Saturday, January 25, 2020

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay 2.0 Introduction It is widely believed that, together with improvement in their geographical surroundings, micro finance is a powerful tool to alleviate poverty and empower women in their development. However these facilities are not restricted to women only. It is also extended to all those who are struggling to combat poverty or to indulge in their own entrepreneurship. Therefore, this chapter will review definitions in the field of microfinance and poverty. To enlighten further the study, empirical evidence are being analysed and discussed more appropriately below. 2.1 What Is Microfinance? image1.png The idea of microfinance started in Bangladesh around 1976 with Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank who has recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievement. Microfinance refers to the supply of loans, savings and other basic financial services to poor. With innovative means and development microfinance has been adopted and practiced in most developing countries where it has gained unbelievable success. Moreover, from December 1997 till December 2005 the number of microfinance institutions increased from 618 to 3,133. Supplementary evidences regarding its developments have been attached at Appendix I. However, different people have different views and opinions in respect of Microfinance. For instance, Otero (1999) classifies Microfinance as the provision of financial services to low income, poor and very poor self-employed people. Whilst Ledgerwood (1999) believes that it is a sustainable poverty solution and it includes savings, credit and other financial services such as insurance and payment services, on the other hand Schreiner and Colombet (2001) described it as an attempt to phase out poverty by improving the access to small deposits and loans for poor households who were being neglected by formal banks and financial institutions, mostly because of their poor credit worthiness. Generally speaking microfinance is becoming an imminent economic tool to politicians to up bring those people who are vulnerable or beyond the minimal level of income holders. It is a way to extract the arts, qualities and skills that these people possess in front of the society by upgrading their enterprise, image and standard levels. In some countries, during the financial crisis that hit the global economy, governments have emphasised heavily on these instruments to combat a way out of this turmoil. Such facilities, inclusive of small loans with low interest rates, counselling and bumper advertising campaign to promulgate the concept of microfinance were brought to the poorest, especially in rural areas. Microfinance involves short term savings and lending which are different to that of formal banks. Such facilities bear low interest rates and repayments facilities with the aim to cover the delivery costs only. The costs of capital are recouped upon maturity and whole administrative and transactions cost are ignored. Counselling is done through direct marketing where the cost involved in creation of awareness is low as these institutions target mostly low or no profit at all. Their main objective is to improve the living conditions of those being afflicted by the curse of poverty. 2.2 Historical Background on Poverty Poverty is a complex issue which has always existed at different levels of society and in various forms across the world. Poverty has always existed but the fundamental question what causes it. However, according to the western conception, poor people are themselves accountable for their precarious situation. As the source of poverty lies in the socioeconomic system, the solution also must be at the societal level. A brief sketch of povertys history is given in Appendix II. It is difficult to define poverty as there are various dimensions of poverty. Hulme and Mosley (1996) stated that microfinance is not a panacea for poverty alleviation and in some cases the poorest people were made worse off by microfinance institutions. On the other hand Rogaly (1996) argued that Microfinance Institutions had encouraged single sector approach to distribute resources to fight poverty. It did not prove to be beneficial to poor people as there was inadequate learning and change taking place. At times they even failed to reach the poor, the more so as they had a limited impact on income. They encouraged women to greater dependence on their husbands but were unable to provide additional services which were desperately required. Therefore, poverty is a growing concern for all governments. They have taken a multi-dimensional approach to reducing poverty, with efforts including: promotion of economic growth; delivery of public services to all; transfer of assets to poor people and introduction of a social protection system. Thus, the persistence of poverty and inequality is clearly a key concern for government policy. 