Topic4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Topic4 - Essay Example At first, Sam without mentioning details of how the launch was going to be made, merely quoted @$75 per head for 100 delegates and a venue fee of $ 2500 thus totaling the contract amount as $10,000. Dean was unimpressed and hence declined Sam's offer. It was only after this; Sam mentioned that a famous Chef Yahoo Nim would attend the event and that a special promotional invitation on Oh My Manor's letter head would be prepared and sent by Sam to the 100 delegates three weeks before launch date. Besides, he also promised to use his own influence to ensure attendance. Dean was apparently induced by these statements of Sam and agreed to Sam's price quoted following which he paid an advance $ 3,000 and received the receipt from Sam mentioning only the price and how total sum was arrived at. Hence successful performance of the contract means that the celebrity Chef Yahoo Nim should have prepared the food and attended the function, Sam should have sent the invitation as stipulated and 100 people should have attended by Sam's influence. But none of these happened resulting in poor attendance of 35 people since only 45 invitations were sent. These can not therefore be a mere parol evidence. These are express terms and hence should be taken as collateral contract though made orally. The collateral contract concept is a device to circumvent the Parol Evidence Rule but also as a means of holding that a statement which is not a term of the main contract can be enforced as a collateral contract i.e. collateral warranty. Some of the cases which can be cited in support of this are ESSO PETROLEUM V MARDEN (1976), DE LASALLE V GUILDFORD (1901), RECORD V BELL (1991) and COMMISSION FOR THE NEW TOWNS V COOPER (CA) (1995) (TheLawsite). Hence Sam is bound by these terms and is liable for damages for breach of contract. Dean is not required to pay the balance amount of $7,000 and he can proceed against Sam for damages for his breach of contract since pressure of work is no excuse. Qn 2 Zander mad it known to Puffy his exact requirements to which Puffy also agreed. Hence the software supplied by Puffy is not in accordance with the terms agreed upon prior to signing of contract Zander signed the contract only on being assured that the software would meet with all the current Government regulatory requirements. But for this he would not have signed the contract. But there is a point against Zander. What Puffy was making was only an opinion and not a condition or representation. She offered him three packages and Zander chose one. It was open to him to verify and then make a purchase. Even though before signing of the contract, Zander insisted, he chose the package at his own risk. If the software package had been a defective one, it would have been a different issue. Hence Puffy is in not breach of contract and consequently Zander is not entitled to refund of the money paid. Qn No 3 In this case, even though Zander did not read the clause No 53 which avoided any liability whatsoever, he is deemed to have read it due to the explicitly mentioned clause on the website. This is an exclusion clause binding on the acceptor. In its absence, the offeror would have been liable for the non-performance or defective performance. In

Free Energy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Free Energy - Research Paper Example Renewable sources of energy are those sources that can be replenished. Making a transition towards more renewable forms of energy would result in independency from local sources of energy and a more decentralized production of energy that is less vulnerable to supply cutoffs. Solar energy can be harnessed by concentrating solar power (CSP) or photovoltaic (PV) technology. The economic potential in industrialized countries, and the shift towards more renewables-intensive industry in both the US and China, is an optimistic sign for solar energy. Sustainable development is a hot topic in the world of politics today. The reason why it has attracted so much attention signifies a looming crisis and the repercussions it would have on people and the environment both. Numerous summits and conferences have been conducted and hundreds of organizations all over the world have met and discussed solutions to the predicament the world faces if it continues to use its energy sources the way it is doing now. The contours of the reason for taking such steps are worth pointing out. The population of the world is increasing at a rapid rate and has tripled over the past seven decades. It had reached an alarming figure of 6 billion at turn of the twentieth century. The rapid increase in the population does not come without its share of problems. Mankind is plunged into a yet deeper abyss of poverty, scarcity of resources and shortage of non-renewable energy reserves. Stocks of resources are being depleted swiftly. Where people in many developed countries have taken energy for granted, the developing countries are facing the brunt of the global energy crisis. The environment is deteriorating due to deforestation, increase in the greenhouse gases, extinction of species and climate changes. Increasing population has caused a dearth of food in many poor countries, where thousands do not have access to clean drinking water and are suffering from

