Modern History of Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modern History of Japan - Essay Example Japan is known worldwide as the nation with the most serious environmental pollution. Japan’s environmental destruction started long before the emergence of the country’s modernization and industrialization period. The well-known example of early pollution problem was Ashio copper mine, which began its destructive operations at the end of the nineteenth century and continues to this day to be a pervasively insoluble problem. The Ashio mine, in Tochigi, has been in existence at least since 1600 when it belonged to the Tokugawa shogunate with annual production capacity of about 1,500 tons. It became privately owned in 1871 following the industrialization initiated by the Meiji restoration. In 1877 it became the property of Furukawa Ichibei, and by the 1880s production had increased dramatically, reaching 4,090 tons by 1885, 78 % of the total output of the Furukawa mines and 39 % of Japan’s copper production. The major pollution problem associated with Ashio Copper Mine was the destruction of water ecosystem due to copper poisoning of ground water caused by flooding and drainage. In 1884, massive tree blighting occurred because of a discovery of large copper ore load. In August 1885, massive fish kills in the Watarase River was observed because of the use of the steam-operated pump and rock-crushing machines in Ani mine. In August 1890, 1,600 hectares of farmland and 28 towns and villages in Tochigi and Gunma prefectures were heavily damaged by the floodwater, which contained poisons from the Ashio mine. In September 1896, a massive flood due to heavy rain damaged the one large city, five prefectures, twelve provinces, and 136 towns and villages over a total area of 46,723 hectares by the water-borne mine poisons.

Social Distance and Regulatory Focus Effect on Over Choice

Social Distance and Regulatory Focus Effect on Over Choice The effect of social distance and regulatory focus  in the context of overchoice ABSTRACT The current research examines whether regulatory focus vary according to social distance (self, close friend, stranger), and investigated whether the self-other decision making in over-choice contexts induce a reversal choice overload effect to an individual. 21 undergraduates rated satisfaction in accordance with social distance after selecting colours using swatches either few or many options. Against previous research, the post-satisfaction was higher when participants make decision for themselves. Moreover, there was a choice over load effect but no reversed effect when participants make decision for others. Thus participants tend to use promotion regulatory focus for self and prevention focus for others. Further research need to investigate this area in greater depth. Introduction Decision making is the cognitive process of selection a logical choice from the available options. The economic models of behaviour known as rational choice theory assume that individuals take into account each piece of relevant evidence to ensure that they come up with the optimal decision making in all situations (Becker, 1976). These models, however, do not match actual behaviour. Rather than evaluating costs and benefits or calculating probabilities, what is actually decided can depend on the context of situations (KahnemanTversky, 1973). There has been a consequent increase in studies designed to determine decision making strategies which may be appropriate in various cases. Regulatory focus theory is an example of decision making strategies. The theory posited by Higgins predicts the two orientations to purse a goal: promotion and prevention (1997). A promotion focus emphasizes accomplishments and advancement with approaching gain. Alternatively, a prevention focus emphasizes safety and responsibility with avoiding loss. The utility of gain or loss is considered subjective and depends on the difference that it will make to the reasoner’s self-regulation. For example, a small gain is worth more to someone who has little (promotion) than to someone who has a lot (prevention). An interesting point is that the self-regulation is applied to make choice for others in different way; while individuals who make decision for themselves prefer avoiding losses, people who make decision for others prefer acquiring gain (Kray, 2000; Polman, 2011). Researchers have found that risk taking increased when participants were choosing on behalf of others compared to when choosing for themselves (Stone, Yates, Caruthers, 2002; Beisswanger et al, 2003; Sabrina et all, 2007). Polman suggests that this is because personal decision makers tend to use prevention focus (i.e. loss aversion), and conversely, proxy decision makers use promotion focus (i.e. risk preference) (2012B). This self-other theory is connected to the construal level theory (CLT) which describes the relation of psychological distances. The general idea is that the more distant an object or event from the individual, the more abstract the conceptualisation and perception (Trope Wakslak, 2007). As a result, peop le tend to engage in more risky behaviour in high-level construal than low-level construal. According to Polman’s study (2012A) choice overload effect had interaction in reversal since proxy decision makers used promotion focus. The theory called â€Å"choice overload†, also referred to as â€Å"paradox of choice†, describes that people have trouble making optimal choices when confronted with plethora of choices with lower satisfaction (Iyengar Lepper, 2000; Schwartz, 2004). On drawing of the self-other decision making theory and choice overload effect, Polman reported that when participants chose for others, decisions comprising more options were more satisfying than decisions comprising fewer of choices with various kinds of choices (e.g. paint swatches, wine, ice cream flavours, school courses) in six studies. Among those studies, the first and fourth studies which used paint swatches developed the theory by using self-construal: the extent that others are included into the self-concept. While the first study examined the interaction between self-other theory and overload effect, the fourth study tested personal disposition and divided participants into interdependent self-construal group and independent self-construal group; who expected to show low social distance with others or who expected to show high distance with others (Elliott Coker, 2008). The results indicated that people who have promotion focus (i.e. proxy decision makers and independent self-construal group) exhibited a reversed choice overload compared to participants who have prevention focus (i.e. personal decision makers and interdependent self-construal group). It is, however, difficult to generalize as there can be numerous decision making methods which is each approach often claims to be the more effective method. Most of all, it is doubt whether a person would show the same propensity when s/he make decision for self and others at once (at the same time), rather than making decision for self or others separately based on individual’s personality. Social distances also need to be subdivided into three (low, middle, high) rather than two (low, high) pounder over CLT. Current research, therefore, examined 1) if an increase in three subdivided social distance generates a higher level of satisfaction to a person depends on whom the decision is for, 2) if a choice overload effect is present when selecting a choice for self and a reversal choice overload effect is present when selecting a choice for others. Method Participants There were 27 participants, 14 in few and 13 in many choices. 21 women and 6 men were allocated randomly. The participants ranged in age from 19 to 22, with a mean age of 20.29 years (SD=1.06). All participants were level two psychology undergraduates at Sheffield University. Materials A limited array (8 colours) or an extensive array (35 colours) of paint swatches was used in each condition of choice array (Appendix1). The colours were labelled with numbers to avoid any confounding. A questionnaire was used to instruct scenario and choose a colour (Appendix2). Follow-up questions were used to record the main dependent measure (post-choice satisfaction and regret) using a 10-point scale, anchored at 1 (not at all) and 10 (a lot) (Appendix3). Data analysed using SPSS. Design The experiment had a two-way mixed design. The related measures independent variable was the decision maker role (social distance) with three levels (self, close friend, stranger). The unrelated measures independent variable was the number of choice options with two levels (Few, many). The main dependent variable was participant’s post- choice satisfaction measured by the level of satisfaction and regret. Procedure Participants took part in experiment individually and instructed to follow the scenario on the questionnaire. Half of the participants made selections from self, close friend and stranger in order, and the other half made selection in reverse order to counterbalance. The participants were asked to select a colour what they would like to use in their own and other’s bedroom among either 8 or 35 colours. After selecting a colour, the participants rated satisfaction and regret for their choices from 1 to 10 scales. When participant had no further questions, they received a debrief describing the study’s aim. Results An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests. Prior to analysing ANOVA, Shapiro-Wilk test and outliers were obtained to examine the distributions for the primary dependent variable satisfaction. Although the Shapiro-Wilk showed each data were from a normally distributed population except a small number of participants who make decision for others in many choices option (p=0.29, others overall p>.05), there was large inconsistency between satisfaction and reversed regret regarded as a result of either participant’s misunderstanding or unconcern about the experiment with low reliability (ÃŽ ± =0.186, 0.560, 0.788 respectively). Six participants, therefore, who showed an inconsistency of more than four, were excluded as bivariate outliers. The regret score was reversed and combined with satisfaction into one scale (ÃŽ ± =.674, .805, .892 respectively). Levene’s test indicates that variances are homogenous for all levels of repeated measures variables (p=.260, . 333, .057 respectively). Hence, data collected from 21 participants (11 in few 10 in many options) were analysed using a mixed-design factorial ANOVA with a within-subject factor of social distance (self, close friend, stranger) and a between-subject factor of options-choice array (few, many) to examine the effects of choice overload on self-other decision making. Since Mauchly’s test had been violated (W=.60, X2(2)=9.19, p=.01), degrees of freedom were corrected using Greenhouse-Geisser estimates of sphericity (ÃŽ µ = .714). The analysis revealed that there was a significant main effect of social distance (F(1,27)=11.14, p=.001, ÃŽ ·p ²=.370) with higher satisfaction for self-decision making (M=8.74, SD=.903) than close friend (M=8.28, SD=1.09) and stranger (M=7.41, SD=1.94) (Figure 1). However, the data in Figure 2 show that there was there was no significant main effect of choice overload nor reversed effect (F(1,19)=.567, p= .461, ÃŽ ·p ²=.029), with slightly higher satisfaction in Few (M=8.33, SD=1.09) than Many (M=7.95, SD=1.83). These main effects were not qualified by the significant social distance and choice overload interaction (F(1,27)=1.62, p=.211, ÃŽ ·p ²=.0.79) (Figure 3). Discussion Overall, there was a significant difference on social distance, but was not neither self-other effect nor reversed choice overload were observed. Rather, the results demonstrated the completely opposite effect to previous study. Although there was a significant difference among social distance, the participants’ satisfaction was higher on choice for self than close friend or stranger. Moreover, participants did not exhibit any pattern of reversed choice overload, but did of choice overload when they make decision for others. These results indicated that participants used promotion focus for self and prevention focus for others. Thus, there was no evidence to support Polman’s claim. To understand the results of the current experiment some implications can be taken into consideration. Perhaps the most obvious explanation is that the self-other theory and reversal choice overload is not always pre-eminent away from other strategies. This may because multiple conflicting criteria need to be evaluated in making decisions. Phrasing equivalent choices as situations involving a loss or a gain, therefore, can alter the choices people make in way that do not accord with normative theory. On account of contradictions, some decision making methods that weight against to our prediction may explain the reason why personal decision makers showed promotion focus, while proxy decision makers showed prevention focus. First of all, the opposite effect of social distance may due to regulatory fit theory. When people believe that there is a math between orientation and a goal, they will intensify response (e.g. more positive response for positive dicision) by feeling rightness about pursuit a goal (AvnetHiggins, 2003; Higgins, 2000, 2005). Regulatory fit may not directly affect the judgements, but influence a persons belief in their reaction to the object or event (AakerLee, 2006). If participants had a colour with high preference in the swatch they used, therefore, it would be no surprise why they rated higher satisfaction on personal choice. Second, a hypothetical scenario could have influence on experiment. CLT is not restricted to social distance but expanded to the idea of temporal and hypothetical distance (Pennington Roese, 2003). For instance, temporal distance may create confliction with social distance in that the decision people make for future selves and other people tend to be similar to each other but different from their present decision (Pronin, Olivola Kennedy, 2008). According to Gilbert et al (2004), when attributing the cause of problem people tend to blame themselves in hypothetical situation, but often blame external circumstance in real situation. This probably led participants to feel the sense of responsibility on proxy choice. Finally, reciprocal determinism may be the answer. The reciprocal property predicted to play important role when combining the judgements of several individuals for the group (Saaty, 2008). Some researchers also have argued that people tend to feel more regret when the problem is important in the context in social (Janis and Mann, 1977), especially when others have interests with the decision (Zeelenberg, 1999). This can alter the participants’ regulation focus. In conclusion, the finds suggest that the reversed choice overload of proxy decision makers have no predominance effect on overall participants’ satisfaction. The failure to find the effect appears to have theoretical implications. Further research should test whether the reversed effect can be generalized with other decision making strategies and investigate more reasonable explanations for difference if it shown to exist.

Virginia Woolfs Style And Subject In A Room of Ones Own Essay

Times have changed since universities admitted only male students. Women have gained the right to educate themselves, and the division of the sexes in business has decreased dramatically. When Virginia Woolf wrote her essay A Room of One’s Own, however, there was a great lack of female presence in literature, in writing specifically. In the essay, Woolf critiques this fact by taking the reader on a journey through a day in the life at a fictional university to prove that although women are capable of critical thought and want to write great works of literature, they are unable to for lack of means. The way she comes to this conclusion through writing a work of fiction is not only interesting, but also very unusual. Using the generalizing term 'I', commenting on what she is doing, and shifting gears abruptly are some stylistic ways in which she makes her point that women need money and a room of their own in order to write fiction. Looking at chapters one and six of the e ssay, it is clear to see that the way she writes about women in fiction, while critiquing the lack thereof in confrontational and sarcastic manner, shows that although Woolf is ardent about getting her message across, she is aware that she may be brushed aside by her male oppressor. Throughout A Room of One’s Own, Woolf uses 'I' and different personas to eloquently relate a day in the life at her fictional university, Oxbridge. It is immediately clear that she is not referring to herself, Virginia Woolf, when she says 'I' because she conveniently adds a disclaimer as she begins her fiction, 'Here then was I (call me Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Charmichael or by any name you please' it is not a matter of any importance) sitting on the banks of a river a we... ...ay form while speaking to the fact that perhaps all fiction should be written this way. It is beneficial to write an essay in this style because it makes the reader look deeper for the meaning in it all. In chapter one especially, the reader is forced to wonder what significance each occurrence has and how each instance relates to women in fiction. It becomes clearer in chapter six, when the point is laid out plainly, but the stylistic choices are still bearing on the fact that you must read critically to understand the true meaning of the piece. This is true for most fiction, but for this essay specifically, the importance of the issue and the style of the writing go hand in hand to create for the reader a nugget of truth to stow away in his notebook forever. Works Cited Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1989.

