Author: chris

Three parts:

Topic #1A: What is Abuse?

Family violence is a simple phrase, but it encompasses a horrifying list of abusive behaviors, both physical and psychological, inflicted by one family member on another…The list is endless. There is seemingly no end to the horrors some human beings can inflict on those whom this society calls their ‘loved ones.’

The American Medical News, January 6, 1992

Domestic violence is any repeated attempt to control an intimate partner using physical, emotional and/or sexual tactics.

In 1987 Ellen Pence, a long-time domestic violence advocate with the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project in Duluth, Minnesota, published a workbook entitled In Our Best Interest: A Process For Personal and Social Change (1987) (I’ve found this an excellent resource when conducting support groups for women). In this work Pence includes a diagram that has commonly come to be known as the Power and Control Wheel. This diagram is based on the feedback of hundreds of battered women and outlines the various controlling and abusive behaviors that perpetrators use to control their partners. The “Wheel” has become the signature diagram used to explain survivors’ experiences in abusive relationships. The tactics batterers use to control their partners are without limit. While some are certainly more dangerous than others, all forms of abuse have serious short and/or long-term consequences for the victim, and for those around them.

In reviewing the “Wheel” please note that the tactics within the spokes of the wheel actually work to support and reinforce the physical and sexual violence occurring in the relationship. In some abusive relationships, over time, the abusing partner may decrease the amount of physical violence and rely more and more on the non-physical tactics to control the survivor. This is not true for all abusive relationships, however.

Links for both the Power and Control Wheel and the companion Equality Wheel are posted below.

For the purposes of this discussion topic please complete the following:

1. Identify a movie, TV program or book in which one of the adult characters is being abused by an intimate partner.

2. Using the Power and Control Wheel as a guide, list the various abusive behaviors and tactics exhibited in the movie. Give examples.

3. Respond to the following questions:

a) What is the survivor’s reaction to the abuse?

b) Is the movie, show or book accurate in its portrayal of an abusive relationship?

c) What is inaccurate?

4. Once you have posted your comments please respond to at least 2 of your classmates’ post.

If you’re having problems coming up with some movies the list below may help:

Gaslight (an early Ingrid Bergman movie and probably the first movie to actually address emotional abuse)

What’s Love Got To Do With It? (Tina Turner’s life story)

Provoked

Sleeping With The Enemy

The Burning Bed

The Color Purple

Enough

Fried Green Tomatoes

For Colored Girls

This Boy’s Life

Not Without My Daughter

You may also want to refer to Lifetime TV, Dateline, 20/20 or similar TV programs.

Power and Control Wheel /content/enforced/50634-013924-01-2152-OL4-7980/BEHS 453 Power & Control Wheel.pdf

Equality Wheel /content/enforced/50634-013924-01-2152-OL4-7980/BEHS 453 Equality Wheel.pdf

Topic #2A: Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is widely misunderstood in our society. Yet, for many survivors, emotional abuse is often described as equally painful, if not more painful, than physical abuse. To be emotionally abused may raise several difficulties for the survivor trying to reach out for help. First, if a survivor tries to get help and has physical signs of abuse then s/he can show that to someone. The questions arises, however, how do you show someone that you’re being emotionally abused? The marks that emotional abuse leave scar someone’s heart and soul and that cannot not be physically shown to anyone.

Second, the fact that emotional abuse leaves no visible wounds frequently makes it difficult for survivors to get the help they need when they reach out to others. For many, unless there are obvious physical injuries, the disclosure of abuse raises the question “Are they really telling the truth?” Often, it may come down to “he said, she said.” Third, many people minimize the impact that emotional abuse has on survivors and discount this form of as abuse as “less dangerous” than physical or sexual abuse. The reality is that emotional abuse has serious short and long-term effects on survivors, including, but not limited to, lowered self-esteem and self-confidence, depression, and suicide.

Another important factor when addressing emotional abuse deals with the manner in which this type of abuse occurs within the abusive relationship. Many physically and sexually abusive relationships actually begin with emotional abuse and, over time and with no intervention, will escalate to include other forms of abuse. If you’re working with a survivor that is being physically and/or sexually abused, the chances are great that s/he is also being emotionally abused. The reverse is not true however. Some relationships begin with emotional abuse and will stay at that level for the duration of the relationship.

