Welfare to Work Midterm Essay Example for Free

Welfare to Work Midterm Essay 1. President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) P.L. 104-193 on August 22, 1996. What are the basis and implications of this law? On August 22, 1996, President William Jefferson Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) (P.L. 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105) into law, thus fulfilling his campaign promise to end welfare as we know it. The PRWORA changed both the substance and administration of the national welfare system. The act eliminated the prior welfare system, which had been attacked for decades by policy-makers, the press, and the public for increasing government spending while making the poor dependent on government charity. The stated purposes of the PRWORA were to reduce welfare dependency and out-of-wedlock births and to encourage the formation of two-parent families. In line with these goals, the PRWORA required welfare recipients to work within two years of receiving assistance, and it put a five-year lifetime limit on the receipt of benefits. It also ended the entitlement status of welfare benefits. In addition, the act made other, less publicized changes to several social welfare programs, both restricting the availability of benefits (making it harder for disabled children to qualify for assistance, limiting eligibility for food stamps, denying welfare benefits to most legal immigrants) and strengthening programs that aid children (reorganizing and increasing funding for child care, toughening the enforcement of rules for child support). In addition to the acts primary emphasis on putting welfare recipients to work, the PRWORA also radically altered the way government delivers welfare benefits in three important ways: (1) Increased role of states. To fund welfare the PRWORA provided the states with fixed block grants called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) to fund welfare, totaling $16.5 billion annually over six years. Congress also included a provision in the act that would result in TANF funding cuts if the states failed to move a required percentage of recipients into the workforce and off welfare. Nevertheless, TANF gave states extensive discretion to design and operate their own programs. This transfer of authority from the federal government to the states is called devolution. Under devolution, states have many choices to make in shaping their welfare policiesncluding being more stringent than federal law requires. For instance, some states have chosen to limit the receipt of benefits to less than five years, to cut benefits to families with truant children, or to mandate that parents take parenting classes. (2) Increased role of local entities. The PRWORA allowed states to devolve their authority even further to counties, local governments, or even private entities. The private entities involved in welfare administration include a wide range of for-profit companies, nonprofit companies, and religious groups. As a result, welfare programs vary widely not only from state to state but also within local jurisdictions. This transfer of authority to private providers, an approach called privatization, has raised questions about accountability. In other words, some critics argue that PWROWA has made it more difficult for the government to oversee programs so as to ensure quality service to recipients. The accountability of for-profit entities is of particular concern, because the incentive to earn profits can lessen the quality of services provided. Critics also charge that privatization may cause private providers to lose their independent character as they become increasingly bureaucratic and reliant on government funding. In addition, there has been sharp debate over whether religious groups should receive government funding for delivering social services. Opponents charge that this violates the separation between church and state. Proponents hold that a spiritual approach to the delivery of social services is more effective than secular approaches. (3) Changes in the role of welfare workers. The work-first emphasis of the PRWORA has dramatically changed the role of front-line workers, those low-level welfare office workers who interact directly with welfare clients. Before the PRWORA, front-line workers focused on two tasks: (1) verifying whether applicants met objective criteria to become eligible for assistance, and (2) issuing checks in a timely manner. By contrast, under the PRWORA these front-line workers must perform a variety of tasks, including evaluation and counseling, designed to put people to work. As a result, they have a much bigger say in decisions affecting applicants than they had previously 2. What is the relationship between Aide to Families with Dependent Children AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program (JOBS)? 3. What is the difference, if any, between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Welfare-to-Work Grant Programs? Explain in detail. PRWORA replaced AFDC with TANF and ended entitlement to cash assistance for low-income families, meaning that some families may be denied aid even if they are eligible. Under TANF, states have broad discretion to determine who is eligible for benefits and services. In general states must use funds to serve families with children, with the only exceptions related to efforts to reduce non-marital childbearing and promote marriage. States cannot use TANF funds to assist most legal immigrants until they have been in the country for at least 5 years. TANF sets forth the following work requirements in order to qualify for benefits: 1. Recipients (with few exceptions) must work as soon as they are job ready or no later than two years after coming on assistance. 2. Single parents are required to participate in work activities for at least 30 hours per week. Two-parent families must participate in work activities 35 or 55 hours a week, depending upon circumstances. 3. Failure to participate in work requirements can result in a reduction or termination of benefits to the family. 4. States, in fiscal year 2004, have to ensure that 50 percent of all families and 90 percent of two-parent families are participating in work activities. If a state meets these goals without restricting eligibility, it can receive a caseload reduction credit. This credit reduces the minimum participation rates the state must achieve to continue receiving federal funding. While states are given more flexibility in the design and implementation of public assistance, they must do so within various provisions of the law: 1. Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; 2. end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; 3. prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; 4. and encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. Funding for TANF underwent several changes from its predecessor, AFDC. Under AFDC, states provided cash assistance to families with children, and the federal government paid half or more of all program costs. Federal spending was provided to states on an open-ended basis, meaning that funding was tied to the number of caseloads. Federal law mandated that states provide some level of cash assistance to eligible poor families but states had broad discretion in setting the benefit levels. Under TANF, states qualify for block grants. The funding for these block grants are fixed and the amount each state receives is based on the level of federal contributions to the state for the AFDC program in 1994. States are required to maintain their spending for wel fare programs at 80 percent of their 1994 spending levels, with a reduction to 75 percent if states meet other work-participation requirements. States have greater flexibility in deciding how they spend funds as long as they meet the provisions of TANF described above. Welfare recipients and certain non-custodial parents are going to work, gaining job skills, and receiving the temporary help they need to become economically independent through local initiatives supported by Welfare-to-Work grants from the U.S. Department of Labor. These outcomes have been a primary goal of Federal welfare policy since the enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Act which ended welfare as an entitlement and set lifetime limits on an