Kudler Strategic Plan Part II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kudler Strategic Plan Part II - Essay Example The paper discusses the new strategy and implementation plan, the functional tactics with a work breakdown structure, a Gantt chart to define the timeline and the tasks and the deadline. It also discusses the key success factors for the implementation plan. It also includes the risks and the risk management along with a contingency plan. Established in 1998, Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) specialty food and wine retail stores have successfully expanded to a chain of three stores at La Jolla, Del Mar and in Encinitas. The stores are operating in hired premises. Despite the economic slowdown, things are promising primarily because Kathy Kudler, the owner and in whose name the chain is named, is a workhorse. Her perfect strategy with dogged determination to purse the goals had made the chain to remain afloat and also do brisk business despite the general slump in the industry. But the most important thing that has been giving the chain the ability to maintain is the cash flow. This in turn is due to Kathy’s seven-days-a-week work schedule to monitor the activities of the business. Kathy has hired managers to help her at the three locations, of which the one at Del Mar is a matter of concern because of the low population in the vicinity. Kathy is now looking for an alternate location with a larger population base. Carls bad, CA is a possibility, Kathy is exploring. Kudler Fine Foods uses only the finest organic ingredients. Whenever possible, we purchase local produce from organic farmers. We use unbleached flour in our bakery goods and we don’t add unnecessary preservatives to our products. Food is rotated from the shelves on an ongoing basis. Those items that are still in â€Å"good† condition are donated to local homeless shelters and food kitchens. Each of our stores has its own modern European-Style Bakery. In the wee hours of the morning, our bakers begin mixing their dough and creating fresh breads and pastries including fruit tarts, table loaves, flat

Principles Of Support Essay Example for Free

Principles Of Support Essay Introduction The Health and Social care has many sections or Organisations that provide Healthcare services to people with special needs. Health and social care services use the Philosophy of Careto support vulnerable people by implementing their rights according to the right legislation and codes of practice. The legislation also provides way to protect the service users for harm and abuse. A person-centred approach used by the services ensure individual needs of service users. Although the philosophy of care is used to improve and care for service users yet there is still ethical dilemmas and conflicts that we face. As a care workers in ABC care home we have to do all the required training to always know and do what is expected of us when it comes to protecting service users and use the theories of human development that can help me manage with the considering of social processes to make recommendations for health and social care services to vulnerable people with others professionals. Principles are simply rules or guideline. In this case we are looking at guideline of support. Principles of support are useful to health and social care settings success. We can apply principles of support to ensure that individuals are cared for by promoting Anti-discriminatory practice. This is by lawful treating every individual with respect, by not treating them less favourable or disadvantaged. (Anti-Discrimination Act 1998. Tasmania). This can achieved by promoting and supporting individuals’ rights. People who need health care particularly long –term care they sometime feel like their dignity and independence is being taken away from them. Principles of support are applied to ensure that individuals are cared for in Health and social care settings by supporting individuals’ beliefs and identities. For example if they are Christians most of them some would be expected to have a need to church. To ensure that individuals are cared in health and social care is by applying the principles of support. Every Individuals confidentiality should be taken ser ious, this is very important in health and social care settings because it relates to personal information about patients. The purpose of a confidential care service is to protect the Patients information and restrict who can access it. The Data protection Act (1998) enforces service users information to be protected. (www.tutorcare.co.uk) Practising  promoting effective communication is another way of applying principles of support to individualism health and social care settings. Communication is a two-way process of interaction between two or more people, this involves sender, massage, medium, understanding and then feedback. (Hodder Education) Support and allow individuals to use technology to support themselves. For example, some services users can learn how to play computer games or other forms of computer related tasks and from there then they can always support themselves playing. (Skills for care) By supporting and allowing risk management and risk taking to increase individuals independence and choice. This is achieved by guiding and monitoring services users to get involved in some physical activities. For example playing football, running and others. (Skills for care) 1.2 OUTLINE THE PROCEDURE FOR PROCTECTING CLIENTS, PATIENTS AND COLLEAGUES FROM HARM. Protection in Health and social settings is done mainly in two ways. The first one is to protecting service users from harm and secondly is to safeguard vulnerable people from abuse. So protection in Health and social care is to safeguard from harm or abuse. Harm is damage or injury caused by people or event. Abuse is a violation of individuals human