Tort law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tort law - Essay Example In fact, a number of critics have advocated for an amendment of this law. In its general statement, there is no absolute obligation of an individual to a duty, but there is a duty not to cause harm. This article will focus on the general application of this law, as well as the various exceptions that are provided. The tort law is used to govern the actions of ordinary persons or professionals that can cause harm to those under their care. The tort law is usually applied to defend the right of an individual who suffers injury as a result of breach of duty by their caretaker. In the court, this is accomplished through financial compensation or an injunction. Financial compensation means that the injured person is compensated with money that is perceived to be equivalent to the damage or injury that they incurred. Injunction refers to the stoppage of an unfair act that causes harm to the subject. The person who is placing such a suit is called the plaintiff, while the sued person is ref erred to as the defendant (Lunney& Oliphant, 2008). This law is characterized by a number of elements. First, an element of duty or responsibility must be evident. For example, the nurses in a hospital have a duty to ensure that all the beds used by patients are comfortable and in order. Secondly, the element of negligence must exist. Negligence refers to the failure to implement the expected duties hence causing harm to the plaintiff. A good example is when a nurse fails to check the condition of a bed and it breaks down resulting in an injury to a patient. In such a case, it is obvious that the patient suffered injuries because the nurse failed to conduct their duties as expected (Lunney& Oliphant, 2008). Therefore, the implementation of this law requires that it is proven beyond doubt that the Offedant had a duty to offer care to the plaintiff but breached this duty. Also, there must exist a causative relationship between the damage and the negligent action. This means that the l aw only qualifies if the damage was a result of the breach of duty. Hence, the judge needs to establish that all these elements are present in the case before passing any judgment. In professional application, negligence refers to the failure to act in accordance with the set standards of the duties of a competent practitioner. For instance, the doctors must meet the set professional standards in medical practice. If any harm results from compromise of set standards, then the doctor would be liable (Lunney& Oliphant, 2008). In comparison to the Saudi law, the Tort English law is more efficient in defending the subjects of injury or damage. This is because it gives the plaintiff a privilege to act as an adequate witness in court. The major drawback in Saudi law is that the plaintiff is not allowed to testify. The subjects of the case are regarded as unreliable and biased witnesses. Therefore, the plaintiff is allowed only to provide written allegations before the court. On the other hand, the defendant is allowed to defend themselves orally. This is a disadvantage for the plaintiff as the Saudi law puts more weight on oral testimony than on written allegations. A good example is a case in Saudi court that involved a British citizen who had visited Saudi on vacation. He suffered a spinal injury as a result of being hit by an overgrown Coral while sitting on a wooden platform. The plaintiff lost the case. Other disadvantages in Saudi courts are lack

Politics Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Politics Coursework - Essay Example One area of international law that has been consistently difficult to gain acceptance, enforcement and compliance with its agreed standards has been that of human rights. Although a clear international statement of human rights has been enshrined for over half a century within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, passed by the United Nations in 1948, there remains a relativist undercurrent with respect to how various governments interpret and apply human rights standards. Since 9/11, the concept of human rights has become even more nebulous as states that had been the leading champions of international human rights have begun to compromise their commitment to such ideals in deference to their national security. This paper will discuss the importance and limitations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It will trace the history of the Declaration, discuss how it has been interpreted and applied over the decades since its adoption, and consider the ways in which modern global issues pose challenges to its spirit and premise. The difficulty of achieving uniform global human rights protections, particularly in an era heavily influenced by basic security and defense concerns, vividly illustrates the more general challenge of enforcing international law among sovereign states. The UnivPost War Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one of the earliest, and arguably most important, achievements of the United Nations. It very much reflects the international revulsion that came in the wake of the atrocities of World War II. The experience of the holocaust was a wakeup call, whereby the people of the world became keenly aware of what humans are capable of doing to one another. In a sense, the holocaust represented the rock bottom consequence of previous failures of the international community to come together in the spirit of promoting peace and human rights. Thus, an atmosphere of atonement and a desire to correct the obvious failures of prior international law to protect the most basic human dignities permeated the effort to implement the Declaration. Such post war attitudes clearly echo throughout the Declaration, particularly in the preamble. In fact, the very first two clauses of the preamble directly refer to the barbarity of which humans had been proven capable: "Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world . . . Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people" (Anonymous, 2006, para. 2 and 3). Without a doubt, the framers of the Declaration clearly sought to address the atrocities of the holocaust head on. According to the American Ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey D. Feltman, "The drafters of the Declaration were able to draw inspira tion from heroic efforts in the post-war period to assert the primacy of human rights and the dignity of individuals" (Ambassador Feltman speaks at the 56th anniversary, 2006, para. 3). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was far more than a reaction to a particularly dark

