Category: Free Essays

Meritocracy as an ideology

Meritocracy can refer to an idealised society where discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, age, and other irrelevant characteristics is completely absent. Merit is the encompassing value, the basic and morally correct criterion for any and all social classifications, particularly in respect to socioeconomic standing and in public space. A notion, emphasising societal consensus on the means and processes of selection for particular roles through a system of sifting, sorting, and rewarding talent and ability, motivated by competition for qualifications that in turn structure access to wealth, prestige, and personal satisfaction. It is conceived as a repudiation of systems like aristocracy where individuals inherit their social status. A meritocracy resembles aristocracy in the classical sense of the term meaning “rule by the best.” What has happened over the centuries, however, is that aristocracy has become associated with hereditary privilege and a rigid class system. Instead of this, a meritocracy promotes worthy individuals regardless of which social strata they happen to be born in and each individual has good fortune in proportion to the individual’s deservingness (Rawls, 1999, Nozick 1974, Miller 1999).

IQ tests primarily tap analytical, logic-based reasoning; and surely that kind of cognitive ability is related to performance in many job settings. But other kinds of cognitive ability are also related to performance – and thus also represent merit. For instance: imagination, practical sense, and the ability to interpret others’ perspectives. By the same token, the effort component of Young’s formulation suggests that a number of personality factors may figure into a reasonable conception of merit. For example, being conscientious may enhance job performance. Of course, some individual traits and social skills may be rewarded because they reflect conformity to arbitrary group norms. “It is not clear why the term merit should be identified so closely with mental ability as distinct from many other conditions and traits that improve the chances of social and economic success” (Hauser et al’s, 2000, p. 203). David Miller (1996, 300) eluding on Walzer (1983) has indicated that a meritocracy is not only more stable but also more socially just if there are a number of socially recognised forms of merit: ‘economic contribution would be one kind of merit, education and scholarship another, artistic achievement a third, public service yet another, and so forth.’

However these other conditions and traits do not contribute to a “fair opportunity”. In Rawls view, the correlation between one’s social origins and one’s outcome in life is zero in a meritocracy and as long as some form of the family exists in society fair opportunity cannot be achieved as (Rawls 1971, 64). The social context within which individuals grow up influences the achievements of equally competent persons. Success in the labour market is transmitted from parents to children, and the advantages of the children of successful parents go considerably beyond the benefits of the best education, wealth and genetic cognitive ability. Many of the criteria associated with individual talent and effort do not measure the individual in isolation but rather parallel the phenomena associated with aristocracy; what is called individual talent is actually a function of that individual’s social position or opportunities gained by virtue of family and ancestry. Among these, for example, one might list ambition or drive, perseverance, responsibility, personal attractiveness, and physical or artistic skills or talents, along with access to social support and to favourable social and economic networks and resources. Access to education is partly defined by inheritance as much research has demonstrated (Bowles and Gintis, 2002; Bourdieu and Passeron 1990; Aschaffenburg and Maas 1997; Sacks, 2003; Ballantine 2001). Compiling evidence from other studies Herrnstein concludes that 80% of the differences in IQ among individuals is explained by inherited factors and 15% is explained by environmental factors (Herrnstein 1971, 171). Children from the upper class get upper class education, middle class children get middle class education, working class people get working class education, and poor people get poor education. Privileged young people can perceive reachable goals and develop lofty aspirations because they tend to benefit from high expectations and support networks from the family and social milieu, as well as extensive economic and educational resources. Those who have the resources, via their parental background, will move through higher education, get well paid jobs, and postpone family plans until they are well into their thirties, building their financial and cultural capital significantly prior to family formation. Inheritance may provide access to powerful forms of social capital (who you know) and cultural capital (what you know). Bourdieu & Passeron (1990) indicate that students who lack the required knowledge and skills with which to successfully navigate the parameters of middle class culture inevitably fail at school. It therefore seems that unequal educational opportunity is the driver of individual achievement. Research shows that as class rises so does the level of education. As a consequence, the expansion of higher education will broaden the gulf between rich and poor (Blanden et al. 2005). So achievement capacities are ascribed to social class. Thus, IQ tests measure intelligence as a reflection of inherent intellectual capacity combined with environmental influences. Thus parents can predispose their children to succeed or fail in life as they are a part of the environment that affect the abilities that children attain. Thus the first and foremost among non-merit factors is the effect of social class at birth on future life. Therefore truly equalizing children’s environments in an effort to create a system with equal opportunities for all would mean having to eliminate the family. Meritocracy thus could lead to a hereditary caste system that, far from promoting social mobility, actually makes social advancement nearly impossible for the lower orders. This could be the case if wealth and social position are or primarily distributed by unchangeable genetic characteristics of individuals. This argument can be reworked into the form of a Hernstein’s syllogism:

If differences in mental abilities are inherited, and
If success requires those abilities, and
If earnings and prestige depend on success,
Then social standing (which reflects earnings and prestige) will be based to some extent on inherited differences among people. (Herrnstein 1971, 197-8)

This implies that absolute equality of opportunity is an ideal that cannot be achieved. (Loury 1977, p. 176).

For John Rawls, the question of distributive justice is rather different. He is not content to say that any person begins at some point in the process of acquisition and then is merely constrained by a set of rules and procedures to ensure fairness. Rather, the socioeconomic position of the agent is also considered. Rawls bases his query on how the agent is presented with the distribution of talents and social position. His conclusion is that these distributions are accidental and arbitrary. It is an accident that someone is born with whatever natural traits he may possess.

The question is raised whether a meritocracy based on natural abilities is thus unfair. Some might contend, for example, that even if we do not deserve our natural abilities it is not unfair if we reap the rewards of those abilities because the system of reward is independent of the system of deserts. However, Rawls makes the case that social position is also random and arbitrary. The fact that natural abilities may or may not be rewarded in that society is an accident. To be rewarded based merely on an accident is not deserved. Thus, a meritocracy that is based on reward from undeserved social position is similarly unfair.

Therefore, both natural abilities and social position may not be the basis of distributive justice because they are unfair. The naturally advantaged are not to gain merely because they are more gifted. The individual cannot help how she begins life. Why make her “pay” for her positive talents and advantages? The rectification of these disparities in Rawls is his difference principle that makes all inequalities subject to the stipulation that the least advantaged will benefit from them.

Since China’s emergence as one of the greatest economic engines of the world, Beijing has seen a meteoric rise as one of the economic, political, social and cultural centers of the East Asian sector. Not only is Beijing the capital of China, and the seat of power of the Communist regime, it is also home to one of the largest and most dense populations on the planet. With almost 15 million residences residing in the city it is the 24^th largest city in the world and fourth in density. While Beijing has always held a position of importance as the residence of Chinese emperors and past political regimes, it has taken on numerous new responsibilities and roles as part of the globalized world. The growth of this region and specifically the shift within China’s furious economic growth has resulted in the escalation of urban development within Beijing. Beijing has had to become a “modern city” almost overnight, while still capturing the history and culture of China’s past. Stuck between two worlds, Beijing faces a unique challenge in its urban development. The following analysis will pursue an understanding of Beijing’s urban development strategies as well as the motivations behind them. Beijing has become a hub of urban infrastructure and development. Every aspect of the city has been transformed in the past decade. By 2003, Beijing’s overall infrastructure has reached a total fixed investment of 26.06 billion dollars, and continues to grow at more than 15 percent per annum (CDB, 2005). The city is beginning to develop complicated networks of transportation, communication, ventilation, sewage, etc. Before a detailed analysis of the actual implementation of urban development and its problems, an understanding of the underlying reasons behind Beijing’s reasons for rapid urban development must be reached. There are three key factors that are currently fueling Beijing’s rapid growth towards becoming an ultra modern urban center.

One of the primary reasons for the break neck speed of growth in Beijing has been the explosive population growth that has been occurring. Despite strong measures in place such as the “Five Year Plan” and the “One Child Policy”, Beijing has continued to experience strong growth due to both its urban population and underground migratory movements. Beijing grew from 13 million in 2000 to almost 15 million by 2005, growth is projected to increase to 18 million by 2010 (Beijing Review, 2005). These growth figures furthermore do not reflect accurately the current number of migrant workers living Beijing illegally. Analysts have projected the actual population of Beijing to be more than 17 million when counting all illegal and undocumented individuals living within the city (Beijing Review, 2005). Beyond local residence, there also has been a growth in immigration to Beijing as a result of its emergence as an international hub. Immigration per year has increased by over 25 percent since 2000, especially from other WTO nations (CDB, 2005). This population crunch is one of the motivating factors behind the need for urban development and infrastructural development.

Another catalyst for urban development has been the shifting economic situation within Beijing. As a result of globalization and heavy industrialization, the standard of living and general economic circumstance of Beijing residences have increased dramatically. In 2005, Beijing’s nominal GDP grew to 84 billion USD, a yearly growth rate of 11.1%, and its GDP per capita also grew by 8.1 percent. The combination of available technology and influx of wealth has meant that residence of Beijing are demanding higher quality of life, increases in standards and a general improvement in overall welfare of their city. The result has been both a public and private response to economic changes within Beijing by an expanding urban infrastructure as well as private investment in real estate development. At the same time, the government has realized the need to modernize the city to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), for this purpose they have begun reinventing business districts and constructing immense building projects to modernize the city (CDB, 2005). The combination of Beijing as the pride of China, its economic center, and socio-economic mobility has become one of the push catalysts for urban development. A final reason for urban development, especially in the past two years has been Beijing’s impending 2008 Summer Olympics. Termed by the Chinese government as the “coming out party” of the Chinese juggernaut, the city has moved at a fervent pace to construct new additions to stadiums, upgrades and renovations as well as providing the infrastructure, residential, and tourism needs of future visitors. The projected cost of the Beijing Olympics will exceed 54 billion Yuan, or more than 6 billion USD (Beijing Review, 2005). Beijing has taken on numerous urban development projects in order to improve their city before the Olympics begin. A new subway transportation system is being built uniquely for the Olympics, and transportation channels such as road improvements, highways and numerous other changes have been enacted as a result. New building and housing projects, including the construction of stadiums, hotels, and other accommodations from both public and private investments have transformed the city. The result of the impending Olympics is that it has led to a dramatic shift in the urban development strategy of Beijing.