individual’s benefits. Additional welfare reform legislation in 1997 authorized the Department of Labor to provide Welfare-to-Work grants to help the hardest-to-employ, long-term welfare recipients get education, training, work experience, and private-sector jobs. These grants to States and communities are intended to provide welfare recipients with training, transitional employ ment, job placement services, and support services. Local communities have the flexibility to design programs that fit their particular needs. Approximately three-fourths of the $3 billion authorized for Welfare-to-Work was allocated to States on the basis of their poverty populations; the States are required to spend $1 of non- Federal funding for every $2 in Federal funds. Nearly one-fourth of the total funds were awarded competitively to local governments, private industry councils, or community-based organizations; 1 percent of the funds was awarded to Indian tribes, and 0.8 percent was set aside for evaluation. The Welfare-to-Work Initiative evolves to meet society’s needs, even though virtually all of the grant funds had been distributed by the end of 1999. At least 70 percent of grant funds were required to be spent on services to long-term recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and non-custodial parents. The remainder could be spent on TANF recipients who have characteristics associated with long-term welfare dependency, youth who have received foster-care services, and custodial parents with incomes below the poverty line. Eligibility criteria were simplified under the Welfare-to-Work and Child Support Amendments of 1999. Under related programs, Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work tax credits provide 4. How are the Welfare-to-Work Programs being carried out in the State of Mississippi? Temporary Assistance for Needy Families provides cash benefits to families once they have been approved for the program. The benefits can be used for any legal personal reason, such as rent, food, child care or medical bills. The benefit amount is determined by a familys monthly income and the size. In Mississippi, if a familys income does not meet the standard of need used for eligibility, the state itself may supply benefits. In 2011, the maximum state allowance for needy families was $110 per month for the first person in the program, $36 for the second and $24 for every additional person. Time Limit The federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act imposed new time limits for TANF. No state can offer benefits for longer than the federal limit, although they may be extended under certain circumstances for a limited time. Mississippi uses the federal guideline for TANF benefits, although the time limit in some other states is shorter. TANF participants in Mississippi cannot receive help for more than 60 months, or five years. Eligibility Not all needy individuals qualify for TANF. Only families with children may apply, and the children must be deprived of one or both of their parents because of unemployment, absence or inability to perform their parental duties. In 2011, the family cannot exceed a maximum monthly income level or hold more than $2,000 in assets, such as real estate or cash. Mississippi rules also require that any parent or relative caretaker who takes TANF money because one or more of the parents are absent must assign support rights to the state and aid the state in obtaining child support payments from the absent parent, which may require legally establishing paternity. Work Requirements All adults who participate in Mississippis TANF program must meet the work requirements or lose their benefits. There are exceptions for women who are in their third trimester of pregnancy and have complications. You also do not have to meet the work requirements if you are the victim of domestic violence, in treatment for substance abuse, disabled, elderly or caring for a disabled household member or child under 12 months of age. Participants have 25 months to meet all work requirements before losing benefits. The program does help participants with skills assessments, developing an Employability Development Plan and job training. Vocational education, work experience programs, community service and job searches qualify as work activities for TANF. 5. â€Å"Promoting marriage and helping those with substance abuse were the secondary goals of the reform.† Referring to the US Welfare Reform in 1996, how was secondary goals achieved? In conjunction with supporting work, new policies deny assistance to people who do not work. The work requirements in TANF are stricter than those in AFDC, fewer recipients are exempted from them, and failure to comply with them can lead to financial sanctions. In addition, PRWORA limits nonworking able-bodied adults without dependents to three months of food stamps, and state General Assistance programs have declined. States have done less to achieve welfare reforms family structure goals—encouraging marriage, reducing the number of births outside of marriage, and keeping children in their own homes or the homes of relatives—than they have to promote work (chapter 3). Many states make TANF available on a fairly equal basis to families with single and with married parents, which reverses a longstanding bias in the welfare system against serving two-parent families and thereby possibly discouraging marriage. Twenty states have adopted family caps that deny additional benefits to adults who have children while they are on welfare. Another PRWORA provision strengthens the child support system, with the federal government developing a data registry to facilitate collections from working noncustodial parents, states being required to adopt new child support enforcement tools, and individual welfare recipients facing sanctions if they fail to cooperate with the child support system. 6. How successful was the 1996 Welfare Reform? Declining Welfare Demand In 1994, about 5.1 million families were receiving cash assistance from the government. Most beneficiaries have since been forced to leave the welfare rolls for low-paying jobs, following the 1996 welfare reforms. By 2006, USA Today estimates that 1 million more had been removed either because of failure to follow state rules, or they had depleted all the benefits allowed under time limits. At the 10th anniversary of the PRWORA, only about 1.9 million families were getting cash benefits: 38 percent were blacks, 33 percent were white and 24 percent were Hispanic. Between 1994 and 2004, the welfare caseload recorded an unprecedented decline of 60 percent. Working Single Mothers Of the families on welfare in 2006, unmarried women headed three out of four. However, statistics indicate earnings for the poorest 40 percent of single mother households doubled between 1996 and 2006. Statistics also revealed that about 60 percent of adults leaving welfare were employed at any given moment, according to the Brookings Institution, and that over several months, about 80 percent held at least one job. Rising Income Levels Between 1993 and 2000, the percentage of low-income single mothers with a job grew from 58 percent to nearly 75 percent, an increase of almost 30 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This was a direct result of welfare reforms. The overall income of low-income families increased by more than 25 percent over the period, and by 2006, child poverty fell significantly. According to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, welfare reforms have succeeded mainly because the presumption of government assistance as an entitlement has been reversed. The Knowledge Gap The University of Michigan argues that research on welfare reforms is too focused on poverty reduction rates, lower out-of-wedlock childbearing and greater family stability, while overlooking spousal abuse and child neglect. The university argues that poverty levels remain high among single mothers and their children and that welfare recipient faced impediments to stable employment. Similarly, the Employment Policies Institute suggests more research must be conducted in an effort to understand the relationship between minimum wages and welfare recipiency. The minimum wage research data is currently more focused on high school dropouts, with only limited attention paid to poor adults.