and civil rights. Safeguard from abuse is the multi-displinary work done by care services or other Organisations to minimise and manage risk to Adults that could be exposed to abuse. ABC care home Staff should to know who is behind enforcing the philosophy of care and how it’s applies to protect the entire ABC care home staff and the care home. To Protect ABC care home staff and anyone else that might use the services ABC Carers have to get induction and training when they start work. This is to ensure that ABC Carers have enough knowledge about ABC workplace. This is finding out information and facts for me to settle in ABC care home. This includes codes of practice, rules and regulations that run the care home hence protecting service users and one else that can come to the premises. Training can help Carers to protect service users at ABC care home form harm by learning how to manual handle. This is using my bodily force to lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or caring service users within the care home. The regulation that covers manual handling is. (The Manual Handle Operations Regulations 1992. amended 2000). This will enable ABC Carers to use the right equipment for the task and use  good handling technique to move the service users and this will reduce risk harming Service user. (www hse.gov.uk). According to (care and the registered managers award book) training has to be effective. For this to happen the effective training cycle was created and it has to be fully followed for effective training to be achieved. The cycle involve Identifying training needs, establish training objectives, developing training activity, deliver training activity, check training objectives made and measure improvements. For training to work effectively with in the ABC care home, Trainers have to ensure that they are using every part of the cycle step by step. This will not only benefit ABC care home but it will help focussing on the right service user for the right reason hence this leading to the desired outcome of training. (Health care and the registered managers Award). To be able to protect vulnerable people in ABC care home Carers have to make sure that their personal hygiene is up the standards of Health and social care settings. Hygiene can be achieved in appearance, dressing, behaviour and personal cleanliness. Due the fact that caring for vulnerable people in ABC care home involves serving food. Every staff that deals with serving food has to be clean so that they do not contaminate service users food and this can reduce service users from being food poisoned. More to that, ABC care home carer need to know about food hygiene. Food hygiene involves washing hands when starting work, after the use of the toilet, between handling cooked and raw food, after sneezing and so on. (http:/wwww.midsussex.gov.uk/8170.htm). This can minimise the chances of contaminating food that Carers could be handling. Food hygiene rules of food refrigeration have to be followed, food should not be overloaded or packed tightly, hot food should never be placed in the refrigerators, clean the refrigerators regularly, separate cooked food from raw, check food temperature control. To protect everyone at ABC care home from harm Carers should follow the Health and safety at work Act (HASWA) 1974 Regulations. This act was created to ensure that health and safety at workplace was less risky of harm and injury. Secondly, ABC Carer should apply the reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences to the health and safety Executive or local Authority. (RIDDOR) 1995. Furthermore, Management of Health and Safety at work Regulations (MHSWR) 1999. The regulation needs employers and managers to do risk assessment in work place. The application  of this Regulation can help reduce hazards. (Health and social care Diploma) The Disability Discriminating Act (DDA) 1995. It puts responsibility on employers to make sure that people with disability can get safe access and exit from the workplace. (Health and social care Diploma) Another Regulation that can really be useful in a care home is (COSHH) 2002. This means the control of substances Hazardous to Health. It provides a framework to reduce the risk to Health and safety in association with hazardous substances. (Health and social care Diploma). ABC carer should know a few techniques about first Aid. First Aid is the first help given to sick or injured person until full medical treatment is available. This will enable Carers to help service users in case of emergency. For example if a service user is unconscious and breathing they should be placed in the recovery position and so on. Carers in ABC Care home should use the Whistle Blowing Policy; (www.gov.uk/whistleblowing) If a member of staff in ABC care home is miss treating service users or other Carers its Carers’ job to report the crime to the manager or local council depending how big the problem is. Appling the Medicines Act 1968 would minimise the risk to service users in ABC care home by giving medicine to the right service user, right time, right medication, right dosage and route. (legislation.gov.uk). 