchase of stock IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Dividends I common and preferredIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Cash used by Nnancing activities IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII EAect of exchange rate changes on cash IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Net increase in cash and equivalents IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Ca sh and equivalents, beginning of year IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Cash and equivalents, end of yearIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Supplemental disclosure of cash Oow information: Cash paid during the year for: Interest IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Income taxes IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Non-cash investing and Nnancing activity:Assumption of long-term debt to acquire property, plant and equipment III Year Ended May 31, 2000 (in millions) 1999 $ 589. 7 $ 579. 1 $ 451. 4 197. 4 I 79. 8 16. 7 32. 4 188. 0 I 36. 8 35. 6 14. 9 198. 2 28. 0 37. 9 30. 6 33. 4 (141. 4) (16. 7) 78. 0 (82. 6) (311. 8) 61. 2 114. 4 214. 4 24. 2 (179. 4) 656. 5 178. 4 699. 6 (191. 1) 941. 4 (317. 6) 12. 7 (42. 5) 5. 1 (342. 3) (419. 9) 25. 3 (51. 3) 5. 9 (440. 0) (384. 1) 27. 2 (60. 8) 1. 2 (416. 5) (50. 3) (68. 9) 56. 0 (157. 0) (129. 7) (349. 9) 85. 4 49. 7 254. 3 $ 304. 0 (1. 7) 505. 1 23. 9 (646. 3) (133. 1) (252. 1) 48. 7 56. 2 198. 1 $ 254. 3 (1. 5) (61. 0) 54. 4 (299. 8) (136. 2) (444. 1) 8. 7 89. 5 108. 6 $ 198. 1 $ $ $ 68. 5 173. 1I 45. 0 221. 1 47. 1 231. 9 $ 108. 9 The accompanying notes to consolidated Nnancial statements are an integral part of this statement. 26 I NIKE, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Common Stock Class A Class B Shares Amount Shares Amount Balance at May 31, 1998 IIIIIIIIIIIII Stock options exercised IIIIIIIIIIIIIII Conversion to Class B Common Stock II Repurchase of Class B Common StockII Dividends on Common Stock IIIIIIIIII Comprehensive income: Net income IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Foreign currency translation (net of tax expense of $0. 4)IIIIIIIIIIIIII Comprehensive income IIIIIIIIIIIIIII Balance at May 31, 1999 IIIIIIIIIIIIIStock options exercised IIIIIIIIIIIIIII Conversion to Class B Common Stock II Repurchase of Class B Common StockII Dividends on Common stock IIIIIIIIII Issuance of shares to employees IIIIIIII Amortization of unearned compensation IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Comprehensive income: Net income IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Foreign currency translation (net of tax expense of $1. 2)IIIIIIIIIIIIII Comprehensive income IIIIIIIIIIIIIII Balance at May 31, 2000 IIIIIIIIIIIII Stock options exercised IIIIIIIIIIIIIII Conversion to Class B Common Stock II Repurchase of Class B Common StockII Dividends on Common Stock IIIIIIIIII Issuance of shares to employees IIIIIIIIAmortization of unearned compensation IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Forfeiture of shares from employees IIII Comprehensive income: Net income IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Foreign currency translation and other (net of tax beneNt of $0. 2) IIIIIIII Comprehensive income IIIIIIIIIIIIIII Balance at May 31, 2001 IIIIIIIIIIIII 101. 5 $0. 2 (0. 8) 185. 5 2. 7 0. 8 (7. 4) $ 2. 7 Capital in Excess of Unearned Stated Stock Value Compensation (in millions) $262. 5 80. 5 $ I Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Retained Earnings $ (47. 2) $3,043. 4 $3,261. 6 80. 5 0. 2 (1. 5) 181. 6 1. 3 1. 5 (14. 5) 2. 7 334. 1 38. 7 (0. 1) (292 . 7) (135. 6) (17. 3) 0. 5 13. 5 I (21. ) (21. 7) (68. 9) (301. 6) (135. 6) 451. 4 100. 7 (8. 9) Total 451. 4 451. 4 3,066. 5 (627. 1) (131. 5) (13. 5) 1. 8 0. 2 (0. 1) 170. 4 2. 9 0. 1 (4. 0) 2. 6 369. 0 91. 0 (11. 7) (42. 2) (42. 2) (111. 1) (4. 8) 0. 1 6. 7 (6. 7) (2. 5) 7. 3 1. 2 (42. 2) 536. 9 3,136. 0 91. 0 I (152. 2) (157. 0) (129. 6) (129. 6) I (0. 6) $0. 2 169. 5 $ 2. 6 $459. 4 $ (9. 9) (41. 0) (41. 0) $(152. 1) 589. 7 $3,194. 3 The accompanying notes to consolidated Nnancial statements are an integral part of this statement. 27 579. 1 579. 1 2,887. 0 589. 7 99. 1 (644. 5) (131. 5) I 1. 8 579. 1 99. 2 (21. 7) 429. 7 3,334. 6 38. 7 7. 3 (1. 9) 589. 7 (41. 0) 548. 7 $3,494. 5

Family Unit in the Grapes of Wrath Essay

I dedicate this humble work to those whose blood runs in my veins; to my dearly loved parents and to: my dearest sisters all fundamental B.A student all my delighted and respected English teachers all those who will read this modest research paper ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I’m foremost grateful to my supervisor Dr. YASSINE Rachida whose guidance and continual encouragement have efficaciously helped towards the fulfillment of this modest research paper. I would like also to thank deeply whose efforts in class room opened my eyes and inspired the idea and the subject of this research paper, namely: Mr. ELHAMRI Rachid. I would like as well to express my deep feelings of gratitude to my little precious family that supported me to achieve where I am today and still supporting me to the fullest, bearing in mind my treasured friends for their ongoing moral support. Finally, my thanks are devoted to all the students of the department of English at Ibn Zohr University for their appreciated suggestions while this research was under preparation. INTRODUCTION: As most of critics refer to it, The Grapes of Wrath is a master piece written by john Steinbeck, a great American writer who wrote some of the best American stories ever. This novel tells the story of the Joads, an example of what happened to families that lived in Oklahoma during the 1930s. Because of drought, dust storms, and the death of crops, the landowners had to kick the farmers off from their lands. In order to live, thousands of people moved westward and left their homes deserted for new chances of life. On their way to California, they faced many difficulties; some of them lost family members because of starvation and tiredness, and some women brought new born babies to life, and some children stole food from other’s camps in order to eat and feed their dying families. When people reached California  with big dreams, ambitions and aspirations, they found out that it was not as they expected, life is harder there if not saying worst than the one they already live, crowds of poor, hungry and unemployed people staying in government camps waiting for salvation or even death, hopes and dreams were broken, many decided to go back and die in their home towns. Despite some of them had a chance to work, the wages were too low to feed a family of more than eight members. At that point in time, working class people were considered as slaves and pigs for the rich class, their struggles against the current is described by Steinbeck as a â€Å"turtle crossing the road†. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck tells us what kind of struggle the Joads confronted during their journey to live an ordinary life or more, a better one. In this Research paper I’m going to focus my attention on the concept of â€Å"family† itself and the strong union between the members of the Joads as the main drive that kept them going and fighting against all odds for their freedom and right of life thanks to â€Å"Ma† the strong, sturdy woman who is the moral center of family. This last point is what stroke me and motivated this research paper’s choice of topic, therefore my aim is to inspect first of all the importance of family in our day of age and how does individualism affects its unity and brings it down, then secondly, I will show you the example of this family unit through the work of John Steinbeck; The Grapes of Wrath by revealing everything that helped to keep the them bonded and united through the whole way to California and when they rea ched it. PART I: Family vs. Individualism Family in the light of individualism became more complicated and more separated than ever. In the last few centuries western families were characterized by the strength of their unity that ties them together and keep them close to each other as one vital entity that functions properly in the society, but with the rise of the ideology of individualism, family members started to break up from the usual structure and start a whole different one that is based on new principles, norms and a whole new ideas about the concept of family. The aim of this chapter is to discuss; Firstly, the distinction between collectivism and individualism with taking into consideration family as a model of collectivism, secondly to make difference  between traditional and new modern family structure in the western societies. Finally, to show how individualism affects in a negative way the unity that bonds western families. 