The last important point I’d like to make deals with the manner in which survivors deal with emotional abuse. Since so many people in our society don’t have a clear understanding of the complexities of emotional abuse it is frequently difficult for survivors to actually name what they are experiencing as emotional abuse. While survivors may know that their feelings have been hurt, or that they don’t like what is being said (or not said) to them, it is rare to find a survivor who clearly states “I’m being emotionally abused.” Don’t get me wrong here. Some survivors are able to do this, but in over 25 years I haven’t worked with or witnessed many that have. As so many physically abusive relationships begin with emotional abuse, the survivor may not even realize they are being abused until the abuse escalates into physical and/or sexual abuse.

For the purposes of this discussion topic, please complete the following:

1. Interview 3 people about emotional abuse. This is a confidential interview so please do not identify the people you interview by name, address, or personal relationship with you. You will need to do the following:

Identify the person’s age and gender (this is basic demographic data that may help us better understand the responses)

Ask the following questions:

1. How do you define domestic violence?

2. How do you define emotional abuse?

3. Please give some examples of emotional abuse.

4. Do you think emotional abuse is as damaging as physical abuse? Why or why not?

NOTE: Do NOT ask the respondents if they have experienced abuse. Asking this question requires some very special “set up” that we are not going to be doing for this assignment.

3. Once you have completed your interviews please post the results in this conference.

4. Also post an analysis about the respondents’ answers. Postings that do not include an analysis of the responses will lose points. Consider at least some of the following when writing your analysis:

The analysis should be more than whether or not you agree with the respondents.
Do all of the respondents have the same or similar definitions?
Does it appear that the respondents are focusing only on intimate partners or are they including all family members in their discussions?
Are the respondents thorough in their definitions of domestic violence or are they leaving anything out?
Are the definitions/responses inclusive of all types of relationships or just marital ones?

Topic #3A: Barriers & Help Seeking

One of the most common questions the general public asks about intimate partner violence (ipv) is “Why does she stay?” Several important factors need to be mentioned in this regard. First, women do leave abusive relationships. In fact, they leave and return multiple times. (Be wary of any resource that quotes an exact or average number of times that survivors leave. The reality is that we really don’t know, other than it appears to be multiple times for many women.)

Second, when someone asks “Why doesn’t she leave?” they are making the very dangerous mistake of assuming that to leave a violent relationship will cause the violence to cease. According to the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family (1996), “Many people still believe that the problem of battering can be solved by separation, but the risk of serious or lethal violence may actually increase after separation” (39).

The greatest risk for serious injury or death from violence is at the point of separation or at the time when the decision to separate is made. Data from a U.S. Department of Justice national Crime Victimization Survey indicates that among women who were victims of violent assault by an intimate partner, women reported that the offender was an ex-spouse almost half as many times as they reported that the offender was a spouse” (American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996, p. 39). The reality is that for a large number of survivors to leave a violent relationship does not make things better, rather, it makes things worse. Please see the attached handout, Examples of the Types of Violence Occuring At Separation (linked below).

A third factor to be considered in this discussion involves the very nature of the question “Why does she stay?” Very rarely do people ask, “Why does he batter?, or “Why doesn’t he leave?” Many grassroots activists and feminists believe that to ask “Why does she stay?” is actually victim blaming and fails to hold the abuser accountable for his behavior.

In Module 1, Lawrence Green and his colleagues identified three types of factors that can affect the help-seeking process by either encouraging or discouraging action:

Predisposing factors – attitudes, perceptions, or beliefs that either facilitate or hinder personal motivation to act
Enabling factors–factors that either help by their presence or hinder by their absence like the ability to obtain necessary assistance (limited facilities, inadequate personnel, lack of funds)
Reinforcing factors – characteristics of services or attitudes of caregivers that assist in decision-making like the feedback or attention received.

Linked below is the handout Barriers to Leaving which outlines numerous factors or “barriers” that should be considered when examining the difficulties in leaving an abusive relationship. This list of barriers can be combined with Green’s et. al. work to help explain the challenges that survivors face in their help-seeking process.

For this purposes of this discussion topic please complete the following:

1. Take a look at the Lisa Steinberg/Hedda Nussbaum Case Study listed in Module 1 along with the linked handouts to this conference topic.

2. Respond to the following questions:

a) Explain the issues affecting the help-seeking behavior of Hedda Nussbaum, including issues in the victim and offender response system that inhibited appropriate intervention

b) Do you think the question “Why does she stay is victim blaming? Why or why not?