Returning College Students

When high school is over, many students choose to work full time or start college right away. Those students, who choose to go to start college sooner, makes the right choice because they want to get a career started as soonest possible. Seventy-five percent of students from high school decided to start college late. A long absence of no school causes no motivation for a college education. Another cause, they can have a hard time being surrounded with younger students. They can find it hard using technology such as computers, and getting into the habit studying can be a problem.Several areas, it can be difficult for such students to succeed. New college students need all the support not to find college a difficult experience. First, must students start from the bottom, which means enrollment is number one on the list, so returning students need to enroll and choose their major carefully. Many students choice their major based on a good career where they can be happy and not everythin g is about money. Many students start off with their basics and then transferred to another college/university. Other students start off right away with their associate’s degree; is a type of undergraduate degree.It requires a minimum of study of sixty semester credits. The traditional Associates degree program consists of three points: general education, major requirements, and electives. Besides the associate’s degree, all universities offers bachelor’s degree is an academic conferred by a college or university upon those who completed the undergraduate curriculum. Above the bachelor’s degree, there’s another higher degree is called master’s degree; is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high order of a field of study professional practice.Returning students might have a job history that would like to try a new occupation in their lives. Besides the enrollment and degrees, tuition i s a huge part of college, so returning students need to understand there’s ways to pay college. Colleges and Universities will provide a flat rate for tuition. This is a unique challenge for parents and students are making sure; they’re getting their money’s worth by taking enough classes each semester. There’s two ways to pay for your tuition. One is with financial aid; students apply at the beginning of year to get it. Financial aid pays all the classes and books for each semester.Scholarships are a great source to help them pay half of the tuition. Where to apply for scholarships? Online, school or anywhere there’s good places that can offer scholarships. Sometimes when students don’t qualify for either scholarships or financial aid, they paid their tuition with their savings. In addition, today students are allowed to use computers, laptops and recorders on campus, Therefore, returning students to college should use one these technology to help them with their assignment. A college campus can have over two-hundred computers to have access to the internet or any other sources to complete any assignments.Laptops are allowed to use in class because instructors knows best that students use laptops to work in an assignment. Other than, it can be a distraction for the teacher and for other students. Recorders are also available to use if a student has a disability to remember. Students take advantage for these opportunities and use them for their benefit to succeed in their classes. The fourth step returning students to be successful is to have a flexible schedule. Flexible schedules are for students to make it to class without struggling and have free time to get assignments done.Most students have jobs and sometimes they take morning or nigh classes. All depends on student’s availability. The most recommended for a college student is to take four classes, equal twelve hours to be a fulltime student. Some student s take five or six classes in a semester, but are really stressing and hard to handle. As a returning student, is a good way to start off with a flexible schedule with four classes. Furthermore, returning college students need good study habits to do well in their classes. Especially for freshman students, who would like to know some good study methods? One method is to form a study group to help each other.No matter what field study, don’t not worry about hanging out with old or younger students, they have the same right to learn. Other classmates can learn from each other. Another study method, whenever college students take an exam, they always study at least four hours of the material. Make sure to take good notes in class, pay attention and read the chapters twice every night. The last method, make sure to find a good quiet place to study with no distractions around the area. Like at home it can be difficult to study because you have TV’s, video games and other en tertainment systems; that a house can hold.But one great place to study it can be a library or study rooms from campus. Another place it would be a good peaceful park, to enjoy the fresh air and a good view for a small break. Overall, a college education can be hard and expensive. But the end, everything will be worth it with excellent opportunities later on in life. Just remember hard work always pays off at the end. Never is too late to start a college education. These five steps can help an older student prepare for a new college life and help them to become a successful student.

Medical And Social Disability Models

INTRODUCTION The traditional focus on individual impairment has been broadened by the modern concepts of disability to one that recognizes that the effect of impairment is not only dependent on the underlying condition, but is also dependent on the social and environmental factors (RACGP 2007). Therefore, impairment does not necessarily imply that one is disabled or handicapped by it. There are three main types of disabilities Physical disability Intellectual disability Developmental disability In this analysis we will focus on intellectual disability with particular emphasis on the impact of medical and social models on people with intellectual disabilities. INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY An individual is considered mentally retarded or intellectually disabled based on the following criteria: Where the individual has an intellectual functioning level (IQ) that is below 70 (Carlson 2010). Where significant limitations exist in at least two of the adaptive skill areas (Carlson 2010). Mental retardation manifests itself before attaining the age of 18 (Carlson 2010). IMPACT OF MEDICAL AND SOCIAL MODELS ON PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES Traditionally, explanations for disability were based on the medical model which views disability as a particular trait in an individual departing from the norm (Harris 2010). There is no doubt that the medical model has significantly impacted on persons with intellectual disability. As pointed out by many theorists, this model is primarily responsible for numerous beliefs and practices surrounding people with intellectual disability. The view that intellectual disability is objectively abnormal and undesirable has given rise to a large number of related assumptions including the view that disability is objectively bad, is a personal tragedy and thus something to be pitied, prevented and if possible, cured (Harris 2010). This notion perhaps explains many of the practices associated with it including institutionalization, involuntary sterilization, forced rehabilitation, euthanasia, social marginalization and even â€Å"mercy killing†(Harris 2010). In this regard, euthanasia refers to the medically assisted suicide whereby the individual with intellectual disability is subjected to death with the intention of putting an end to his/her suffering (Anon 2006). Since the medical model often falls short of providing a truly assisted living and instead proposing medically assisted suicide, its associated impacts on those with intellectual disability has been heavily criticized with many of the view that sanctity of life is paramount (Anon 2006). Indeed, the freedom of bodily autonomy and personal choice is fundamental freedom to every individual regardless of the disability. Aside from the medically assisted suicide, there is the aspect of forced sterilization. The most famous case of this involuntary sterilization was that of a woman in Virginia known by the name Carrie Bell who underwent a compulsory sterilization after having been alleged to be mentally retarded (Russel 2006). Carrie Bell became the first woman to undergo a compulsory sterilization in Virginia after the Supreme Court affirmed the compulsory sterilization law (Russel 2006). People with intellectual disability should however not be treated with such an invasive and irreversible procedure. The right to bodily integrity and reproduction are fundamental to personal identity regardless of disability. Also, persons with intellectual disabilities tend to be more often isolated and institutionalized either in a nursing home, hospital or care home. Such institutionalization denies them their basic right to freedom, citizenship and participation in the community. Supporting this view, Samuel Gridley Howe, founder of the Perkins Institution in Boston (the first residential institution for people with mental disabilities), rejected the trend towards lifelong institutionalization of persons with intellectual disability and instead proposed that they be stimulated by being absorbed back into the community among sound and typically developing persons, as opposed to their segregation away from the rest of the society (Carlson 2010). With the onset of the social model, there has been a shift in emphasis away from pathologising the individual to stressing on restrictive environments and societal attitudes (Harris 2010). This model views disability as a consequence of the environmental and societal attitudes that hinders people with impairments from interacting and participating in the society (Harris 2010). The model maintains that persons with disabilities are prevented from participating in the society due to social inequalities, discrimination, barriers to opportunities, insufficient support systems, prejudices and negative stereotypes, and general societal attitudes (Harris 2010). The possibility that mental health problems may be derived from social injustice such as negative stereotypes, social inequality, discrimination and oppression among others is not widely recognized (Harris 2010). It is a fact, however, that people with intellectual disability are more likely to experience such injustice and oppression as a direct consequence of their impairments (Harris 2010). They can experience a vicious circle of isolation, unemployment, poverty, scarce social and support networks as well as insecure housing among others. With the above in mind, it is worth examining some of the non-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices that may be employed by social workers in their contribution to mental health services. NON-DISCRIMINATORY AND ANTI-OPPRESSIVE PRACTICES Initially, most of the mental health institutions in the UK, did not meet the needs of some people while others were overrepresented in the more coercive areas such as compulsion and detention (Roberts, et. al., 2008). However, with the enactment of the Provisions of 2007 Mental Health Act, concerns about the diminishing contribution of social workers to mental health services have been brought to light. Emphasis is now placed on professional collaboration and integration with the training of social workers, which has become the key to providing critical perspectives (Roberts, et. al., 2008). PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION AND INTEGRATION The widespread adoption of non-discriminatory and anti-oppressive approaches in social work and education has heightened the professional awareness and understanding of issues such as social exclusion, oppression, stigma and stereotypes (Roberts, et. al., 2008). Moreover, social workers have become more aware of their own potential oppression towards individuals with intellectual disability (Roberts, et. al., 2008). In this respect, the National Institute for Mental Health in England has reviewed the roles of a range of mental health practitioners and identified distinctive contributions from the different professions. Value based practice that involves working with this diversity has been developed and is currently at the heart of the mental health policy and practice (Roberts, et. al., 2008). DEVELOPING SUPPORTIVE NETWORKS AND REDUCING ISOLATION Social workers have a key role to play in developing supportive networks for those with intellectual disability and reducing their marginalization and discrimination in the society. Providing therapeutic emotional support and group work approaches to service provision as well as promoting development of practical skills demonstrates the value of networking and mutual support to those with intellectual disability (Roberts, et. al., 2008). For example, a study based in Northern Ireland assessed some of the benefits of therapeutic group work on children with intellectual disability (Roberts, et. al., 2008). The study identified improvements in children’s self-esteem and confidence, improved social interaction and improvements in their academic achievement as well (Roberts, et. al., 2008). EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION It is a fact that disability is often associated with all kinds of discrimination including discrimination in terms of employment and education. In terms of employment, people with mental disabilities are often considered as a hazard and are seen as having potentially greater risk of falling ill (Lago & Smith 2010). In terms of education, the view of disability has significantly contributed to separate education for many disabled children. Emphasis has often been placed on corrective treatment for their impairments at the expense of access to mainstream curriculum and contact with other able bodied peers (Lago & Smith 2010). Hence, in a number of circumstances, these individuals have been alienated from the society. In demonstrating its commitment to equality and social inclusion of people with mental disabilities, part of the underlying standards of the National Service Framework for Mental Health in the UK is to ensure equality in treatment and access to services for all, regardless of the disabilities, gender, ethnicity, age, religion or sexual orientation (Roberts, et. al., 2008). This aims at promoting social inclusion whilst addressing discrimination issues which are often associated with mental ill-health. PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE AND SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT Equally important is the promotion of independence and self-directed support to individuals with mental disabilities. In this context, Independence involves giving those with disabilities absolute control over the services and systems that support them (Adams et al, 2002). Key to this is the need to firmly place the principle of independent living within the support systems and at the centre of mainstream public life (Adams et al, 2002). Support services are essential to ensure the independence of these individuals. These services range from access to equipment, health services, personal assistance, independent information, to support from peers and advocates (Adams et al, 2002). In order to achieve this goal, a number of organizations have been developed in the UK. The Self-Directed Support Scotland (SDSS) is one such organization which actively promotes independent living for the disabled by working alongside other organizations with the aim of supporting and championing self-directed support to the mentally disabled individuals (Adams et al, 2002). Independence may as well be promoted with the use of a person centred approach to planning, which focuses on individuality and emphasizes on the importance of independence and autonomy. VALUES UNDERPINNING PERSON-CENTERED APPROACH Traditionally, people with intellectual disability have had little input into the design and delivery of services that they receive (Towell & Sanderson 2004). There is however a growing body of evidence of a change in service provision towards a more person centered approach. Person centered approach refers to an approach that enables people to take a lead in planning all aspects of how social care services that they receive are delivered (Mansell and Beadle-Brown, 2004a). Professional services provided to people with disabilities have traditionally been based on the person’s impairment (Smull & Lakin 2002). Professional efforts have tended to channel services to these individuals according to the category of their impairments such as sensory impairment, learning difficulty or loss of mobility (Smull & Lakin 2002). This has led to a process of assessment that analyzes and quantifies the impairment and its impact based on the ability to undertake a range of tasks (Smull & Lakin 2002). The most serious consequence associated with such an assessment is that the participation of such people in ordinary community life is then seen to be dependent on their success in achieving these goals (Dowling, et.al, 2006). Person centred planning challenges this notion of â€Å"dependence†. It goes beyond the â€Å"needs led† or â€Å"holistic† assessment and considers a person’s aspirations as neither limited by entitlement to neither services nor dependent upon professional development (Dowling, et.al, 2006). It is concerned with the whole of someone’s life, not just their need for services. In this regard, person-centred planning is high on the national policy agenda in the UK (DADHC 2009). The main principles and values underpinning person centred planning include: Independence; – as pointed above, a person centred planning goes beyond the â€Å"needs led† approach and considers a person’s aspirations as neither limited by entitlement to neither services nor dependent upon professional development (DADHC 2009). Equality: – Person centred planning challenges the unequal power structures that have long characterized the relationship between the users and their service providers (DADHC 2009). In this regard, Sanderson al (2002) suggested that organizations need to operate from a position where they have â€Å"power with† service users as opposed to that where they have â€Å"power over† them. Inclusion: – person’s centred planning seeks to develop a better and shared understanding of the person with the disability and identify the person’s aspirations and assess what support him/her might require (DADHC 2009). Choice: – the person must be consulted throughout the planning proces s and he/she chooses the setting and timing of meetings as well as who is to be involved in the process (DADHC 2009). In this regard, Sanderson (2000) considers friends and family as a part of the planning process. However, the ultimate decision lies with the service user. IMPORTANCE OF PERSON CENTRED PLANNING IN CARE DELIVERY Its importance in care delivery includes (Sanderson 2000); Helping people achieve their aspirations Clarifying the supports needed to pursue these aspirations Help shape contributions from a range of service agencies by ensuring that they are directed at meeting the goals of the user. Energizes and motivates people based on their understanding and commitment to supporting people with disabilities. CONCLUSION There is no doubt that the medical and social model has significantly impacted on persons with intellectual disability. Clearly, we have identified several practices associated with disabilities including institutionalization, involuntary sterilization, forced rehabilitation, euthanasia, social marginalization and even â€Å"mercy killing†. There is need for social workers to ensure non-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices in their association with those with intellectual disabilities. A person-centred planning is equally essential in the delivery of care services to people with mental disabilities. REFERENCE Adams, et al., 2002. Anti-Oppressive Practice, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan Ltd: 227–236. Anon, 2006. â€Å"Eugenics, euthanasia, and physician assisted suicide: an overview for rehabilitation professionals†. Journal of Rehabilitation Carlson, L., 2010. The faces of intellectual disability. Bloomington: Indiana University press Department of Ageing, Disability & Home Care (DADHC), 2009. Exploring and implementing person centred approaches. Sydney, Melbourne: Australian Catholic University press. http://www.adhc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0005/228290/DADHC_PersonCentred201208.pdf {Accessed 20th January 2012} Dowling, et.al, 2006. Person-centred planning in social care, London: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Available from http://www.jrf.org.uk/system/files/9781859354803.pdf { Accessed 23rd January 2012} Harris, J.C., 2010. Intellectual disability: a guide for families and professionals. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Lago, C. and B. Smith, 2010. Ethical practice and Best practice. http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/35379_01_Lago_&_Smith_2e_Ch_01.pdf { Accessed 23rd January 2012} Mansell, J. and J. Beadle-Brown, 2004a. â€Å"Person-centred planning or person-centred actionPolicy and practice in intellectual disability services†, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1–9 Roberts, et.al, 2008. SCIE Research briefing 26: mental health and social work. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/briefings/briefing26/ { Accessed 25th January 2012} Russell, P., 2006. Sterilization of intellectually disabled minors Sanderson, H., 2000. PCP: Key Features and Approaches. Retrieved August 25, from http://www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk/PDFs/PCP%20Key%20Features%20and%20Styles.pdf {accessed 25th January 2012} Sanderson, H., E. Jones and K. Brown, 2002. â€Å"Active support and person-centred planning: strange bedfellows or ideal partners?† Tizard Learning Disability Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 31–8 Smull , M. and K.C. Lakin, 2002. â€Å"Public Policy and Person-Centered Planning†. In Holburn, S., Vietz, P.M., (Eds.) Person Centered Planning: Research, Practice, and Future Directions. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes The Royal Australian College of General Practictioners (RACGP), 2007. Disability. Available from http://www.racgp.org.au/scriptcontent/curriculum/pdf/disability.pdf {accessed on 20th January 2012} Towell, D. and H. Sanderson, 2004. â€Å"PCP in its Strategic Context: Reframing the Mansell/ Beadle-Brown Critique†. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 17, 17-21 Trevithick, P., 2000. Social work skills: A practical handbook. Buckingham, Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Japanese Film Auteur Akira Kurosawa