Identity In Post Colonial Australian Essay

Identity In Post Colonial Australian Essay In the second half of the 20th century, after two centuries of colonial oppression and assimilation policies in Australian history, political and social break thoughts of aboriginal people in to the dominant European culture was bought to an end, thus enabling Aboriginal Artists to have the freedom to express their traditions, culture and identity. According to Oxford Art Online, the Simultaneous explosions of the Australian art market in the 1990s, gained international recognition for Aboriginal Art that emerged into the contemporary Aboriginal art that appealed to White Australias conflicting a desire for cultural reconciliation. The recognition of artistic production in Aboriginal communities across Australia enabled artists to explore themes of cultural alienation. The first wave of contemporary Aboriginal painters including Clifford Possum, Rover Thomas, Paddy Bedford and Emily Kame Kngwarreye, utilized repertoires of dots, blocks of color, with stimulating negative spaces or gestural brushstrokes to evoke the sense of a sacred, collective knowledge. Collectors and museums began to actively collect contemporary Aboriginal works, whose conceptual paintings reinterpreted Australian colonial history. Today Aboriginal Australians are producing art in the remote regions where artists continue to explore their connections with their ancestral land and traditions of ground designs, body art, painted canvases, and bark paintings using contemporary materials. The practice of art is seen differently by indigenous art-makers than their contemporary artist counterparts; the works themselves often have a lot in common with much contemporary artwork, particularly with conceptual, installation and issues-based art. However, in early times, art had a different function than the modern ideas of self-expression or decoration; created with spiritual and hunting/survival purposes in mind. The identity of the individual artist/maker of cave paintings, masks and other traditional art forms was not as significant as it is today. Still, the traditional art objects perceived today also as a work of art, and valued for its aesthetic qualities. In addition, they are exploring contemporary art forms such as photography, film, multimedia, theatre, sculpture, printmaking, and installation. Artists such as Tracey Moffat, (b.1960), Fiona Foley, (b.1964), and Gordon Bennett (b.1955), whom consider indigenous art as a way to express political and social issues in new forms of contemporary media, reflects unique perspectives of a distinctive experiences. Whilst their art proclaims aboriginal identity, it often acts as a medium for cultural renewal, operating beyond the classical idioms, conforming to the inspiration from aboriginal practices and European, and other visual language and techniques. As, written in Wally Caruanas book, Aboriginal Art, chapter 6, Artists in the Town and City: In the second half of the twentieth century, as the movements for the recognition of aboriginal rights gained momentum, urban and rural artists found compelling reasons to produce art. Aboriginal people required imagery and symbols with which to express their ideals and inspirations. These issues of dispossession, broken families, racism-the secret history of Australia- and an intensifying of the sense of cultural identity provided strong motivation, and these themes are all apart of the repertoire of artists. For instance, works by aboriginal instillation and mixed media artist Fiona Foley, from Harvey Bay, Frazer Island, engages with the history, ideas, family tradition from her cultural heritage from the Wondunna clan of Badtjala tribe from her mothers side, and her work reflects the remembrance of colonial oppression, the colonized vision of Australia and her ancestors. Foleys work deals with the issues of displacement and dispossession of land, the people and some of her work is highly political, committing herself to the history of Aboriginal people and represents racism and violence and identity, and raises issues from a historic and contemporary cultural view. (http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2644/6/part5, (Morphy, Illus 260, 273). Annihilation of the blacks (1986), is a frightening sculptural installation which is a part of the permanent collection of the Australian National Gallery (Caruana, 1993).The work represents the massacre of the disturbing treatment of Aboriginal people by the colonizers; the work consists of a white figure standing in front of 9 hanging black figures. The upright forked posts and cross poles are a powerful symbolic medium in traditionally-oriented Aboriginal communities for shelters and homes (Reser, 1977b). It is also a sacred complex and symbol for the first residence of the Wagilak in Arnhem Land, which represents the Kunapipi ceremony (Berndt, 1951). Also within the young Aboriginal boys waiting to be born again, as young men, are viewed metaphorically as flying foxes, hanging from the beam, it is said that the flying fox ancestral spirits brought circumcision to the central Arnhem Land clans and because the flying fox is a central totemic species to clans in this region. Fiona Foley often draws inspiration from traditional Aboriginal culture and life, while making powerful and contemporary political statements. All of this gives the sculpture a very strong traditional as well as contemporary symbolic quality, with multiple and intertwined meanings and messages. Annihilation of the Blacks 1986 wood, synthetic polymer paint, feathers, string 278 x 300 x 60 cm Collection National Museum of Australia, Canberra Image courtesy National Museum of Australia, Canberra  © the artist Photograph: George Serras, National Museum of Australia http://www.mca.com.au/general/FFoley_resource.pdf In her large sculptural installation work such as Land Deal, 1995, is about the response to the words of the nineteenth colonial official John Batman, when he described how he purchased 600, 000 acres from local aborigines in Port Phillip, in exchange for beads, blankets and knives, scissors. (http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2644/6/part5.pdf). This work consists of a spiral of flour on the floor; representing the loss of lifestyle and health that consequently came about during white settlement, and also by invoking the genocidal colonial practice of poisoning the flour given to aboriginal people, (Evans, Raymond, Fighting Words: Writing about Race, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, 1999. The work also incorporates the objects, which hang from the walls. The real projection is that her expression to suggest the indigenous loss the land, as a dialogue of transaction, reminding the public of the cold absence of indigenous voice, and the lack of understanding that for the ongoing cam paigns for land return in which Foley and her own family have embarked in. Land Deal 1995 installation view, Savode Gallery, Brisbane, 1995 mixed media, flour, found objects, text dimensions variable Collection National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Image courtesy the artist