2.2.1 Poverty Approaches The literature on poverty is divided into two categories namely the monetary approach supported by utilitarian, and the non-monetary approach supported by the non- utilitarian. This utilitarian approach places the conceptualization of welfare in the utility space where satisfaction determines the level of welfare. But since utility is not directly observable, resources .i.e. income has been used to measure welfare whereas the non-utilitarian view consists of the faith based, livelihood and capability approach. This is illustrated below. Figure 2.1: Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre From the above diagram, the monetary approach identifies poverty as a shortfall in consumption or income. An income below what is considered necessary to consume a minimum basket of basic goods would then be defined as the poverty line. The main assumption made by this approach is that consumers objective is to maximize their utility and that the ensuing welfare can be measured by their total consumption whereas the livelihood approaches emerged in the 1990s as a holistic framework for analyzing the factors that influence men and women in fulfilling their livelihoods, reflecting their perceptions of poverty and well-being. It also refers to the participatory approach of getting poor themselves to be able to understudy the root, causes and the victims of poverty. Poverty is not a modern day phenomenon. It has been around almost since the beginning of civilization from the time man was expelled from the Garden of Eden whereby he had had to start providing for himself. Poverty has always existed in human societies for thousands of years. This is all about the faith based approach of poverty. Moreover, the capability approach, pioneered by Sen in the 1980s and 1990s, argues that monetary poverty approach measures individuals well-being but fails to address the utility that individuals gain from others, their welfare. For Sen, capabilities are the abilities to satisfy certain crucial functioning up to certain minimally adequate levels. Thus according to him, poverty is the malfunction of some basic capability. The concept of poverty is universally regarded as a multidimensional one. There is no unique formulation but it may consist in any form of inequity, which is a source of social exclusion from the basic essentialities of human dignity. Thus, the Oxford Poverty Human Development Initiative (OPHI) uses an index namely the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)  [1]  index which complements a traditional focus on income to reflect the deprivations that a poor person faces with regard to education, health and living standard. It is the first international measure of its kind, and offers a valuable complement to income poverty measures because it measures deprivations directly. According to me, a multifaceted definition of poverty would be:- the lack of, and inability to afford, basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter; and the scarcity of opportunities that are important in improving human capital and facilitating social mobility. Thus, to address the dramatic effects resulting from poverty, various multilateral organizations such as the United Nations have left no stone unturned to combat this destitution. Moreover, different poverty reduction strategies and instruments have been developed in order to improve the poors standard of living and help them sever the vicious cycle of poverty. Moreover these approaches can be broken further. This can be shown in the following diagram. Figure 2.2: Factors Affecting the Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) The monetary approach includes all income in money metric and in practice omits social goods. Under this approach mainly income and consumption are affected. Whereas, the livelihood approach comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of living. It enhances livelihood opportunities and shows how they relate to one another. The faith-based approach consists of religious faith. Religious faith and humans have coexisted since the beginning of civilization and have played a very important role in human life. The religious attitude is always based on the belief that there exists an all embracing, transcendental, moral law and that we human beings are bound to submit to its commands. Moreover, capabilities included not only basic individual ones such as nourishment and health but also more complex social ones, such as taking part in the community and achieving self-respect. Health and education, for example, are both functioning achievements in themselves as well as capabilities that allow people to achieve other valued and crucial performance. For instance, a woman can have a monetary income but, because of gender discrimination, can be unable to buy food for her family: She lacks the capability to achieve a basic functioning for life. A capability seems to combine the concepts of ability and capacity. The main focus of the dissertation is based on this approach. 2.3 Conceptual Theory Since microfinance can make a contribution to eradicate poverty, to better understand its significance, each of the poverty approaches is considered below. 