3. Please support your response with resources (including in-text citations).

Examples of the Types of Violence Occurring At Separation /content/enforced/50634-013924-01-2152-OL4-7980/BEHS 453 Examples of Types of Violence Occurring at Separation.rtf

Barriers to Leaving /content/enforced/50634-013924-01-2152-OL4-7980/BEHS 453 Barriers to Leaving.rtf

Reference

American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family. (1996). Violence and the family. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Ask yourself this question:  What are the important aspects of every-day life in Paris as presented in the two films (Paris, I Love You and Amélie),  and the two readings (The Man Who Could Walk Through  Walls and The Two-Penny Bar)?  What aspects of the city are high-lighted in the films?  in the stories?   What kinds of spaces seem particularly relevant to the characters’ stories?

How do the authors/directors describe city life?  What do they seem to value through their presentations or descriptions?  How does this environment impact the characters as they move through the events which control their life?

 

To adequately develop this analysis, you should carefully do the following:

• discuss each reading and film individually
• compare  ideas which appear in more than one film or reading
• contrast ideas which may appear contradictory
• draw evident conclusions from your analysis

 

Be sure to consult BB/Course Information/Helpful Hints/Rubrics for Written Work and Written Work Format to assure that you understand how the grade will be determined and how the paper should be presented.

You learned that group behavior can influence human behavior and society as a whole. You will now have an opportunity to apply your understanding of the dimensions and theoretical perspectives that influence human behavior and identify services that promote healthy functioning. In this assignment, you will generate a case study on group behavior that resulted in a negative outcome. You will then create a report applying two behavioral theories and provide recommendations for effective behavioral strategies or other services.

Tasks:

In an 8- to 10-page paper:

Describe a case example of group behavior that resulted in a negative outcome (for example, hazing or bullying) in a community or social service setting. Explain the rationale for selecting this group and setting.
Identify a minimum of two behavior models and theories that apply to the example and highlight the manner in which the setting influences the behavioral outcomes. Justify your chosen models and theories.
Recommend specific effective behavioral strategies and services that can improve healthy functioning of the group.

Safety issues have been one of the leading concerns among members of the leadership team at Elora Jean & Co. There have been a few minor accidents in the past 18 months. Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) came to the facility to conduct an investigation. There were no formal violations cited; however, Elora Jean & Co. was advised to develop a comprehensive safety policy and provide formal safety education for employees. The owner has asked for your input on a policy that would protect the company from safety claims submitted to OSHA.

 

Respond to the following questions as you formulate your response to this task:

 

• Considering the guidelines for employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, what do you feel will be important to include in your recommendations, and why?
• Prepare a summary of your recommendations for the owner. Include information related to the potential implications of not complying with OSHA.

 

Final Research Project

The topic of your project needs to be a contemporary societal problem, such as healthcare reform, immigration reform, privacy rights, euthanasia, First Amendment Rights, stem cell research, capital punishment, corporate prisons, legalizing drugs, ageism, animal rights, cloning, prayer in schools, racial profiling, recycling/conservation, sexism, outsourcing jobs, workplace bullying, etc. The topic must focus on a single aspect, as in “How far do corporations intrude into the private lives of their employers?” or “The social costs of financing the distribution of custom-designed drugs.” You may suggest another topic to use, but the instructor must approve the topic during the Week Two Discussion.

The Final Research Project will present research relating the responsibilities of a critical thinker to contemporary society. In this assignment, you will do the following:

• Research one aspect of a contemporary social problem.
• Define the problem.
• Propose a possible solution for the problem.
• Create an argument that supports your thesis position. You should take on the perspective of a critically thinking researcher. The argument must present a thesis statement and evidence to support the thesis statement.
• Evaluate the ethical outcomes that result from the position you take on the issue and explain how those outcomes would influence society and culture.
• Interpret statistical data from at least two peer-reviewed scholarly sources.
• Evaluate evidence using the following standards: validity, reliability, and bias related to the chosen topic and accurately identify strengths and weaknesses.

Research and Define the Problem

You must take on the perspective of your major field of study and explain in your paper what that perspective is and how it informs your view of the topic. The topics listed above are far too broad to write about in 10–12 pages (3,300–3,900 words). Instead, you must choose a narrowly defined thesis and approach it from the perspective of your field.

Example: If you are an economics major, and you are interested in immigration reform, you should approach a very specific aspect of immigration reform through the lens of economic theory and practice. A specific thesis question would not be, “How does illegal immigration influence the U.S. economy?” One could write thousands of pages on such a topic. Instead, a better question would be, “How do illegal immigrant hotel workers in Chicago impact the economy of Northern Illinois?” You would then want to do the research and determine the positive and negative impacts they have, ultimately trying to conclude how illegal immigration in this area should be approached ethically.