Beijing’s urban development infrastructure has expanded tremendously in the past two decades. Beijing is divided into circular zones separated by “rings”, as the city expands more rings are built around the original center of the city, Tiananmen Square. At the inception of the People’s Republic, Beijing only had two such rings, the limits of its urban sprawl extended to the 2^nd Ring Road. With the expansion of business, population and economic necessity, Beijing has now extended itself beyond a fifth ring, and is currently constructing a sixth ring. In less than two decades, the scope of this city has increased by more than eight hundred percent. Much of the former countryside and rural regions have been annexed by the city and turned into urban sprawl. Former farmlands have been converted into industrial centers, electronic hubs and business districts.

Beijing has had to construct specific regions for the expansion of foreign businesses, the demands for incubation zones for Intel, IBM, Microsoft and other software and hardware giants have forced Beijing to construct a separate business sector away from its central city. The inevitable result of this expansion is that Beijing has been confronted with a myriad of problems including very poor traffic control, air pollution and the destruction of traditional and cultural landmarks. In order to confront this problem, Beijing has decided to stop infrastructural expansion in concentric rings and instead expand within circular bands outside of the city center. In order to combat the growing population and need to expand, Beijing has begun a policy of organized infrastructural improvement. It has committed over 20 billion USD to improving the interconnectivity of its road networks and expanding highways around the city. Beijing development officials have cited two specific goals for improving traffic, air quality and general congestions. Beijing will develop a state of the art public transportation system as well as expand its current system of roads and highways. It has also expanded the development of their 15 billion USD airport system on the outskirts of Beijing. The purpose of expanding their transportation infrastructure is to allow construction to accommodate growth to occur both vertically and horizontally (Lillian, 2007). Beijing wishes to follow an urban development much like Shanghai, Shenzhen and many other Western cities. The hope is that the city can divide itself into zones with vertical growth to limit city sprawl and increase centralization of institutional districts. For this purpose, Beijing has already begun building an incredible robust subway system. The Beijing government has invested 8 billion USD to the development of its subway infrastructure, adding ten different traffic lines crossing throughout the city (Tang, 2006). In an effort to vastly improve their public transportation, Beijing has even conceded to private investment to commission and build their transportation system.

The combination of construction, transportation expansion, and general growth has also lead to a challenging urban energy situation. Growth in population has outpaced projections on water, electricity and natural gas usage. Current water treatment plants are already working at over capacity with the anticipation of seeing almost 2.5 million more temporary residents within the city for the 2008 Olympics (Tang, 2006). Development plans to mitigate problem has been to pioneer a state of the art water treatment facility and system on the outskirts of Beijing along the Shanxi Province. Water will be brought from over 180 kilometers away through an underground pipeline and carefully processed before going into the city (Tang, 2006). This will alleviate the pressure of current water processing centers. In addition, Beijing is currently investing in sewage transportation networks that run along the infrastructure of this system, specifically linking it to the expansion of the city sprawl. Urban development in Beijing has raised numerous problems for the Beijing municipality, its government and populace. Air quality in Beijing is ranked as one of the five worst in the world (Tang, 2006). During the summer months, the majority of residence has to wear protective masks to prevent debris and air pollution to harm their lungs. The rise in population and the lack of a strong traffic control system has meant that air pollution has increased by more than 10 percent per annum. An attempt to solve this problem through road expansion and public transportation has been only marginally successful. Beijing is expected to have to halt the majority of traffic for up to two weeks in order to clear the air pollution for the Beijing Olympics. In addition, the massive urban development plans of the city have required significant man power. This has led to an even greater influx of undocumented migrant workers.

Illegal immigration and residence within Beijing has caused a further taxing of overworked sewage and water treatment plants as well as inhumane living conditions within the area. Millions of illegal residents flow in and out of the city looking for low end labor. Since they are basically unmonitored and unnoticed, their treatment is oftentimes cruel and abusive while receiving minimal compensation. Corruption is another major concern as a result of urban development, numerous officials have been investigated and prosecuted for receiving monetary incentive to give out lucrative government contracts, but with so much growth it is hard for the government to monitor all aspects of government. The most important and enduring problem however is the destruction of the rural countryside and culturally important regions. Beijing’s growth has already consumed thousands of hectares of farmland in the surrounding areas. Destruction of historically significant sites such as the protective rim of the Great Wall has become major concerns as the city continues to expand (Lillian, 2007). Numerous monasteries, cultural centers, traditional gardens, etc. have been destroyed as a result of urban development plans. Solutions to these problems are not immediately evident. Beijing’s current strategy follows the national one of “expansion first, reform later” (Lillian, 2007). As a result, pollution, environment damage, cultural deteriorates have almost all become secondary to the monumental growth of the nation’s economy and industry. Beijing has attempted to take some steps to prevent the further spread of urban development problems however. Their current road projects will reduce traffic congestions and it plans to limit the number of vehicles allowed within city limits once construction of public transportation has completed construction. Beijing already claims to have reduced air pollution by 1.9 percent in the past year and will continue to pursue a policy of pollution reduction in the future.

The establishment of immigration registration centers, and increase of police monitoring of migrant labor are positive steps towards documenting all migrant workers and ensuring that they meet basic standards of living (Tang, 2006). Already, a massive part of the current living standards reform centers on providing housing for migrant laborers within the Beijing area and specifically creating a worker’s code to formalize the process of hiring and caring for migrant laborers. In addition, Beijing has established a special commission to investigate and identify cultural and traditional regions, parks, buildings, etc. for special government protection and reconstruction. This project has already restored over fifty parks within the Beijing area as well as maintaining the famous Summer Palace. Restoration projects of Beijing’s most famous relics such as the Forbidden City has been in effect since 2005, and will prepare Beijing for the tourism boom of the 2008 Olympics. Urban development in Beijing has at times appeared sporadic and organic in nature. The population boom combined with the increased importance of the city as an international economic, political and social center has made its development inevitable and at times chaotic. Not only has Beijing urban expansion taking place horizontally and vertically, it has encompassed every level of its development at an infrastructural level. The construction of business and economic zones and incubators along with expansion of residence areas have increased the city limits eight fold. This has been accompanied by transportation infrastructure improvements, water treatment and waste disposal systems, and the improvement of the general urban conditions of all individuals within Beijing. The problems that Beijing faces with urban development are numerous; many of them are inevitable problems of expansion. However, Beijing has taken many positive steps to cautiously approach expansion and development in order to limit mistakes and encourage healthy growth. By the 2008 Olympics, Beijing will be one of the most modern cities in the world, by then its urban development will rival that of any western capital and become a stalwart of the East Asian region.

Bibliography:

Beijing CBD. (2005). CBD Planning and Urban Development of Beijing. Available: CBD Planning and Urban Development of Beijing. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

NA. (2005). Beijing History. Available: http://www.beijingeguide.com/history.php. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

NA. (2007). Thousand Cities, One Face – the “third round of havoc”. Available: http://www.beijingnewspeak.com/category/urban-development/. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

TANG YUANKAI. (2006). Slaking an Olympic Thirst. Available: http://www.bjreview.com.cn/lianghui/txt/2006-12/12/content_57437.htm. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

Lillian M. Li (2007). Beijing : From Imperial Capital to Olympic City. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. all.

Beijing Municipal Urban Construction Comprehensive Development Office (1994). Residential Construction in Beijing. Beijing: China Constructional Industry Press. all.

Life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. Discuss this claim.
Introduction

This assignment will investigate the claim that life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. Beginning with a brief description of the climate of the 1950s the assignment will then look at three areas, work and welfare, the family, and identity. In doing this the assignment will draw only on material supplied for the module.

Post-war Britain was quite different to what we see today. In the early 1950s there was still considerable war damage and so the Government had introduced massive building programmes to make sure that people had adequate housing. The welfare state had been introduced in the years immediately following the war. Based on the notions that the (predominantly male) workforce would enjoy full employment, and that ‘traditionl’ family life would continue, the Government claimed that it would be able to look after its citizens from the cradle to the grave. They were overly idealistic in their views and in the last fifty years Britain has witnessed massive changes in the areas of work and welfare. There have also been changes in family structures and this has had corresponding implications for peoples’ identities.

Work and Welfare

During the Second World War, and in the years after, people felt that they were secure in their employment. In industry particularly working class men had been conditioned to the view that if they worked hard then they would have a job for life.^[1] This was not to say that ordinary people earned a lot of money, they didn’t. Normally sons and daughters would follow in father’s and mother’s footsteps once they left school, In the early 1950s Britain was a stratified society and people did not often move from one class to another. The class into which a person was born therefore was very often the one in which they stayed and this had implications for their life chances in other areas. People did not have the choices that they have nowadays few women went out to work and it was the father’s responsibility to go out and earn money to support his family.^[2] There were some uncertainties of course for families who were reliant on one wage. Traditional areas of employment are being eroded as the number of industries has declined and more people are taking jobs in areas that were previously seen as women’s work. Nowadays both the man and his wife may be working. They might work full time, part-time, or rely on state benefits. In some households it is a mixture of things.^[3] Hutton (1999)^[4] maintains that the diverse sources of employment can in themselves be sources of uncertainty because in some areas (agency temping for example) people may not know whether they will have work from one week’s end to the next. This creates divisions between those families who have alternative sources of employment the ‘work rich’^[5], and those whose suitability for different types of employment is limited. Such changes in employment patterns affect not only the traditional working classes but also the middle classes. In the early 1950s young middle class men could expect a secure career with a steady climb up the ladder, that is not the case today. Many people face redundancies, followed by the hard searching for a new job, in some cases they may find themselves dependent on state benefits for considerable periods.^[6] Such changes may also have an effect on a couple’s marriage and if this ends in divorce then both people could be worse off. The wife may find herself looking for work after having been out of the labour market for some years because she was caring for children. This gets worse the further down the income scale a family is. In the past labourers and industrial workers may not have had as much job security as their middle class counterparts because some of them became unfit for work before retirement age. People did have some security however. Nowadays people can end up reliant on state benefits over a very long period and this can result in social exclusion where they are unable to fully participate in society (Mackintosh and Mooney, 2004)^[7]. Changing employment patterns have, in many cases, led to changing roles in society and this has had implications for people’s sense of identity.