1- Family and individualism The family institution is essentially the most important part in our society. Without the family, our society would not be able to function the way it is supposed to. Thus, how can we define the word â€Å"family†? The definitions of family are as diverse as families themselves and the situations they are found in. I shall then begin with defining this concept in a more general way. Family is the basic social unit because it represents people living together by ties of blood, marriage or adaptation, thus representing a single household. According to sociology, the family has the primary function of reproducing society; biologically, socially, or both. Furthermore, there are various structures of a family based on the relationship shared between parents and their children. Therefore, different types of family can be distinguished from the nature of this relationship, such as patrifocal family, where the family consists of a father and his child, Matrifocal Family, where the fam ily consists of a mother and her child. Consanguineal family is one which consists of the mother, the child and other people, mainly belonging to the family of the mother1. In most societies, Family is the principal institution for the socialization of children. And this institution might be based on the traditional concept of family or on the new version of it; each one of them has its own principles and characteristics which I’m going to show in detail later in the next following section. In addition to that, Family is considered as the best example of the idea of collectivism which some few cultures are still characterized by. In contrast, there is an opposing concept which is totally different from it which is the concept of individualism that means the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses the moral worth of the individual2. Hofstede explains it by asserting that in the individualist cultures people are autonomous and independent from their in-groups; they give priority to their  personal goals over the goals of their in-groups, they behave primarily on the basis of their attitudes rather than the norms of their in-groups, and exchange theory adequately predicts their social behavior3. In other words, individualists believe in one’s own interests, goals, freedom and independence and according to the German sociologist Ulrich Beck individualism has become the social structure of the era we are living in today. Life of individuals is characterized by choice where in previous generations no such choices existed. he clarified this by saying that the â€Å"Maintenance of the family link is no longer a matter of course but a freely chosen act. In the situation following a divorce, kinship is worked out anew in accordance with the laws of choice and personal inclination†4. Nowadays, in western societies many families has became totally modernized, In other words, they are infected by the individualistic ideology that keeps children away from their parents and helps to destroy the family unit that we really need in this day and age exactly as it used to be very essential centuries ago, for example, in the 20 th century precisely in the age of the great depression, family unit was a very important characteristic in the lifestyle of western families in order to maintain survival and endurance through the worst economic â€Å"Family†. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 25 Jun 2012. Web. 28 JUN 2012. . 2 â€Å"individualism†. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica., 2012. Web. 28 Jun. 2012 . 3 Greet Hofstede, Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2001), p. 909 4 Beck Ulrich and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim, Individualization (London: Sage, 2001), p. 96  crisis of all time. Now the question is which one is characterized by unity, the traditional family or the new modern one? 2- Traditional vs. New Modern family At the present time, the traditional family structure no longer exists in the modern western world. It’s not surprising that the modern family structure has substituted it instead. In this section of my research paper, I’m going to focus on the differences between these two contradictory family structures by highlighting three major characteristics (the size, the head of the family and the discipline) In order to show in which one the concept of â€Å"unity† appears most. Let’s begin with the size. The Size is one main feature in comparing the two structures; hence, traditional families appear to be larger than modern families. Usually they are more than ten members in their families, whereas modern families have only three to four members. Also Traditional families always live with their relatives and have a lot of children in one big house, which is the reason why they are big families. Concerning their work, Most of traditional families are farmers. They can work at their farms and fields; consequently, they don’t employ additional farmers in order of saving money. In contrast, modern families don’t need anyone to help them in their work because they work in the office. They only have one or two children and don’t live with their relatives; this last difference affects modern families because they will not be acquainted with their relatives, as traditional families do. They only meet them on special occasions, such as birthdays and New Year. For example, children will not get used to their grandparents because they only meet them in few times per year. They will not respect them as much as they should have. Another difference between traditional families and modern families is the head of family. Men are always head of traditional families. Women usually take care of children at home, whereas men work outside. Women and children must listen and follow whatever men tell them, they should obey him and do whate ver it was demanded to be done. Men have the power to order members of their families to do everything, even if they don’t like to do. Modern families don’t have the head of family because women and men are considered to be equal. Both women and men work outside. They share ideas with each other. Women and children don’t obey the men’s orders if they think their orders aren’t correct. Women and children can decide by themselves. For example, women work outside, as men do. When she comes home,  she doesn’t do the house work alone because she needs her husband to help her in doing it. The last difference is discipline. Traditional families have many rules that are respected by all the members of the family. Most parents of traditional families are strict because they have a lot of children to look after. It is only women who take care of children at home, so they need to have a lot of rules to control them. On the other hand, modern families have few rules to control their children. Parents of modern families work outside. They don’t have enough time to take care of their children, so they don’t have time to make rules also. Instead they hire someone to look after their children while they’re working outside. This difference actually affects modern families because their children will always make problems to gain attention from their parents. For example, children don’t go to school because they want their parents to ask them why they do this. They want their parents to talk to them. Through these three important differences, we can notice the development of family system from the past until now and it’s only confirming the idea that states: â€Å"when societies change, families also change and both good and bad things change†. We can also notice that traditional families are more collective and social so that we can sense the aspect of unity in it, whereas modern families are more individualistic and independent and it lacks family unity in all its aspects. But the other question is how this individualistic attitude affects the family unit? 3- The effect of Individualism on the family unit Much has been said about the family and the future of family in the so-called postmodern world we are living in today. As it was said before Individualism has become the social structure of this present era; Life of individuals is characterized by two major features: the first one is the moral appreciation of individualism and the second one is the opportunity and capability to choose. These two main characteristics were rarely found in the previous generations. Talking about the previous generations for example before and during the great depression era, all families were mainly traditional because they living all together in one place as one entity; Grandfather and Grandmother with the children of their  children in one big house probably with a farm and some corn fields or at least a vast land to work on later, the idea here is that, the group had control over the individual in everything. Nowadays, the individualistic attitudes affected the concept of â€Å"family† by leading it to a gradual change in its structure and the principles it was built on. Individualists or as they call themselves modernists today tend to have a unique way of thinking and a special way in looking to things and life in general. They also have their own way of looking to â€Å"family† as a social institution. But their selfish attitudes prevented them to see to what extent they affect it negatively, Etzioni argues that the surge in individual rights conflicts with the needs of community. He added that Individualism would destruct vital institutions such as family and neighborhood, and thereby create misery5. in other words this effect begins when certain members – especially grown children – of the same family when they become aware of their own preferences and abilities to have a better life as an independent unity in the society to which they belong. This certain beginning leads to the ultimate break up from the original family then from the society into another atmosphere of living life with new ways of thinking about the whole social institutions particularly the one of â€Å"family†. During the great depression era, families needed to be united and gathered as one body, any break up in that unity led to the collapse of the entire family. My aim behind this general study of family in the shadow of individualism is to illustrate how important family unit in the novel of the grapes of wrath is. I shall make this clearer in the second part where I’m going to focus deeply on the concept of family in this novel