How to Hone Your Thesis: It is important that you start your research early in this course. Try to find the most important contemporary questions and theories in your field of study and then align the most important questions with a very specific aspect of the general topics above. For example, if you are a psychology major, you might want to start thinking within the realm of healthcare reform or aspects of mental health and criminality in the prison system.

Your Argument

You must present a complete argument, including a major claim with at least five points of evidence, information, or data that will prove the claim.

• The thesis statement must be

◦                     A clear, simple declarative sentence as the first or last sentence in the opening paragraph of the essay.

◦                     Of such a nature that it can be substantiated, corroborated, verified, and proved through appeal to primary or secondary academic research source materials.

• The introductory paragraph must

◦                     Present the thesis statement, an explanation for the importance of the topic, and its relation to the student’s field of study.

• Beliefs, opinions, and personal opinions must not be introduced at any point in the essay.
• All beliefs and opinions should be supported with academic evidence. Sweeping generalizations with no supporting academicevidence do not reflect adequate critical thinking skills.
• Do not include rhetorical questions in your essays. All the questions that are pertinent to your project need to be answered in your essay and your answers again need to be supported with evidence from peer-reviewed journal articles and academically published books.

Attributes of Good Critical Thinking in Papers

• Your paper should include academic sources that explain multiple sides of the issue.
• The evidence that you use should come from high-level researchers engaged in your field of study.
• Your interpretations of the evidence should be objective and state the conclusions and theses presented in the evidence clearly and fairly.
• Your paper should place the various forms of evidence in relation to one another and demonstrate why one form or perspective is stronger than the other positions that one could take on the issue.
• Your paper should point out the limitations of current evidence and attempt to indicate areas for future research.

Ethical Outcomes of the Position You Take

After you have defined the problem and created an argument about how one ought to respond to the issue, you need to explain the ethical outcomes of the position you have taken. This should again be in relation to the field of study in which you are working. There might be different ethical outcomes that result from your analysis. For example, going back to the example issue above, from an economic standpoint, illegal immigrants might contribute positively to the economy of Northern Illinois in a specific number of ways. Thus, an economist who believes that positive impact to the economy is the greatest good would say that one should promote the use of illegal immigrants. However, because these workers are often paid less than others and eliminate jobs that could be done by residents of Chicago, there could be other negative ethical outcomes that would outweigh the positive impacts to the economy. It is your goal to draw out the ethical implications of your thesis and explain the underlying rationale that is the foundation for your claim that one action is better than another.

• Critical thinkers are those who can outline the positive and negative ethical impacts of their positions. In addition, they are able to provide a rationale for why they believe a specific position is the right position, even when it leads to negative outcomes.
• Critical thinkers are also able to be honest and objective about the limitations and gray areas that pertain to their theses.

Final Research Project Requirements

The Final Research Project may be presented as a formal research paper (essay format), a PowerPoint presentation, a video, or a podcast equivalent to a minimum of 10 – 12 pages in APA format (approximately 3,300 – 3,900 typewritten words, excluding title page and reference pages). Written essays must adhere to all APA formatting standards and requirements, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

PowerPoint presentations must include the full text (at least 3,300 words) in the speaker notes portion of the slides, with appropriate citations, and full reference pages. PowerPoint presentations must adhere to the basic principles of PowerPoint presentation design and must include citations and references according to APA standards and requirements.

Videos and podcasts must include a full transcript, in APA format, including appropriate in-text citations and a references page.

Quotations:

There must be no more than 15% quoted content in the body of your essay. All quoted material must bear quotation marks and a full quotation citation.

Source Documents:

• There must be 10 or more source documents used, cited, and referenced.
• Multimedia sources (such as videos) may be used, but no more than two such sources may be used. If multimedia sources are used, then they must be authored and distributed by credible sources, such as universities, law schools, medical schools, or professors, or found in the Ashford University Library.
• Where print documents are used for source materials, those must be peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles, and academically published books. Popular media sources (e.g., newspapers, magazines, television and radio shows, etc.) may not be used. Materials from advocacy groups (e.g., Greenpeace, Human Rights Campaign, National Organization for Women, etc.) may not be used.
• Two of the peer-reviewed scholarly sources used must include statistical evidence, which must be accurately interpreted.
• Sites such as ProCon.org and Wikipedia should not be used.
• Religious texts are neither peer-reviewed nor scholarly and so may not be used in any way.