and National Gallery of Australia, Canberra  © the artist http://www.mca.com.au/general/FFoley_resource.pdf Foleys personal searches to discover Badtjala material culture by referring to these objects, examining the history of their collection and interpretation. Foley reclaims their true significance to Aboriginal people. The ambiguous relationship between the descendants of the white settlers and Australias original inhabitants in Fraser Islands recent history as the struggle for recognition of native title for the Badtjala people continues. Avril Quaill Gordon Bennett, also from an aboriginal heritage from his mothers side; he was an orphan from Cherbourg reserve 240km northwest of Brisbane. Known for his paintings, installation and multimedia art forms focuses on a more personal viewpoint of past and present struggle for identity as an Australian of Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic descent. His works present and examine a broad range of philosophical questions related to the construction of identity, perception, and knowledge. (http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/intro.html) within cultural and historical inequities created by European settlement in Australia, (http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/02.html) For example, he uses his self-portraits as a concept of self-identity and questioning stereotypes and labeling on a larger national scale, immersed within a White European culture. Bennett was unaware of his Aboriginality until his early teens as he described this knowledge as a psychic rupturing, (Ian McLean, Towards an Australian postcolonial art in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 99). (Ian McLean, Towards an Australian postcolonial art in Ian McHis art attempts to depict the complexity of both cultural perspectives. Self portrait (Ancestor figures), 1992 deals with broader issues of cultural identity as well as personal identity. The installation consists of images of his family and drawing. The self- portrait of the artist seems to be present everywhere within the installation but is in fact nowhere. The dresser draw labelled self is closed while the drawers for history and culture that is partly open and partly closed. Bennett in dicates the need to be reconciled within the context of culture and history to develop a full sense of identity. An understanding of self in the context of family does not seem enough as the mirror, acts as a chronic symbol within his work, is not a two- dimensional illusion but an honest construct. The viewer does not confront the artist, but self. Bennett uses this symbol because: In the mirror, everything is possible because nothing is there (Ian McLean, Towards an Australian Postcolonial Art in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p.105) Gordon Bennett born Australia 1955 Self portrait (Ancestor figures) 1992 chest of drawers, watercolour, photocopies, lead, rocks, masking tape (variable) (installation) Collection of the artist, Brisbane  © Courtesy of the artist Photography: Phillip Andrews http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/02.html What emerges for all who take part in this piece is in fact an examination of the self. The I am from Self portrait (But I always wanted to be one of the good guys) is replaced with We all are. In addition, the grid and perspective lines on the floor represent another symbol acting as the groundwork of the installation that appears to confirm this sense. In European tradition, the means to map a particular space, land, etc alludes to ownership and territory. It recalls the way stereotypes, labels, identities, and systems of thought are fixed. On each corner of the grid are the letters A B C D . While these may indicate the way maps are constructed to find different locations, they also represent the first letter of racial slurs. Identity is fixed and self is understood in the context of words such as Abo, Boong, Coon and Darkie . The Other is clearly marked out as not only different but by necessity inferior. These contrasting and complex meanings and ideas are not accidental. Bennett purposefully constructs these layers to blur fixed ideas and raise questions about the way identity is constructed. He uses his self as the vehicle to do so. Lean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 99) You have to understand my position of having no designs or images or stories on which to draw to assert my Aboriginality. In just three generations, that heritage has been lost to me. Gordon Bennett 9 Blood is a potent symbol and has historically been a measure of Aboriginality. In the past Quadroon, was a socially acceptable term used to label Indigenous people as a way of establishing genetic heredity. The purer the bloodlines, the more Aboriginal you were. Mixing of pure blood with European blood was feared by Europeans, authenticity was at risk and identity diluted. As an Australian of both Aboriginal and Anglo Celtic descent, Bennett felt he had no access to his indigenous heritage. He states: The traditionalist studies of Anthropology and Ethnography have thus tended to reinforce popular romantic beliefs of an authentic Aboriginality associated with the Dreaming and images of primitive desert people, thereby supporting the popular judgment that only remote full-bloods are real Aborigines. Gordon Bennett 10 Gordon Bennett explores these ideas in Self portrait: Interior/ Exterior , 1992. Once again, the arena of self- portraiture becomes a vehicle to take over and challenge stereotypes. Here he exposes the truth of colonial occupation it was a bloody conquest. Bennett depicts self as a black empty vessel, coffin- like with lash markings almost disguised by a thick layer of black paint. Literally opening up this black skin of paint are the words cut me. They act as deep welts created when tissue scars. Gouged into the skin like a tattoo, these markings will never heal or fade away. They powerfully describe pain and violence. Bennett only uses two colours, symbolically, red and black. Gordon Bennett born Australia 1955 Self portrait: Interior/Exterior 1992 synthetic polymer paint on canvas on pine frames, leather stock whip, paper tags (1-2) 187.0 x 60.0 x 25.0 cm (each) (1-3) (variable) (installation) Collection of the artist, Brisbane  © Courtesy of the artist Photography: Phillip Andrews http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gordonbennett/education/02.html There is no physical body. The coffin- like box acts as the body, both inside and outside are scarred with Pollock inspired lashes of paint. These scars are not just physical they are also emotional. This imagery is reinforced by the whip neatly hanging on the wall beside the body. Ultimately, this piece, one of a series of welt paintings, explores identity through pain, exploitation and suffering. Bennett does not wish to romanticise or sanitise this bloody history. The viewer is challenged to face it. The blood splashed and flowing under the layer of black skin does not discern the colour of the skin it contains, only the potency of life. Bennett challenges the viewer with contrasting identities. The oppressors, those who use