in which Steinbeck portrays the value of being united in the era of The Great Depression. In the previous part, I discussed generally the concept of Family and the one of individualism. I discussed as well the difference between the traditional and the modern structure of family. Afterwards, I examined how individualism can affect the traditional family and how it tries to modify its structure in order to modernize it. However, the traditional family remains the best structure in all circumstances, because it keeps family members as one group as we will see in the novel of John Steinbeck; The Grapes of Wrath. The Family is the key of survival in this Nobel Prize winner masterpiece. Without each other, the Joads would have no way of coping with the loss of their land or of getting to California. Family is the one weapon that the Joads have against the cold, bitter world around them. They, along with many other migrant workers, learn that they are stronger and safer when they stay with each other as one unit and when they reach out to other families in order of creating a sense of community. Therefore, my research paper topic will be developed efficiently by giving answers to these following questions: Who are the Joads? What is The Great Depression and what is its effect on the Joads? How did they survive? Is it their strong unit of family or because of some other reasons? These questions and more are going to be answered in this chapter in details to show how family unit is important for the Joads in the era of the great depression as a reaction against the crisis and the greediness of the upper class of the 1930s. 1. Introducing The Joads Before dealing in details with the â€Å"family unit† itself in this novel, we should first get acquainted with a traditional family that survived thanks to their strong unity, it’s The Joads family. In this section I’m going to introduce all the family members who played a great role  of maintaining and keeping the whole family as one unit through their journey to California. So, who are the Joads? The Joads is a family of twelve members from deferent generations; Tom Joad, Ma Joad, Pa Joad, rose of Sharon and her husband Connie, Grandma Joad, Grandpa Joad, Al Joad, Noah Joad, Uncle John, Ruthie Joad, and Winfield Joad. Let me first introduce the ones who kept the family as one unit: Tom Joad: The book’s central character, and Ma and Pa Joad’s preferred son. Tom is goodnatured and thoughtful man. Even though he murdered a man and has been separated from his family for four years, he does not waste his time with regrets. He lives fully for the present moment, which enables him to be a great source of vitality for the Joad family. A wise guide and fierce protector, Tom exhibits a moral certainty throughout the novel that imbues him with strength and resolve: he earns the awed respect of his family members as well as the workers he later organizes into unions. Ma Joad: The mother of the Joad family. Ma is introduced as a woman who knowingly and gladly fulfills her role as â€Å"the citadel of the family.† She is the healer of the family’s ills and the arbiter of its arguments, and her ability to perform these tasks grows as the novel progresses. Pa Joad: Ma Joad’s husband and Tom’s father. Pa Joad is an Oklahoma tenant farmer who has been evicted from his farm. A plainspoken, good-hearted man, Pa directs the effort to take the family to California. Once there, unable to find work and increasingly desperate, Pa finds himself looking to Ma Joad for strength and leadership, though he sometimes feels ashamed of his weaker position. Rose of Sharon: The oldest of Ma and Pa Joad’s daughters, and Connie’s wife. An impractical and romantic young woman, Rose of Sharon begins the journey to California pregnant with her first child. She and Connie have grand notions of making a life for themselves in a city. The harsh realities of migrant life soon disabuse Rose of Sharon of these ideas, however. Her husband abandons her, and her child is born dead. By the end of the novel, she matures  considerably, and possesses, the reader learns with surprise, something of her mother’s indomitable spirit and grace. Grandpa Joad: Tom Joad’s grandfather. The founder of the Joad farm, Grandpa is now old and infirm. Once possessed of a cruel and violent temper, Grandpa’s wickedness is now limited almost exclusively to his tongue. Grandma Joad: Granma is a pious Christian, who loves casting hellfire and damnation in her husband’s direction. Her health deteriorates quickly after Grandpa’s death; she dies just after the family reaches California. Al Joad: Tom’s younger brother, a sixteen-year-old boy obsessed with cars and girls. Al is vain and arrogant but an extremely competent mechanic, and his expertise proves vital in bringing the Joads, as well as the Wilsons, to California. When he falls in love with a girl named Agnes Wainwright at a cotton plantation where they are working, he decides to stay with her rather than leaving with his family. Uncle John: Tom’s uncle, who, years ago, refused to fetch a doctor for his pregnant wife when she complained of stomach pains. He has never forgiven himself for her death, and he often dwells heavily on the negligence he considers a sin. Ruthie Joad: The second and younger Joad daughter. Winfield Joad: At the age of ten, Winfield is the youngest of the Joad children. Ma worries for his well-being, fearing that without a proper home he will grow up to be wild and rootless. Two characters left the family because of their selfish dreams and their individualistic attitude; they represent in my own interpretation the individual type that does not believe in the ideology of the strength of the traditional family, they simply give up their role among their family by trying to find their own happiness without the help of any one. They are: 12 Connie: Rose of Sharon’s husband, an unrealistic dreamer who abandons the Joads after they reach California. Noah Joad: Tom’s older brother. He leaves his family behind at a stream near the California border, telling Tom that he feels his parents do not love him as much as they love the other children. There’s also one other character who accompanied the Joads through their way to California; Jim Casy: A former preacher who gave up his duty out of a belief that all human experience is holy. He’s the moral voice of the novel, Casy articulates many of its most important themes, among them the sanctity  of the people and the essential unity of all mankind. Therefore, we feel that Jim is almost a member of the Joads6. This brief introduction of the Joads family paints in our minds a wonderful image of a perfect family unit, also through reading the story, we feel like they can’t never be separated, even if some of their family members ran away and others died, they seem to be related deeply to each other; for example, through the whole journey uncle john still blames himself for letting his wife die because of his negligence, another example of their strong relationships to each other is when they reached California, they all kept wishing if grandma and grandpa were still alive to see it. Now, what’s the cause that made some members of the Joads ran away and leave their family and made others die? 2. The Great Depression and its effect on the Joads family In the story of The Grapes of Wrath, the Joads were Going west on Route 66 towards California, on their way, they encountered many barriers and difficulties, the worst one was the death of two family members; along the road, Grandpa died and was buried in a camp 6 SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Grapes of Wrath.† SparkNotes LLC. 2007. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/grapesofwrath/characters.html (accessed June 26, 2012).  where they stopped for a while, Also Grandma died close to the California state line, and both Noah and Connie split from the family and ran away. The remaining members, led by Ma, realized they have no choice but to go on, as there is nothing remaining for them in Oklahoma. In other words, the cause that made them leave their home is the same one that affected them and caused to some of them death and others to run away; it’s The Great Depression and all the sorrows it brought to the American families. The Great Depression era was an awfully challenging period for the American  family, the effects of The Great Depression, both during and after, seriously impacted the structure, finances, and employment of the American family unit. What was known as â€Å"The Dust Bowl† pushed thousands of immigrants to leave their homes to other states, especially California State, and made them obliged to find a humble job with an average wage to live a simple life and survive during the economic crisis that broke their life to pieces by causing more starvation, poverty and death7. The Joads are one of the thousands of victims in the Great Depression era. First of all, they had to leave their home and the whole state of Oklahoma to the state of California because of the dust that transformed their farms from fruitful fields to dust yards, as a result of that, food was very hard for poor people to get so that they had to fight for it, in addition to that, jobs became extremely scarce and the land owners had to push out the tenants farmer from their lands, this is what exactly happened to the Joads, the responsible authorities obliged them to leave their land and home town, therefore, they sold what they’ve already got, and bought an old decrepit truck which they are going to use as their transportation on their way to California, the second effect of what happened in the great