Psychology Essays Psychiatric Diagnosis

Psychology Essays Psychiatric Diagnosis To what extent do the negative implications of a psychiatric diagnosis outweigh the benefits? The idea that a diagnosis of mental illness can be more harmful than beneficial is a concept which many might find surprising. However if we examine the emergence of sociological theories originating from the symbolic interactionist movement of the 1960s we can construct an argument based on these theoretical insights as to how a diagnosis of being mentally ill might be harmful outside of the implications for possible treatment with which such a diagnosis would bring. In this manner we consider what the most effective strategy of treatment should be. Emerging from dissatisfaction with the structural functionalists theories drawing on symbolic interactionists are interested in analysing how the various interactions between people within social situations are played out (Rogers and Pilgrim, 2001). In the works of Goffman this is portrayed as a drama with actors of sorts and his work on stigma for example showed how the rules of the game varied for people perceived as being different in some way (Goffman, 1968a, 1968b). Thus in relation to mental health it is the possible societal reactions arising out of a diagnosis of mental illness which is the vital element. The theory which developed out of these ideas hence became known as labelling theory and it became strongly associated with the anti-psychiatry movement of the late 1960s and 1970s (Cockerham, 1992). At the heart of this theory are two concepts related to deviance or mental disorder these being called primary deviance and secondary deviance. Primary deviance refers to those symptoms which do indeed have a basis and grounding in clinical symptoms. These are the actual incidences of disease. Labelling theorists have some interesting things to say about this, in that namely much of primary deviance goes undiagnosed (Pilgrim and Rogers, 1999). The reasons for this is the reaction of those around the sufferer attempting to make sense of the individuals behaviour, rationalising it until a certain point is reached when it is impossible to dismiss the behaviour as aberrant anymore. Indeed labelling theorists argued that it was not just family members or other people close to suffers who displayed this sort of behaviour but also medical practitioners demonstrating a wide range and extensive set of either mis-diagnosis or non-diagnosis of mental illness (Yarrow et al, 1955). However it is the realm of secondary deviance in which labelling theory has the most interesting things to say and it is here this essay argues that the most harmful aspects of a diagnosis of mental illness can be found. For labelling theorists secondary deviance refers to ways in which other members of society, the psychiatric and medical profession and eventually the person who has been diagnosed act as a result of the category of mentally ill being applied to them (Pilgrim and Rogers, 2001). Working from this supposition then a number of factors are critical for labelling theorists and one of the most important is how conformist a particular society is. The reason for this is that the higher a level of conformity is found in a society the greater the chance that a particular behaviour which breaks the rules of that society will be labelled as deviant. A particularly interesting feature of this idea built upon subsequently by social constructivist theories is that concepts of deviancy also change as the conformity levels of a society alter, thus while homosexuality was a deviant behaviour for western societies in the 19th century and psychiatric treatment was recommended for those who were afflicted with the disorder the changing prevalent views on homosexuality have lessened its perception as a deviant behaviour, though not completely dispelled it (Cockerham, 1992). In a series of studies it was demonstrated that otherwise sane people who mentioned specific circumstances of strange behaviour were labelled as insane and where those people did normal behaviours these other behaviours in turn then became labelled as insane and became seen as part of the behavioural pattern of the insane person. Thus in Rosenhams (1973) study his fake patients who gained admission into institutions and who were taking notes of their own observation and treatment by doctors had in the observations kept on them notes on how they displayed incessant note taking behaviour. Thus patients who are labelled as mentally ill face difficulties when they try to escape the label and the behaviours which are the objects of labelling. Even where for example patients have been cured they will carry the stigma of such a label and the consequent reactions of people who learn of the past status of the individual will labelling theory argues lead to a vicious cycle of reinforcement of both label and behaviour. However while labelling theory was a powerful critique of psychiatric practice which was popular also it has since fallen out of favour and its concepts can be critiqued on a number of grounds. In Yarrows study case it was found that subsequent to the experiment that his patients in fact did not continue to display aberrant behaviours for long after the study. Thus we can argue that there is a weakness in the idea of a secondary deviance, that for those who are not mentally ill the labelling of being mentally ill which while it might have an effect may not be as strong as the theory suggests (Rogers and Pilgrim, 1999). But it remains to be said that the practice of diagnosis and cure of the mentally ill must be aware of the broader social environments in which those who are mentally ill will operate in, thus a primarily bio-medical model of mental health, i.e. in that there is a specific cause which when cured will make the patient better, is inadequate and as labelling theory and more recently the field of health psychology suggests we must consider a holistic type therapy which factors in the effects of wider social phenomenon such as the reactions of people and clinicians to the patient in order that effective strategies of cure can be developed which benefit the person involved (Heller, 1996). As such while moves away from institutional care can be commended as ceasing to separate the mentally ill from society and thus stigmatising them in a highly visible manner the effectiveness of community care must be judged against both successful curative techniques and levels of effective integration wi th the community setting in which the care is provided.