2.3.1 Link between Microfinance and Monetary Approach In terms of economic policy, it recommends the reduction of poverty by increasing labor productivity, through interventions of a general nature. Therefore, microfinance has evolved as an economic development approach intended to benefit low-income groups. These programs are an effective way to provide lowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ cost financial services to poor individuals and families as claimed by Miller and Martinez, (2006); Stephens and Tazi (2006). Once they benefit from microfinance services, they will be able to earn more, save more ultimately smooth consumption. In turn they will enjoy a good health conditions among family members. 2.3.2 Link between Microfinance and Non- Monetary Approach From the economic policy standpoint, the non-monetary approach usually proposes targeted interventions which have the advantage of reducing the selection bias in favor of the poor relative to general kinds of interventions. Each non monetary approach has been considered below. 2.3.2.1 Microfinance and faith based Poverty and prosperity were considered to be the will of God. Thus religion is defined as an all round movement in the light of faith in one God and a sense of responsibility for the formation of thought and belief, for the promotion of high principles of human morality for the establishment of good relations among members of the society and the elimination of every sort of undue discrimination and injustices including poverty. Thus with the help of microfinance, people are able to have a decent earning. 2.3.2.2 Microfinance and Livelihood Microfinance can help to establish or expand family enterprises, potentially making the difference between grinding poverty and economically secure life. Furthermore, these programs increase access to healthcare, making preventative healthcare measures more affordable to the poor. Alternatively, more children are sent to school and stay enrolled for longer periods. 2.3.2.3 Microfinance and Capability Approach Given that microfinance services are primarily focused on women, it is argued that women were empowered, through opportunities to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, breaking down of gender inequalities. Small loans can transform lives, especially those of women and children. The poor can become empowered instead of disenfranchised. Homes can be built, jobs can be created, businesses can be launched, and individuals can feel a sense of worth again. Woman are able to participate in the society, they are recognised for their help in their families. This in turn increases the monthly income for the family which ultimately increases standard of living. Generally, the most important crisis and the main reason for failure to repay loans by poor families is illness. However, households of microfinance clients appear to have better nutrition, health practices, and health outcomes than comparable non-client households. Larger and more stable incomes generally lead to better nutrition, living conditions, and preventive health care. Increased earnings and financial management options also allow clients to treat health problems promptly rather than waiting for conditions to deteriorate. Along with financial services, some microfinance institutions also provide health education, usually in the form of short, simple preventive care messages on immunization, safe drinking water, and pre-natal and post-natal care while other programs provide credit products for water, sanitation, and housing. A growing number of microfinance institutions have forged partnerships with insurance providers to offer health insurance to clients. Moreover, another use of the microfinance services among the poor people is to invest in childrens education. Children of microfinance clients are more likely to go to school and study longer ultimately student drop-out rates are much lower. Hence there is no disparity in education. Thus, it is clear that what microfinance can do for the poor depends on the poors ability to utilize what micro-finance offers them. In many countries, micro-finance provides a window of opportunity for the poor to access a borrowing. These facilities also provide organizational help, training, safety nets, empowerment, and financial and other help during crises. Once they benefit from these services, they will be able to make decisions that are better informed, smooth the consumption pattern, increase the expenditure on medical, education and other social occasions. 2.4 Empirical Evidence Most of these studies were carried out in least developed countries and developing countries where poverty is really a root problem for the country. These findings are the clearest evidence that micro finance is working in the way intended to bring sustained aid to those suffering from hardship cases. Thus the following sub sections are empirical studies performed in least developed country, developing countries and small island economies. They are classified by their corresponding approach of poverty namely the monetary and capability. 