Japanese Film Auteur Akira Kurosawa Free Online Research Papers Japanese film auteur Akira Kurosawa is widely considered one of the most influential directors in cinema history. With such infamous releases as Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo, Kurosawa has consistently delivered films with a distinct artistic style and unique personal vision. The range of his influence has reached across the globe; his films have inspired such western directors as George Lucas, Sergio Leone, and Francis Ford Coppola. Across his career, Kurosawa’s visionary storytelling techniques, spectacular visual style, and thematic preoccupations have drawn upon a combination of foreign, domestic, and personal influences and have gone on to radically influence the world of cinema. While he draws upon influence from the west and east, many of Kurosawa’s methods of film storytelling have proven to be original, groundbreaking and highly influential. Rashomon, the film that put him and Japanese cinema on the map internationally, revolutionized the possibilities of narrative form in film. While it was classically taken for granted that film truth was visually evident, Rashomon’s unique form obscured that sense of truth by retelling the story of a man’s murder from four contradictory points of view. The characters tell their versions of the story to an unseen judge from a full frontal shot, implying that the viewer himself is the judge of truth. Each story is given equal weight, so as to imply that none are wholly true and none are wholly false. Radically different from anything seen before in cinema, the structure has been modeled in such films as Vantage Point and The Usual Suspects. It even inspired a western remake starring Paul Newman call ed The Outrage. The structure of Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai was similarly groundbreaking. Not only was it an epic action film of unprecedented depth and scale, but it is thought to be the first film narrative in which a team of heroes is assembled to accomplish a specific task. This structure is seen later in films such as The Guns of Navarrone, The Dirty Dozen, Seven Samurai’s western remake The Magnificent Seven, Ocean’s Eleven, and numerous others (Ebert). This is also a common structure of role playing video games (Final Fantasy, etc.). We see the continued influence of the film in Sam Peckinpah’s use of slow motion violence and death scenes in such action films as The Wild Bunch which went on to inspire numerous other western directors. The comic action film Yojimbo is also highly influential to western filmmakers: Toshiro Mifune’s character Sanjuro served as the basis for Clint Eastwood’s man with no name character, and the spaghett i western classic A Fistful of Dollars is a remake of Yojimbo. The story was again retold in Last Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis (Loftus). We see the influence of Yojimbo felt in Starwars when Obi-Wan hacks off a convict’s arm in a bar fight, much like Minfune’s Sanjuro does in the opening of the Yojimbo (Vera). The Hidden Fortress is yet another Kurosawa film that has such an original and exciting plot that it has been readapted, in this case as George Lucas’s epic sci-fi western Star Wars (Ebert). However, the power of the influence between Kurosawa and the west is reciprocal: Kurosawa owes the inspiration for Yojimbo to the western novel Red Harvest. Western influences upon his storytelling are most notable in his two Shakespeare adaptations: King Lear as Ran and Macbeth as Throne of Blood. Also, Kurosawa’s film Heaven and Hell is based upon the American crime novel King’s Ransom. Kurosawa draws inspiration from Russian novelists as well, with The Idiot, The Lower Depths, Ikiru, Dersu Uzala, and Red Beard all being based upon Russian novels. While considered to be the most â€Å"western† of Japanese filmmakers, he also draws upon domestic influences such as the Noh and Kabuki theatres, for which his older brother was a Benshi. A large portion of his films fall into the genre of Jidaigeki, or Japanese period-piece films. While simultaneously drawing upon domestic and foreign influences, Kurosawa has been able to innovate and in turn influence the world of cinema in a profound way. His visual style similarly draws upon classic influences in addition to the new technologies of color film and special effects. Many aesthetic elements of Kurosawa’s work have drawn upon older influences in addition to new innovations. Rashomon’s cinematic style owes much to the unchained camera concept of silent-era films. Kurosawa relates: â€Å"Since the advent of the talkies in the 1930s, I felt, we had misplaced and forgotten what was so wonderful about the old silent movies. I was aware of the aesthetic loss as a constant irritation. I sensed a need to go back to the origins of the motion picture to find this peculiar beauty again; I had to go back into the past† (Kurosawa). Another influence is Kurosawa’s early training as a painter, which seems to have provided him with an instinct for beautiful composition. In The Seven Samurai, his use of deep focus achieved through the use of the telephoto lens puts each detail of the frame in sharp focus and also renders the dimensionality of the frame flat like a canvas. This adds a pictorial quality to the picture, which, combined with an exceptional set design, serves to paint vividly the world of the narrative. In Ran, we see similar qualities in his use of color: the vivid colors of the costume and banner designs are diverse, distinct, and neatly organized. This not only adds stunning visual beauty to the films design, but enhances the storytelling. In the beginning of the film, the neatly organized patterns of color represent the stability of Hidetora’s kingdom. In the later battle scenes of the film the sharply contrasting blue on Saburo’s army and the red of Jiro’s convey clearly drawn battle lines. The colors take on symbolic effect as well, with the blue of Saburo representing his benevolent intentions to reunite with his father and Jiro’s fierce red representing the bloodshed he has committed by killing his brother Taro and tends to carry out further by the defeat of his younger brother. Dreams has an equally po werful visual design, but in this case it was achieved using the state of the art techniques of LucasArt’s Industrial Light and Magic team. Visual design is the primary tool of storytelling in Dreams, as the dialogue is sparse and the plots simplistic. The dazzling spectacle of color seen in â€Å"The Peach Orchard† and â€Å"Sunshine through the Rain† convey an impression of fantastic exuberance, evoking feelings of childlike delight in the viewer. The dark monochromaticism of â€Å"The Tunnel† and â€Å"The Weeping Demon† invoke morbid impressions of dread, fear, and terror. The use of color along with the powerful imagery of neatly dressed life-size porcelain dolls, dead soldiers whose faces have been painted a deathly blue-black, and weeping, savage, yet regretful demons marks the culmination of an aesthetic tendency for Kurosawa to achieve a visual poem of sorts rather than the mere telling of a narrative. We see this tendency in Rashomon in the preference for artistically appealing shots of symbolic plays of light, shadow, and woods over excessive dialogue. His beautiful landscape shots also achieve the effect of re-creating a tangible experience for the viewer, as they deeply impress upon the audience the sweeping grandeur and massive scale of the Japanese landscapes. Kurosawa’s use of landscape may be partially attributed to his early training as a painter, as the Japanese landscape painting is a cherished tradition that seeks to capture the very spiritual essence of the land. We can also attribute his preoccupation with landscape to the influence he felt from such American western filmmakers as John Ford (Crogan). In westerns, the landscape is so prominently featured as a vital aspect of the narrative that is becomes a character itself. We see a similar depiction of the landscape in Ran, such as when the wind-swept fields in which the mad Hidetora mindlessly picks flowers are suffused with a storm of violent wind, symbolic of the fate that has thrown Hidetora’s world into chaos. In the beginning of the film, the immense barrenness of the hills menacingly dwarfs the small group of riders traveling across the plains, and conveys the lonely place of man alone, without morals, and disconnected from God. Many of Kurosawa’s recurring thematic preoccupations stem from a combination of his personal life and broader social contexts. The recurring samurai themes of his films are a result of his samurai ancestry and the samurai warrior identity as a significant part of the Japanese tradition. The themes of chaos, regret, and hopelessness seen in Ran and Dreams must come from the personal dejection he faced when, after Dodes Kaden failed at the box office, he attempted suicide. In â€Å"The Tunnel† we see a platoon of dead soldiers attempting to come back to life, and haunting the commander who sent them to die in the process. This sequence constitutes a vivid visual impression of hopelessness and regret. These themes are closely related to themes concerning the senselessness and devastation of war and the dread of the nuclear menace. These feelings could be attributed to the general mood of post-war Japan, and are reflected also in Ran and Dreams. In Ran, we witness a powerf ul final image of a blind young man dropping a scroll with the image of the Buddha on it off a battlement onto the rocks below, symbolic of the hopelessness for salvation, the abandonment of morality, the impossibility of peace, and the chaotic nature of war. In â€Å"Mount Fuji in Red†, the terror of a mountain exploding with nuclear waste and the horrors of radioactive clouds colored in toxic yellows and reds depict ultimate devastation, and the hopelessness for survival drives the people of Japan to the bottom of the ocean to die. In â€Å"The Weeping Demon†, men have been transformed into demons damned to eternal suffering for their destruction of the earth with nuclear weapons. The monstrous, overgrown flowers, the horrible demons screaming out in pain as they cannibalize each other, and the starkness of the barren brown landscape paint quite a bleak picture for the destiny of mankind. We are relieved, however, to see a more hopeful portrait of man in â€Å"Villa ge of the Watermills†, in which it is implied that the salvation of man lies in his reconnection with nature. The idea Kurosawa depicts in Rashomon has gone on to be quite influential itself: as a testament to the power of the film’s thematic insights, the concept of the subjectivity of perception has gone on to be christened â€Å"The Rashomon Effect†. In the course of his highly accomplished career as a film auteur, Akira Kurosawa has revolutionized the conventions of cinema while drawing upon a variety of influences, eastern, western, personal, and social, to portray powerful dramas that are at once widely accessible and deeply personal. His unique approach to narrative form, his dazzling visual style, and deep thematic relevance mark the fulfillment of his personal vision to make universally relevant films and stay true to the humanist nature of the drama: â€Å"Human beings share the same common problems,† he says. â€Å"A film can only be understood if it depicts these properly.† Loftus, David. Review summary and commentary about Yojimbo. Retrieved December 4, 2008 from www.allwatchers.com Vera, Noel. (November 16, 2007). Yojimbo. Retrieved December 4, 2008 from http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2007/11/yojimbo-akira-kurosawa-1961-ikiru-akira.html Kurosawa, Akira. Something Like an Autobiography. Retrieved December 4, 2008 from criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=138eid=213section=essay Ebert, Roger. August 9, 2001. The Seven Samurai. Retrieved 10/14/2008. Crogan, Patrick. (2000). Translating Kurosawa. Retrieved December 4,2008 from http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/00/9/kurosawa.html Research Papers on Japanese Film Auteur Akira KurosawaWhere Wild and West MeetTrailblazing by Eric AndersonBringing Democracy to AfricaThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andMind TravelCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayHip-Hop is Art