Journalism Essay -- Media Journalists Journalism News Essays

Journalism Today the term journalism is applied to prestigious publications such as The New York Times, and to television news operations such as 60 Minutes and NBC Nightly News. â€Å" First amendment rights and the democratic political environment of the united states have contributed to the uninhibited growth of the news media in public and private communication.†1 the world of journalism has changed dramatically from the colonial days. When newspapers were just channels or devices of commercial and political information. SKILLS AND/OR APTITUDES With the new changes in technology, it has changed the nature of the journalism industry, making it vividly sophisticated and requiring a wide range of skills. There are four significant skills, to become an exquisite journalist; to be prepared, alert, persistent, there, and wary. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A prepared reporter educates her/himself. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An alert reporter looks for intriguing facts. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A persistent reporter never quits. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A reporter who is there gets onto the scene where news happens. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A wary reporter trust nothing until she/ he is sure of it. A journalist must also know the difference between a source and a subject, because all reporting involves a source and a subject. A subject is whatever a journalist investigates, and a source is whatever answers the journalist’s questions. The most basic way to get answers is to ask questions, this process is called interviewing. â€Å"The single most important thing to do when interviewing anyone is to listen carefully,† said journalist Michael Kronenwetter in his book How to Write a News Article. A good journalist must learn how to study his subject and source. Journalist must know how to listen carefully and pick up if the interviewee left out any crucial facts, contradicts him or herself, or mentions newsworthy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Journalist must also have good writing skills, and must learn how to take down copious notes. Must be able to record as much as possible, so that they are likely to forget anything of importance. Journalist must also be able to observe and report every little facts. Including tone of voice, facial expression, gesture, body characteristics, and the environment a subject creates at home or office. These little facts can reveal a lot about a subject, so it should be reported.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another skill significant to journalism is research, u... ...gy has changed so much there are even more jobs available that fall under journalism but it has also made the journalism industry very complex but sophisticated. Journalism has come a long way since the days of commercial printers who single handedly published news books and newsletters, and of radio stations that were one person operations from private homes. Well-defined jobs are decreasing in the world of journalism but there is stillroom for those who are innovative, creative, and aggressive. Reference Page 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everette, E. Dennis and Ismach Arnold H., Reporting Processes and Practices: News Writing for Today’s Readers, Belmont CA, Wadsworth Publishing Co. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fedler, Fred: Reporting for the Print Media, Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, 1984 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ferguson Publishing Company Staff: What can I do NOW? Preparing for a Career in Journalism, New York NY, USA, Ferguson Publishing Co. 1998 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.collegejournal.com/salarydata/journalism/20030807-nasaw.html 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kronenwetter, Michael: How To Write a News Article, Danbury CT, USA, Scholastic Library Publishing Co. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seidman, David: Exploring Careers in Journalism, New York, Rosen Publishing Co. 2000