the whip, and the oppressed, those enslaved by the whip. These opposites are not absolute. Bennett is more interested in exploring what lies between. My work is often seen as about exploring my identity in order to secure it, like Im searching for it, like Ive lost it somewhere, which is the total opposite to what Im doing. Sure, Im exploring identity, but Im trying to make it obvious about how open it is; how its a process of the negotiation of these different sites of memory, human relations. It is all those other things, and it shouldnt be closed off. It shouldnt be a thing that constricts nor should it be an imposed thing, from outside oneself, like a prison. Gordon Bennett 11 Bennetts art practice attempts to remove the obstacles that interfere with a positive development of self. Tracey Moffatt, born into a fostered white family in Brisbane, close to were her Aboriginal ancestors grew up, on a mission outside of Brisbane called Cherbourg, (Moffatt qtd. in Rutherford 52, plays a huge part in representing a multicultural role in society as she examines the ways Australias colonial past enlightens the present. The photographs, mostly still from her film-making, places a narrative images into many of the stories being told, representations past and present times in Aboriginal History, her perspective seems to identify to her Aboriginality and feminist view point. However, she cautiously uses her style of narratives with multiple and specific politics concern of Australian identity, with an inspiration of the lives of her Aboriginal heritage and culture. Her unique visual style of cinematic images challenges the stereotypes of race and gender, with issues symbolic of political references, (http://admin5.lisjc.lism.catholic.edu.au/~mark/Visual%20Arts%20documents/Id entity%20unit/Tracey%20Moffatt%20from%20Australian%20Artists.pdf) Her compelling and very powerful photographic works such as Up in the Sky 1998, is a sequence of twenty five monochromatic narrative photographs set in the vast desert concerning the Australian Stolen Generation. Indigenous Australian children were taken from their families and forcibly relocated under Government policy was enacted and performed on location in Queenslands outback, (http://www.answers.com/topic/tracey-moffatt). In these images Moffatt refers to both the collective memory of her own personal experiences as well as the constructing reality of the influence of culture, alienation, desolation, and the wider concerns of remote living. Tracey Moffatt Up In The Sky # 1, 1997 series of 25 images off set print 61 ÃÆ'- 76cm 72 x 102 paper size Edition of 60 http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/26/Tracey_Moffatt/73/32634/ In her films still Night Cries: A rural Tragedy 1989, she represents the truth and memory about a mother and daughter relationship with a focus on events that took place focusing on Death, childhood, loneliness and memory. The film brings forth the powerful issues related to the black and white relations of Australian history during the attempts to assimilate Australian Indigenous people into the white society, (http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/27504/qld_edu_kit_web.pdf) Tracey Moffatt: Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy, Still, 1989 http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/27504/qld_edu_kit_web.pdf Tracey Moffatt . The interest in Aboriginal art which has flourished since the 1970s has created new opportunities for indigenous artists, as their work leaves the communities to be shown in museums and galleries around the world. Meanwhile, the imperatives to produce art for traditional purposes continue, and the expanded environment in which indigenous art now operates has created further compelling reasons for artists to continue expressing the values of their culture to the wider world. In the public domain, Aboriginal art can be appreciated for its spirituality and aesthetic qualities, and as a reflection of the social and political achievements and aspirations of the peoples who create it. . Avril Quaill: World of Dreamings, Traditional and modern art of Australia, An exhibition held at the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg | 2 February 9 April 2000 H , Robinson: Feminism-art-theory: an anthology, 1968-2000, Wiley-Blackwell, 2001 Bonwick, J., John Batman, the Founder of Victoria, Melbourne: Samuel Mullens, 1867. Caruana, W., et al, The Eye of the Storm: Eight contemporary indigenous Australian artists, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 1996. Cooper, C., Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections in Overseas Museums, Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1989. Elder, B., Blood on the Wattle: Massacres and maltreatment of Australian Aborigines since 1788,second edition, Sydney: New Holland Publishers, 1998. Moon, D. & Krause, J., Deutsche Auswanderer Hope and Reality, History of the nineteenth century German settlement of Mount Cotton in south east Queensland, Cleveland, Queensland:Redland Museum Inc., 1999 Gordon bennetts ref: Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 33 Ian McLean, Towards an Australian postcolonial art in Ian McLean & Gordon Bennett, The Art of Gordon Bennett, Craftsman House, 1996, p. 99 Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p. 22 Rebecca Lancashire, Blurring the lines of history, The Age, Monday 5 May , 1997 Kelly Gellatly, Citizen in the Making: The art of Gordon Bennett in Gordon Bennett (exh. cat.), National Gallery of Victoria, 2007 p. 16 Gordon Bennett, The manifest toe in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p. 34 Gabriella Coslovich, Bennett puts on a brave face, The Age, 28 April, 2004 Ian McLean, Towards an Australian Postcolonial Art in The Art of Gordon Bennett, p.105 Gordon Bennett & Chris McAuliffe, Interview with Gordon Bennett in Rex Butler (e d.) What is Appropriation? An Anthology of Writings on Australian Art in the 1980s and 1990s. IMA Publishing, Brisbane, 2004, p. 27 http://leonildeviljoen.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/fiona-foley/ http://www.quitnow.info.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/C143D432E3817918CA2571F10000CC3A/$File/indall.pdf http://www.newrepublics.com/GordonBennettHomeDecor.pdf http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/33990/cda_5.pdf http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1931/is_1_27/ai_n29415749/ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1931/is_1_27/ai_n29415749/pg_2/?tag=content;col1 http://www.artaustralia.com/images/currentbookpdf/Tracey%20MoffattVol41No2.pdf http://www.artlink.com.au/articles.cfm?id=2596 http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/00/10/night.html

Case study for a client with schizophrenia