Identity

Mercer (1990) argues that modern society is characterised by diversity and uncertainty and that this has corresponding implications for people’s identities.^[8] Changing gender roles and more women in the workplace have resulted in changes in people’s sense of self. In addition to this as Mercer has highlighted Post-War immigration along with rapid social and technological change has brought with it n increasing focus on contemporary eacialised and ehtnicised identities.^[9] This mixing of people’s new identities along with older ones contributes to the sense of uncertainty that many people feel is a feature of modern life.^[10] Identities are relational, thus blackness is seen in its relationship to whiteness and vice versa. This has led to what have been termed hybrid identities where people draw on different cultural heritages. Social trends such s the greater exclusion of ethnic minorities from better paid jobs and decent standards of living point to the fact that the social structure in the UK is permeated with racialisation and ethnicisation where people are seen only in terms of their skin colour and ethnicity.^[11] These structures in turn, affect people’s identities because they prevent them from becoming something other than that which society has defined. On the other hand changes in society affect social structures which in turn affect people’s identities in myriad ways. Because identities are no longer fixed they are a source of continuing uncertainty. This uncertainty leads to further changes in the social structure. Contemporary people’s identities are unsettled because the changes mentioned above tend to cross ethnic boundaries. For example the changing role of women and their greater inclusion in the labour market has affected not only women’s and men’s identities, it has also led to changes in family structures.

The Family

Nowadays there seems to be considerable concern over what is termed the traditional family. In the papers and on television journalists are increasingly expressing concern for the death of what they call traditional family values. Critics raise the subject of cohabitation, divorce, same sex marriage, and the increasing number of lone parent households, and regularly pose the question of what is happening to British society. Mooney et al (2004) have said of this that it results in contemporary family life being viewed with a mixture of ‘fear and fascination.’^[12] There is widespread concern that the changes we are witnessing in family structure will lead to wider social problems and may have troubling implications for the individuals involved.^[13] This raises the question of whether such changes should be viewed with pessimism or whether they are simply a result of the different ways that people order their lives in response to changes in society. Will these changes result in changes in patriarchal society or will they serve to further strengthen masculine power and supremacy? Although family roles and responsibilities are changing, for example women are no longer viewed primarily in terms of their housewife role, nor men as the family breadwinner, the family is still a widely accepted concept.^[14] It is becoming increasingly difficult to refer to the traditional family without making reference to the past, what some people term, ‘the golden age of the family’.^[15]Numbers of people have questioned whether there was such a thing or whether it is an ideological form that served a certain period of society.

Conclusion

It has been claimed that life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. Certainly Britain has seen considerable changes in the last fifty years. The welfare state was presaged on notions of full employment which did not foresee the changes that would take place as the result of new technologies. Change does cause uncertainty but that does not mean that it is necessarily a bad thing. Harking back to the early 1950s as a sort of golden age is wrong. History shows that societies that do not change and are not prepared to go forward eventually die out, change may not always be easy and this can result in uncertainty, but worrying about it will not stop progress.

Bibliography

Block 1 (6) (3)

Block 3 (3) (2)

Block 1 (8) (4)

Block 3(1) (2)

Hutton 1999 cited in Block 3 (3) (2)

Mercer 1990 cited in Block 1 (8) (4)

Mackintosh and Mooney 2004 cited in Block 3 (1) (2)

1

Substance abuse is something that is very common in today s life. There are many substances that are called abused and the most common abused substances are the street drugs. The other abused substances include alcohol followed by medical and prescription pills. Anything and everything can be abused if consumed in excess and this can include medicines as well. Substance abuse is identified by unusual behavior and it is because of this that there is a restriction on the abuse of substances.

There are two types of substance abuse and they are the normal, frivolous way of using substances without getting addicted to them, these people either stop the use of these substances or end up getting addicted to these substance abuse. The second type is the people who are addicted to these substances. Normally people think that they can get out of the addiction whenever they want and this is not something that happens. People end up getting so addicted that they feel they cannot survive without it. This is the stage where one loses complete control and is impossible for one to recover from this stage without outside help. Normally a person can gain control once in a while and this control keeps changing stance and there is a gyration between control and no control. This may go on for an infinite time unless the person accepts outside help.

Substance abuse is something that is really dangerous and once addicted it is very difficult for that person to lead the normal life he/she has been once leading. The person starts experiencing a drift towards the negative aspect of life and it becomes difficult for the person to live life the easy way. This addiction can be overcome if the person is willing to accept help from others and this can help them regaining their happy life free of addiction.

Substance Abuse Treatment

An abused substance is one which is consumed in quantities exceeding the prescribed one. There are many abused substances such as drugs, alcohol etc. There are many people who are addicted to substance abuse and they are in need to be treated immediately. Substance abuse treatment is the treatment of a person addicted to substance abuse such that he can be relieved of this addiction. This treatment is normally provided in substance abuse facilities.

If a person you know is addicted to any substance then putting that person into treatment in a substance abuse facility is probably the best option available. It s not an impossible task to make that person get relieved of his addiction and walk freely as a normal person. Also the task is not very easy. The person in treatment needs all the moral support that can be given and the person should be made to understand the importance of living a life free of addiction. Normally a person addicted feels that he/she should stay away from people and it is our responsibility that we take care of our beloved ones and make them feel that we care for them and make available all the facilities that is required to relieve them from the addiction.

The time spent in a substance abuse facility is precious as the person coming out of it comes back as a normal human and leads life like they once did. Not many people feel confident about their recovery while some go in with a mindset of recovering from the addiction. Even after recovery many people have not felt it positive to walk back and lead a normal life owing to the time they spent during the addiction. The bottom-line is that treatment given to an addict results in two things. It either makes them or breaks them it is depending on how they take it and with what attitude they went into the facility that matters.

Management Of Substance Abuse

Addiction to substance abuse is something that has become a very common issue now days. Also there has been an increase in the number of treatment facilities that avail rehabilitation to people with this addiction. When a person is admitted into this facility there are many professionals who deal with these addicts talk to them on a personal basis to know how they came in contact with the substance. Where they into it on their own or where they influenced by some other. All this helps the professionals to understand the extent of addiction and the mindset the patient has regarding the treatment of the addiction.

Individual treatment is something that has to be given to every drug addict and this is required because the level of addiction and the way they were introduced to this substance might change from one person to the other. Hence it is required that each person is individually spoken to and dialogue is made with the addict. This is done because the therapists have only this way to know more about them and thereby find a way to recover from this addiction.

Also one cannot recover from addiction without a moral support from people close to him. Thus the staff attending the person needs to decide on who the visitors are going to be and the type of conversation they are going to make with the person. This is the most important phase as the person needs to gain self esteem and self belief that he/she will be able to recover from this addiction. There are addicts who understand their problem and feel the need to discuss their problem with a professional. It is to be kept in mind that these addicts need to have a good rapport with these therapists. It is only by a combined effort of the addict and the staff that they will be able to come out of this addiction.

Symptoms Of Substance Abuse

One of the most serious issues in today s world is substance abuse. People with substance abuse addiction not only harm themselves they also pose as a threat to people living close to them. The best way to ensure safety is to make sure that one is able to recognize the signs that indicate substance abuse. There are a few areas which one must look into keenly to find out about the substance abuse. Finding out irregularities in these fields might give us a greater chance in finding out whether the person is under the influence of substance abuse or not.

The first thing that one must look into while investigating for substance abuse is the person s performance in doing tasks.

The next thing to check is the person s behavior with people around him. There is variety of behavior changes that one can notice if a person is under influence. It can be a low morale, arguments with the co employees, lack of memory and other signs. All this might indicate that a person is under influence or is in a state of hangover.

The next thing to be noted is the physical signs. These can mostly confirm a person s influence over a substance. The first thing is to note whether the person s eyes is bloodshot or watery. Then check whether the co ordination of his body parts synch and also look for co ordination in speech. Also if the person shows extreme fatigue or extreme stimulation then the person might be under influence of a substance.

Also one should have a keen look into the person s belongings and should carefully check if the person is in possession of any materials such as syringe, needles, pipes, lighters, etc. if a person is using such items often then there is a higher probability that the person is addicted to a substance.

Overcoming Substance Abuse

Substance abuse is the consumption of a substance more than the prescribed amount. Normally consumption of substances can give a person a special kind of sensation. But due to greed for more one might end up consuming too much and get dependent on it. Normally people consume drugs and alcohol just to get away from emotional stress and at times end up going too far.

Continuous consumption of these drugs and alcohol may lead to not only deterioration in health they also lead to decline in a person s social life. It may weaken relationship and may depreciate a person s respect in a community. It will lead to weakening of relationships with loved ones and let down rapport with colleagues. Taking into account these entire effects one must consider throwing away the addiction from such substances in order to maintain their health and ensure constant participation in social life. Thus one must plan and look for the type of treatments they are going to take in order to recover from this addiction.

The most important step involved is detoxification which ensures good recovery. The dosage injected into the addict will not affect body organs as they get out of the body quickly. There are two types of detoxification. One is inpatient detoxification and the other is outpatient detoxification. The inpatient detoxification should only be done in a rehabilitation center or in a hospital. This is because the type of detoxification used varies and it requires special facilities to be administered into a person s body. This is generally recommended for people who have been addicted for a long time while the outpatient is for people with mild addiction but this also requires a professional who can administer is safely.