Equality between Man and Women’s Controversy

Equality has been a controversial issue ever since time began. Whether it be race, sex, or religion, it has always been an unsettled topic of concern. Equality between men and women is often brought into society. I think men and women should be treated equal from all perspectives. Gender is what makes women different from men, but does not make women incapable of compiling valuable choices. Women and men have the ability to make decisions that will benefit all people in a fair way. As it is, men are most often oted into our government for their ability to make law abiding decisions. It is my personnel belief that women have the intelligence to do the same. The views of John and Abigail Adams, as well as Benjamin Rush, illustrate the different opinions regarding John and Abigail Adams have animosity relating to the subject of equality. My interpretation is that Abigail Adams believes that women should be recognized in the republican society. Abigail threatens a rebellion if herself and other women are not given he attention and care they so desire. She speaks of the neglect in education to the daughters whereas John thinks the sons are being deprived of education. John Adams plainly laughs at his wife†s remarks. He explains the turbulence that has broken out among governments everywhere, due to the absolute power of husbands over their wives. It is brought to me that John Adams believes, and will forever believe, in the absolute power of men in the republican society. Abigail Adams feels that women should have ore of an opportunity in the republican society. John Adams believes that the masculine system is fine as it is. According to Benjamin Rush, women†s education is extremely important. He believes that female education should be accommodated to the welfare of society, manner, and the government of the country. As I understand it, Rush wants women to be educated in these things so that they can intelligently instruct their children in the same way. He ensures that learning vocal music will make domestic life more soothing and ossibly easier. It will take away the distress of noisy children and a husband. Benjamin Rush looks highly upon novels and believes that reading them will make a young lady more of a humanitarian. He states that some men think of a woman that is educated in morals, physical and religious truth, is unfriendly to the domestic character of a women. He goes on to say that this statement is the prejudice of men with little minds. Primarily, Rush concludes that if females were better educated, they would be more useful in domestic life. Children would learn wisdom in all aspects if their mothers were better educated. Benjamin Rush is a smart man and I agree with a lot of his writing. Men and women should always be treated as equals. John and Abigail had a different opinion on that. She believed they should and he believed they shouldn†t. Rush believed that if women were educated on the same things as men, life all together would Equality has long been a major issue in society. As for myself, there is no reason that any one person should be treated better or worse than the next.