2.4.1 Developing Countries 2.4.1.1 Monetary Approach Joy M Kiiru, John Mburu, Klaus Flohberg (2007) attempted to measure the impact of microfinance on household incomes. They used a pooled data set collected from the south western part of Makueni district in Kenya to study the households access to microfinance credit and how the credit affects their incomes as Cross sectional analysis fails to show any significant positive impact of microfinance on poverty reduction. They found a weak positive significance of microfinance on household incomes, education and household head. Furthermore, in the research of Gertler et al. (2003), he found more positive conclusions in terms of the ability of micro finance to reduce vulnerability who find access to micro finance that helps households to smooth consumption despite declines in health of adult family members. These authors have tried to find a relation between access to a financial institution and consumption shortfalls associated with ill health. They used geographic distance as a measure of access and find that for households in an area with a BRI branch; health shocks have no effect on consumption. 2.4.1.2 Capability Approach K. Rajendran and R.P. Raya (2010) study the impact of microfinance on the empowerment in psychological, economic and social aspects and managerial skills of leaders of SHGs and their attitude in Vellore district. They surveyed 90 leaders and 90 animators of SHGs. Using the OLS they found that microfinance and SHGs are effective in reducing poverty, empowering women, creating awareness and ensure sustainability of environment which finally result in sustainable development of the nation. But age and education does not have any influence on empowerment among the rural women. Moreover, the case study carried out in 2007 by Eduardo C. Jimenez and Pia Bernadette Roman in Philippines found on average 96.2% of the people who borrow in groups pay back their loans on time. More than 160 microfinance institutions have adopted the principle of no collateral but weekly repayment of loans with lending at commercial rates so that they can cover their costs; and they were allowed to make a profit. During that period, they have been able to target 436, 000 clients, 98% being women. The loan repayment rates of 96.2% were far higher than that recovered by most commercial banks. Luckily the project had increased the clients income by more than 28%. Their spending was mostly on school and food. So, for Philippines, this had an impact on its economy, thereby enhancing the life span, the literacy rate and also improving the standard of living of those people. 2.4.2 Least Developed Countries 2.4.2.1 Monetary Approach Khandker (2005) reported the direct effects of microfinance programs on poverty. He examined 1,638 households that participated in two waves of the BIDS World Bank 1991/92 and 1998/99 surveys in Bangladesh and found that moderate poverty in the sample villages declined by 17% between the two waves of the survey, and extreme poverty declined by 13%. Among those households that participated in the microfinance programs, the poverty rate declined by 20% in the same period, with more than half of the nearly 3% annual moderate poverty decline among participants attributed to the microfinance programs alone. He further found that access to microfinance programs contributed to the reduction of both moderate and extreme poverty of individuals particularly women as well as for the village as a whole where inflow of microfinance funds to rural areas impacted the local economy and raised per capita household consumption for both participants and nonparticipants. Morduch (1998) attempted to look specifically at the role microfinance plays in helping the poor, and reported mixed results, including some positive and some negative impacts of microfinance in alleviating poverty and helping the poor. He used survey data collected in 1991/92 by the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies, in collaboration with the World Bank, covering 87 villages and nearly 1800 households. Survey data was collected at three points during the collection period to capture seasonal variations in household circumstances and found that the microfinance programs benefited the moderately poor more than the destitute. Further, he found that households that are eligible to borrow and have access to the programs do not have notably higher consumption levels that control households. Additionally, he found that households eligible for programs have substantially lower variation in consumption and labour supply across seasons. Thus the most important potential impacts of microfinance programs are with reducing ones financial vulnerability, and not necessarily poverty. 2.4.2.2 Capability Approach Morris and Barnes (2005) attempted to provide an overall assessment of the impact of microfinance, and examined the impacts of three microfinance programs in Uganda. Baseline data was first collected in the winter of 1997 following a survey via random sample in respect of three program areas from programs clients and nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ clients. To assess the impact thereof, the survey was repeated in the winter of 1999. The researchers found that microfinance programs did not help to alleviate poverty in program areas, though results from these impact studies indicated positive impacts on participants entrepreneurial business endeavours and within their own households. The authors further found that microfinance programs help to reduce financial vulnerability of poor individuals through the diversification of available income sources and the accumulation of assets. 