While overcoming the addiction it is important that we have enough information on the withdrawal symptoms that one will face. Once they start kicking in one should know how to deal with them and what kind of remedies one should take in order to get out of the pain without getting into addiction again.

Reasons For Substance Abuse

Many people feel that people under substance abuse are social burdens and cause problems to social community. They feel the abusers are people who are morally weak, and are people who require assistance to lead a better social life. The problem is that most people chip away most of the facts and come to a conclusion just based on the behavior and attitude of the addict. They do not go into understanding the root of the problem and just give away conclusions based on what they see. But the real problem that has forced people to go into addiction may not be moral weakness it can be something else that has lead to them taking such a drastic decision.

The most common reason that recovered people come up with is that they heard a rumor which claimed that consumption of a particular drug enhanced the self esteem of a person and make the person feel better by striking the person s pleasure sensors. The substances consumed provide different types of sensation and each varies with the substance.

Moreover there are many people who choose the consumption of restricted substances with the hope that they will be able to come out of the stress and tension they have in their life. The stress caused could be due to emotional problems or due to workload. The abuse of substances due to stress related reasons is the most typical reason for a person becoming a habitual consumer of abused substances.

In today s world as it has been seen many times teens and adolescents are the ones who have been affected most defenseless to these substances. Though this age group has been the most vulnerable the other people of this group are also equally susceptible. Substance abuse is not an age related problem it can affect any person of any age. Even people who are icons and are considered mentors by many are exposed to substance abuse as they face a lot of stress and related problems.

How To Overcome Substance Abuse

Substance abuse normally refers to the over dosage of a substance in comparison to the prescribed quantity. Mostly abuse is referred to drugs and other illegal products but many people forget that even products like Vicks inhaler can be used as a substance which can be abused. Also people can rely on alcohol and prescription drugs and this is also a dangerous addiction. For a very long time people who indulged in substance abuse were considered immoral beings and were placed away from the community. They were being made ashamed for their doing and this made them refrain from meeting any person even from their family. But today substance abuse is considered as a disease of the brain where it has become reliable for a particular substance and it cannot live without it. These substances also work in a similar manner and they also bond with the brain like a normal medicine and once the supply of these substances stop it becomes difficult to let go.

These substances are responsible for producing certain neurotransmitters in the brain and this brings about a feeling of being drunk and feeling high. It can also make a person feel relaxed or feel highly excited. Because substances like this produce such neurotransmitters and produce certain emotions it becomes difficult for a person to live without these emotions and craves for more thereby creating an addiction for such substances.

Fortunately for people who are addicted to such substances there are facilities which help them to get rid of these addictions. It is entirely dependent on a person whether he will come out of the facility a responsible person and the one who he really was. These facilities are available to anyone who wants to get rid of these addictions and if the person feels he can get rid of the addiction and co operates with the therapists in that facility then there is a great possibility that the person comes out a renewed person.

Help With Substance Abuse Facilities

Substance abuse facilities are centers which treat people with addiction to certain substances. Substance abuse generally means the overdose of certain substances than the prescribed amount. Too much consumption of a certain substance makes the body rely on it and it thereby becomes difficult for a person to get rid of the substance. Substance abuse facilities helps a person get rid of these addictions and has proved to be very effective when it comes to removing addictions such as this.

There are many ways that a person can be treated for substance abuse and the most common method used is detoxification. Detoxification is the process of administering certain chemicals into the body which try and remove the substances and then get out of the body. The detoxification agent used is not addictive and it gets out of the body quickly. There are two ways in which a person can be detoxified the first is inpatient detoxification and the other is outpatient detoxification. Inpatient detoxification generally is done in hospitals and rehab centers and they require certain equipments to be administered. They are normally for people who have been addicts for a real long time. The outpatient detoxification is for mild addicts and it does not require equipments but the administration should be done by an experienced therapist.

Also there is the twelve step method to recover form substance abuse. This task involves twelve tasks which a person must follow in order to recover from drug abuse. When a person follows the twelve steps the person learns that addiction is something he can control and one can recover from addiction only by abstaining from it. It teaches the addicts to learn from their previous mistakes and makes him correct his mistakes thereby making him a better person. It lets him boost his self confidence and self esteem and makes a person feel no different from a normal human being.

Stages Of Substance Abuse

Substance abuse involves the addiction of many types of substance which includes a list of legal and illegal drugs. Legal drugs such as alcohols and prescription pills which contain sedatives are consumed over the prescribed level. Depending on the substance consumed a person can face different health problems. These substances are generally consumed by people in order to gain different mood alteration according to their wish. The substances consumed provide different moods. Some substances makes a person feel relaxed while some other makes a person feel more excited. In addition to this these substances produce a disability in the person s brain that makes the brain generate signals that crave for more of the same substance. This gradually leads to addiction.

Normally people feel that they can come over their addiction and feel that the will not consume it the next time. But every time they fall for the addiction .And ultimately achieve a state where they have no control over the addiction. There are five stages in which a substance abuse gradually develops into and addiction. The first stage is known as experimentation where people start thinking that trying the substance once might not lead them to addiction. Normally experimentation starts at a very early age and at this age people might not know the effects of these substances. There are also other reasons why a person starts using these substances and it could be stress and related problems.

The next stage deals with the regular use of these substances as one is not able to resist the emotions that they trigger. It could either be a happy feeling or sad one. But people just don t want to lose it and start consuming it regularly.

The next stage deals with the over use of the substance and this is the stage where a person gradually starts losing control.

The final stage of the or nearly the final stage is dependence in which the person is not able to survive without the substances and the body starts demanding for more and more of that substance.

The final and the ultimate stage is addiction which makes the person get addicted to the substance and thereby lose any resentment that the person has towards that substance.

Effects Of Substance Abuse

Indulging in the over consumption of a toxic drug or any other addictive substance is known as substance abuse. This phenomenon has become a common issue in many parts of the world. The drug consumed causes a nervous imbalance and causes the person consuming it to experience a change in mood and this mood changes based on the type of substance used. The effects of these substances are detrimental to ones health. It affects both the physical and mental aspects of a person s body.

There are many substances that can be abused and they are illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and legal drugs such as alcohol, prescription pills and many other drugs. The initial reason for a substance reason for a substance abuse might be for fun or it might be for gaining emotional pleasure due to personal problems. It can also be for the fact that there might be stress and related problems and hence to relax a person may indulge in substance abuse. When a person indulges in substance abuse he/she feels a deep desire to continue consuming it. And it thereby becomes an addiction. Substance abuse can change the behavior of a person. Can change his perception of judgments and can create imbalances in physical control over the body and speech.

The negative impacts of substance abuse can be seen at substance abuse facilities. Here the addicts face the withdrawal effects and are seen suffering of pain and poor health. One can clearly see the trauma in these people and the desperation to get hold of that substance. The body becomes numb and at times the person goes into a depreciated condition. People tend to forget their aim in life and they forget reason for living. It can change a person s mood immediately and the person can become violent and harm the people trying to tend them.

More About Substance Abuse

Substance addiction is something that has become a major social issue in many parts of the world today. This is a problem that does not have an immediate solution. The practice of drug abuse has increased in today s world because the world has become busy in their own work and don t have the ample time required to look into these matters with utmost care. Young kids without any guidance from their parents have become easy targets for substance abuse. There are a lot of symptoms that can indicate substance abuse. There are cases when it may be difficult to predict, these cases are mostly seen when the person starts hiding things from people.

Mostly there are people who want to avoid telling people about drug abuse within their families. It mostly involves parents who don t want people knowing about their kids involved in substance abuse and thereby don t take proper care of this alarming matter and do not even admit them into a rehab center.

Substance abuse has a profound effect on a person s health and is not something that must be left unattended to. It has adverse effects on the physical and mental health of a person. It changes a person s behavior and affects the person s stance and also affects the way he speaks. Their perception of things changes and at times they have a sudden change in emotions and they get too violent and harmful.

There are various treatment programs that are available to treat people addicted to substance abuse. The programs provided are either residential or are outpatient treatment. The treatment period normally ranges from about a month two three months. The time period mostly depends on the level of addiction. These treatment procedures mainly treat the inner man present in a person. It helps a person regain his very own self and helps him realize the mistakes he made and makes correct the mistake.

Evaluating Substance Abuse

Many people around the world have experienced a lot of substance abusing cases .to get out of substance abuse is not an easy thing for that professional counseling and medication is needed.

But evaluation of substance is not as we think. It is a tedious process and normally doctors don t opt for this process they can find out about a person involving in substance abuse without any test s but just to satisfy people they go for this evaluation. But it is recommended that a person undergoes this test in case a person is being admitted to a rehab center. The test is common in every place and the test is called CAGE test.

The test at first looks very easy and one feels that it is not very difficult. There are four questions that is involved during a CAGE test. The first question that is asked is whether a person has ever had the intention to cut down on drinking? Has the person ever been annoyed by the criticism they face towards drinking? Has the person ever been guilty about drinking? Has the person ever had a drink in the morning? Based on the answers given by the person the doctors can decide whether the person is addicted to drugs or not.

There are many other methods to evaluate if one is abused to a substance or not. The many methods available are the MIST method, the MAST method. These methods are highly efficient in finding a person s addiction towards addiction to a substance. Based on this it is decided whether he should be admitted to a rehab or should he be sent to a outpatient treatment where one is treated in their home only.

The rehab centers are also dedicated and they provide the right type of treatment based on the level of addiction and the rehab gives an assurance to bring back that person to normal and help him recover from that person s addiction.

Post-development calls for development of theories based on the culture and struggles of the people from the Third World countries. Discuss whether or not theories derived from the culture of Third World countries could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development and if so how?