Marvel Enterprises

Marketing Strategy 8050 Marvel Enterprises, Inc. Case Writing by Xiaodan Dong February, 2008 Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (b) Why was Marvel’s turnaround so successful? Would you characterize that success as a fluke? Or do you view it as sustainable? Why? How? Marvel’s success is not a fluke because its business model is sustainable. Marvel’s new strategy monetized the content library by licensing characters for use with media products. During an era in which mass media is very important in people’s life, only one media tool, publishing, is not strong enough to expand Marvel’s influence to consumers.Comic books can target a very limited market, mostly composed of male teenagers and young adults from 13 to 23 years old. It is very difficult to expand this traditional market. After many years of development, this market has matured and is very stable. Meanwhile, people have been more exposed to movies, televisions, and video games, which more effectively influence people’s consumption behavior than do comic books. All these media modes are able to reach more consumer segments than traditional comic-book publishing.Marvel’s potential to develop increased dramatically when its market expanded to broadcast media. Other consumer products, such as toys, worked in conjunction with media products, these two kinds of products reinforced each other. Marvel’s market expansion developed in both a comprehensive and intensive manner. Marvel emphasized long-term value in its new management strategy. They planed â€Å"career† for each of their characters. For example, Spider-Man’s career over the next five years is to have two more movies, DVDs, toys, a video game, and a promotion with Burger King.The intensive â€Å"career plan† extend character’s life and can have each character penetrate into people’s lives by media on a long term basis. The third main strategic dimension is to ensure the quality of the content which featured Marvel characters. Creation and consistency in characters and stories mean everything for Marvel. Before Marvel’s turnaround, the low publishing market share was mostly due to a lack of quality control. When efforts were put into improving creativity and fine artwork, the publishing business was rejuvenated and the market share increased.The publishing business provides the primary support for both licensing and toys. Marvel’s success will sustain, because the products lives are extended with well-planed â€Å"career†, and the market is expanded with thriving licensing and toy businesses. Investment in quality can enhance the product’s competitive ability in terms of both product life and market expansion. Great potential exists in each aspect of Marvel’s market. (c) How important are each of Marvel’s three divisions – Comic books, toys, and licensing – to its past and future performance? T he comic book business was Marvel’s core in the past and earned almost all revenue.Comic books were so important for Marvel that its market share determined if Marvel would live or die. That is why Marvel went bankrupt in the mid-1990s, when mismanagement caused a huge drop in comic-book sales. After Marvel turned around, comic-book publishing was important as a primary business, but not a core business. Since 1997, Marvel’s financial performance in comic-book industry has been very stable and the annual sales totaled around 300 million every year. While comic book revenue should continue to be stable, its percentage will decrease in the future as Marvel’s other businesses grow.Licensing was only a small part of Marvel’s overall revenue in the past. Marvel’s licensing was mostly concentrated within the comic-book industry, selling the publishing license to some book-related businesses or some toy merchants. After Marvel took advantage of broadcast media, such as movies, television, and video games, its licensing become the largest division and collected the majority of the profit for the company. In 2003, licensing accounted for 70. 5% of the gross profit (See Appendix A Figure 1). Licensing profit had a much sharper increase from 2000 to 2003 than the other two businesses (See Appendix A Figure 2).In the future, licensing will keep increasing and its percentage of revenue will grow, especially if the management adopts a strategy of capitalizing on it. In the past, the toy business was just an annex of the publishing industry. Little effort was invested in toys which were not even mentioned strategic plans. Now the toy industry is the second-highest profit maker in Marvel, generating over $20 billion in sales in 2003. The toy business is very promising in the future. However its percentage in revenue will still remain stable or slightly decrease, just as publishing will do, because licensing has such a strong possibility for growth.In addition, while the toy industry competition is too fierce to permit further achievements. (d) To what extent is Marvel’s success due to only one character, Spider-Man? How can Marvel develop its lesser-known characters? There is no doubt that, to a great extent, Marvel’s success since the 1960s is due to Spider-Man. However, during the 1990s, the company declined despite such a successful superhero. â€Å"Exploiting† strategy by significantly increasing the number of titles stretched out consumers’ interest. Marvel’s new CEO, Peter Cuneo, restructured the company with negative assets and turned the company around.Spider-Man was resuscitated in comic-book sales. In the Publishing Division, Marvel’s 64. 7% revenue was from Spider-Man among the top famous titles in the second half year of 2003 (See Appendix A Figure 3). In the movie box office revenue, Spider-Man collected 33. 75% revenue in the US market and 37. 2% in the world mark et among Marvel’s eight titles movies, ranking the first (See Appendix A Figure 4). Spider-Man has gained great achievements, since the company turned around. However, Marvel’s success is not due to only one character.According to figure 3 and figure 4, other lesser-known characters, such as the X-Men and Fantastic Four, have also contributed to the company’s success. The entertainment market is difficult to predict. Consumers’ interests for media products are notoriously fickle. It could be very risky to continue to infuse resources to Spider-Man. Spreading limited resources to lesser-known characters helps the company reduce risk. Marvel needs to shift their focus to lesser-known characters which have great potential to be popular with wider public.Integrated marketing communication can be a very useful strategy to promote lesser-known characters by using prominent characters. For example, the Fantastic Four can be guests in Spider-Man’s comic-bo oks or movies. When lesser-known characters and Spider-Man are presented to people as â€Å"Marvel’s Superheroes†, lesser-known characters can be promoted by the fame of prominent characters. As Marvel’s previous CEO Peter Cuneo (2003) said, â€Å"this is about converting Spider-Man fans into Marvel fans. †