Summary Conclusion:

You must have a summary conclusion as the last paragraph(s) of the project, presenting the major point of the essay and the evidence supporting that point.

Word Count:

The content body of the project must be 3,300 words or more. The word count does not include anything in the title page, running header, or reference list. It is expected that you meet all logistical requirements of this paper.

Reference List:

• The list of references must include only those source documents that are cited within the body of the project.
• The project must fully comply with APA formatting standards and requirements as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center: title page, running header with page numbers, font face and size, line spacing, citations, and reference page(s).

1.  examine the greatest threats to a computerized accounting system. Suggest two (2) preventative measures or remedies to protect the system and/or mitigate negative impact to the system. Provide a rationale for your response.
2. Pretend that you are a criminal and want to commit fraud by altering your company’s accruals. Create a plan for committing the fraud. Predict the major potential resulting damage to the company’s financial statements from the fraud.
3. Describe the basic elements of a financial accounting information system.
4. Describe basic accrual accounting concepts, including the matching concept.
5. How do you use accrual concepts to analyze, record, and summarize transactions?
6. Describe how the accrual basis of accounting enhances the interpretation of financial statements.
7. Why are adjusting journal entries necessary? What would be the effect if a company failed to journalize and post adjusting entries?

How does the current landscape of global HRM impact HR planning?

What are the HRM implications of Hofstede’s, Trompenaars’, and the GLOBE models’ cross-cultural dimensions? In 300 words or more

 

Youssef, C. (2012). Human resource management. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

The local textile plant has a workforce of 55 full-time hourly workers, 12 part-time workers (less than 15 hours per week), and six managers that are salaried. The company has been struggling for about five years and has just lost its only major account with a sporting clothes company. Contract renegotiations have been intense for the past six months, but they collapsed two days ago. There is barely enough cash to pay workers for their last two weeks of work. In order not to incur additional payroll obligations to the workers, the company has called a meeting of all employees to announce the plant’s closing at the end of the week (in two days). Although the workers were not overly surprised, they were overwhelmed that so many would be seeking employment in their small community within the next few days. Even though the hourly workers are to be terminated at the end of the week (in two days), managers (those that are salaried) will receive their pay for another 60 days as they handle the closing of the plant.

Analyze this situation from the perspective of the company managers and the HR department by addressing the questions below. Before beginning your analysis, read Section 639.9 “When may notice be given less than 60 days in advance” of theWorker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Click here to access the WARN Act.

For your report, evaluate management’s human resource plan of action for the immediate plant closing, including the following items:

• Assess the purpose of the WARN act, including potential pros and cons.
• Evaluate whether management’s human resource plan for the immediate plant closing is the correct plan, including legal implications of the WARN act as it pertains to the scenario.
• Justify recommendations for possible alternatives the managers and HR have in handling this scenario, including the types of assistance that might be provided if workers must depart in two days.

Compose your report in APA format.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you answer the following questions:

• How is the word myth used popularly? For example, what does the statement, “It’s a myth” mean? In contrast, how is the word myth used in the academic context? After considering the definition in your textbooks and course materials, write a definition in your own words.
• What are the most common mythological themes across different cultures? Why do myths from different cultures around the world address such similar or universal themes? Think about how myths explain the unknown and the tribulations of mankind.
• What is the relationship between belief, knowledge, mythology, and religion? Where do mythology and religion intersect? Where do they diverge? Think about the function of myth and religion in helping human beings cope with change, suffering, loss, and death.
• Do you think mythology is still relevant in contemporary culture? How do people resort to modern myths to deal with the unknown and hardships in life?

Write a discussion of the recent FASB update regarding the presentation of Extraordinary Items (Income Statement-Extraordinary Gain and Unusual Items-subtopic 225-20).

 

Explain YOUR OPINION of the change considering both the potential advantages and disadvantages of such a standard.

 

In addition, discuss the overall theme of transparency in financial reporting.  Does the recent FASB update affect transparency for users (in your opinion)?

 

 

 

Guidelines:

 

• Essay must be typed in a Word document with the following parameters:12 pt font, standard spacing and margins.

 

• Do NOT rewrite/include the original question above.

 

• Essay must be a minimum of 1.5 pages in length.

 

• Essays will be turned in via a link on Blackboard and evaluated using “turn-it-in”.Any essay with more than a 25% match will not be graded.  Make sure to summarize the factual points from the update.  (Do not cut and paste any text from the update directly.)

 

• Essays will be graded for content, grammar and clarity of ideas.