To begin the discussion on whether or not theories derived from the culture of Third World countries as propagated by post-development could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development, it is imperative to understand the concepts of ‘development’ and ‘post-development’. The following table provides a basic overview in the form of comparison, between the two concepts:

Basis

Development

Post-development

Concept

A series of interventions in transition-economies (third world countries) with the goal of facilitating economic growth and/or improving lives and livelihoods.

An alternate to development with an interest in local culture and knowledge, a critical perspective on established scientific discourses and a solidarity for pluralistic grassroots movements.

Related Concepts

Modernization, Urbanization

Postmodernism, Post-structuralism, Grassroot Movements

Origin

West

Third World Countries

View of the Third World

Needs dire help from the West to solve its problems

Capable of figuring out solutions to its problems

Basis for Critique

Reductionism
Universalism
Ethnocentricity
Authoritarianism
Homogenizing development and neglecting its positive aspects
Romanticizing local communities
Legitimizing oppressive traditions

Development has increasingly become an unsettled concept. From the initial decades of the development era providing a clear agreement on the need for some sort of development, despite an array of positions, we have come to a decade where the status of development has become difficult to ascertain. What makes development knotty is the tension between the universe of those who study the Third World and the universe of those who inhabit this world. Development is touted to be a pervasive cultural discourse with intense consequences for the production of social reality in the so-called Third World. This has been largely due to the problems that are associated with universal theories of development:

Authoritarian and specification of goal and processes: Development, by virtue of a universal scale on which it can be measured, leading to the identification of “developed” and “less developed” (or “underdeveloped” or “developing”) units, specifies the existence of a particular goal (development itself) and dictates the processes needed to achieve that goal, i.e. economic growth, industrialisation, and modernisation through the transfer of capital, technology, and knowledge from the North/West.

The fact that these theories are based on one particular conception, which is then assumed to be universal (while ignoring/subordinating other conceptions) they make development authoritarian as they prescribe interventions in people’s lives that these people themselves may disapprove of.

Ethnocentrism: Universal development theories entail emulating Western History and are synonymous with Westernization. These theories give a ready-made development recipe from the west and at their heart is the idea that economic growth can be stimulated in any country, by following a US/European model. This recipe was driven by behaviorist, positivist and empiricist approaches in the mould of “scientific model” that prevailed in western universities and Research Centres and assumes that Western societies as ideal models and are complete in contrast to other societies of the Third World countries, the “less developed” ones. These theories have been accused for viewing Third world countries as inferior versions of the European countries, because the standards of a good society are assumed to be both universal and identical with particular (European) standards. It is also believed that colonial tutelage gave way to diffusion of development (development aid/projects, etc.), but retained the purpose by providing Europe’s past formula for development as the only workable one. In other words, development is like a phoenix rising from the ashes of imperialism.

Decontextualisation and Generalization: Another problem with universalization is that it groups all Third World countries into one category and ignores differences among them in an attempt to overgeneralize. Indians, Kenyans, Mexicans, etc. are not seen as being diverse and non-comparable, but as somehow lacking in terms of what has been achieved by the advanced countries. It assumes that all Third World countries have the same problems linked to a lack of capital, knowledge, technology, productivity, institutions, etc. which can be solved with technocratic solutions, unconcerned with politics, relations of power and conflicts of interest, solutions that are rational and that no one can object to. It also neglects the differences between the supposed beneficiaries such as farmers and landless labourers, rural and urban poor, men and women, wage labourers and company owners, ruling elites and marginalised groups, etc. Universal development theories also do not take into account that the underdevelopment in the Third World is a result of Western Capitalist Explanation.

Thus, when their starting points and journeys aren’t the same, how can the future discourse of the Third World ape the past of the First World? The ‘a priori’ approach of development for the developing and underdeveloped make it infeasible as the decision of the route is based on circumstances that are no longer there. For formulating bankable processes of upliftment, it is important that these nations be viewed as very different constructions of societal, economic, political, and cultural structures. Their progress into democratization or economic success will not come from mirroring the histories of the First World but must instead be unique to the needs, cultures, traditions, and prior establishments of each individual country.

Exogenous Nature: The theories were developed by a body of so called experts who merely drew from their own personal thinking in their task of changing the Third World countries, making it external.

Can a theory or method be forced upon people without first engaging in a conversation with the subject? If so, is the “product” created from this exercise of value? Can years of lived experience be erased through a series of strategic planning sessions, or campaigns not rooted in any significant way to the reality of the subject being trained or required to participate in the activity? These are the question that the paradigm of post-development answers in the negative. Theories derived from the culture of Third World countries could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development because of the following features of post development and thus of these theories:

Non-authoritarian with flexible goals and processes: The primary concern of post-development is to look for alternatives to development through an interest in culture and local knowledge by promotion of localized, pluralistic grassroots movements and its strength is in its anti-authoritarian sensibility. It also believes that there are numerous ways of living a good life and every society is free to invent its own and involves responses given by a group of people to particular problems or direct instances of power. Thus, post development is neither imposing a goal nor a process and distances itself from technocratically pre-defined standards and universal models. Therefore, the theories emanating from the Third World within the ambit of post development respect alterity and anonymity in the construction of subjectivities, with each society asserting its right to define its own path. These theories allow the subjects to use their own tools, and to go alone to not only develop answers, but also its own questions.

Cultural Relativism: Since these theories are based on the struggles and cultures of the people of the third world countries, local culture, artistic aspects and communal aspirations are often important concerns. These theories are generally deeply interested in the history of their communities and the place they occupy in regional or national contexts. Post-development takes into account people’s self-definitions as a crucial part in its inquiry and tends to create a new awareness of cultural difference, which contributes to the breakdown of ethnocentrism and universal values. Therefore, these theories entail discourses on difference, particularly cultural difference.

Contextualisation: Post-development is related to the visibility of the grassroots and entails local contexts. It situates itself within the context of local struggles and the linkages of local people in the world systems, lending it relevance and usability to people of the Third World in their daily lives and struggles. It encompasses a plurality of collective actors and revolutions at the micro level, with their own spheres of autonomy. The theories emerging from the Third World with applicability to the Third World presuppose an adequate understanding of the different social, political and economic structures of these countries and their respective histories.

Endogenous Nature: Post-development heavily relies on the knowledge of the Third World countries and this knowledge occupies an important role in the creation of theories for them and the decision making processes. It involves intellectuals from the Third World, alongside grassroots activists.

Post-development counters the problems of universalization of development theories by instating faith in theories based on the culture and struggles of the people from the Third World countries, taking into account their needs, wants, desires, histories, structures, etc.

An example of a theory arising from indigenous knowledge is presented in Jane C. Horan’s (2002) study of indigenous economic development. In this, female textile producers in the Kingdom of Tonga received money as part of a ‘Women in Development’ aid-funded credit scheme. Though it was anticipated that the loans would be used to produce textiles for the local tourist economy, the women produced indigenous koloa textiles for the Tongan ceremonial economy which, according to Horan, enabled a “greater range of ideological, spiritual and material gains including cash” (2002, p.206). Though “the default rate on the loans was low, and the women were engaged in a Tongan notion of development known as fakalakalaka, the funders and the critics of the schemes were either unable to or would not recognise development taking place” (Horan, 2002, p.210). The study acknowledges what people are doing vis-a-vis what development doctrines expect them to do.

Other instances are indigenous movements originating from the south of Mexico, the south of Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, picking up also in Peru because of anti-mining protests. These are social movements in which the indigenous component is stark, but there is also a black, Afro-Latin American component in several countries, and also a peasant one represented by those connected to Via Campesina, a federation of peasant movements who are opposing free trade and the privatisation of seeds.

What one needs to understand is that since development and post-development are at the extreme ends of the spectrum, therefore the problems of universalization as seen in development are not seen in the paradigm of post-development due to its highly localized nature. However, post-development (thus by extension the theories propagated by it) has its own set of problems, even though it forces us to confront the failures of the development agenda. Critiques of post-development believe that it overstates its case and neglects all the possibilities of positive development interventions, such as techniques of modern medicine raising health and life expectancy of people, by taking an extremely homogenized view of development. Further, it romanticizes local communities and at times, legitimizes oppressive traditions, and becomes just as paternalistic as the chastised development paradigm. It ignores the local forms of oppression and violence and is accused for being indifferent to the violation of human rights. While the movement towards cultural sensibilities that accompanies post development is a welcome shift, the plea for people‘sculture, indigenous culture, local knowledge and culture, can lead if not to ethno-chauvinism, to reification of both culture and locality or people. Furthermore, by propagating thinking local and acting local, it tends to avoid global structures of inequality.

Though, the second wave of post-development counters a few of the aforementioned shortcomings by suggesting alternatives like the conception of communal solidarity, direct democracy, social movements, indigenous knowledge, etc. and state that the it is not the aim of post-development to offer a normative, new solution, the loopholes aren’t still completely plugged and will not be till the time a viable alternative to development is proposed by this school of thought. In the absence of a feasible solution put for by it, post-development remains merely deconstructive of an existing paradigm.

In today’s world, what is needed is a middle way, something between development and post-development that can incorporate the positives of universalization as well as localization. Till the time such an approach is developed, the choice pertains to choosing the lesser evil of the two.

References:

Horan, J.C. (2002) Indigenous wealth and development: micro-credit schemes in Tonga, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 43(2), 205-221.

The Importance of Family Meals

Introduction

Whether it is dinner, breakfast, or lunch, family meals offer an opportunity for all family members to pass time enjoying each other’s company and good food. In many occasions, mealtimes might be the only occasion many families have a chance to congregate as a unit. Eating meals as a family provides a huge opportunity to form and strengthen domestic bonds as members engage each other in conversations. Also, research shows that family meals benefit members of the household in terms of nutrition, academic performance, spending and manners. This expressive article highlights the nine major benefits of family meals.