The eNotes Blog Contribute to the eNotesBlog

Contribute to the Blog We are looking for engaging articles aimed at teachers, students, or anyone who just likes to learn. They can be informative or have a sense of humor, but preferably we’re looking for innovative guides to instructing and learning.  Articles could range anywhere from â€Å"Tips on Teaching with the iPad† to â€Å"7 Ways American Idol Can Help You Study.† Be creative! Guest Post Criteria Articles can be up to 1000  words in length ideally, or as long as they need to be to get your message across. If you use sources, please provide links to them. We like posts that are well-written and relatively free of spelling and grammatical errors (articles will be  proofread before publishing, but the fewer errors the better). All content must be original and free of plagiarism. If we do not publish your submission, you are welcome to try again with a different topic. For ideas on what we typically look for, you might want to browse through our most recent posts. Email all submissions to  sburton@  with the subject line â€Å"Guest Blog Post† with a 1-3 sentence bio of yourself to include with the publication along with a headshot photo (optional). Please note We will not link to essay-writing services, nor endorse their products and services.

A Short History of the Great Depression

A Short History of the Great Depression The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1941,  was a severe economic downturn caused by  an overly-confident,  over-extended stock market and a drought that struck the South.   In an attempt to end the Great Depression, the U.S. government took  unprecedented direct action to help  stimulate the economy. Despite this help, it was  the increased production needed for ​World War II that finally ended the Great Depression. The Stock Market Crash After nearly a decade of optimism and prosperity, the United States was thrown into despair on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed and the official beginning of the Great Depression. As stock prices plummeted with no hope of recovery, panic struck. Masses and masses of people tried to sell their stock, but no one was buying. The stock market, which had appeared to be the surest way to become rich, quickly became the path to bankruptcy. And yet, the Stock Market Crash was just the beginning. Since many banks had also invested large portions of their clients savings in the stock market, these banks were forced to close when the stock market crashed. Seeing a few banks close caused another panic across the country. Afraid they would lose their own savings, people rushed to banks that were still open to withdraw their money. This massive withdrawal of cash caused additional banks to close. Since there was no way for a banks clients to recover any of their savings once the bank had closed, those who didnt reach the bank in time also became bankrupt. 1:44 Watch Now: What Led to the Great Depression? Unemployment Businesses and industry were also affected. Despite President Herbert Hoover asking businesses to maintain their wage rates, many businesses, having lost much of their own capital in either the Stock Market Crash or the bank closures, started cutting back their workers hours or wages.  In turn, consumers began to curb their spending, refraining from purchasing such things as luxury goods. This lack of consumer spending caused additional businesses to cut back wages or, more drastically, to lay off some of their workers. Some businesses couldnt stay open even with these cuts and soon closed their doors, leaving all their workers unemployed. Unemployment was a huge problem during the Great Depression. From 1929 to 1933, the unemployment rate in the United States rose from  3.2% to the incredibly high 24.9%- meaning that one out of every four people were out of work.   PhotoQuest / Getty Images The Dust Bowl In previous depressions, farmers were usually safe from the severe effects of the depression because they could at least feed themselves. Unfortunately, during the Great Depression, the Great Plains were hit hard with both a drought and horrendous dust storms, creating what became known as the Dust Bowl. Years and years of overgrazing combined with the effects of a drought caused the grass to disappear. With just topsoil exposed, high winds picked up the loose dirt and whirled it for miles. The dust storms destroyed everything in their paths, leaving farmers without their crops. Small farmers were hit especially hard. Even before the dust storms hit, the invention of the tractor drastically cut the need for manpower on farms. These small farmers were usually already in debt, borrowing money for seed and paying it back when their crops came in. When the dust storms damaged the crops, not only could the small farmer not feed himself and his family, he could not pay back his debt. Banks would then foreclose on the small farms and the farmers family would be both homeless and unemployed. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images Riding the Rails During the Great Depression, millions of people were out of work across the United States. Unable to find another job locally, many unemployed people hit the road, traveling from place to place, hoping to find some work. A few of these people had cars, but most hitchhiked or rode the rails. A large portion of the people who rode the rails were teenagers, but there were also older men, women, and entire families who traveled in this manner. They would board freight trains and crisscross the country, hoping to find a job in one of the towns along the way. When there was a job opening, there were often literally a thousand people applying for the same job. Those who werent lucky enough to get the job would perhaps stay in a shantytown (known as Hoovervilles) outside of town. Housing in the shantytown was built out of any material that could be found freely, like driftwood, cardboard, or even newspapers. The farmers who had lost their homes and land usually headed west to California, where they heard rumors of agricultural jobs. Unfortunately, although there was some seasonal work, the conditions for these families were transient and hostile. Since many of these farmers came from Oklahoma and Arkansas, they were called the derogatory names of Okies and Arkies. (The stories of these migrants to California were immortalized in the fictional book, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.) Roosevelt and the New Deal The U.S. economy broke down and entered the Great Depression during the presidency of Herbert Hoover. Although President Hoover repeatedly spoke of optimism, the people blamed him for the Great Depression. Just as the shantytowns were named Hoovervilles after him, newspapers became known as Hoover blankets, pockets of pants turned inside out (to show they were empty) were called Hoover flags, and broken-down cars pulled by horses were known as Hoover wagons. During the 1932 presidential election, Hoover did not stand a chance at reelection and Franklin D. Roosevelt won in a landslide. People of the United States had high hopes that President Roosevelt would be able to solve all their woes. As soon as Roosevelt took office, he closed all the banks and only let them reopen once they were stabilized. Next, Roosevelt began to establish programs that became known as the New Deal. These New Deal programs were most commonly known by their initials, which reminded some people of alphabet soup. Some of these programs were aimed at helping farmers, like the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration). While other programs, such as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and the WPA (Works Progress Administration), attempted to help curb unemployment by hiring people for various projects. The End of the Great Depression To many at the time, President Roosevelt was a hero. They believed that he cared deeply for the common man and that he was doing his best to end the Great Depression. Looking back, however, it is uncertain as to how much Roosevelts New Deal programs helped to end the Great Depression. By all accounts, the New Deal programs eased the hardships of the Great Depression; however, the U.S. economy was still extremely bad by the end of the 1930s. The major turn-around for the U.S. economy occurred after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the United States into World War II. Once the U.S. was involved in the war, both people and industry became essential to the war effort. Weapons, artillery, ships, and airplanes were needed quickly. Men were trained to become soldiers and the women were kept on the home front to keep the factories going. Food needed to be grown for both the homefront and to send overseas. It was ultimately the entrance of the U.S. into World War II that ended the Great Depression in the United States.

Name Fake News Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Name Fake News - Essay Example During one episode on the Television, the narrator states that one of the lead characters of the Lancaster Police was arrested by the "Lancaster County Police" but in the real sense there is reportedly no such law enforcement agency in Lancaster. This is name fake news that deceived the innocent public. The name fake news genre is believed to have dated back to the 1960s and it was used widely in radio news, film production and in televisions. Fake names were used to portray the real people so as hide the identities of the people and enhance the understanding of the target group (Gibson 2012). It is important to highlight here that name fake news to a greater extent damages our understanding of current events. This is true because it gives the public falsified information of things that are untrue and if the public believes in the false information, it may lead to the destruction of human dignity, defamation, and some loss may also occur. If for example, a news anchor during broadcas ting reveals the fake name of a product that is to be sold in the market having different price to the real price of the original products. Due to the false information, the innocent buyer will not only spend more than the actual price of the product but also purchase a wrong item that was not intended (Gibson 2012). Fake name news can also damage our understanding of current events in publications such as books and newspapers. If an author in his publication indicates that a particular town or city exists or particular people existed having various activities such as the one that appeared in the recent Moscow News with claims that a city existed and it was full of sins done by the citizens. This kind of negative information may damage the peoples view on how they consider a particular group from a certain region while in neither reality the city does not exist nor the purported Television show that gave the false news (Burchard 2012).

Policing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Policing - Essay Example The agents who have the first contact with the caller should perform a basic risk assessment and find any vulnerability before verifying whether the matter is an incident or inquiry and attempt to resolve the caller’s needs. The staff should ask questions to the caller for an effective assessment of the risk (Deal 2010, p.18). Assessment, identification and prioritization of the risks are involved for effective risk management with the onus of the dispatcher in order to take the recommendable initial response. After taking the initial risk assessment, the incident is then graded on whether it requires emergency or non-emergency response (Deal 2010, p.23). An emergency response includes situations where the reported incident is taking place, and there is or likely to be a danger to life, instant threat of using violence, serious injuries to a person or solemn damage to property. The maximum time required for the police to arrive for the emergency response in urban areas is within 15 minutes while in rural areas is within 20 minutes. The police rely on the first hand information given by the call handler for the direction to the scene where the incident has occurred. For a non-emergency incident, the immediate police response is not required and encompasses many solutions for which officer’s attendance is not required.

How Saddam Hussein terrorized his own people Essay

How Saddam Hussein terrorized his own people - Essay Example w its hypothesis on the fact that terrorism is not necessary restricted to organized violence between states or regions, but also organized violence that can be committed by a regime to its own population. The first way that Saddam Hussein used against his people was the Anfal campaign. Anfal is an Arab word that means spoils. It was a campaign carried out in the late 1980’s by the Saddam Hussein’s regime against the larger Kurdish population living in the north of Iraq. The campaign was carried out to ascertain the Iraqi control over the area. However, the real agenda behind this type of campaign was to keep the Kurdish population on check. This campaign involved killing of men after being rounded up by the Iraqi troops and their villages raced down, while children and women were taken to camps with deplorable conditions (Ferguson 120). Chemical weapons were also used against the Kurds during the Anfal campaign. The Iraqi used chemical generated weapons to smoke the Kurds out of there homes and villages. These operations were carried out in the morning of March 16, 1988 and continued all night long. The Iraqi’s would deploy bombs filled with a mixture of mustard gas and nerve agent gas. The mixture proved deadly since it had an immediate impact to its victims. The long-term consequences of these weapons included cancer, birth defects and permanent blindness. Short-term effects included vomiting, convulsions, immediate blindness and blisters. Saddam Hussein’s cousin known as Ali Hassan al-Majid directly oversaw this operation against the Kurds after which he earned the famous name of â€Å"Chemical Ali† (Ferguson 130). The second way that Saddam Hussein used to terrorize was through reprisal on Dujail. This occurred in the early 1980’s, when Saddam Hussein was on a visit to a town known as Dujail situated a few miles north of the city of Baghdad. In Dujail, a group of militants known as Dawa shot at his motorcade. In retaliation on what was considered

The Power of Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Power of Public Relations - Essay Example The roles of corporations have emerged to be criminal and obscene in nature that it becomes difficult to even consider proposing a change in their business conduct and culture.A clear, well-planned policy and public relations approach will rally the audience or the public to support the leader amidst the counter-campaign of opponents, not only political but also corporate in nature. This has become necessary in the US political landscape and mass communication due to the open encroachment of corporate actors in policy-making and informing the public. After all, the majority of the so-called mainstream media are corporate in nature and they tend to support their advertisers despite obvious negative actions they are committing against the majority of the public. In addition, the delineation between freedom and expression and controlled information has been blurred to a point where truth may be difficult to identify (Hall, 2007). To conclude, public relations for a political leader or c lient may prove difficult if one is on the side for the public good. A need to bargain with major actors becomes necessary to strike a balance and make the opposite side understand the importance of sustainability even in corporate dealings. Where a balance may be bargained, the problem will be on safeguarding an equitable implementation of policy. All these encompass the work of the public relations practitioner and should be considered carefully in their PR packages especially for politicians.