2.4.3 Small Island Developing State (SIDS) 2.4.3.1 Livelihood Approach Paul B McGuire (1996) has provided an assessment of microfinance in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) namely Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Samoa. Thus, he concluded that these people faced a number of constraints to sustainable microfinance, including low and highly dispersed populations, the lack of transport and communications infrastructure in many areas, and the continuing importance of the non-monetised subsistence economy in many countries. Apparently, the stylised fact is less than clear. Despite the huge number of studies on microfinance and poverty alleviation in the developing countries, there exists little studies for small island economies. Thus this study attempts to fill the gaps by analyzing the impact microfinance on poverty and the welfare of households in Mauritius. As argued above, the facts and findings that were used have clearly indicated that microfinance is becoming a phenomenal contribution in building those economies that were previously struck by wars, natural calamities and turmoil. 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Copestake, J. Bhalotra, S. and S. Johnson, 2001. Assessing the impact of micro-credit: A Zambian case study, Journal of Development Studies, 37(4), pp. 81-100. Dean Karlan, Martin Valdivia, 2010. Teaching Entrepreneurship: Impact of Business Training on Microfinance Clients and Institutions, pp. 1-45 Essentials, 1999. Microfinance, a synthesis of lessons learned. Gertler, Paul, Levine, David I., Moretti, Enrico, 2002. Do Microfinance Programs Help Families Insure Consumption against Illness?, California Center for population research online working paper series. Guush Berhane and Cornelis Gardebroek, 2009. Does microfinance reduce rural poverty? Evidence based on a household panel data from Northern Ethiopia, International association of Agricultural economists Conference, Beijing, China, 16-22 August 2009. J.T.O Oke, R. Adeyemo and M.U Agbonlahor, 2007. An empirical analysis of microcredit repayment in South-western Nigeria, Humanities and Social Sciences Journal, 2(1), pp. 63- 73. 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Friday, January 17, 2020

Rehabilitation Of Adolescent Sexual Offenders

Juvenile delinquency is increasingly becoming a major concern in society. The involvement of the youth in criminal activities has taken its toll as they get more exposure to violence through the media and peer influence. An emerging trend in this category is adolescent sexual offences among teenagers (Hardill, et al, 2001, 59). However, addressing this issue calls for a comprehensive approach that takes into account the various forms of sexual offences and the wide range of contributing factors.The paper explores the application of the Cycle of Abuse Theory in working with adolescent sexual offenders. The Cycle of Abuse is a social theory formulated by Lenore Walker in 1970 to explain the inherent patterns observed in an abusive relationship (Walker, 2000, 204). The theory of The Cycle of Abuse stipulates that abusive relationships are often cyclic, i. e. they take place in a recurring pattern. The theory identifies three stages or phases of abuse. While these phases do not necessari ly follow a linear and definite predictable pattern, they more or less exhibit the following phenomenology:Phase one- normalcy. At first, everything seems to be fine. This is normally during the initial stages of a relationship, when both parties show genuine commitment to the relationship. In fact, the stage is also referred to as ‘the honeymoon period. ’ However, as time goes by, one partner, especially the abuser, adopts a negative attitude. In some cases, an undesirable character trait previously restrained, such being short tempered or a predilection to violence begins to emerge. Phase two- Tension building.The atmosphere in the relationship tends to be strained, making mutual interaction between both parties characteristically cold, constrained and generally ineffective. Signs of tension include poor communication, verbal abuse and shifting blames for minor mistakes. The situation is so delicate such that it requires only a slight provocation for the abuserâ€℠¢s emotions to snap. Phase three- explosion. This is the point at which the actual abuse takes place. The abuser’s violent flares are triggered by flimsy excuses, such as the victim being late in preparing dinner (in cases of spouse abuse).However, one limitation of Lenor’s theory is its emphasis on physical abuse. While physical violence is the common form of abuse, recent studies have indicated that psychological and emotional torture could affect victims even more than the bruises they suffer in physical confrontations. Phase four- reconciliation. After the climax of actual abuse, the abuser takes a reconciliatory stance and apologizes for his/her actions. It is characterized by promises that it will not be repeated, and they might go an extra mile to please the victim- buying them gifts or taking them out.As the last phase of the