The Benefits of Eating as a Family

The advantages of eating meals as a family are as follows:

Communication and Well-Being

Dialogue during mealtimes provides an opportunity for the family to plan, learn, and bond with one another. It is a chance to chat about events of the day as parents give additional attention to their children. Family meals foster love, warmth, security and feeling of belonging. Eating together as a household is not merely about food, but knowing about the wellbeing of one another. Sharing meals with loved ones is like a special event that almost assumes the form of a ceremony, which has always been practiced since time immemorial. Besides the appreciation of the food and the effort that went into making it, there are numerous social elements, such as learning how to conduct conversations, listen, serve others, compromise and solve conflicts which come into play when a household shares meals (TheHJGroup, 2013).

Role Modeling

Family mealtime is the best time to display and teach one another appropriate meal etiquette, table manners, and social skills by keeping the mood relaxed, light, and loving. Family members try lead by example and not to criticize or instruct. Eating together offers an opportunity to exercise gratitude through prayer or sharing the thing members are thankful for prior to eating.

Family meals grant the opportunity to convey the attitudes and values of a household from one generation to another: Children can be taught by their parents or grandparents about the values that are significant to the family. Family meals are also an ideal approach to link up household members with their ethnic or cultural heritage, because differing foods might reflect the distinctive ethnic tastes or cultural traditions of their family’s background (TheHJGroup, 2013).

Exploration

Family meals enable family members to expand and explore the world round them one diet at a time. Members of the family can encourage each other to try out new foods, without bribing or coercing. They can introduce new foods accompanied by some of their favorites. Parents and children can select new recipes from cookbooks, web sites, magazines or newspapers. Trying out new foods, particularly from different parts of the world is like exploration or beginning a new hobby. It magnifies the experience, knowledge, and skills of the household members (TheHJGroup, 2013).

Nourishment and Relaxation

Meals that have been prepared and consumed at home are generally more nutritious. They comprise more vegetables, fruits, and dairy products as well as extra nutrients such as vitamins A and C, fiber, and calcium. Moreover, home cooked foods are not usually deep-fried or highly salted like take-away meals. Plus, consumption of sweetened beverage is frequently low at the table as family members ought to take natural blended juices. Recent researches show that family meals are connected to a low risk of obesity in both children and adults because when people eat at home they typically consume a balanced diet.

Also, eating together helps family members relax. Before or after having a long day away from home, parents and children can benefit from the pleasure of cooking and enjoying their meal. Not only does this give you them a chance to calm down, it prepares them for the day or for a peaceful, rejuvenating sleep.

Self-Sufficiency

Family meals provide self-sufficiency to household members because it allows them to know how to plan and make meals. Both basic and complex cooking preparations are requirements for being self-sufficient. Parents can involve their family members in grocery shopping, menu planning, and food preparation. Young children can cut bananas, tear lettuce, and set the table while older children can do tasks, such as peeling vegetables. Teenagers can grill, dice, chop, and bake. Working together puts meals faster on the table and makes everybody more responsible.

Prevention of Destructive Behaviors

Research indicates that frequent family meals (five or more per week) are linked to low rates of drinking, smoking, and illegal drug abuse in teenagers and pre-teens compared to households that do not eat together. Even as the schedules of older children get more complex, it is vital for parents to make efforts to have meals together.

Studies by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse show that children who do not have meals with their family members at least twice every week were 40% more likely to indulge in alcohol and drugs, not to eat healthily, and report being distant from their parents than youngsters who eat with their parents often.

Better Academic Performances

It has been proven that children perform better academically when they have more meals with their family members. Mealtime discussions translate into success in class. As children listen to their parents and other members talk, they learn essential language abilities, such as new reading and vocabulary skills. These skills are necessary for expressing oneself verbally and comprehending what is read, thus they help children perform better on tests in school. According to research by University of Illinois, children who eat more than five times per week with their family members tend to have high academic performance than their peers who habitually eat away from home or eat alone.

Cost Reduction

Home cooked meals are much cheaper than fast foods. Families do not need to spend a lot of money to prepare tasty meals because they can look up for cheap and simple recipes from cheap vegetarian foods to healthy snacks on a low budget of under $3 per serving. Meals bought outside the home are generally two to four times costly than meals made at home.

Fun

Family meals are fun. Through sharing meals and taking time to converse about what the family members are experiencing in term of flavors, they are more likely to have fun and be mindful of the food. This results in improved digestion and enjoyment of the food. Family meals are also fun because they are taken and enjoyed in a cool and relaxed setting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the benefits of family meals go beyond nutrition. Eating as a family has multiple advantages in many other aspects as well.

Family meals are healthier and they provide an occasion for household members to sit around the table, enjoy, relax, discuss and applaud themselves for preparing a meal that is more likely to be nutritious than one that they would have purchased outside the house. Moreover, recent evidence demonstrates that children who have more meals with other family members are the less likely to engage in illegal behavior, such as smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. These children also perform well in school, have high self-esteem, and do not develop eating disorders.

Family meals are a tradition and the cornerstone of the home because they offer self-sufficiency, reduce costs, and provide fun.

Bibliography

Kolker, C. (2011). The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness and Hope. New York: Simon and Schuster.

TheHJGroup. (2013, October 23). Successful Entrepreneur on The Importance of Family Meals. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdzaZL6AdYg

Note to student: Include the secondary source from your school’s library databases in the bibliography above.

Many factors contribute to making up the identity of an individual, their self-image and how they portray themselves. Some of these factors include: beliefs, culture, gender, race, amongst others. Usually, people in a society tend to base their initial knowledge of other people on stereotypical generalizations that originate from these various aspects of identity. In many cases, these generalizations that hastily become the known myths do not necessarily tell the truth about a certain group of people with major similarities like cultural background or race. This ends up creating a standard that society indirectly confers on these people who in return, may or may not conform to these standards. Personally, I fall under the category of people that do not live according to what may seem like societal standards when analyzing the average Canadian teenager. My cultural and racial identity sum up the major aspects that influence my self-image because my physical characteristics causes society to not see beyond my cultural background, gender and values.

As an illustration, my cultural and racial background is physically evident because I have distinct features like my skin colour, that show I am Black. Also, when I talk my accent clearly depicts that I am a West-African, more specifically a proud Nigerian girl. This impacts my self-image tremendously because it serves as a constant reminder of my place of origin. Being a true Nigerian child comes with the training I get to enable me become a responsible lady in the nearest future. This is because I have certain responsibilities and standards to live by as a result of my upbringing as a child. For example, in my childhood the importance of working hard was constantly preached by my parents, elders at church, school and even my surroundings. House chores were seen as the primary duties of the children in the home and being the youngest of five did not really help this fact. My place in the family as the last born put me in the position of the errand person. My older ones were more like my supervisors and to them, having me assist whenever there was a need to wash clothes, cook, sweep the house and many more, made me more responsible as I grew older. Up until this point, this makes me see myself as an active role player in my life and maturation process. On the other hand, this is different from how the people around me would judge me. A recent example is when I moved into residence at York University. Being evidently African, a fellow student living on the same floor admitted she thought I would be really “ratchet”. By this, she meant her expectations of me were low. She thought I was the loud party girl that every guy knew and had sexual history with. She was surprised to find out I am actually a reserved and simple girl who is academic oriented. Her reason for thinking this way came from her encounters with few other Black girls in the past who did not act responsibly because of their issues with drugs, smoking and boys. This made her judge me before she even got to know me for who I truly am.

Secondly, being a girl influences my self-image because it is one physical aspect of my identity that speaks for me before I do. As a female child born into a patriarchal society like that of the Nigerian society, your ideal stages in life have practically been laid out for you to follow. It starts from growing up being responsible and hardworking, then working hard to make sure you are academically successful because education is very important. After this, you get your career and at the “right time”, get married when your destined husband finds you. For instance, when I was a younger child growing up, my mum always told me stories of how being a good mother or wife is not easy, but worth it. She would always encourage me to watch her whenever she was cooking, serving my dad his food or arranging the house. She constantly emphasized on the importance of being industrious as a lady and potential wife. This means that as a female in the average Nigerian home, your purpose in life seems incomplete if you do not plan on getting married and having children. In other words, after you reach a certain age as a girl, you better start expecting the whole talk about marriage, having grandchildren for your parents and being a good wife, cook and mother when you marry. I do not have a problem with this in any way because I believe that part of the fulfillment of a woman comes from her marrying her true love, having a family and raising her children at some point in her life.

Furthermore, my values which are a major component of my identity determine the kind of person I choose to be and eventually become. My main values include, my belief in Jesus Christ as my saviour, abstinence from sex, alcohol and any type of drugs. This makes me see myself as a misfit because I can hardly fit into my environment or society without having to change or compromise my beliefs a little. Most times, people see me as weird and find it hard to believe that I have never gone clubbing, smoked or at least done something “cool”. An occurrence that I do not think I will ever forget was in the summer of grade eleven which is about two years ago. I met a guy who happened to be a friend of my close friend. The three of us spent time together at the mall while the guy was trying to get to know me better by asking me questions about my school, background amongst others. I thought he was a nice person. Eventually, he asked if we could “chill” and I was not sure of what he meant. Regardless, I said no because and gave an excuse of having to go pick my nephew up from school. In all honesty, I did not feel like going out with a guy, especially someone I just met for the first time. To cut the long story short, he ended up walking halfway home with me because he claimed he lived in the same neighbourhood as me. Later on, I figured that by “chill” he meant he was sexually attracted to me and he just wanted to get something from me because he thought I was that type of girl. I could see disappointment written all over his face when I totally refused his advancements towards me. He said he had never been refused by any girl with a similar racial or cultural background as me. To say the least, I was disgusted at the fact that someone of the opposite gender would actually disregard my belief in sexual purity and abstinence then, judge me in such a disrespectful manner because of my skin color and cultural background.