depression was on family itself; a traditional family are known by its strong union and unity, exactly like the Joads family, but what happened in that disappointing era has split many families and destroyed their unity, only strong ones survived but with many losses and sacrifices; The Joads finally gathered after the return of their son Tom from the penitentiary,  they already decided to leave Oklahoma, on their way to California, they faced many troubles, and they witnessed their family fall apart many times  because of the bitter realty and the cold hearted people they encountered during their trip, grandpa died of old age and also grandma died of sickness by feeling sorry for her old poor husband who didn’t want to leave to California in the first place, he decided not to go there in the last minutes while they were packing their needs and getting ready to leave. Feeling abandoned by the family, Noah left also the family as Connie did for their selfish dreams and aspirations. By reaching California, the Joads became shocked and disappointed by the reality of the place they’ve sacrificed everything they got to be in it. The situation there is just the same as the one in Oklahoma if not saying it’s worse than Oklahoma. Finally, after a long while and through many impediments, The Joads reached California with numerous dreams and ambitions, but they faced the unforeseen and witnessed the unexpected; the realty tells a different story and the ideal golden California was just a fantasy, the hand bell that brought them there worth nothing at all, but did they lost their hope of living a happy life as a happy family? Did they give up all their dreams and aspirations? These questions have answers in the last section of this Part. 3. The unity and the strength of the Joads In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck portrays the theme of Joads’ strength through their unity in order to comment on the relationship between the dissolution of individual families and the unification of migrant people. Steinbeck also aims to prove to us that the unity of the traditional family is the only motivation that drove the rest of the Joads to California and helped them to stand in front of any obstacle that they faced in their quest to a better life. 15 â€Å"The family became a unit [†¦] Pa was the head of the family now.†8 The use of the past tense in this quote tells us that Pa was taking control of the family. As It is always known, the father is the head of the traditional family, but what is really striking in this novel is that pa became so weak  to take control over it, so Ma Joad, the pillar of the Joads took his place and led the family towards California for a better life by making the right decisions and reacting against anyone who attempts to break the family apart. Before the journey, Ma Joad was just one voice among many in making group decisions. As the novel progresses, she becomes more dominant. She decides when they will stop or go on9. Ma Joad was described by Steinbeck as the â€Å"citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken† (100), she seems to be the source of hope to all the members of the family, if it wasn’t for her, the rest of the family would never reach a s far as they got, even though some members lost their hope and became overwhelmed by despair, Ma’s determination encouraged and motivated them to carry on also she taught them to never give up and never be away from the family. The nature of her relationship to other members of the family differs from one to another. Her favorite one is her relationship to her desired and beloved son; The arrival of Tom also revived the unity of family, she lost him once when he was in prison, then she became so happy when he got paroled and came in the appropriate time to move with his family to California. By the end of the story she accepted his loss for the sake of the rest of the family, she was so afraid that cops would take him back to jail then she let him run away with a broken heart. For Ma Joad, family is everything, from the beginning of the story until the end, all what she cared about was the unity of her family. ‘We got nothing’, now,’ Pa said †¦ ‘Seems our life is over and done!’ ‘No it ain’t, ‘ Ma smiled. ‘it ain’t, Pa. An’ that’s one more thing a woman knows. Women. I noticed that. Man, he lives in jerks – baby born, an’ a man dies, an’ that’s a jerk.Women, it’s all one flow, li ke a stream, little eddies, little waterfalls, but the river, it goes right on. Women looks at it like that. We ain’t gonna die out. People is goin’ on-changin’ a little, maybe, but goin’ right on!† (577) She saw her family falling down but she acted rapidly and pulled it up before it touched the ground. She consistently proves to be the novel’s strongest supporter of family and togetherness. In other words, when we first met Ma Joad, she was a strong woman. When we saw her in the very last chapter, she was the same strong woman. We didn’t think it possible, but her strength only grows throughout the course of the novel. In fact, her initial strength is transformed into a different one. We can’t really pinpoint exactly what is this new kind of strength, but we know it’s the one who kept the rest of the family together until the end. Furthermore Steinbeck presents Ma Joad’s growing power as a source of communal strength sheltering human dignity from the antisocial effects of individualism 10. On their way to California the family continued to meet obstacle after obstacle, it seems like Pa Joad did not quite know how to keep it together. But Ma Joad knew how to do it. Thanks to her strength again, and when they reached California Ma Joad was the only one who didn’t feel shocked, because she knew it from the beginning before no one else did, her only objective is to keep the family together, she told them that all what matters is that they are together and no one can separate them from each other, her belief in this unity is so pure and strong, and that’s what made her so special as a women belonging to a traditional family. In this part, I dealt with many aspects in treating the concept of family in the respected work of John Steinbeck’s â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath†, the essential step to understand how he dealt with it in his novel is firstly to introduce all the members of the joads one by one and understand their roles in this work, secondly it’s important to deal with the concept of family by discussing how the great depression affected it and showing an example of a strong family that resisted that impact by being so strong and focusing on the family unit such as the Joads Family, then finally, I dealt with showing you the source of strength of the Joads: the fountain of wisdom and  knowledge and the center of strength Ma Joad. CONCLUSION: In drawing conclusions for this study, I shall start summarizing what was said since the first page of my research paper beginning with the first part in which I emphasized the most important institution in our society which family that is also the main issue of this paper. I started by defining it along with another challenging concept which is individualism that affected negatively the family institution and made it lose its traditional values and acquire new modern thoughts and opinions about family in general. This prelude to the main issue of my research paper is made necessarily to help understanding these two different concepts before dealing with their appearances in the novel of Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath in which I concentrated on the theme of â€Å"family unit†. In the second part, I developed this theme in details by introducing first of all the main characters of this story in order to understand each one’s role in the changing of events, and then I talked briefly about the Great Depression era by acknowledging it and showing its strong effect on the traditional family structure. Then finally I discussed the center and source of strength that helped the Joads to get through their problematic journey and achieve their destination without falling apart when they faced the bitter truth and after making many sacrifices that hurt every one of them especially Ma Joad, the pillar of the Joad family. Taking seriously what was going on during that depressed era and how did this family survived, is really what we need to do in our days of age, in other words, families must be united if they want to survive and live life properly. REFERENCES: Bibliography: Beck Ulrich and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim, Individualization. London: Sage, 2001. Cederstorm, Lorelei. The great mother in the Grapes of Wrath. Canada: Brandon University, 1993. Etzioni, Amitai. The spirit of community: The reinvention of American society. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Hofstede, Greet. Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2001. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Modern Library, 1939. Steinbeck, John and Harold Bloom, ed. The Grapes of Wrath â€Å"Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations†. Chelsea House Publishers, 2006. Webliography: â€Å"Family†. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 25 Jun 2012. Web. 24 JUN 2012. . â€Å"Individualism†. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica., 2012. Web. 24 Jun. 2012 . Shmoop Editorial Team. â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath†Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 24 Jun. 2012. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Grapes of Wrath.† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 26 Jun. 2012.