cyclic phenomenon, the apologetic and the friendly mood displayed by the abuser persuades the victim to forget the abuse and consequently , the relationship returns to a state of normalcy. An adolescent sexual offender is defined as â€Å"a youth, from puberty to the legal age of majority, who commits any sexual act with a person of any age, against the victims will, without consent, or in an aggressive, exploitive or threatening manner† (Tolan and Cohler, 1993, 115). However, dealing with cases of juvenile offenders is complicated due to popular ideologies that make young offenders victims of circumstances.For instance, rape in some cases is rationalized on the precipice that â€Å"‘boys-will-be-boys’ and punished by a slap on the hand and admonitions to ‘behave,’ while cases of teens sexually molesting children are euphemized as â€Å"‘curiosity’ or ‘experimentation,’ and many sexual offenses termed as ‘adolescent adjustment reactions’† (Ryan et al, 1987). Consequently, the failure to clearly identify a juvenile as a sex offender has led to a tendency to ignore early warning symptoms and the â€Å"deviant nature of sexual assaults by teenagers† (Ryan, et al, 1987).Nonetheless, adolescent sexual offences continue to rise and its effects are plainly as far-reaching as those perpetrated by adults are. This has led to increasing concerns on teenage behaviors in relation to sexual crimes. What is not lost to both sides of the argument, however, is the fact that behavioral tendencies exhibited in childhood will continue into adulthood if no intervention measures are taken to change these habits. In working with adolescent sexual offenders towards their rehabilitation, intervention measures aims to achieve behavioral change and minimizing situations that could lead to abuse.At the same time, rehabilitation attempts to cut the cyclic pattern to avoid repetition of the same offences. In this regard, the Abuse Cycle Theory’s relevance is in its recognition of the recurrent nature of abuse. Research studies have shown that â€Å"for the victims of abuse, the abuse may produce either a learned helplessness or a repetitive aggressiveness† (Ryan et al, 1987). In addition, the theory identifies the various factors that promote abuse such as attitude, as well as the various forms the abuse could take.In the case of sexual offenses, abuse is not limited to actual acts of forced sex alone, but includes other forms such as fondling of the victim’s private parts. APPLICATION OF THE ABUSE CYCLE THEORY Adolescent sexual offences assume a cyclic pattern. It begins in early childhood among boys â€Å"with voyeuristic behaviors from ages five to seven, including attempts to their grandmother and mother using the bathroom or taking showers† (Sandy, 1987). The unusualness of this behavior is because the minors’ interest in nudity underlies sexual motives or desires.The report in The International Journal on adolescent sexual offenders says that it could be only normal if they i nvolve â€Å"the curiosity of an 18 to 30-month-old who is interested in learning how adults do everything from baking cookies to driving the car, and including use of the bathroom† (Ryan et al 1987). However, the habits should subside at age five, for by then the child has learned bathroom manners. The gravitation toward sexual violence among young boys begins at this stage, when their consciousness could direct their behaviors with some ulterior motives.In the context of the Cycle of Abuse Theory, this could be a calm stage, but there is a building up of tension- the sexual desires exhibited by the minor’s obsession to see nude females. In a case study on juvenile sexual offences, one respondent, a minor on a rehabilitation program, confessed that it started with â€Å"observing the babysitter having sex with her boyfriend, and it was followed with a habit of assaulting girls in the school grounds, with a motivation to actually frighten, control, and degrade themâ⠂¬  (Huttenlocker, 2007). The next phase in a minor’s progression towards sexual violence sets in even as early as nine years.Very conscious that what they are doing is inappropriate, they make their acts to look like accidental incidences. A teenage boy under a juvenile program said that his first intrusive behaviors began with a desire to touch female private parts when playing in crowds, and secretly watching out for girls. It marked the beginning of his conscious motives to stalk girls, leading to his cyclic sexual violence. It soon developed into an aggressive form of harassment, at age 11, which involved â€Å"grabbing the chests and butts of female classmates, threatening them with sexual acts† (Ryan, et al, 1987).By the time he was 12, he had identified four girls whom he would continually harass by touching their genitalia. The Cycle of Abuse Theory’s explanation of the different forms that an abuse could take reflects the minor’s habit to send obscene messages and making calls to his victims. In this regard, a comprehensive treatment therapy for young sexual offenders should take an approach that addresses the various stages of the abuse cycle. Since the abuse itself takes different forms, the treatment therapy should be multifaceted in its approach, addressing