Failure or success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Failure or success - Essay Example Gatto’s opinion on the effects of schooling is extremely intense. In â€Å"Against School†, he stirs up a discussion on whether ‘boredom’ is the perfect term to describe the experience of modern day students. From his personal experience, most students feel bored with the education system and think their teachers do not seem to understand their subjects and probably aren’t interested in learning more (Breton and Largent 25). Gatto brings up the question of who should be blamed for the critical mess in the education system. Ideally, teachers often appear bored and keep blaming their students for feeling disinterested in taking their studies seriously (Breton and Largent 157). He offers a solution to boredom and encourages students to amuse themselves in the classroom. Also, he encourages teachers to provide students with adequate education rather than stirring regular schooling. Gatto also scrutinizes whether the existing school system is meant to spearhead forced schooling. He goes ahead to compare the school system to the Prussian culture and refers to it as an educational system that is meant to nurture mediocre intellects. With such an educational system, students are denied the opportunity to develop appreciable leadership skills. Also, he states that most people connect ‘successes to ‘schooling’. According to him, important people like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson never subjected their lives to the strenuous schooling system, but still made it in life (Breton and Largent 241). In addition, Gatto believes that schools were designed to make good citizens at their personal best. Gatto thinks that the public school system is designed to fulfill the major covert functions of a school. He outlines the covert functions by revisiting Alexander Inglis’s basic functions of a modern school.

Briefly characterise neoliberalism and discuss its likely Essay

Briefly characterise neoliberalism and discuss its likely contributions to the mutiple contemporary crises---food,environment,finance and energy - Essay Example Liberal paradigm stems from the studies of Adam Smith, an outstanding economist of the late 18th century, who argued that minimization of government’s role in economic relations would facilitation growth of trade. The liberal economic model had dominated in national and international economic relations for almost two centuries until the new Keynesian model took over in the 1930s. This model advocated interventions of the state in economic relations and proved its efficiency helping effectively rebuild European economies after the devastating world wars. However, despite the apparent success of Keynesian paradigm liberalism resurrected in the early 1970s with increasing numbers of economists supporting the claim that deregulation of markets, privatization and minimization of government intervention would foster further growth of the international economics. That resurrected model of economic liberalism was called neoliberalismii. Also known as ‘economic rationalism’, the neoliberal model â€Å"†¦has an interest †¦ to provide reason to limit government in relation to the market†iii and incorporates the â€Å"†¦beliefs in the efficacy of the free market and the adoption of policies that prioritize deregulation, foreign debt reduction, privatization of the public sector...and a (new) orthodoxy of individual responsibility and the â€Å"emergency† safety net - thus replacing collective provision through a more residualist welfare state†iv. In other words, neoliberalism stresses the role of self-conduct in economic relations requiring individuals to exercise more power and control over their life and well-being. This is often called ‘the entrepreneurial self’v. Government that promotes neoliberalism stimulates individual to adopt highly practical and rational relationships to themselves without limiting their freedom in economic relations. Therefore, this model

Failure or success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Failure or success - Essay Example Gatto’s opinion on the effects of schooling is extremely intense. In â€Å"Against School†, he stirs up a discussion on whether ‘boredom’ is the perfect term to describe the experience of modern day students. From his personal experience, most students feel bored with the education system and think their teachers do not seem to understand their subjects and probably aren’t interested in learning more (Breton and Largent 25). Gatto brings up the question of who should be blamed for the critical mess in the education system. Ideally, teachers often appear bored and keep blaming their students for feeling disinterested in taking their studies seriously (Breton and Largent 157). He offers a solution to boredom and encourages students to amuse themselves in the classroom. Also, he encourages teachers to provide students with adequate education rather than stirring regular schooling. Gatto also scrutinizes whether the existing school system is meant to spearhead forced schooling. He goes ahead to compare the school system to the Prussian culture and refers to it as an educational system that is meant to nurture mediocre intellects. With such an educational system, students are denied the opportunity to develop appreciable leadership skills. Also, he states that most people connect ‘successes to ‘schooling’. According to him, important people like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson never subjected their lives to the strenuous schooling system, but still made it in life (Breton and Largent 241). In addition, Gatto believes that schools were designed to make good citizens at their personal best. Gatto thinks that the public school system is designed to fulfill the major covert functions of a school. He outlines the covert functions by revisiting Alexander Inglis’s basic functions of a modern school.

Individual Project 1 EDU 620 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Individual Project 1 EDU 620 - Essay Example Thus, it demands a more dynamic personality having skills in analysis, planning, management, and implementation. Most importantly, it requires a learning attitude that leads toward continuous personal and professional development. Discipline of Instructional Design Wills(2009) states that instructional design is a discipline based on scientific principals and a specific set of assumptions verified by empirical data. Upon the base of this data, the professionals design their instructions to meet the specific learning needs of the particular audience. Hence, instruction is a science and instructional design is a technology based upon the science. (Merrill, Drake, Lacy, Pratt, & the ID2 Research Group, 1996).Further, it is a process that includes planning, management, implementation and assessment. Thus instructional design is a process to improve how instructions gets designed and delivered better. However, some scholars consider it not just a science but an art as well. Instructional Design as a Science The scholars who claim instructional design as aligned with science say that instruction is based upon some scientific principals—a huge body of research. Supporting this view point Rowland (1993) establishes that the principles that can explain cause and effect relationship are to be said scientific.