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Winter Driving Essay When you have to compare and contrast driving in the winter and driving in the summer there are many things that come to my mind. In the summer time there is no visual distractions. It is most comfortable to drive in the summer with your windows down. For the most part summer driving is safe then winter driving. I personally despise driving in the winter. In the summer time I have visibility. During the winter months it gets darker earlier. During the summer months we have more sunlight through out the day. I love when the sun is out longer. Although driving in the winter is much more scenic with snow on branches, deer on the side of the roads and snowmen that kids made. The scenic view for summer driving is filled with blooming flowers, birds flying, colorful trees and the Long Island sound filled with boats, as I drive down by the shore. I like to take the most scenic routes as I drive in the summer. The visibility in the winter is very poor, if you have to drive in a blizzard. In the summer I barely have a problem with visibility.I like to see clear when I drive. In the summer time it is most comfortable. In the winter time I get too cold when I have my window open. I love to drive around with my windows wide open listening to music. I like to smoke in my car with the window open. Winter driving causes me major anxiety. I am worry free in the summer. I am very nervous in the winter.The worst part about driving in the winter is that I wear many layers of clothes. In the summer I drive around in a tank top and shorts. I like to feel free when I drive. I feel summer driving is when its safest to drive. In the winter you have to worry about slipping and not gripping to the pavement. My tires have full grip on the asphalt in the summer time. I like having traction when I drive. You have to be more alert driving in the winter time with the cars behind you, around you and in front of you,It takes more time to stop. You also have to be alert in the summer, but when you hit your brakes you will come to a complete stop on the dry road. I do not like when my brakes lock up when I tap them in the snow. Most importantly, is the amount of kids that are out that you have to watch out for.An example is kids sleighing down hills into roadways that are not paying attention to the cars. The most that the kids do in the summer, is play ball on the street and they usually have one of the kids watching for cars. I wish I was a kid again. In conclusion summer driving is more forgiving than winter driving. Weather conditions in the winter can render roadways very dangerous, requiring increased driver skill. I enjoy driving but preferably in the summer. In the winter I would not be a good candidate as a designated driver. I would hope that someone else with greater winter driving skills then I, would be selected to do the driving.

Anti Smoking Promotion Policies Difference Health And Social Care Essay

Anti Smoking Promotion Policies Difference Health And Social Care Essay According to the Oxford Medical Companion (1994) cited in the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2008, tobacco is the only legally available consumer product which kills people when it is used entirely as intended. Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the World which causes one in ten deaths among adults worldwide and in 2005, tobacco caused about 5.4million deaths, an average of one death every six seconds. At the current rate, the death toll was projected to reach more than eight million annually by 2030 (over 175 million deaths by then as shown in figure 1) and a total of up to one billion deaths in the 21st century (WHO 2007).Certain behaviours have been labelled as risky behaviours associated with negative health outcomes among which smoking is and which has been the subject of UK national health strategies (Naidoo Wills 2005). Smoking causes about one fifth of all deaths in the UK, most of which are premature and has hugely significant impacts on the wid er environment and community through causing air pollution, fires, litter and environmental damage (Ewles 2005). This essay will look into why smoking is an important public health issue in England by defining it from various perspectives and will analyse why people smoke. Also, it will examine various demographical and epidemiological data related to smoking and in addition, it will examine how smoking is addressed in International, National and Local policy. It will also analyse various measures adopted at various geographical levels to address inequalities in health on promoting anti-smoking. In addition, it will look into various values, norms and ethical principles that influence anti-smoking policy development. From the gaps identified, recommendations and conclusions will be made. According to Ewles (2005), smoking in the UK can be defined from three different perspectives in terms of; the activity, the product and the market. In terms of the activity, it is the largely use of tobacco in manufactured and hand-rolled cigarettes which is the most common form of tobacco use since the early twentieth century. In terms of the product, the manufactured cigarette consists of chopped tobacco that has been cured and mixed with a variety of additives to add flavour, increase nicotine availability from smoke and improve shelf life all rolled up in a paper tube with a filter at one end. In terms of the market, UK is home to several Worlds major tobacco companies such as the Imperial Tobacco, British American Tobacco, Gallagher and Rothmans UK who all together employ 9000 people in the UK and have more than 90% of UK cigarette market. The principal constituents of cigarette smoke are tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine and the paper used for manufacturing cigarettes is treated with chemicals to prevent self-extinguishing whenever the cigarette is lit. The filter usually consists of cellulose acetate which traps some solid particles in smoke and cools it (Ewles 2005). The principal constituents of cigarette smoke are carbon monoxide, tar and nicotine which is highly addictive (Cancer Research UK 2009). FIGURE 1: Cumulative tobacco- related deaths, 2005- 2030. Source: http://www.who.int/tobacco/mpower/mpower_report_tobacco_crisis_2008.pdf The impact of tobacco smoking on public health extends beyond the direct effects on the individual smoker and personal health being to economic, environmental and social effects (Ewles 2005). Tobacco smoking is an important public health issue because the smoke is very toxic to every human tissue it touches on its way into, through and out of the smokers body (Ewles 2005). Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body thereby causing many diseases, reducing quality of life and life expectancy. Also it has been estimated that in England, 364,000 patients are admitted to NHS hospitals each year due to smoking related diseases which translates into about 7,000 hospital admission per week and 1,000 admissions per day (ASH 2006). In the UK, smoking causes about a fifth of all deaths, approximately 114,000 each year, most of which are premature with an average of 21 years early (Ewles 2005). According to Peto et. al. (2003) cited in Ewles (2005), most premature deaths caused by smoking are Lung and coronary cancer, chronic obstructive heart diseases and coronary heart diseases with 42800, 29100 and 30600 deaths respectively every year. In addition, smoking is known to also bring increased risk of many debilitating conditions like impotence, infertility, gum disease, asthma and psoriasis (Ewles 2005). Research has also shown that non-smokers are put at risk by exposure to other peoples smoke which is known as passive or involuntary smoking and is also referred to as second-hand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) (Cancer Research 2009). Tobacco was first introduced to Britain way back in the sixteenth century when it was commonly smoked in pipes by men. Later snuff and cigar smoking became popular among men but as a result of the invention of the cigarette making machines in the latter part of the nineteenth century, mass consumption of tobacco was made possible and in 1919, more tobacco was sold as cigarettes than in any other form (Wald Nicolaides- Bouman 1991). According to Wald Nicolaides- Bouman (1991) cited in Cancer Research UK (2009), smoking was firstly common among men and the consumption rose steadily until 1945 when it peaked at 12 manufactured cigarettes per adult male per day. After the Second World War, there was a slight dip in consumption but thereafter it remained at around 10 manufactured cigarettes per day until 1974 which marked the