All in all, I believe that my body goes beyond my physical beauty and what I look like. It encompasses everything about me, ranging from the smallest to the biggest. The way I see myself is also as a result of a combinations of all these factors like how other people see me and judge me. I cannot blame society for their judgements of me, but I can expect better because a person goes beyond his or her cover which is the body. You have to remove the cover in this sense and see every single thing is contains beneath it. As a result of this self-image continuously develops as a person grows and this is my story. I know that despite what my cultural and racial identity entails, I will continuously amaze myself with personal growth and maturity. I will reach beyond the set boundaries and expectations.

Everyone knows the problem of young and adults because of its adverse effects on the family and society, and has negative implications in terms of health, psychological and economical aspects(14 October) newspaper some of the members of the community to know the damage this marriage that people complain about it.

Effects of Early Marriage

Early marriage effects can be both negative and positive, it may be a successful marriage, but the cons are more than the pros. For example, we can say that a large proportion of the Yemeni society represent an example of this issue but if we think that this segment live without a stable marriage life we might be wrong and perhaps they feel that they’re happy because they got used to it as a tradition.

The most important disadvantages of early marriage is that it always ends in failure and paradoxical as it may be married at the request of parents and held them since they were small meaning that marriage imposed does not exist for the passion between them, early marriage, even if they continued accompanied by a lot of problems and the contract, especially after a period of age of marriage, where the feel of each party that imposed on him and that view both to the other non-interest and satisfaction in other words, that feeling and a sense of the party towards the other party no longer has any existence, and that was contrary to the truth becomes a spacing and acrimony between the parties. Another result from early marriage, family non-threaded or non-M in the case of the continuation of the marriage and the reason is due to the lack of full maturity and rationality of the husband or wife and irresponsibility in building a noble family strong and I mean that boys have no one to care for them and bring them good education, because the spouses do not realize the meaning of responsibility of the parties and achieve the desired goal and satisfy the instinct emotional only. may be the man at the age or old age and women are at an early age has been a marriage for the purpose of material or so and thus appear negative after marriage, a lack of understanding between married couples, or different thinking or a difference of age and perhaps married women in an early age was forced and therefore not aware of the meaning of married life later, and may be just the opposite for men who marry early, a woman older than him not as a woman or girl when she marries at an early age is not reassuring for life and face many pressures psychological, social and often mood nervous , feel that they have committed a sin or it is a human being naive, being married at a young age and things are a shame for them and in this age, she does not understand the meaning of a family and have no look to build a society and that foundation is the family sense of two fresh for Dyalrgel and women who get married at the age of early to be inadequate for building the family and society, but remains of early marriage are some positive aspects for the young and the young because it works on the vaccinated and protected from corruption and moral decay and the behavior is normal and is therefore considered this marriage horse for the person and maybe this kind of marriage has its benefits in the face of the burdens of married life and its problems with After marriage, born with the challenge, resilience and ability to carry tow and the requirements of married life so that men have acquired a strong will not weaken in front of the difficult circumstances it was important and this is rarely found in people who were raised in the environment or harsh conditions ..

It could be argued that the benefits of early marriage that children living in the age and age is enough to help their parents until they are old and cannot fear them from the pitfalls of old-time.

Marriage Alambkremcklp haunt community

She spoke Sister / Salwa Mohammed Ali gauze, saying:

Marriage housing and love and mercy to form a stable family united and that the marriage of the ways of God in the universe for the sustainability of life and continuity to what God wills, but early marriage, which means that a person is is ready physically and mentally … etc incomplete maturity and identifies age is under the age of eighteen age, that early marriage problem of great social concern to the community and lead to a lot of social and psychological problems, one of the most important reasons that lead to high divorce rate in society and leads to many social and psychological problems and also lead to a deviation of the children and their estates and are considered victims of early marriage as it is the most important factors affecting the creation of family volatile of the inability of spouses to raise children properly so that they become a burden on society but on their families and themselves, which leads to backwardness and lack of growth of the community and result in early marriage conflict between the families so as not to bear a spouse, each other and Isttie solve their problems but resort to the parents mentally and physically, to the lack of psychological stability in the family and most of this or that loss of life in the bickering and problems that do not expire and age that does not repeat without that we benefit in our religion and our mundane.

Reasons behind early marriage?

The most important reasons that drive parents to marry off their daughters or their children at a young age instinct existing within the human psyche and of greed for material shall be their children just a commodity sold without thinking about their future, which is the most expensive things in life as well as the motivation, traditions and customs that would lead to marriage of children in an early age, especially the girl who beat her and be married at the age inappropriate for her and are not able to bear this responsibility, because age is not formatted to the procreation and upbringing of children, and motivations also underdevelopment which is the problem itself, I mean the failure of parents who push them strong impetus to the lack of understanding that life change and not necessarily to live their children as they lived them, as well as becoming early marriage stumbling block particularly girls Fimnaha of education altogether, or are taken out of school early in life and thus are lagging behind non-educated and have a negative impact on society and therefore fail in her marriage these and other factors help to leave the community and not to link the past with the present at this important point with the harm caused by serious and psychological impacts both on women at this early stage is not ready physically and still members of the body in the process of growth and reproduction at this stage may lose their life or grow properly and is an important factor in high mortality rate at birth Add to this the complications subsequent harmful to their health and the health of her unborn child and most importantly, the injured psychological where infected women are depressed psychological due to the circumstances the new life that can not afford what the difficulties because they do not have experience in how to deal with life, which is still living is the same age children …

Therefore, we have as much as possible to avoid early marriage and childbearing for the risk of significant social and judge our minds on this issue in order to avoid the scourge before they regret when it is too late because a marriage to a social entity and the prisoners must be equal.

In contrast, At the other end spoke Brother / Abdul Salam future Rabadi said: Marriage is a blessing of God Almighty bestowed on all human beings to the fraught relationship of love and compassion and intimacy between the couple and a family to preserve the offspring of human extinction has embodied the marital relationship, all the laws of era (our father Adam) until God inherits the earth and them, therefore, early marriage is not a distasteful because it is for both sexes, male and female chastity and purity, the purity of the vices which are located in communities that are prescribed in laws and prohibit this type of marriage. helps to spread of immorality how much gets in Western and Eastern societies that do not condemn the Islamic law.

It also has disadvantages may be negligible compared positively by fortifying communities Underworld reservation offspring of human extinction and protect communities from diseases that arise from the delay of marriage as is the case in the communities mentioned above. Therefore I think that early marriage is the only way to protect communities from indulging in the relations illegal and therefore they work on the conservation of lineages and races and good birth control.

Children do not bear the responsibility

He spoke Brother / Nayef Hammoud right: First to Know Why marry boys and girls at a young age and early and say they were previously driven to marry off their children are young because of the lack of hands to help them in farming and the individual, including married women Owalitnin Owalthelat even have help to work and serve the land and planting and harvesting But the question is puzzling in our time because they do not work on farms and became the Son burden on the father rather than what to be the father costly supports an the child only becomes a father costly supports an son and his wife and children This is a dilemma in itself add to the burden of the family I am the opinion that parents do not give the marriage of their children However, when mature and appreciate the responsibility and know the rights of marriage for males and females all of whom know his wealth and what it should be efficient and able to bear the responsibility and expenses of the House because it would establish a home and family I am When I married that my son was young and I spent it will become the responsibility of heavy Ali and therefore will be forced to tell him that God opens you rode your home … and here face reality and do not work, no job and no home do not study a whole part dependent on his father does not compare marriage in the past and present in the past of early marriage was not a problem because life as a whole were not complex, as is the today in the era of technology and the person to go to anywhere and do any work without conditions and the number of hearts of the people was a little comparison of population explosion happening, who is suffering from the country before twenty years have passed a variety of jobs present and most people working in Gulf countries and the rest at home and very easily accessible, but In the present work is becoming difficult, both outside and inside the country.

Conclusion

From my point of view, disadvantages of early marriage causing the number of divorces for the failure of the two partners in the marital life and the ignorance of the girl of their duties and their rights and problems of early marriage is also that children do not know the meaning of marriage and what the duties and rights are married, imagine when the wife is a child and are subjected to pregnancy and childbirth and give birth to a baby is do not know the methods of education and do not know how to care for this baby because they are themselves looking for a mentor, and from the complete breeding, as well as the health problem faced by post-natal … and the Son which was imposed by the marriage and parenthood is not capable nor wise nor very well all these reasons, the above-mentioned lead to the failure of the marriage and lead to early divorce logic is to learn and study and get a job then we can think about marriage.

Nowadays, people use the technology to make their life better, easier and more enjoyable. Also, the technology can make their society more convenient and safe. Without the technology the world wouldn’t be what it`s today. the technology has made the world smaller and made things easier. According to the American heritage science dictionary “Technology is the use of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems, especially in industry and commerce. Also, the specific methods, materials, and devices used to solve practical problems.” (Houghton Mifflin Company 2005).

One of the major benefits of technology is the great advances in medical science .It saves a lot of innocent lives and we can’t dispensable it in medicine today. It discovers many serious diseases and find newer ways to cure them. Also, getting everything easily and faster .we can download from the internet any song, music and movie instead of buying them. Although there are many benefits of technology, what people do not understand is technology can be harmful to the society. Omar Bradley says “If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.” (Omar Bradley 1893-1981).In this essay, I would like to analyses how the technology can be harmful to the society.

Laziness is a major side effect of technology in society. Who can remember when people had to go to the library to research for a topic or had to go morning to get news paper? When the Internet was introduced, people never thought it would be like today. Now , people are able to do everything in internet while they are sitting such as research ,getting the latest news , reading books and sending emails .Also, at the moment the lectures give assignment to the students, they do plagiarism instead of going to the library or doing by their own word. One of the effects of technology is cybercrime. Cybercrime is a crime related to any electronic device. According to James R. Richards “Cybercrime is computers are responsible directly or indirectly for every aspect of our lives, from the operation of our cars to our personal banking to flow of date in our business. With the exponential rise in the legitimate uses of computers, it follows that there would be an inevitable increase in their illegitimate use” (James R. Richards, 1999). For example, hack the emails and the computers are the simplest crime of cybercrime. Also, one of the most popular crimes committed on the internet is attaching websites. In recent years, some teachers were hacked their computers by students to get the exam papers.