Arguments For and Against Euthanasia

Arguments For and Against Euthanasia Euthanasia: Whose decision is it I. Introduction In a 1988 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, an article titled Its Over Debbie describes how an anonymous doctor administers a fatal dose of morphine to a woman dying of ovarian cancer (Anonymous, 1988). In a 1989 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, ten doctors associated with the nations leading hospitals and medical schools declare their belief that it is not immoral for a physician to assist in the rational suicide of a terminally ill person (Wanzer, et. al., 1989). In 1991, the New England Journal of Medicine published a detailed account written by Dr. Timothy Quill which discussed his decision to help a patient suffering from leukemia commit suicide (Quill, 1991). In 1990, Dr. Jack Kervorkian uses his suicide machine to help a woman suffering from Alzheimers disease, one Janet Adkins, end her life in the back of a Volkswagen bus (Risen, 1990). Janet was the first of twenty patients who have been aided by Kervorkian in the past three years. He rem ains committed to his practice. In 1991 the Hemlock Society publishes a how-to manual on committing suicide. Entitled Final Exit, it zooms to the top of the national best seller lists and stays there for several weeks (Altman, 1991). Each of these events has served to provoke ever widening media coverage of the issues surrounding euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, and a national debate has arisen around these practices. This debate is not merely limited to attorneys and physicians. Suddenly, these issues and this debate are now a part of life in mainstream America, and many Americans face dilemmas that did not exist in simpler times; dilemmas that many would rather not have to face. II. Review of the Literature a. Euthanasia: The Nature of the Debate It is this sudden change in the way Americans are dealing with death, the nature and scope of the debate about dying, which prompts this analysis of the issues surrounding euthanasia. This debate is largely a debate about what is ethical. Questions the debate attempts to answer include: Is it right to commit suicide? Is it ethical for someone else to help? Is it right to put others to death at their own request or at the request of family members? These questions are important because they help to define our society and our culture. The way people deal with and respond to issues of life, ritual, and death serves to shape the nature of our society. This is why society must attempt to decide what is right; what is ethical conduct for the various actors in our communities when we face death. There are several reasons why this debate has surfaced in the 1980s. Death is nothing new, it has existed for thousands of years. Each culture has developed its own rituals and mechanisms for dealin g with death. These mechanisms serve to provide solace, a sense of continuity, and allow the culture to continue even as the members of the community cannot. However, our own culture has experienced many shattering changes that have altered the nature of dying. Suddenly we are forced to rethink the issue of death and we must decide what types of behavior are ethical when someone is dying. Before we can examine the debate about the ethics of dying, we must examine why the debate exists. Perhaps the main reason that death has changed in western culture has to do with advances in medicine and technology. Many of the diseases that have historically killed people are now no longer a threat to most individuals. Medicine has made a variety of advances in the treatment of diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, polio, influenza, and measles. People now rarely die of such traditional causes. Life expectancy has risen to almost 75 years in the United States. The quality o f life has also changed fundamentally during the past 100 years. Not only does almost everyone in the United States have enough to eat, but people eat higher on the food chain. There is a great deal more meat and animal fat in modern diets. Just these differences alone have changed death significantly. People now develop heart disease, adult onset diabetes, cancers, and AIDS. These types of diseases are more the result of lifestyle than bacteria. With these new diseases, suffering is often more prolonged and treatment is frequently quite painful. Also, as people are living longer, the diseases of the aged have become increasingly prevalent. Many more people now suffer from problems like senile dementia and Alzheimers disease. These diseases ruin the mind while preserving the body, allowing life to continue long after any quality that the life might have is gone. If what we die of has changed, perhaps the way that we die has changed even more. Throughout history, death has been a family affair. People usually died in the home after a short bout with an illness or as the result of an accident. Today, increasingly, death occurs in an institutional setting such as a convalescent home or a hospital, after a variety of technologies are applied in an attempt to prolong the life of the sick person. Often these technologies can be quite effective. People can now live for months and even years attached to a variety of tubes and technol ogies. About 75% of all deaths in 1987 occurred in hospitals and long term care facilities, up from 50% in 1950 . . . The Office of Technology Assessment Task Force estimated in 1988 that 3775 to 6575 persons were dependent on mechanical ventilation and 1,404,500 persons were receiving artificial nutritional support. This growing capability to forestall death has contributed to the increased attention to medical decisions near the end of life. (CEJA, 1992, p. 2229) People realize that the chances of facing the institutionalization of death increase daily, and they feel a profound lack of control. Surveys have consistently indicated that a large majority of people in the United States would like to be allowed to end their lives before incurable and painful diseases finally kill them (CEJA, p. 2229). Because of the changes that have impacted death, with regard to both how and where we die, the debate about how we should be allowed to die has been renewed. This paper will examine the s everal facets of this debate. It will define the terms that are relevant to the debate, examine the legal state of euthanasia today, discuss the ethics of euthanasia by examining arguments made by proponents and opponents of euthanasia, and by applying several Normative Ethical Theories to the issue. Finally, it will explore the power implications that infuse the debate on euthanasia and present arguments in favor of moving toward a care based ethic of dying and away from the current rights based ethic. b. Definitions If we are to effectively understand the debate about the right to die in the United States, it is imperative that a few basic terms be understood. The first and most important term is euthanasia. Originating from the Greek terms eu (happy or good) and thanatos (death), euthanasia means literally happy death or good death. The American Medical Associations Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs defines the term as follows: Euthanasia is commonly defined as the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy. In this report, the term euthanasia will signify the medical administration of a lethal agent to a patient for the purpose of relieving the patients intolerable and incurable suffering. (p. 2230) Other sources have defined euthanasia variously: The act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from incurable conditions of diseases. (Wolhandler, 1984, p. 363), . . . to refuse un wanted medical treatment or to have ongoing care withdrawn even though the patient will die if treatment is terminated. (Adams, et. al., 1992, p. 2021). Euthanasia is a general term that can actually mean a variety of different things depending upon the context in which it is used. For this reason, a number of supporting terms has become the convention when discussing euthanasia. These terms help to narrow the subject matter and distinguish between different types of euthanasia. The important terms that help to subdivide and classify euthanasia by type are voluntary/involuntary and active/passive. Voluntary euthanasia is a death performed by another with the consent of the person being killed. This consent may be in writing as in the case of a living will or advance directive. Involuntary euthanasia is a death performed by another without the consent of the person being killed. The AMAs Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs makes three distinctions concerning consent and euthanasia: Voluntary euthanasia is euthanasia that is provided to a competent person on his or her informed request. Non-voluntary euthanasia is the provision of euthanasia to an incompetent person according to a surrogates decision. Involuntary euthanasia is euthanasia performed without a c ompetent persons consent.(p. 2230) Wolhandler compares the terms in a different context.Those who condemn euthanasia of both kinds would call the involuntary form murder and the voluntary form a compounded crime of murder and suicide if administered by the physician, and suicide alone if administered by the patient himself. As far as voluntary euthanasia goes, it is impossible to separate it from suicide as a moral category; it is, indeed, a form of suicide. Voluntary euthanasia may involve participation of second parties. (p. 366) The distinction between active and passive euthanasia is not nearly as clear as the previous distinction. Although many authors claim that the difference between the two types cannot be identified or is irrelevant at best, much of the debate on the subject is over this distinction and most of the current legal issues turn on this distinction. While this paper will contend that the difference between the two should not be recognized, it is both useful and important to know where the line is drawn. The AMA, which is strongly opposed to active euthanasia, has seen fit to endorse passive euthanasia in appropriate situations. The Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs makes the distinction as follows: The physician is obligated only to offer sound medical treatment and to refrain from providing treatments that are detrimental, on balance, to the patients well being. When a physician withholds or withdraws a treatment on the request of a patient, he or she has fulfilled the obligation to offer sound treatment to the patient. The obligation to offer treatment does not include an obligation to impose treatment on an unwilling patient. In addition, the physician is not providing a harmful treatment. Withdrawing or withholding is not a treatment, but the foregoing of a treatment. (p. 2231) According to Wolhandler, (p. 367) it is t he nature of the acts performed by the second party that distinguishes between active and passive euthanasia. The courts have held that acts of omission (removal of respiratory assistance, hydration, and feeding tubes) are allowable behavior. Although unplugging a respirator and switching off a dialysis machine are arguably acts of commission, an increasing number of judges and commentators have accepted these acts as permissible passive euthanasia in both voluntary and involuntary settings. Gifford (1993) describes the difference between the two types of euthanasia this way: Passive euthanasia involves allowing a patient to die by removing her from artificial life support systems such as respirators and feeding tubes or simply discontinuing medical treatments necessary to sustain life. Active euthanasia, by contrast, involves positive steps to end the life of a patient, typically by lethal injectiond (p. 1546) The right to passive euthanasia has also been termed the right to die by some authors (Adams, et. al., p. 2021-22). With an understanding of the different types of euthanasia, we can now define some other key terms. It is important to understand how physician assisted suicide differs from euthanasia, and it is also necessary to define the terms advance directive and competence since they are crucial in determining the difference between voluntary and involuntary euthanasia. The term physician assisted suicide is somewhat self-explanatory. It occurs when a physician provides aid to a patient so they can commit suicide. However, it is also necessary to see the difference between this type of action and euthanasia. The AMAs Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs states that Euthanasia and assisted suicide differ in the degree of physician participation. Euthanasia entails a physician performing the immediate life ending action (e.g., administering a lethal injection). Assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patients death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act (e.g., the physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient may commit suicide). (p. 2231) It is important to realize that the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide lies in the behavior of the physician. This difference in behavior has recently become a major legal battleground that will be explored in the following pages. The advance directive has recently become an important new device to aid the terminally ill. Many states have legalized the advance directive, partly in an attempt to avoid dealing with problems associated with active euthanasia, and partly to help ease the burdens on the dying and their families. Singer (1992) provides a good definition of advance directive and explains how it is used. An advance directive is a written document completed by a competent person that aims to guide medical treatment after the person becomes incompetent. There are two types: instruction directives, which focus on the types of life-sustaining treatment that the person would want under various clinical situations, and proxy directives, which focus on who the person would want to make health care decisions if the person were unable to do so. (p. 22) The advance directive is useful because it can theoretically eliminate the need for involuntary euthanasia. It ensures that a voluntary decision is made in advance, even if the individual could not make such a situation at a later date. If everyone made use of the advance directive, there would be no need to debate policy decisions that must be made in the case of an incompetent person on life support. Because advance directives have neither been accepted nor widely used by the general public, many of the problems that could potentially be solved remain. This situation caused right to die groups in both California and Washington to propose ballot initiatives that would legalize active euthanasia (Gifford, p. 1550-51). Although active euthanasia is not legal in any United States jurisdiction, passive euthanasia is generally allowed at the request of a competent individual. Because of this it is critical to understand what constitutes competence. Courts have defined legal competence as the mental ability to make a rational decision, which includes the ability to perceive, appreciate all the relevant facts, and to reach a rational judgement upon such facts. In the euthanasia context, legal competence is the incurable s ability to understand that in requesting active euthanasia he is choosing death over life. Only clear and convincing evidence should suffice for a finding of an incurables competence. (Wolhandler, p. 366-67) c. The Legal State of Euthanasia With a knowledge of the meaningful terms that will be involved, it is important to discuss the legal state of euthanasia in the United States today. As technology has placed more and more people on life sustaining devices in this country, the courts have had to deal with several cases that pertain to euthanasia in a variety of ways. This section of the paper is designed to review those cases briefly and to assess how the rulings in those cases have set the policy for the practice of euthanasia today. The courts first dealt with euthanasia in the Quinlan case in 1976. Karen Ann Quinlan lapsed into a coma after mixing a variety of pills and alcohol at a party. After it became apparent that she would not be revived, her parents went to court to have her respirator removed. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that her parents had the right to have the respirator removed and that Karen be allowed to die. Ironically, because her parents did not request removal of feeding and hydration tubes , she survived nine more years curled in a fetal position in a New Jersey rest home (Wolhandler, p. 366). In this case, the New Jersey court effectively sanctioned nonvoluntary passive euthanasia. The next prominent case was decided by the New York Supreme Court in Superintendent of Belchertown State School v. Saikewicz. Here the court found that a competent patient had the right to refuse medical treatment, allowing for a patient to decide in cases of voluntary passive euthanasia (Gifford, p. 1575-76). Later, in Satz v. Perlmutter, a Florida District Court of Appeals came to essentially the same conclusion (Wolhandler, p. 372-73). In Severns v. Wilmington Medical Center, the Delaware Supreme Court gave the husband of a comatose woman the right of guardianship and the authority to remove her respirator or withhold other treatment as he saw fit. In this case the court relied on previous decisions made in Quinlan, Saikewicz, and Satz for its finding (Wolhandler, p. 373). In Thor v. Su perior Court (California), the court granted the request to withhold treatment from a severely depressed quadriplegic only after a psychiatric evaluation determined that the request was based on poor quality of life and not just on severe depression (Pugliese, 1993, p. 1326). The courts have not restricted the right of passive euthanasia to just the terminally ill. Elizabeth Bouvia was a relatively young woman who suffered from severe cerebral palsy and attempted to starve herself to death in a California hospital by requesting the removal of a nasogastric feeding tube. She was denied this request because the hospital feared it would be party to suicide. The California court of appeals ordered the physicians to remove the tube and argued that she had the right to enlist the assistance of others in ending her life (Sprung, 1990, p. 2213). The courts have also found that doctors and hospitals must at least obtain consent from third parties that would have a significant interest in the patients outcome if the patient is incompetent. In the case of Helga Wanglie, a Minnesota court denied a hospital administrator permission to disconnect her respirator against the wishes of her husband (Gifford, p. 1571). In sum, these cases indicate an emerging consensus that courts will generally allow treatment to be withheld from patients who are terminally ill if it is in the best interests of the patient and at the request of patients or family members. It is this emerging consensus that made the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in the Cruzan case so interesting. In the only euthanasia case heard to date by the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices, in a 5-4 decision, allowed to stand the decision made by the Missouri Court of Appeals not to disconnect the life support apparatus from Nancy Cruzan (Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health, 1990). Although the court did find that a right to refuse treatment could be found in the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and did not prohibit the courts from looking in other areas for this right (Adams, et. al., p. 2025), it also upheld the right of the State of Missouri to require . . . clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Cruzan would have desired withdrawal of these treatments. (Newman, 1991, p. 175). In the realm of physician assisted suicide, only two major cases have been decided. In the case against Dr. Timothy Quill that arose because of the publication of his article in the New England Journal of Medicine, the grand jury for the state of New York refused to return an indictment (Bender, 1992, p. 524). In the more publicized case of Dr. Jack Kervorkian, the courts have not yet decided on the constitutionality of the Michigan law that bans physician-assisted suicide. Kervorkian is currently free on bond and continues to aid other patients who wish to commit suicide (Pugliese, p. 1300-05).