beginning of a steady and continuous decrease to about 4.6 manufactured cigarettes per adult male per day in 1992. On the other hand, women began to smoke cigarette s in the 1920s but not in large numbers until after the Second World War when they were smoking 2.4 cigarettes per adult female per day. Later, consumption among women continued to increase until it reached 7.0 cigarettes per day in 1974 after which it declined to 3.9 cigarettes per day in 1992 (Cancer Research UK 2009). HISTORY The link between smoking and life threatening diseases began in the early 1950s when Dr Richard Doll and Prof Austin Bradford conducted the first ever large scale study between smoking and lung cancer which was later published in 1954. In 1957, the British Medical research Council announced that, there is a direct causal connection between smoking and lung cancer. Later in 1962, the Royal College of Physicians concluded that smoking causes lung cancer, bronchitis and coronary heart diseases and recommended tougher laws on cigarette sales, advertising including smoking in the public places. In 1965, the British Government banned cigarette advertising on television and in 1971, there was an agreement between the Government and the tobacco industry that, Government health warnings must be carried out on all cigarettes packet sold in the UK. In 1973, the first tar/nicotine tables was published in UK which was later upgraded and divided cigarettes into five categories of tar content in 19 74. In 1975, the Imperial Tobacco agreed to drop brand names and logos from racing cars in UK races as control of tobacco advertising switched from the Industry to the Independent advertising Standards Authority. In 1976, Prof Sir Richard Doll and Richard Peto published the results of 20 years study of smokers and concluded that, one out of three people died from the habit. In 1983, the Latest Royal College of Physicians report featured passive smoking for the first time and asserted that more than 100,000 people died every year in the UK from smoking -related illness which later resulted in the banning of smoking on London Underground trains in 1984. In 1985, the smoking ban was extended to stations that were wholly or partly underground and in 1986, new advertising and promotion guidelines agreed on including banning tobacco advertising in cinemas. In 1987, the London Underground smoking ban was extended to entire network following the Kings Cross station fire outbreak in which 31 people died. The Independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health report in 1988 concluded that, non-smokers have a 10-30% higher risk of developing lung cancer if exposed to other peoples smoke and in June 1988, a UK court ruled that injury caused by passive smoking can be an industrial accident. The first nicotine skin patch became available for prescription in the UK in 1992 and in 1993, Sir Richard Dolls study results suggested that smokers were three times more likely to die in middle-age than non-smokers and up to half of all smokers may eventually die from the habit. In May 1997, the New Labour Government pledges to ban tobacco advertising and in the same year, the Government called for Formula One to be exempted from proposed EU directive on tobacco advertising and sponsorship but later backed down in the face of widespread criticism that was threatening the entire directive. In 1998, a White Paper named Smoking Kills was published after the Government -appointed Scie ntific Committee on Tobacco and Health announced that, passive smoking was responsible for causing lung cancer and heart disease in adults. In 2001, their was a new EU directive requiring larger and more prominent health warnings on tobacco packaging and in 2002, the British parliament passed legislation that began as a Private Members Bill, banning tobacco advertising named the Tobacco advertising and promotion Act. In December 2002, the British Medical Association called for the banning of smoking in the public places because of threat to non-smokers and young children. The Cancer Research UK launched an advertising campaign in 2003 and was funded by the Department of Health which target smokers of mild brand of cigarette, warning on the risk associated with the habit. In January 2004, the British Heart Foundation used graphic images to reinforce the Government -sponsored anti-smoking campaign. In March 2004, the Irish Republic introduced the toughest anti-smoking laws in Europe d escribed as the landmark legislation with a complete ban on smoking at workplaces. In November 2004, a Public Health White Paper proposed to introduce smoking ban in workplaces in 2008 with the exemption of private members club and pubs that do not serve food. In, March 2005, the British Medical journal report produced data showing that smoking killed 11,000 a year in the UK and in April 2005, MSPs voted by 83 to 15 to introduce a ban on smoking in public places from April 2006 and any smoker who defy is liable to pay a  £1,000 fine. In October 2005, the discussions over the England smoking ban broke down at the cabinet level causing severe delays. In December 2006, the Government announced the smoking ban in public spaces in England known as Smoke free England, which began on the 1st of July 2007 (BBC NEWS 2007). On the 1st of October 2007, the law for selling tobacco changed and became illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18 (an increase from 16) (Smoke fr ee England 2007). In May 2008, the Health Bill then called the National Health Service Reform Bill was contained in the Draft Legislative Programme published and it was announced in the Queens speech during the state opening of Parliament on 3rd December 2008. The Bill was later introduced into the House of Lords on 15th January 2009 and was published on the 16th January 2009 which proposes measures to improve the quality of NHS care, the performance of NHS services and to improve public health (DOH 2009). DEMOGRAPHY EPIDEMIOLOGY The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is located in Northern and or Western Europe and it comprises the Island of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the Island of Ireland (Northern Ireland) (Wikipedia 2009). According to the 2001 census, the population of the United Kingdom was 58,789,194 and has increased to 60,587,300 according to mid -2006 estimates by the Office for National Statistics. EPIDEMIOLOGY The prevalence of smoking varies widely around the World and has been observed to be on the increase in many developing countries thereby creating huge health problems for the future. Approximately 1.3 billion people smoke cigarettes or other tobacco products Worldwide (WHO 2003) and Figure 2 shows the worldwide tobacco epidemic model which describes the rise and decline of smoking prevalence followed by similar trends for smoking. The first stage is characterized by a low smoking prevalence of less than 20%, which is commonly observed among the males with no increase in lung cancer and other chronic diseases caused by smoking. Countries in this stage includes those in the Sub-Saharan Africa that have not yet been drawn into the global economy but are vulnerable to growth and changing strategic initiatives of transnational tobacco companies (WHO 2003). Stage two of the model is characterized by increase in smoking prevalence to above 50% in men with early increase in cigarettes smoki ng among women and a shift towards smoking initiation at younger age with an increasing burden of lung cancer and other tobacco-attributable diseases. These are characteristics of countries in the Asia, Latin America and North Africa continents. In these regions, tobacco control activities have been observed to be poorly developed and the health risks associated with tobacco smoking are not well understood. There are very low public and political supports for the effective implementation of tobacco control policies (WHO 2003). The third stage is characterized by a decline in smoking prevalence in men and gradual decline among women. Here, there is a convergence of male and female smoking prevalence at 45% and the burden of smoking attributable diseases is on the increase. Also, smoking-attributable deaths comprises of 10%to 30% of all deaths within the region which is about three quarters of men. Countries within this stage are those in the Eastern and Southern Europe where health e ducation about the diseases caused by smoking decreases with the public acceptance of smoking, most especially among the educated ones (WHO 2003). The fourth stage is characterized by a decline in smoking prevalence among men and women with deaths attributable to smoking peaked at 30% to 35% of all deaths most of which are middle aged