Case study for a client with schizophrenia and has had three admissions to hospital the last one five years ago ,her name hala ,at the age of 35 year old ,she live with her brother but tend to be a bit overprotective ,not allowed to take much responsibility in the home or to go out alone . The clinical picture of the client: It include the, signs symptoms for the client. Hala has moderately severe negative symptoms ,The negative symptoms of schizophrenia, defined as the absence or diminution of normal behaviors and functions , negative symptoms account for much of the long-term morbidity and poor functional outcome of patients with schizophrenia.. The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia are numerous and debilitating , these symptoms are the lack of important abilities . Some of these include: 1)Alogia: or poverty of speech, is the lessening of speech fluency and productivity, inability to carry a conversation ,thought to reflect slowing or blocked thoughts, and often manifested as short, empty replies to questions. 2) Affective flattening: is the reduction in the range and intensity of emotional expression, including facial expression, voice tone, eye contact (person seems to stare, doesnt maintain eye contact in a normal process), and is not able to interpret body language nor use appropriate body language. 3) Avolition: is the reduction, difficulty, or inability to initiate and persist in goal-directed behavior; it is often mistaken for apparent disinterest. ) Inappropriate social skills or lack of interest or ability to socialize with other people. (examples of avolition include: no longer interested in going out and meeting with friends, no longer interested in activities that the person used to show enthusiasm for, no longer interested in much of anything, sitting in the house for many hours a day doing nothing.) . 4) Catatonia: Apparent unawareness of the environment, near total absence of motion and speech, aimless body movements and bizarre postures, lack of self-care. 5) Social isolation : person spends most of the day alone or only with close family, and inability to make friends or keep friends, or not caring to have friends. 6) Low energy :the person tends to sit around and sleep much more than normal. The client is being worked upon with the following MDT: Psychiatrist: the psychiatrist works with the client using needed medication, such as Prozac. Psychologist: the psychologist works with the client using different approaches, in order to understand her, and her behaviors, through talking, observingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Social worker: the social worker works with the client in understanding difficulties that the client has, that affect her social lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for example not going to work, the thing that affects her social relations and networks. Physician and nursing: the physician is a general doctor that follows up the clients medical status. On the other hand, the nursing team is available in the institution for the clients need to be supervised by a medical team, for if someone would have a relapse, an action would be done, such as giving injections. Finally, the MDT works together, by meetings and reports about each client. She is treated with medication and visits the out patient clinic at the hospital every three months to see her doctor. she reliable about raking her medication and keeping her outpatient appointments. treatment may include: behavioral therapy: patients with schizophrenia improve their social skills and put structure in their lives. Through social skills training, they may learn how to make requests, express feelings, and adjust their voices and facial expressions. The impact of the illness will have on the clients occupational functioning The impact of these symptoms on ADL, work, and liesure. Activities of daily living require the ability to start and repeat purposful task performance so that become habitual or routine and these tasks or activities include: bathing, grooming, and dressing, washing hands before a meal, eating with resonable table manners, then cleaning up. Persons who have schizophrenia may find routin task performance interrupted by symptoms, side effects of medication, and progression of schizophrenia. Auditory or visual hallucinations may interrupt attention, and tactile discomfort with texture of materials may limit occupational performance. Many ADL routines become challenging in the presence of motor problems produced by negative symptoms and the neurological side effects of medications. Incoordination, tremores, rigidity, or slow movement may interfere with tasks like replacing caps on bottles, shaving, and using eating utensils. In the psychological area, major barriers to ADL are pathy, avolition, or extreme withdrawal. Even persons who show inter est in social interaction may not complete the self-maintenance tasks that would increase social acceptance. They are unable to engage themselves in tasks and may depend on others to involve them. fainally, self-management difficulties in schizophrenia influenece ADL performance to a great extent. Routines are abandoned when persons are unable to cope with environmental or internal stressors. Time management and self control become weak. Work Ofen persons with schizophrenia have difficulty finding satisfactory housing or keeping a job because of psychological, and self-management performance difficulties. Also, negative symptoms such as withdrawal, avolition, substance abuse, neurological impairment, medication side effects, and coexisting medical conditions make work performance impossible for many. The modelframe of reference I used to guide the assessment and intervention with the client: Frame of reference :MOHO model of human occupation I chose MOHO because it : 1)Furnishes a detailed framework of the occupational functioning of hala. 2)Enables precise measurement and useful description of hala occupational characteristics . 3)Give specific and detailed guidelines and tools for evaluating hala ,a specific language for describing the difficulties or challenges encountered ,and a framework for setting treatment goals and selecting the most appropriate strategy to achieve the desired level of change . 4)allows for a flexible approach to individualized therapy for hala and provides a comprehensive picture of the occupational functioning . 5)provides a conceptualization of the process and stages of change that was useful for guiding the sequence of therapy (including deciding when hala is ready to move from one level of change to another). how I assess the client I chose an activity during the assessment ,I chose washes plastic plates I chose ACIS assessment (( assessment of communication and interaction skills)). The ACIS is a formal observational tool ,to measure an individuals performance in an occupational form within a social group ,that allows occupational therapist to determine a clients strengths and weaknesses in interacting and communicating with others in the course of daily occupations. I chose ACIS assessment because ,it is most effectively used to generate a profile of strengths and weaknesses and qualitative details about my client ,this profile is the most important source of information for deciding what skills to target for change. ACIS is often helpful for understanding why is my client having difficulty with some interaction skills . The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM): to detect change in a clients self-perception of occupational performance