the following issues.Sex Education: The initial stages of sexually offensive behaviors are characterized with an aspect of ignorance. In this light, it is vital to equip minors with information about sexual behaviors, which could ‘slip off’ into violent, abusive habits. A research study by the National Clearinghouse on Sexual Violence reports that lack of knowledge and appropriate information regarding sexual behaviors contributes greatly to sexual offenses. Accordingly, there is need to â€Å"provide education courses in school with a focus on positive sexuality, addressing the issues of consent, equality and coercion† (Kaplan et al, 1988, 190) .It should also include teaching sexual assault victims ways of resolving their feelings concerning the abuse, in order to minimize their chances of becoming future offenders. The motive for revenge is identified in the Cycle of Abuse Theory as one factor that compels abusers to mistreat their victims. Likewise, sexually assaulted children are likely to find an emotional outlet by violating others. Abuse of Trust and Power: As noted before, sexually abused children could avenge their experiences on others.To avoid such occurrences, it calls for exemplary behaviors on the part of adults who relate and interact with young children. When adults, especially pedophiles, abuse their power and the trust of children to exploit them sexually, they sow seeds of hatred, rejection and a desire to ‘hit out’ at others. Such perpetrators often try to â€Å"escape accountability for exploiting their relationship of trust with a child or adolescent on flimsy excuses such as ‘I wa s drunk when I did it’ or ‘It is normal for children to be sexual- I was teaching her about sex’† (Duncan, 14).Abuse of children by adults could also shape their mentality as a way of expressing their dominance. This poses the danger of conditioning their notions about sex as a way to â€Å"accomplish masculinity and overcome experiences of powerlessness† (Ritcher, et al, 2004, 104). Joint work and Relapse Prevention: This is the most crucial part as it involves helping the ex-abusers to be assimilated into a normal social life as well as preventing them from slipping back to their offensive behaviors.It includes various therapies such as â€Å"young mentoring, in-home family therapy, human sexuality education, parent support groups and ‘safe-out of home’ placement in the community† (Marsh and Fristad, 330). It helps the recovering patients to develop coping skills and relapse-prevention mechanisms to enable them assume normal liv es. Previous research studies which sought to find out the motivational drive of sexually aggressive behaviors in men, have established a tendency of being compelled by the urge to meet sexual desires (Lenn, 1994).Snell et al (1992) reported sexual compulsivity, similar to a research by Exner et al (1992), which noted lack of sexual control as the major cause of uncontrolled sexual activity. In this regard, it is therefore imperative to educate ex-offenders on ways to overcome their sexual drives, which nearly always culminates in rape and other sexual offences (Erooga and Masson, 1999, 27). In Understanding and Diagnosing Sex Addiction, John Schneider identifies compulsive sexual behaviors as addictive disorders like those of drug abuse (Schneider 2004 198).This insight helps in singling out incidences of juvenile sexual offences that result as the abuser’s inability to resist psychological and physical sex drives. It is important to distinguish victims of circumstances and situation from out-right perpetrators, to design appropriate treatment therapies. Nonetheless, a very crucial aspect of rehabilitating juvenile sexual offenders is widening the scope of treatment to include other factors, which could be directly related to sexual violence. Some studies have shown that there is a correlation between drug use and juvenile sexual offences (O’Reilly, 2004, 81).In fact, Schneider considers the path to sexual addiction to be similar to that of a drug addict: habit developing into a behavior and finally addiction. In light of the tenets of the Cycle of Abuse Theory, this suggests that sometimes individuals could not control their behaviors. Circumstances and the environment could trigger impulsive behaviors that are sexually offensive. For instance, playing in crowded grounds offers an opportunity for budding offenders to touch their victims’ private parts.This is similar to abuses in relationships, where the abuser’s temper gets trigg ered by minor incidences such as disagreements. In working with adolescent sexual offenders, it therefore calls for placement programs that remove the abuser from environments that encourage his sexual behaviors. In conclusion, the significance of the Cycle of Abuse in relation to working with adolescent sexual offenders lies in its emphasis on the gradual progression towards violent actions, its cyclic nature as well as its varied forms.First, it highlights the importance of identifying juvenile sexual offences in their budding stages to avoid their development into ‘high tension’ stages where the offender is vulnerable to acting out their sexual desires. It also avoids further offensive behaviors and