men. Among the women, smoking attributable deaths rose to about 20% to 25%. Examples of countries within this stage are the United States and United Kingdom where England falls. FIGURE 2: Four stages of the Worldwide Tobacco Epidemic. (Source: WHO 2003). According to the Cancer Research UK (2009), the survey of smoking in Britain began in 1948. Then, smoking was extremely prevalent among men and the survey showed that 82% smoked some form of tobacco while 65% smoked cigarette. Later on, smoking prevalence fell rapidly through the 1980s until the mid 1990s when the overall smoking rates stabilizes just below 30% among the population as shown in figure 3. The sharp fall in smoking prevalence during this period is as a result of several interventions put in place by the Government then such as banning of tobacco advertisement on TV in the 1960s and others. Since the mid 1990s, the rate of fall has been very slow and in 2007 it was observed that 22% of men aged 16years and over smoke cigarette. The percentage of female smokers on the other hand has remained constant between 1948 and 1970 as shown in Figure 2. Between 1970 and 2007, the % of women who smoked dropped from around 43% to 20 % still due to certain measures developed in the la te 1960s. FIGURE 3. % of person aged 16+ who smoke cigarettes in Great Britain from 1948 to 2007. Source: General household survey, ONS. Available from: http://publications.cancerresearchuk.org/WebRoot/crukstoredb/CRUK_PDFs/lung/cs_lu_f6.1.xls FIGURE 4: Prevalence of Cigarette smoking by sex, England and Govt. Office Regions 2005. Source: Cancer Research UK. Figure 4 shows the cigarette distribution of cigarette smoking prevalence in England and it can be observed that, the overall smoking prevalence in England is about 25% among men and around 22% among the women. Within the various regions in England, smoking prevalence is higher among men and women in the North East because the region is economically active and home to 588 overseas companies from 32 different countries employing over 27,000 people (UK Trade Investment 2009). There has been a link between socio economic class and high prevalence of smoking as demonstrated in Figure 5 which buttresses the reason why the prevalence is high in Northeast England. Regions with high manual employee, occupation and high numbers of Industrial factories are characterised by high smoking prevalence. FIGURE 5: Prevalence of cigarette smoking by sex and socio-economic groups in England in 1992, 1998 and 2002. Source: Cancer Research UK. As shown in figure 5, smoking prevalence is observed to be higher among manual workers than non-manual workers. From 1992 to 2002, smoking prevalence reduced as a result of some interventions introduced within these years especially the White Paper on Smoking Kills introduced in 1998 making the prevalence to reduce from 33% in 1998 among the manual workers to 28% in 2002. FIGURE 6: Prevalence of cigarette smoking by age, persons aged 16+ in Great Britain, 1974-2005. Source: Cancer Research UK. FIGURE 7: Self reported cigarette smoking percentages by sex and minority ethnic group persons aged 16+ in England 2004. Source: Cancer Research UK. Smoking is more prevalent among the younger age groups of 16-19, 20-24 and 25-34 as shown in figure 6, where highest rate was observed among the 20-24 age group. Between 1974 and 2005, smoking prevalence among the 20-24 age groups fell from 48% to 32 %. On the other hand, among the 60+ age group, smoking prevalence halved between the same year intervals from 32% to 14%. Therefore, smoking prevalence has been observed to reduce with age as smokers tend to give up in middle age or die of smoking-related illnesses. (ONS 2002). Smoking prevalence has been observed to vary among different ethnic minority groups in England as shown in figure 7. Smoking prevalence is higher among the Bangladeshi men of about 41% but rare among the women with about 3%. Although this rate is alarming but there has been a decrease as to what was observed in 2001, when cigarette smoking and tobacco use was around 44% among the men with a relatively small percentage among the women (ONS 2001). FIGURE 8: Prevalence of cigarette smoking and use of tobacco products among ethnic minorities in England 2001. Source: DOH 2001. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS Smoking in the UK has been observed to be closely associated with social class and deprivation. The prevalence of smoking among the low paid groups has been observed to be twice those of the affluent groups because of the great difficulty people in the less affluent groups experience in stopping smoking (Ewles 2005). Tobacco smoking is also widely recognised as a cause of health inequality in the UK because it is common among the deprived groups and also compromises the already poorer health of deprived population such as those that fall within the marginalized groups. Examples are people with mental problems and prisoners, who are more likely to smoke and less likely to have access to mainstream smoking cessation services (Ewles 2005). The Index of multiple deprivation ranks areas from the most deprived to the least deprived and the odds of smoking increases as deprivation in the area increases (The NHS Information centre 2008). Children smoke for all sorts of reasons. Some smoke to show their independence, others because their friends do while some smoke because adults tell them not to and others do smoke to follow the example of role models. There is no single cause. Parents, brothers and sisters who smoke are a powerful influence. Also is the way it is been advertised and the tobacco companies sponsor sport which makes children want to try it (DOH 1998). The problems of smoking during pregnancy are closely related to health inequalities between those in need and the most advantaged. Women with partners in manual groups are more likely to smoke during pregnancy than those with partners in non-manual groups: 26 per cent of women with partners in manual groups smoke during pregnancy, compared with 12 per cent with partners doing non-manual work (DOH 1998). Education is also another social determinant of health for smoking. Education empowers individuals to make healthy choices and provides practical, social and emotional knowledge needed to achieve a full and healthy life (The Annual Report of the Director of Public Health for Newham 2007). The relationship between education and smoking has been extensively examined in developed countries and in the1989 US Surgeon General report analyzed by Bao-ping et al.(1996), it was stated after reviewing the literature of smoking that, education is the best socio demographic predictor for cigarette smoking pattern. The general agreement was that, the fewer the year of education one has, the more likely the person smokes and this again accounts for why there is high smoking prevalence among the ethnic minority groups in England. Another factor is the social norms whereby, in environments where smoking is freely permitted, it becomes a normal thing and becomes more difficult for individuals to opt out from (Ewles 2005).Other factors that prompt people to start smoking includes, the price and availability of cigarette, colourful advertisement and accessibility to treatment facilities for those that want to stop, the more available the facilities, the more people will be willing to use the facilities and stop smoking (Ewles 2005). In response to the global tobacco epidemic, May 31st of every year was declared as the World No Tobacco day, so as to globally address the danger associated with smoking tobacco. Also, the World Health Organization developed a WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in May 2003 (WHO 2003), which later came into force on the 27th o February 2005 (WHO 2009). This was the first global treaty for public health negotiated under the auspices of the WHO and requires participating countries to implement a range of legislative and other measures to control smoking by taking appropriate action on passive smoking, banning tobacco promotion, providing services to smokers , monitoring smoking prevalence and international cooperation to control smuggling (Ewles 2005).In order to expand the fight against tobacco epidemic, the WHO introduced the MPOWER package of six proven policies namely: Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies, Protect people from tobacco smoke, Offer help to quit tobacco use, Warn about the dangers of tobacco use, Enforce bans on tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship, and Raise taxes on tobacco. (WHO 2008) Smoking has been addressed at Government level in the UK since the publication of the White Paper Smoking Kills in 1998 which takes a comprehensive approach and prioritises people who want to give up, pregnant women, children and young people (DOH 1998). Between 1998 and 2009, various policies have been developed as stated earlier in this essay under the historical perspective of smoking in England which includes; 1998: Smoking Kills à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2002: Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2006: Health Act à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2007: Smoke Free England. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2008: National Health Service Reform Bill à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2009: Health Bill. GOVERNMENT MEASURES TO TACKLE SMOKING In line with the WHO directive to address tobacco epidemic, the UK signed into the International WHO framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003 and has implemented a range of legislative measures to control smoking at different geographical levels and between various population groups. The overall measures were broadly classified into three sets of overlapping effects namely; Changing social norms, Influencing attitudes, and Supporting individual behavioural change (Ewles 2005). Measures classified under the changing social norms and influencing attitudes includes; educational programmes such as the Government-funded mass media education campaigns aimed to educate the public on the danger associated with smoking, bans on tobacco promotion with health warnings covering 30% of the front and 40% of the back of tobacco packaging while terms such as low-tar and light have been prohibited on cigarette packet (DOH 2003). Also education on the benefit of quitting smoking was also part of the measure and explaining why people get fat after quitting as a result of increased eating unbalanced by increase activity because smoking has slight appetite suppressant effect (Ewles 2005). In addition, picture warnings started appearing on tobacco products in autumn 2008 and by October 1st 2009, all cigarette packs will have to carry picture warnings including other tobacco products by 1st October 2010 (DOH 2003). Also, another measure employed was prohibiting sales of tobacco products to people under the age of 18 by directing tobacco retailers to ask for form of identification from buyers who are teenagers. Taxation has also been used frequently to increase the price of smoking with rises in duty imposed in each years budget by the Government (Ewles 2005). On average, a price increase of 10% on a packet of cigarette reduced consumption by about 4% in developed countries, however, price control is undermined by tobacco smuggling which currently accounts for 16% of the UK market (Cancer Research 2009). Another measure is ensuring a smoke free environment which has been introduced in 2007 as smoke free England whereby smoking in enclosed public places is illegal. Under the supporting individual behavioural change is the cessation treatment programme, examples of which includes; a national telephone help lines and NHS specialist services for smokers who want to stop (Ewles 2005). To help smokers quit, the NHS Stop Smoking Services was set up between 1999 and 2000 following the recommendations of the White Paper Smoking Kills in 1998(DOH 1998). It was later observed that between April and September 2006, approximately a quarter of a million people (246,254) in England set a quit date through this NHS Stop Smoking Services and majority of these people receiving Nicotine replacement therapy (The Information Centre 2007). CHALENGES OF PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY FORMULATION AND PRACTISE The formulation of anti-smoking policy in England has always been big issue in most developed countries. In the UK, the Government needs people to smoke because the economy largely depends on it. The Government obtains  £8billion per year from excise duty on tobacco products which is approximately 2% of its annual revenue (Ewles 2005). Both in the policy formulation and in the implementation phase conflicts of commercial and health interests have been strongest on three issues: the ban on advertisement and sales promotion, the setting of upper limits for harmful substances in tobacco products, and proposals for an efprice policy. In the political process Parliament has been much more sensitive to the public health interest and to public opinion than to the lobbying power of the tobacco industry and trade, which has been more clearly visible in many Government decisions MEASURES TO REDUCE INEQUALITY IN SMOKING/ POLICY CRITIQUING After thorough review of the various policies aimed towards reducing cigarette smoking at the International, National and Local level, various gaps have been identified. Firstly, banning of smoking in public places is not enough to reduce the effect of smoking on health because be it passive or active smoking, it still endangers the life of the smoker. Therefore, abstinence should be the only message since smoking is a major cause of litter. In the UK, 200million cigarette ends are discarded each day and each takes 18months or more to biodegrade (Ewles 2005). Also, smoking in bus stops tends to serve as passive smoking to others waiting to join buses and therefore smoking in areas like this also needs to be banned. Another lapse in the smoking in the public places law is that, when people are not allowed to smoke in public places, they tend to do so when they get into their private cars and homes and these could be dangerous to young children living in the same house. Another area worth reviewing is the use of taxation to increase the price of tobacco products. High price has helped dissuade people especially young children from smoking and prompted many smokers to stop; however, smoking is concentrated among the lowest paid sector of the society and common among the addicted population who continue smoking despite prices, therefore such measures by the Government is not fair because the poor people pay disproportionately more as a consequences of their acquired addiction caused by the Government originally (Ewles 2005). Another misconception of tackling smoking is the youth smoking prevention programme which has always assumed to be the best way to tackle smoking among children and youths. The Youth-oriented media campaigns has a poor record of credibility among the target group (youths) and is often difficult to differentiate between those created by the health organizations and those created by the tobacco manufacturing companies. Therefore, discrediting smoking among the adult population will lessen the attraction for the youths because they tend to smoke in aspiration to be more adult (Ewles 2005). In addition, the law prohibiting sales to under -18s tend to add to the allure of smoking as an adult activity and thus creating challenges to children on finding a way around it buy getting the cigarette through adult friends, older siblings or black market routes(Ewles 2005). Also people who stop smoking through the nicotine replacement therapy gets addicted to the cessation programme and use the product beyond the recommended period. Since the nicotine delivery rate in the content is slow, it mostly prompts a relapse making people return to smoking (Ewles 2005). Reducing inequality in smoking has always been an issue the UK Government have been addressing and in response to this, a specific inequality target on smoking was set up in The NHS Cancer plan and the Public Service Agreement (PSA) 2004 aimed to reduce smoking rates among manual groups from 32% in 1998 to 26% by 2010 in order to reduce the health gap between the two groups. (DOH 2000). RECOMMENDATION/ CONCLUSION Evaluation of smoking patterns indicates that there has been an historic reversal of trends in total consumption, but distributional data show a widening social gradient in smoking. Two developments are needed for further improvement: a price policy that would support health policy and not contradict it, and better understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics of smoking which would be required for new innovative approaches in health education. REFRENCES Action on Smoking and Health (2006). Smoking Statistics; Illness and death. [Online]. Available from: http://old.ash.org.uk/html/factsheets/html/fact02.html (Accessed 25/04/2009). Bao-ping, Z., Giovino, G., Mowery, P. Eriksen, M. (1996). The Relationship between Cigarette Smoking and Education Revisited: Implications for Categorising persons educational status. American Journal of Public Health.1996. Vol.86, No 11. British Broadcasting Corporation (2007). Timeline: Smoking and Disease. [Online] Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4377928.stm (Accessed 28/09/2009). <