(1) A brief assessment of the cases described above indicates that the courts have essentially legalized voluntary passive euthanasia, finding justification to refuse or have medical treatment withheld in the constitutional right to privacy, the common law right of self determination, or the more general concept of autonomy (Gifford, p. 1575-78). With regard to involuntary passive euthanasia, the courts are generally supportive of the practice, but they have the right to insist on a more stringent standard of evidence before approving such procedures. The courts have generally employed a balancing test that weighs the patients right to privacy and self-determination against the interest of the state in preserving life. The interests of potential third parties that might desire that the patient continue to live, and the ethical image of the medical profession (Adams, et. al., p. 2022). In cases of assisted suicide, some states have laws against the practice, the AMA forbids it, most juries are refusing to find the actors guilty, and the courts have yet to decide the question. Both voluntary and involuntary active euthanasia remain illegal. d. The Debate About Euthanasia The movement to legalize active euthanasia has existed for quite some time. Initially popularized in Britain during the 19th century, it gained some adherents in the United States during the 1920s. It was the Nazi program of active euthanasia in the 1930s and 4os that cast a pall of disrepute over the practice that remains today. The revival of this movement today can largely be attributed to the onset of the issues discussed at the beginning of this paper, and to the efforts of the Hemlock Society, a group of individuals that actively promotes the right to dignified death. The Hemlock Society recently promoted ballot initiatives in both Washington and California that would have legalized active euthanasia in those states (Gifford, 1993). This revival of the right to die movement has led to hotly contested debate about the practices of active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. This paper will attempt to encapsulate this debate by presenting the arguments made by both opponents and supporters of these procedures. Since arguments made by both sides are used in cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide, the generic term euthanasia is used for simplicity to suggest the concept of aided death unless otherwise indicated. Those opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide present a variety of arguments in support of a ban. e. The Case Against Euthanasia Euthanasia destroys societal respect for life. By becoming commonplace and used in medical practice along with more traditional methods of healing, society becomes desensitized toward death to the point where life is no longer valuable. This attitude serves to degrade humanity and leads to a variety of social ills. In a society that devalues life, people have no compunctions about committing violent crimes and murdering others. The overall quality of life becomes seriously undermined and society as a whole deteriorates (Doerflinger, 1989, p. 16-19, Koop, 1989, p. 2-3). Once euthanasia becomes legal, opponents contend, the potential for abuse at the hands of caregivers vastly increases. Closely related to this argument is the argument that those who enjoy the exercise of power over others might become intoxicated with it and actually come to enjoy killing. One step down the path toward euthanasia simply makes it that much easier in the future to take further steps. This argument is al so referred to as the wedge theory or the slippery slope. One of the most outspoken opponents of euthanasia, University of Michigan professor of law Yale Kamisar, has articulated a three pronged attack that utilizes the wedge theory, the risk of abuse, and the risk of mistake. The proponents of the wedge theory argue that Once society accepts that life can be terminated because of its diminished quality, there is no rational way to limit euthanasia and prevent its abuse. According to this theory, voluntary euthanasia is just the thin edge of a wedge that, once in place, will be driven deeply into our society. Kamisar concludes that legalized voluntary euthanasia inevitably would lead to legalized involuntary euthanasia because it is impossible to draw a rational distinction between those who seek to die because they are a burden to themselves and those whom society seeks to kill because they are a burden to others.(2) (Wolhandler, p. 377) Many who raise the wedge or slippery slope a rgument use the Nazi experience with euthanasia as an empirical example of this process in action. They argue that a public policy of murder inexorably follows from an initial, limited step, namely the adoption of a carefully defined euthanasia program, and that a program designed to get rid of those with lives unworthy of life quickly degenerated into the holocaust (Newman, p. 167). What follows is a description of the Nazi euthanasia program excerpted from Liftons (1986) book: National Socialist euthanasia or mercy death was a program of killing persons with unworthy lives. These persons were not moribund, and their families, with the rarest exceptions, wanted them to live. It was not a good death, as the word denotes, but a systematic program of killing without any mercy whatsoever . . . The program, referred to in the National Socialist bureaucracy as T4, was not based on any law, but was initiated by a secret order traceable to Hitler and his chief physician, Karl Brandt . Ment al hospitals were required to report all chronic schizophrenics, manic-depressives, mental defectives, epileptics, and later, debilitated old persons. A separate division, the Public Transport division for the Sick, took care of the collection and transport of such patients to institutions where they were put to death . Relatives received false death certificates and even letters of condolence . . . It is estimated that during two years of this program, ninety thousand persons went to their deaths. While this description of the Nazi euthanasia program is indeed chilling, it provides within it a devastating attack against using it as justification for the slippery slope argument. Proponents of euthanasia in the United States point out that the Nazi program was not one of euthanasia, but a program of mass murder disguised as euthanasia. Gifford (p. 1570) sums up the response of several authors by stating that The Nazis hid their racist, eugenic agenda behind the term euthanasia, termi nating in secret the lives of undesirables. It must never be forgotten that the Nazi euthanasia program was never euthanasia at all. That the Nazis co-opted the term for their own purposes should not obscure the fact that their motive was, from the very beginning, entirely different from that of todays euthanasia proponents. The current euthanasia movement is anything but covert. The Hemlock Society and other supporters of the right to receive aid in dying have spent millions of dollars to publicize their efforts. In this context, death is presented as a positive alternative to pain and suffering, not a utilitarian tool. Proponents of euthanasia also attempt to refute the slippery slope argument in a variety of other ways. They contend that the current mechanisms used by the courts could easily prevent any slide toward involuntary euthanasia,(3) that the current practice of passive euthanasia proves that the slope isnt all that slippery since we havent witnessed any massive killing programs, and that the example of how forced sterilization in the U.S. has diminished rather than increased, provides a more appropriate example to rely on. Even Callahan (1989), a vocal opponent of active euthanasia, admits that the Nazi experience is not particularly applicable to the U.S. experience and that Lives are not b eing shortened. They are steadily being lengthened, and particularly for those who are the most powerless: sick children and the very old, the mentally and mentally retarded, the disabled and the demented (p. 4). Newman (1991) also attacks the concept of the slippery slope itself. Arguing that just pointing out that one type of action could conceivably lead to another constitutes a very unpersuasive argument and that for the premise to hold true, it must be shown that pressure to allow further steps will be so strong that these steps will actually occur. He also reminds us that such arguments are frequently abused in legal and social policy debate (p. 169). Besides Kamisar, the risk of abuse argument has also been put forth by a host of other authors who variously claim that assisted suicides might result in flagrant murders that may be perpetrated by deliberately forcing or coercing self-destruction and that others may advance personal motives by aiding in suicide (Adams, et. al., p. 2031); that when the entire medical profession is involved in euthanasia, including the poorly trained, the insensitive, the less skilled, there becomes the danger that physicians might not do whatever they can to avoid euthanasia if possible (Newman, p. 177); and that some people who enjoy the exercise of power over others might become addicted to the process (Doerflinger, p. 19). It is this fear of abuse that leads the AMAs Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs to argue that the ban on active euthanasia is a bright line distinction that deters this type of potential abuse. They state: Allowing physicians to perform euthanasia for a limited group of patients who may truly benefit from it will present difficult line-drawing problems for medicine and society. In specific cases it may be hard to distinguish which cases fit the criteria established for euthanasia. For example, if the existence of unbearable pain and suffering was a criterion for euthanasia, the definition of unbea rable pain and suffering could be subject to different interpretations, which might lead to abuse of the process in the case of certain practitioners. (CEJA, p. 2232). Proponents of euthanasia argue that the risk of abuse, while certainly present, is not really much of a threat. This is true first, because laws against homicide are severe enough to provide a strong deterrent (Newman, p. 178); second, because a clear set of guidelines prescribing when active euthanasia is allowed will prevent confusion (Adams, et. al., Gifford); third, because we already risk the practice of abuse by allowing passive euthanasia, and such abuse has not occurred (Newman, p. 178); and finally, that the current state of illegality promotes an absence of discussion and actually encourages the practice of clandestine euthanasia (Newman, p. 177). As Gifford (p. 1572) succinctly puts it, what slope could be more slippery than one with no guardrails whatsoever? Additionally, the balancing tests already in place by the legal system should serve to eliminate this problem. Adams, et. al., (p. 2034) explain: For example, some opponents of physician-assisted suicide argue that pe rmitting some assisted suicides may lead to the killing of patients who want to live. This slippery slope argument expresses a utilitarian rationale for prohibiting suicide assistance. Others argue that suicide and the assistance of suicide is intrinsically evil, and that sanctioning them will damage the fabric of social morality. These and other utilitarian and moral considerations are encompassed within the states interest in preserving the sanctity of all life and affect its weight in the balance against the patients interest in self-determination. Opponents of euthanasia contend that there is no guarantee that euthanasia will be strictly voluntary. The potential for sub Arguments For and Against Euthanasia Arguments For and Against Euthanasia Euthanasia: Whose decision is it I. Introduction In a 1988 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, an article titled Its Over Debbie describes how an anonymous doctor administers a fatal dose of morphine to a woman dying of ovarian cancer (Anonymous, 1988). In a 1989 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, ten doctors associated with the nations leading hospitals and medical schools declare their belief that it is not immoral for a physician to assist in the rational suicide of a terminally ill person (Wanzer, et. al., 1989). In 1991, the New England Journal of Medicine published a detailed account written by Dr. Timothy Quill which discussed his decision to help a patient suffering from leukemia commit suicide (Quill, 1991). In 1990, Dr. Jack Kervorkian uses his suicide machine to help a woman suffering from Alzheimers disease, one Janet Adkins, end her life in the back of a Volkswagen bus (Risen, 1990). Janet was the first of twenty patients who have been aided by Kervorkian in the past three years. He rem ains committed to his practice. In 1991 the Hemlock Society publishes a how-to manual on committing suicide. Entitled Final Exit, it zooms to the top of the national best seller lists and stays there for several weeks (Altman, 1991). Each of these events has served to provoke ever widening media coverage of the issues surrounding euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, and a national debate has arisen around these practices. This debate is not merely limited to attorneys and physicians. Suddenly, these issues and this debate are now a part of life in mainstream America, and many Americans face dilemmas that did not exist in simpler times; dilemmas that many would rather not have to face. II. Review of the Literature a. Euthanasia: The Nature of the Debate It is this sudden change in the way Americans are dealing with death, the nature and scope of the debate about dying, which prompts this analysis of the issues surrounding euthanasia. This debate is largely a debate about what is ethical. Questions the debate attempts to answer include: Is it right to commit suicide? Is it ethical for someone else to help? Is it right to put others to death at their own request or at the request of family members? These questions are important because they help to define our society and our culture. The way people deal with and respond to issues of life, ritual, and death serves to shape the nature of our society. This is why society must attempt to decide what is right; what is ethical conduct for the various actors in our communities when we face death. There are several reasons why this debate has surfaced in the 1980s. Death is nothing new, it has existed for thousands of years. Each culture has developed its own rituals and mechanisms for dealin g with death. These mechanisms serve to provide solace, a sense of continuity, and allow the culture to continue even as the members of the community cannot. However, our own culture has experienced many shattering changes that have altered the nature of dying. Suddenly we are forced to rethink the issue of death and we must decide what types of behavior are ethical when someone is dying. Before we can examine the debate about the ethics of dying, we must examine why the debate exists. Perhaps the main reason that death has changed in western culture has to do with advances in medicine and technology. Many of the diseases that have historically killed people are now no longer a threat to most individuals. Medicine has made a variety of advances in the treatment of diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, polio, influenza, and measles. People now rarely die of such traditional causes. Life expectancy has risen to almost 75 years in the United States. The quality o f life has also changed fundamentally during the past 100 years. Not only does almost everyone in the United States have enough to eat, but people eat higher on the food chain. There is a great deal more meat and animal fat in modern diets. Just these differences alone have changed death significantly. People now develop heart disease, adult onset diabetes, cancers, and AIDS. These types of diseases are more the result of lifestyle than bacteria. With these new diseases, suffering is often more prolonged and treatment is frequently quite painful. Also, as people are living longer, the diseases of the aged have become increasingly prevalent. Many more people now suffer from problems like senile dementia and Alzheimers disease. These diseases ruin the mind while preserving the body, allowing life to continue long after any quality that the life might have is gone. If what we die of has changed, perhaps the way that we die has changed even more. Throughout history, death has been a family affair. People usually died in the home after a short bout with an illness or as the result of an accident. Today, increasingly, death occurs in an institutional setting such as a convalescent home or a hospital, after a variety of technologies are applied in an attempt to prolong the life of the sick person. Often these technologies can be quite effective. People can now live for months and even years attached to a variety of tubes and technol ogies. About 75% of all deaths in 1987 occurred in hospitals and long term care facilities, up from 50% in 1950 . . . The Office of Technology Assessment Task Force estimated in 1988 that 3775 to 6575 persons were dependent on mechanical ventilation and 1,404,500 persons were receiving artificial nutritional support. This growing capability to forestall death has contributed to the increased attention to medical decisions near the end of life. (CEJA, 1992, p. 2229) People realize that the chances of facing the institutionalization of death increase daily, and they feel a profound lack of control. Surveys have consistently indicated that a large majority of people in the United States would like to be allowed to end their lives before incurable and painful diseases finally kill them (CEJA, p. 2229). Because of the changes that have impacted death, with regard to both how and where we die, the debate about how we should be allowed to die has been renewed. This paper will examine the s everal facets of this debate. It will define the terms that are relevant to the debate, examine the legal state of euthanasia today, discuss the ethics of euthanasia by examining arguments made by proponents and opponents of euthanasia, and by applying several Normative Ethical Theories to the issue. Finally, it will explore the power implications that infuse the debate on euthanasia and present arguments in favor of moving toward a care based ethic of dying and away from the current rights based ethic. b. Definitions If we are to effectively understand the debate about the right to die in the United States, it is imperative that a few basic terms be understood. The first and most important term is euthanasia. Originating from the Greek terms eu (happy or good) and thanatos (death), euthanasia means literally happy death or good death. The American Medical Associations Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs defines the term as follows: Euthanasia is commonly defined as the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy. In this report, the term euthanasia will signify the medical administration of a lethal agent to a patient for the purpose of relieving the patients intolerable and incurable suffering. (p. 2230) Other sources have defined euthanasia variously: The act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from incurable conditions of diseases. (Wolhandler, 1984, p. 363), . . . to refuse un wanted medical treatment or to have ongoing care withdrawn even though the patient will die if treatment is terminated. (Adams, et. al., 1992, p. 2021). Euthanasia is a general term that can actually mean a variety of different things depending upon the context in which it is used. For this reason, a number of supporting terms has become the convention when discussing euthanasia. These terms help to narrow the subject matter and distinguish between different types of euthanasia. The important terms that help to subdivide and classify euthanasia by type are voluntary/involuntary and active/passive. Voluntary euthanasia is a death performed by another with the consent of the person being killed. This consent may be in writing as in the case of a living will or advance directive. Involuntary euthanasia is a death performed by another without the consent of the person being killed. The AMAs Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs makes three distinctions concerning consent and euthanasia: Voluntary euthanasia is euthanasia that is provided to a competent person on his or her informed request. Non-voluntary euthanasia is the provision of euthanasia to an incompetent person according to a surrogates decision. Involuntary euthanasia is euthanasia performed without a c ompetent persons consent.