helps to ‘bring them back’ into the community. The theory’s reference to the recurrent nature of abuse indicates that juvenile offenders are likely to ‘re-offend,’ hence the need for relapse-prevention measures. The socio-cultural environm ent within which adolescent sexual offenders operate could also encourage their behaviors.This observation stems from the theory’s tension and explosion stages, which indicate that an external triggering factor is necessary to push the abuser towards actual confrontation. In this light, it is necessary to evaluate sexual offenses in the context of family environment and the impact it could have had in the formative aspects of the offender’s personal development (Marshall, 1998, 360). Behavior alone should not be the standard of labeling a person, but it should as well include factors that influence character development.Equally, cultures that promote male sexual aggressiveness as a desirable quality for men should be discouraged. Secondly, sexual offenses are not limited to actual cases of rape or molestation, but could take various forms such as verbal harassment, voyeurism and exposure of one’s private parts. Nonetheless, as in physical and psychological abuse witnessed in relationships, all forms of sexual offenses are significantly harmful to the victim. This is because they have far-reaching effects on the victim, such as fearing the opposite sex even in adulthood, low self-esteem and negative attitude towards relationships.Lastly, relapse-prevention measures should be designed to achieve long-term goals of permanently changing the offender’s sexual behavior. Since sexual offenses by adolescent could be an overt manifestation of character traits, rehabilitation measures ought to extend beyond short-term therapies designed to treat immediate symptoms. To this end, then, working with adolescent sexual offenders is not only a correction of behavior, but a re-creation of character as well. Reference List Crinson, I. 2009. Health Policy: A Critical. SAGE Publications Ltd, New York. Duncan, K. A.2004. Healing from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse: the journey for women. Greenwood Publishing Group, New York. Erooga M. , Masson, H. C. 1999. Children and young people who sexually abuse others: challenges and responses. Routledge, New York Hardill I. , et al. 2001. Human geography of the UK: An introduction. Routledge, New York Huttenlocker, M. 29 July 2007. â€Å"Adolescent Sex Offenders. † Adolescent Sex Offenders. † EzineArticles. com. 6 May. 2010 Kaplan, M. S. , Becker, J. V. , Cunningham-Rathner J.1988. â€Å"Characteristics of Parents of Adolescent Incest Perpetrators: Preliminary Findings,† Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 189-90. Marsh D. T. , Fristad, M. A. 2002. Handbook of serious emotional disturbance in children and adolescents. John Wiley and Sons, New York Marshall, W. L. 1998. Sourcebook of treatment programs for sexual offenders. Springer, New York O’Reilly, G. 2004. The handbook of clinical intervention with young people who sexually abuse Psychology Press, New York. Ritcher, L. , et al. 2004. Sexual abuse of young children in southern Africa.HSRC Pres s, London. Ryan G. , Lane S. , Davis, J. , et al. (1987). S. â€Å"Juvenile sex offenders: Development and correction. † The International Journal, 11: (3), Pages 385-395. . Schneider, J. , P. 2004. Understanding and diagnosing sex addiction: Handbook of addictive disorders: a practical guide to diagnosis and treatment. John Wiley and Sons, New York’ Tolan P. H. , Cohler, P. J. 1993. Handbook of clinical research and practice with adolescents. ohn Wiley and Sons, New York. Walker, L. 2001. The battered woman syndrome. Springer Publishing Company, New York. .

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Ingredients in Coke and Their Function

You probably know that once upon a time Coca-Cola or Coke contained cocaine. What you might not know is that the beverage is still flavored with an extract from the coca leaf and that the cocaine which is extracted from the leaves is sold for medicinal use. The Stepan Company extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which is sold to Mallinckrodt, the only US company that is licensed to purify cocaine. So... what are the other ingredients in Coke and what do they do? Coke contains a fairly short list of ingredients: Carbonated waterSugar (which can be sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup)CaffeinePhosphoric acid v. caramel (E150d)Natural flavorings (which include coca leaf extract) The purpose of the carbonated water and sugar is obvious, but you may be unaware caramel coloring is also an important flavoring agent... well, unless you ever tried the clear versions of Coke or Pepsi. Theres a good reason those never became popular. Caramel color is a soluble food coloring that is prepared by heat treating carbohydrates. The golden or brown liquid retains a bitter taste and burnt sugar odor. The caffeine is a stimulant, but also contributes a characteristic bitter flavor to the cola. The secret formula of the additional flavorings is known to two executives at Coca-Cola. The original copy of the formula is kept in Atlanta in the SunTrust Banks vault.