Less motivated is the second effect of technology in society. Always people choose the easiest way to solve their problems and this led to less thought and work. The problem is if someone get in terrible no one will help him and this can make him frustrated and less motivated. Example of less motivated is students fail to do their work because they play games in their computer all the day instead of working on their lesson plan. Also, nowadays people start to use a technology way such as calculator to resolve mathematics exercises instead of using their brain.

Less tolerant is the third effect of technology in society .Nowadays , productivity is the most important but the rights and the needs of workers have become less priority .Also, the workers have to do not just more work ,but also they have to work more faster .This strategies includes any methods for producing products. The problem is these equipments give employers something they want: cheap labor, make the job easier and create a need for fewer people. In this way, technology affects the society to become less tolerant. Therefore, people begin to expect these equipments to help them to solve their problems more faster.

Refrences
1- Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, The American Heritage Science Dictionary , 1st edition, Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Available from :

http://books.google.com/books?id=yKUagx8PB_EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+american+heritage+science#v=onepage&q=&f=false

2-Guy de la Bedoyere, 2005, The first computers, 1st edition, Published by Evans Brothers Limited.

Available from :

http://books.google.com/books?id=DPAnH6_3-UAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Guy+de+la+Bedoyere%22#v=onepage&q=&f=false

3- James R. Richards, 1999 , Transnational criminal organizations ,cybercrime and money laundering .

Literature review

Many researches have been carried out to study the nature of impulse buying and various factors that affect it. Impulse buying is influenced by a variety of economic, situational, personality, time, location and even cultural factors. Researches have also been conducted to understand the underlying motivational factors behind impulse buying. Similarly researches have been conducted to study factors that moderate impulse buying behavior. Consumers engage in impulse buying to satisfy hedonic desires for fun, novelty and variety; also impulsiveness is correlated with consumer’s desires to fulfill self-esteem and self-actualization needs.

In the early stages research on impulse buying behavior was product-focused, as only products were held responsible for exciting people for unplanned purchases. The researchers directed their efforts and attention only to the type and characteristics of products and other factors associated with the availability display etc. of products in stores.

But later on, from the last few decades, the researchers focused on customers rather then products as being the cause of impulse buying. The factors like personality characteristics, income level, need to fulfill self-esteem etc. are typically responsible for impulse buying behavior.

The understanding of impulse purchasing was greatly improved through Stern’s identification of four distinct classifications of impulse purchasing: planned, pure, reminder and suggestion impulse purchasing. The four categories are as follows:

Pure impulse buying is a novelty or escape purchasing which breaks a normal buying pattern;
Reminder impulse buying occurs when a shopper sees an item and remembers that the stock at home is exhausted or low or recalls an advertisement or other information about the item and a previous decision to buy;
Suggestion impulse buying occurs when a shopper sees a product for the first time and visualizes a need for it, even though he has no previous knowledge of it; and
Planned impulse buying occurs when a shopper enters the store with some specific purchases in mind, but with the expectation and intention to make purchases that depend on price specials, coupon offers, and the like.

(Francis Piron (1991), “DEFINING IMPULSE PURCHASING”, in Advances in Consumer Research Volume 18, eds. Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 509-514)

There are some factors other then product and individual characteristics that also play an important role in generating impulse purchases.

Gender Differences in Impulse buying

Several previous researches on impulse buying have paid some attention to the role gender plays in determining this behavior. These researches show that men and women’s shopping behavior differs on many levels.

Kollat and Willet (1967) found that women tend to engage in more impulse buying as compared to men. It is also argued that women because of their propensity to shop more in general, make more impulsive purchases.

Tariq Jalees (2009) also found that the level of impulsiveness in reference to buying is stronger in females as compared to males.

Transaction Size affecting Impulse Buying

Kollat and Willet (1967) used two measures of transaction size: number of different products purchased and the grocery bill. They found out that the increase in size of the grocery bill and number of purchases made resulted in an increase in unplanned impulse purchases.

Shopping List and Impulse buying

Studies conducted by Kollat and Willet (1967) indicated that one of the factors that affect impulse buying is the presence of a shopping list. This however only holds true if the transaction size is greater than 15. When more than 15 or 20 products are purchased, shoppers having a list make a smaller percentage of unplanned purchases. However, when less than 15 or 20 products are bought, the shopping list does not affect the percentage of unplanned purchases.

Pre-decision stage and impulse buying

The research study conducted by Muhammad Ali Tirmizi, Kashif-Ur-Rehman & M. Iqbal Saif (2009) clearly indicate that there exits a weak association between consumer lifestyle, fashion involvement and post-decision stage of consumer’s purchasing behavior but Pre-decision stage of consumer’s purchasing behavior established strong association with the impulse buying behavior of the consumers.

The pre-decision stage of the purchasing associate the buyers with unplanned or impulse buying because these days stores are full of variety of products and a buyer can easily get interested in purchasing a product which appeals him or her while shopping the planned list of products. (Muhammad Ali Tirmizi, Kashif-Ur-Rehman & M. Iqbal Saif 2009)

Group influence on impulse buying

Most research in consumer psychology assumes that impulsive purchasing can be best explained by factors at the individual level, in contrast a research study conducted by Xueming Luo (2005), indicates that the presence of others influences this behavior. Presence of peers increases the urge to purchase, and the presence of family members decreases it.

Visual merchandising and impulse buying

Today’s retail stores are almost universal in their reliance on self-service merchandising and a high rate of impulse buying. Self-service merchandising is facilitated by store design and careful attention to traffic flow, while impulse buying is enhanced by the use of special displays.

Customers typically do not cruise the aisles aimlessly hoping to find something to buy. Most consumers are busy people and have a purpose to their shopping trip. Thus, impulse sales are created not by persuasive reasoning, but by striking an emotion that the customer can act upon quickly. There appear to be three mechanisms by which the impulse buying response can be triggered.

First, the special display cues the customer to respond to an external advertising campaign. The display creates impulse sales by reminding customers about the extensive advertising to which they have (hopefully) been exposed. Second, the display can serve to break the consumer’s conditioned reflex to buy a particular product. If the consumer buys Brand A because it has become a habit, then it will be necessary for them to have a reason to break this conditioned purchase behavior. Special displays provide a way to accomplish this because the consumer is responding emotionally, not through a reasoned process. Finally, special displays create impulse sales for new or novel products by instigating the desire to “try something new!”

The salient feature to remember about impulse sales is that they are a response to an emotional appeal. A successful appeal may take many forms, but those most universal and easiest to communicate are identified by simple phrases such as: “low price,” “new,” “free,” “extra,” etc. A special display is used to get the customer’s attention for each of these messages.

A research study conducted by W.M.C.B. Wanninayake & Pradeep Randiwela (2007), indicates that most of customers have given first and second priority to visual merchandising. Second and third largest amount of customers mentioned price of goods and location of the outlets. According to the literature and pilot study in Sri Lankan supermarkets, researchers recognized that lighting, design layout, product display and cleanliness are the main variables of visual merchandizing.

Price discounts and impulse buying

This factor is the most talked about when it comes to impulse buying. A lot of people say that they indulged in impulse buying just because something was on a discount. Deals and discounts contribute to impulse buying, and when we see something priced much lower than what we are used, – that triggers a desire to get that thing and save money.

A large part of all purchases are attributed to impulse buying, this is undoubtedly good for retailers, but it’s not as good for consumers, because a lot of impulse buys don’t end up getting used at all, and one regret spending any money on them.

Price promotions come in various forms, such as buy-one-get-one-free offers, coupons, and of course price discounts. Cash reward is a new popular promotional tool used at many famous department stores, apparel retailing chains, and grocery stores. Consumers can obtain a rebate when their purchase passes a threshold set by the company, as in, purchase over $100 to get a $10 cash reward. However, distinguished from other price promotions, cash rewards provide consumers freedom to choose any products within the store rather than a specific product. Cash rewards, like the conditional discount of coupons, give rebates only to consumers achieving the purchasing threshold.

Facing free choice and the conditional-discount promotion, consumers may be attracted to buy merchandise in excesses their original shopping budget. Those consumers perceive gains from getting the cash reward if they reach the threshold and perceive losses from not taking advantage of the offer if they do not. Such perception generates an “artificial buying desire.”

Price discounts and cash rewards do increase the possibility of occurrence of unplanned purchases, especially when a consumer’s shopping expenditure approaches the offer’s threshold.

Hypotheses

The hypotheses formulated after review of the literature are given below:

H1: Visual merchandising has a strong influence on the impulse buying behavior of the consumers.

H2: Price discounts have a strong influence on the impulse buying behavior of the consumers.

The testing of the hypotheses is confined to the primary data collected from Karachi.

References
Kollat, D. T., & Willett, R. P. (1967). Is impulse purchasing really a useful concept for marketing decisions? Journal of Marketing Research, 4, 21-31.
International Review of Business Research Papers, Vol. 5 No. 6 November 2009, Pp.298-308, An Empirical Analysis Of Impulsive Buying Behavior In Pakistan Tariq Jalees*
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, 15(4), 288-294, Copyright © 2005, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. How Does Shopping With Others Influence Impulsive Purchasing? Xueming Luo University of Texas at Arlington
An Empirical Study of Consumer Impulse Buying Behavior in Local Markets Muhammad Ali Tirmizi, Kashif-Ur-Rehman, M. Iqbal Saif, European Journal of Scientific Research, ISSN 1450-216X Vol.28 No.4 (2009), pp.522-532 © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2009, http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.html
W.M.C.B. Wanninayake, Pradeep Randiwela, 7th Global Conference on Business & Economics, ISBN: 978-0-9742114-9-4 October 13-14, 2007, Rome, Italy