(p. 2230) Wolhandler compares the terms in a different context.Those who condemn euthanasia of both kinds would call the involuntary form murder and the voluntary form a compounded crime of murder and suicide if administered by the physician, and suicide alone if administered by the patient himself. As far as voluntary euthanasia goes, it is impossible to separate it from suicide as a moral category; it is, indeed, a form of suicide. Voluntary euthanasia may involve participation of second parties. (p. 366) The distinction between active and passive euthanasia is not nearly as clear as the previous distinction. Although many authors claim that the difference between the two types cannot be identified or is irrelevant at best, much of the debate on the subject is over this distinction and most of the current legal issues turn on this distinction. While this paper will contend that the difference between the two should not be recognized, it is both useful and important to know where the line is drawn. The AMA, which is strongly opposed to active euthanasia, has seen fit to endorse passive euthanasia in appropriate situations. The Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs makes the distinction as follows: The physician is obligated only to offer sound medical treatment and to refrain from providing treatments that are detrimental, on balance, to the patients well being. When a physician withholds or withdraws a treatment on the request of a patient, he or she has fulfilled the obligation to offer sound treatment to the patient. The obligation to offer treatment does not include an obligation to impose treatment on an unwilling patient. In addition, the physician is not providing a harmful treatment. Withdrawing or withholding is not a treatment, but the foregoing of a treatment. (p. 2231) According to Wolhandler, (p. 367) it is t he nature of the acts performed by the second party that distinguishes between active and passive euthanasia. The courts have held that acts of omission (removal of respiratory assistance, hydration, and feeding tubes) are allowable behavior. Although unplugging a respirator and switching off a dialysis machine are arguably acts of commission, an increasing number of judges and commentators have accepted these acts as permissible passive euthanasia in both voluntary and involuntary settings. Gifford (1993) describes the difference between the two types of euthanasia this way: Passive euthanasia involves allowing a patient to die by removing her from artificial life support systems such as respirators and feeding tubes or simply discontinuing medical treatments necessary to sustain life. Active euthanasia, by contrast, involves positive steps to end the life of a patient, typically by lethal injectiond (p. 1546) The right to passive euthanasia has also been termed the right to die by some authors (Adams, et. al., p. 2021-22). With an understanding of the different types of euthanasia, we can now define some other key terms. It is important to understand how physician assisted suicide differs from euthanasia, and it is also necessary to define the terms advance directive and competence since they are crucial in determining the difference between voluntary and involuntary euthanasia. The term physician assisted suicide is somewhat self-explanatory. It occurs when a physician provides aid to a patient so they can commit suicide. However, it is also necessary to see the difference between this type of action and euthanasia. The AMAs Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs states that Euthanasia and assisted suicide differ in the degree of physician participation. Euthanasia entails a physician performing the immediate life ending action (e.g., administering a lethal injection). Assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patients death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act (e.g., the physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient may commit suicide). (p. 2231) It is important to realize that the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide lies in the behavior of the physician. This difference in behavior has recently become a major legal battleground that will be explored in the following pages. The advance directive has recently become an important new device to aid the terminally ill. Many states have legalized the advance directive, partly in an attempt to avoid dealing with problems associated with active euthanasia, and partly to help ease the burdens on the dying and their families. Singer (1992) provides a good definition of advance directive and explains how it is used. An advance directive is a written document completed by a competent person that aims to guide medical treatment after the person becomes incompetent. There are two types: instruction directives, which focus on the types of life-sustaining treatment that the person would want under various clinical situations, and proxy directives, which focus on who the person would want to make health care decisions if the person were unable to do so. (p. 22) The advance directive is useful because it can theoretically eliminate the need for involuntary euthanasia. It ensures that a voluntary decision is made in advance, even if the individual could not make such a situation at a later date. If everyone made use of the advance directive, there would be no need to debate policy decisions that must be made in the case of an incompetent person on life support. Because advance directives have neither been accepted nor widely used by the general public, many of the problems that could potentially be solved remain. This situation caused right to die groups in both California and Washington to propose ballot initiatives that would legalize active euthanasia (Gifford, p. 1550-51). Although active euthanasia is not legal in any United States jurisdiction, passive euthanasia is generally allowed at the request of a competent individual. Because of this it is critical to understand what constitutes competence. Courts have defined legal competence as the mental ability to make a rational decision, which includes the ability to perceive, appreciate all the relevant facts, and to reach a rational judgement upon such facts. In the euthanasia context, legal competence is the incurable s ability to understand that in requesting active euthanasia he is choosing death over life. Only clear and convincing evidence should suffice for a finding of an incurables competence. (Wolhandler, p. 366-67) c. The Legal State of Euthanasia With a knowledge of the meaningful terms that will be involved, it is important to discuss the legal state of euthanasia in the United States today. As technology has placed more and more people on life sustaining devices in this country, the courts have had to deal with several cases that pertain to euthanasia in a variety of ways. This section of the paper is designed to review those cases briefly and to assess how the rulings in those cases have set the policy for the practice of euthanasia today. The courts first dealt with euthanasia in the Quinlan case in 1976. Karen Ann Quinlan lapsed into a coma after mixing a variety of pills and alcohol at a party. After it became apparent that she would not be revived, her parents went to court to have her respirator removed. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that her parents had the right to have the respirator removed and that Karen be allowed to die. Ironically, because her parents did not request removal of feeding and hydration tubes , she survived nine more years curled in a fetal position in a New Jersey rest home (Wolhandler, p. 366). In this case, the New Jersey court effectively sanctioned nonvoluntary passive euthanasia. The next prominent case was decided by the New York Supreme Court in Superintendent of Belchertown State School v. Saikewicz. Here the court found that a competent patient had the right to refuse medical treatment, allowing for a patient to decide in cases of voluntary passive euthanasia (Gifford, p. 1575-76). Later, in Satz v. Perlmutter, a Florida District Court of Appeals came to essentially the same conclusion (Wolhandler, p. 372-73). In Severns v. Wilmington Medical Center, the Delaware Supreme Court gave the husband of a comatose woman the right of guardianship and the authority to remove her respirator or withhold other treatment as he saw fit. In this case the court relied on previous decisions made in Quinlan, Saikewicz, and Satz for its finding (Wolhandler, p. 373). In Thor v. Su perior Court (California), the court granted the request to withhold treatment from a severely depressed quadriplegic only after a psychiatric evaluation determined that the request was based on poor quality of life and not just on severe depression (Pugliese, 1993, p. 1326). The courts have not restricted the right of passive euthanasia to just the terminally ill. Elizabeth Bouvia was a relatively young woman who suffered from severe cerebral palsy and attempted to starve herself to death in a California hospital by requesting the removal of a nasogastric feeding tube. She was denied this request because the hospital feared it would be party to suicide. The California court of appeals ordered the physicians to remove the tube and argued that she had the right to enlist the assistance of others in ending her life (Sprung, 1990, p. 2213). The courts have also found that doctors and hospitals must at least obtain consent from third parties that would have a significant interest in the patients outcome if the patient is incompetent. In the case of Helga Wanglie, a Minnesota court denied a hospital administrator permission to disconnect her respirator against the wishes of her husband (Gifford, p. 1571). In sum, these cases indicate an emerging consensus that courts will generally allow treatment to be withheld from patients who are terminally ill if it is in the best interests of the patient and at the request of patients or family members. It is this emerging consensus that made the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in the Cruzan case so interesting. In the only euthanasia case heard to date by the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices, in a 5-4 decision, allowed to stand the decision made by the Missouri Court of Appeals not to disconnect the life support apparatus from Nancy Cruzan (Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health, 1990). Although the court did find that a right to refuse treatment could be found in the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and did not prohibit the courts from looking in other areas for this right (Adams, et. al., p. 2025), it also upheld the right of the State of Missouri to require . . . clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Cruzan would have desired withdrawal of these treatments. (Newman, 1991, p. 175). In the realm of physician assisted suicide, only two major cases have been decided. In the case against Dr. Timothy Quill that arose because of the publication of his article in the New England Journal of Medicine, the grand jury for the state of New York refused to return an indictment (Bender, 1992, p. 524). In the more publicized case of Dr. Jack Kervorkian, the courts have not yet decided on the constitutionality of the Michigan law that bans physician-assisted suicide. Kervorkian is currently free on bond and continues to aid other patients who wish to commit suicide (Pugliese, p. 1300-05).(1) A brief assessment of the cases described above indicates that the courts have essentially legalized voluntary passive euthanasia, finding justification to refuse or have medical treatment withheld in the constitutional right to privacy, the common law right of self determination, or the more general concept of autonomy (Gifford, p. 1575-78). With regard to involuntary passive euthanasia, the courts are generally supportive of the practice, but they have the right to insist on a more stringent standard of evidence before approving such procedures. The courts have generally employed a balancing test that weighs the patients right to privacy and self-determination against the interest of the state in preserving life. The interests of potential third parties that might desire that the patient continue to live, and the ethical image of the medical profession (Adams, et. al., p. 2022). In cases of assisted suicide, some states have laws against the practice, the AMA forbids it, most juries are refusing to find the actors guilty, and the courts have yet to decide the question. Both voluntary and involuntary active euthanasia remain illegal. d. The Debate About Euthanasia The movement to legalize active euthanasia has existed for quite some time. Initially popularized in Britain during the 19th century, it gained some adherents in the United States during the 1920s. It was the Nazi program of active euthanasia in the 1930s and 4os that cast a pall of disrepute over the practice that remains today. The revival of this movement today can largely be attributed to the onset of the issues discussed at the beginning of this paper, and to the efforts of the Hemlock Society, a group of individuals that actively promotes the right to dignified death. The Hemlock Society recently promoted ballot initiatives in both Washington and California that would have legalized active euthanasia in those states (Gifford, 1993). This revival of the right to die movement has led to hotly contested debate about the practices of active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. This paper will attempt to encapsulate this debate by presenting the arguments made by both opponents and supporters of these procedures. Since arguments made by both sides are used in cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide, the generic term euthanasia is used for simplicity to suggest the concept of aided death unless otherwise indicated. Those opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide present a variety of arguments in support of a ban. e. The Case Against Euthanasia Euthanasia destroys societal respect for life. By becoming commonplace and used in medical practice along with more traditional methods of healing, society becomes desensitized toward death to the point where life is no longer valuable. This attitude serves to degrade humanity and leads to a variety of social ills. In a society that devalues life, people have no compunctions about committing violent crimes and murdering others. The overall quality of life becomes seriously undermined and society as a whole deteriorates (Doerflinger, 1989, p. 16-19, Koop, 1989, p. 2-3). Once euthanasia becomes legal, opponents contend, the potential for abuse at the hands of caregivers vastly increases. Closely related to this argument is the argument that those who enjoy the exercise of power over others might become intoxicated with it and actually come to enjoy killing. One step down the path toward euthanasia simply makes it that much easier in the future to take further steps. This argument is al so referred to as the wedge theory or the slippery slope. One of the most outspoken opponents of euthanasia, University of Michigan professor of law Yale Kamisar, has articulated a three pronged attack that utilizes the wedge theory, the risk of abuse, and the risk of mistake. The proponents of the wedge theory argue that Once society accepts that life can be terminated because of its diminished quality, there is no rational way to limit euthanasia and prevent its abuse. According to this theory, voluntary euthanasia is just the thin edge of a wedge that, once in place, will be driven deeply into our society. Kamisar concludes that legalized voluntary euthanasia inevitably would lead to legalized involuntary euthanasia because it is impossible to draw a rational distinction between those who seek to die because they are a burden to themselves and those whom society seeks to kill because they are a burden to others.(2) (Wolhandler, p. 377) Many who raise the wedge or slippery slope a rgument use the Nazi experience with euthanasia as an empirical example of this process in action. They argue that a public policy of murder inexorably follows from an initial, limited step, namely the adoption of a carefully defined euthanasia program, and that a program designed to get rid of those with lives unworthy of life quickly degenerated into the holocaust (Newman, p. 167). What follows is a description of the Nazi euthanasia program excerpted from Liftons (1986) book: National Socialist euthanasia or mercy death was a program of killing persons with unworthy lives. These persons were not moribund, and their families, with the rarest exceptions, wanted them to live. It was not a good death, as the word denotes, but a systematic program of killing without any mercy whatsoever . . . The program, referred to in the National Socialist bureaucracy as T4, was not based on any law, but was initiated by a secret order traceable to Hitler and his chief physician, Karl Brandt . Ment al hospitals were required to report all chronic schizophrenics, manic-depressives, mental defectives, epileptics, and later, debilitated old persons. A separate division, the Public Transport division for the Sick, took care of the collection and transport of such patients to institutions where they were put to death . Relatives received false death certificates and even letters of condolence . . . It is estimated that during two years of this program, ninety thousand persons went to their deaths. While this description of the Nazi euthanasia program is indeed chilling, it provides within it a devastating attack against using it as justification for the slippery slope argument. Proponents of euthanasia in the United States point out that the Nazi program was not one of euthanasia, but a program of mass murder disguised as euthanasia. Gifford (p. 1570) sums up the response of several authors by stating that The Nazis hid their racist, eugenic agenda behind the term euthanasia, termi nating in secret the lives of undesirables. It must never be forgotten that the Nazi euthanasia program was never euthanasia at all. That the Nazis co-opted the term for their own purposes should not obscure the fact that their motive was, from the very beginning, entirely different from that of todays euthanasia proponents. The current euthanasia movement is anything but covert. The Hemlock Society and other supporters of the right to receive aid in dying have spent millions of dollars to publicize their efforts. In this context, death is presented as a positive alternative to pain and suffering, not a utilitarian tool. Proponents of euthanasia also attempt to refute the slippery slope argument in a variety of other ways. They contend that the current mechanisms used by the courts could easily prevent any slide toward involuntary euthanasia,(3) that the current practice of passive euthanasia proves that the slope isnt all that slippery since we havent witnessed any massive killing programs, and that the example of how forced sterilization in the U.S. has diminished rather than increased, provides a more appropriate example to rely on. Even Callahan (1989), a vocal opponent of active euthanasia, admits that the Nazi experience is not particularly applicable to the U.S. experience and that Lives are not b eing shortened. They are steadily being lengthened, and particularly for those who are the most powerless: sick children and the very old, the mentally and mentally retarded, the disabled and the demented (p. 4). Newman (1991) also attacks the concept of the slippery slope itself. Arguing that just pointing out that one type of action could conceivably lead to another constitutes a very unpersuasive argument and that for the premise to hold true, it must be shown that pressure to allow further steps will be so strong that these steps will actually occur. He also reminds us that such arguments are frequently abused in legal and social policy debate (p. 169). Besides Kamisar, the risk of abuse argument has also been put forth by a host of other authors who variously claim that assisted suicides might result in flagrant murders that may be perpetrated by deliberately forcing or coercing self-destruction and that others may advance personal motives by aiding in suicide (Adams, et. al., p. 2031); that when the entire medical profession is involved in euthanasia, including the poorly trained, the insensitive, the less skilled, there becomes the danger that physicians might not do whatever they can to avoid euthanasia if possible (Newman, p. 177); and that some people who enjoy the exercise of power over others might become addicted to the process (Doerflinger, p. 19). It is this fear of abuse that leads the AMAs Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs to argue that the ban on active euthanasia is a bright line distinction that deters this type of potential abuse. They state: Allowing physicians to perform euthanasia for a limited group of patients who may truly benefit from it will present difficult line-drawing problems for medicine and society. In specific cases it may be hard to distinguish which cases fit the criteria established for euthanasia. For example, if the existence of unbearable pain and suffering was a criterion for euthanasia, the definition of unbea rable pain and suffering could be subject to different interpretations, which might lead to abuse of the process in the case of certain practitioners. (CEJA, p. 2232). Proponents of euthanasia argue that the risk of abuse, while certainly present, is not really much of a threat. This is true first, because laws against homicide are severe enough to provide a strong deterrent (Newman, p. 178); second, because a clear set of guidelines prescribing when active euthanasia is allowed will prevent confusion (Adams, et. al., Gifford); third, because we already risk the practice of abuse by allowing passive euthanasia, and such abuse has not occurred (Newman, p. 178); and finally, that the current state of illegality promotes an absence of discussion and actually encourages the practice of clandestine euthanasia (Newman, p. 177). As Gifford (p. 1572) succinctly puts it, what slope could be more slippery than one with no guardrails whatsoever? Additionally, the balancing tests already in place by the legal system should serve to eliminate this problem. Adams, et. al., (p. 2034) explain: For example, some opponents of physician-assisted suicide argue that pe rmitting some assisted suicides may lead to the killing of patients who want to live. This slippery slope argument expresses a utilitarian rationale for prohibiting suicide assistance. Others argue that suicide and the assistance of suicide is intrinsically evil, and that sanctioning them will damage the fabric of social morality. These and other utilitarian and moral considerations are encompassed within the states interest in preserving the sanctity of all life and affect its weight in the balance against the patients interest in self-determination. Opponents of euthanasia contend that there is no guarantee that euthanasia will be strictly voluntary. The potential for sub