over time. Follow the links below for further information about the COPM.   intervention process Assess clients level of disorientation to determine specific requirements for safety. Skill training interventions: Identify areas of skill deficit person is willing to work on. determine the goals for the client (shortlong terms goals) first I will establish the goals together with hala I will determine the goals from the deficit in her function ,from observation during the activity ,from the assessment ,and the client can ask me about some ability that she want to return it . Long term goal: to let her take much responsibility in the home ,allow her go out alone without any danger to her ,or her health or people .for example let her visit the hospital to see her doctor. Let her work for example secretary as she trained in the past ,or work in an office as she worked at age 21. Let her feeling more confident in social situations , can be operationalised by identifying performance indicators Short term: engaging in activity, increased motivation,improved judgment, increased energy, ability to experience pleasure and cognitive Function. factors that affect or important in assisting the client to reach the goals: important factor: the client :good response to the medication ,the acceptance of his situation, less number and the range of episodes, if she like the activity .her tolerance and endurance during the activity ,assessment and medication. Environment :good interaction with his environment ,feel some degree of safety in the therapy environment and in his living environment . Factors that might affect the clients program: Client :forget take the medication, she didnt like the activity or it is not suitable for her ,there is no therapeutic relationship., Family members may require support as clients in their own right.   They may also play a key role as an extension of the therapy team.   Where children are involved, a careful assessment of child safety is required, generally by someone specifically trained in this area such as a child protection worker

Argument Analysis - Declaration of Independence Essays -- Argument An

Argument Analysis - Declaration of Independence In May of 1776 a resolution was passed at the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg that asked the thirteen American colonies to declare the United Colonies free and independent from the British crown. At the second continental congress the resolution passed and on June 11, 1776 a five-man committee led by Thomas Jefferson was established to write the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 the members of the second continental congress signed into existence one of the most influential documents in history. The way that Jefferson structured The Declaration of Independence made the article extremely influential. Jefferson first starts by sharing his belief that governments and monarchies that do not represent the people. He then goes on to tell the rights that he believes all people should have all over the world. The rights he describes are simple and reasonable. From there his last line of that paragraph is â€Å"to prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid World.† Then he starts to describe the injustices done to the colonies by the English crown. His structure works well to persuade people because he does not start immediately accusing the king of all these injustices or with strong languages. Like all good speakers and authors, Jefferson starts off with a lightly worded statement about when a group of people should start a new government. He then transitions to a slightly stronger statement about human rights, and then he goes into his compelling injustices o f the king. The injustices that he describes include â€Å"He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People. The Declaration of Independence is... ...kes a negative attitude throughout the article. He simply states the facts, supports them, and moves on to his next point. Jefferson never appears to be angry and does not point out anything that distracts the reader from the message that he is trying to convey. He keeps a serious tone throughout that keeps the reader drawn into what he is saying the entire time. The reader feels a sense that Jefferson is serious about what he is saying and he is not to be taken lightly at all. Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence is one of the most famous influential documents ever produced. The declaration led to the freedom of the Thirteen Colonies which in turn sparked the independence of much of the Western Hemisphere. â€Å"When in the course of human events† and the following text are now some of the most recognizable words in all of historical documents.

Jarassic Park: The Dinosaurs Were Not To Blame For The Destruction of Jurassic Park :: essays research papers

Jarassic Park: The Dinosaurs Were Not To Blame For The Destruction of Jurassic Park   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  'Nature won't be stopped .......or blamed for what happens'(Ian Malcolm , Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton). Jurassic Park mystifies its critique even as it makes it; or rather, to be more precise, it offers us contradictory messages about whom to blame for what goes wrong. Science finally takes the blame. Near the end of the book, while the humans are fighting off the velociraptors, Malcolm (the mathematician) delivers a long and didactic speech about how science is to blame for messing up the world because it has no morality; science tells us how to do things, not what things are worth doing and why. Malcolm talks about how the inventions of science, like Jurassic Park, are fated to exceed our control, just as his chaos theory predicts. According to Malcolm, chaos theory was developed in response to problems like predicting the weather, and the theory says it simply can't be predicted beyond the space of a few days, because the forces involved are too complex and unstable. If everything in a popular narrative like Jurassic Park really means something else, then so too does chaos theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The basic plot of Jurassic Park is fairly simple. A Palo Alto corporation called International Genetics Technologies, Inc. (InGen) has become able -- through an entrepreneurial combination of audacity, technology, human ingenuity, and fantastic outlays of capital (mostly funded by Japanese investors, who are the only ones willing to wait years for uncertain results) -- to clone dinosaurs from the bits of their DNA recovered from dinosaur blood inside the bodies of insects that once bit the now-extinct animals and were then trapped and preserved in amber for millions of years. (This is, by the way, theoretically possible.) The project is the dream of John Hammond, a billionaire capitalist with a passionate interest in dinosaurs, who comes across in the novel as a bizarre combination of Ross Perot and Ronald Reagan -- part authoritarian martinet, part dissociated and childish old man. With the resources of his wealth and power, Hammond buys a rugged island a hundred or so miles off the coast of Costa Rica and turns it into Jurassic Park, 'the most advanced amusement park in the world,' with attractions 'so astonishing they would capture the imagination of the entire world': a population of living, breathing actual dinosaurs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the park just a year away from opening to the public (those rich enough to pay, that is), the nervous investors insist on sending a team to the island to determine whether or not the park is as safe and under control as

Film Genres Essay

Film genres hold a great influence on the type of music chosen to appear. Music must fit the theme and tone of films in order to convey emotions accurately. Between 1935 and 1939, films began to be widely segmented by genres. Many of the films didn’t fit just one genre, these films where categorized in two or more genres and their music reflected this hybrid quality. The film The Informers is categorized as being in a dramatic genre. The music of the film is greatly influenced by this genre. The main theme in the film is a very suggestive, creating drama about the characters future fate. The music builds up expectations and questions about what will happen in the rest of the film. The music in these types of dramatic films are usually toned lower to create mystique and the music is then sped up and heightened in the most climactic scenes of the film to create a great sense of drama as the genre entitles. One of the films during this time to have a hybrid genre was The Bride of Frankenstein, which shares a horror and comedic genre. The horror influenced music in the film can be heard over exaggerating the qualities of the characters. The music used to represent these horror aspects is simple, yet effective. The monster’s theme in this film only consisted of five notes which included harsh clashes. The use of two adjacent pitches creates a jarring effect in the music which develops into suspense. The comedic influence in the music of this film can be heard in the form of dance music played to create a light hearted mood to the characters. These comedic songs are very light without the harsh beats of the horror inspired ones. â€Å"The Adventures of Robin Hood† is a film included in the action genre. This film uses a full orchestration, emphasizing brass and percussion sounds to create the sense of action. Loud dynamics, passage of quick notes, and irregular and hard accents are tools in action films to create a hectic situation, suggesting a chaotic environment. These tools are used thoroughly in the fight scenes involving the main character, Robin Hood. The music emphasized the movements during these battle scenes and warns of the dangers the character are facing. The first feature film to fit in the animation genre was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This genre of film consists of an abundance of continuously playing music through the film. The songs are very simple and brief which delighted the public who wanted to simply enjoy a film. These short and simple characteristics of these songs also made them quite catchy and easily  remembered by those who watched these types of film. The movements of the characters in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are also accentuated in a â€Å"Mickey Mousing† technique that provides a light hearted touch to the characters in the animation. A films genre will definitely dictate the music that can be used in the film. The right music for a film will allow the emotions of the film to easily move past to the audience. The right music for the film genre helps emphasize the genre and create a more enjoyable experience for those viewing the film.

Break-Even Analysis

Managers must know how different costs behave as the volume of sales expands or contracts. The study of the interrelationships of sales, costs and net income is called cost-volume-profit analysis. It is a key factor in many planning decisions. The essence of cost-volume profit analysis is gaining an understanding of how costs and profits change in response to changes in volume. This study is often called break-even-point analysis. This is a mistake because break-even-point, the point of zero net income is just a part of the cost-volume-profit concept and is often only incidental to the planning decision at hand.However, it is often the starting point of the analysis and provides insights into the possible dangers of certain courses of action (Peralta, J. l979). The following situation will be used as a basis for discussion and to demonstrate the techniques of and the need for cost-volume-profit analysis. We shall assume that any cost may be classified as either fixed or variable. Fix ed costs are costs, which remain constant in total, within the current period, regardless of changes in the level or volume of activity.Variable costs are those, which are expected to fluctuate, in total, in proportion to sales, production or other measures of activity. The O-BUSH Company operates a sandwich stand at the Osama Memorial Stadium selling hotdog sandwiches during game days. The company is now in the process of negotiating for a lease of a sandwich stand at the Al Qaeda Coliseum during NBA games. The company has determined that the following costs and prices will probably characterize the new stand: Selling price per sandwich $2. 00 100% Variable expenses per sandwich:Hotdog $ 0. 75 Sandwich bread . 30 Mustard/catsup . 05 Commission to the coliseum . 10 1. 20 60% Contribution Margin . 80 40% Fixed Expenses per game day: Rental of stand $500 Wages for 8 employees at $37. 50 300 Other fixed expense 200Total $1,000 Should the company enter into a lease agreement with Al Qae da? O-BUSH will have to answer certain questions before a decision can be made. Break-Even Point Computation Question: What would be the break-even-point of the company in terms of numbers of units (sandwiches) sold and dollar of sales? At break-even point, revenue is precisely equal to costs, no profits are realized, and no losses are incurred. For the purpose of this illustration, the unit contribution approach is used.The approach is based on the fact that every unit sold generates or provides a certain amount of contribution margin that goes toward the covering of the fixed costs. The contribution margin is the excess of sales price over the variable expenses pertaining to the unit in question: Unit sales price $2. 00 Unit variable expenses 1. 20 Unit contribution margin to fixed Expenses and net profit $ . 80 To find the number of units must be sold to break-even, total fixed cost must be divided by unit contribution margin.Thus, $1,000 divided by $0. 80 is 1,250 sandwiches. If only the percentage relationship between variable expenses and sales is known, the formula can still be used to compute the break-even point in dollar sales. Sales price 100% Variable expenses 60% Contribution margin 40% Total Fixed Cost divided by contribution margin ratio equals break-even point in dollar sales. Thus, $1,000 divided by 40% is $2,500. The company must sell more than 1,250 sandwiches in order to have a profit. Reference Peralta, J. (l979). Management Accounting, An Introduction. GIC Enterprises & Co. , Inc. Manila