1.3 ANALYSE THE BENEFIT OF FOLLOWING A PERSON CENTRED APPROACH WITH THE USERS OF ABC CARE HOME. The person centred approach was developed by Carl Rogers (1902-1987) a Psychologist. This was mainly in relation to the therapist and the client, he named it the client centred approach then later he renamed this theory a person centred approach because he wanted to minimise the individuals’ Autonomy. He developed a person centred approach as a way of counselling and psychotherapy. This approach is applied essentially as a Non Directive. Following a person centred approach in ABC care home would help in developing a service user focused service by ensuring that their needs are fulfilled. For example, Health care workers have to provide assistance to the disabled people by doing things for them that they can’t do themselves. For example, some disabled people can’t bath themselves in this case caretakers have to bath them. Using a person centred approach in ABC care home could help to find out Areas to be improved within the care home. This is by care staff in ABC home ensuring  that every individuals’ need is given the right solution. For example, the right wheel chair for different types of disability. Applying a person centred approach in the ABC home can help users to plan ahead for their lives. Care workers can support users achieve their long term goals. This is making sure that service users are well fed and given medication if they are sick to maintain a good health. Using a person centred approach in ABC care can enable users to have choice and control of their own lifestyles. (metro.gov.uk). For example, service users can decide what type of clothes they want to wear. 1.4 Explain ethical dilemmas and conflict that may arise while providing care, support and protection to users of health and social care services. The Ethical dilemma is ‘a situation in which a different choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially ones that are equally undesirable’. (Oxford dictionary 2012). The ethical dilemma that has been faced by ABC workers when caring for Mrs. M is that she has acute pains and painkillers prescribed by the doctors are not working due the fact that she likes drinking whisky that she has failed to cut down and this is affecting the painkillers from working. The conflict in Mrs. M’s situation is that painkillers are needed to be taken to reduce the pain she is having but the whisky Mrs. M likes taking is stopping the painkillers from working. 2.1 Explain the implementation of polices, Legislation, regulations and codes of practice that are relevant to own work in ABC care home. A Cording to the Oxford dictionary (2010) a policy is ‘a course of actions, as of a government, political, or business, intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters’. Every Child Matters is one of the policies used in ABC care home for children welfare. (education.gov.uk). every child matters policy’s aim is to ensure that children are healthy. ABC care workers should make sure that children have good physical and mental health by giving them food, encouraging children to have enough exercises and giving them medication when they are sick. In ABC home Children are safe under the Every Child Matters policy. (education.gov.uk). The policy’s aim is to protect children from harm and neglect. Caretakers in ABC home should care for the children by giving the love and ensuring that their needs are  fulfilled. For example, washing their clothes. etc. Care staff in ABC should follow the Healthy and Safety at work act 1974 to minimise harm to children. For example, following (RIDDOR 1995) ABC care takers should report injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences the Healthy and Safety Executives to so that cases can be followed and investigated to prevent future injuries, diseases and so on. Children should make a positive contribution by engaging in community activities and being part of Society. (education.gov.uk). ABC Care staff should ensure that children are not anti-social and not doing any Crimes. The ABC home staff should encourage children to go school so that they don’t end up is gangs. More to that, Quality protects is another policy that was created by the Department of Health in 1998. (www.rip.org.uk) Quality protects’ aim is to support Local Authorities in transforming the way they manage and deliver Children’s Social services. One of the Quality Protects’ aims in ABC care home is to make sure that Children get a bond to ABC carers enabling safe and effective care for the period of Childhood. For example, there should be a father and son relationship between a Male carer and a boy service user. Secondly, ABC carers must protect Children from emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect. ABC Carers should not verbally abuse Children or beat then and ABC carers should do (CRB) checks before they can be employed by ABC care home so that children can be in good hands. Etc. Legislation. The rehabilitation of offenders Act 1974. (legislation.gov.uk). The Act would help service users in ABC care home who have committed crimes to be rehabilitated by enabling criminal convictions with some exceptions to be spent or ignored after a rehabilitation period. For example, crimes committed by mentally sick service users could be dealt with differently. Human Rights Act 1998. (Elizabeth et al. 2010). The Act protects rights given under the European convention on human rights. This Act points out that everyone has a right to live. In the ABC care home under the Human rights Act 1998 (equality humanrights.com) service users should be given a chance to live their lives the way they want and their needs should be fulfilled. Under this Act the right to live means giving service users food, medication and shelter. etc. The Human right Act 1998 protects ABC service users from slavery and forced labour. No service users should be treated  like a slave, ABC carers should not force use rs to do unpaid work around the ABC care home. ABC carers should not discriminate against service users under Human rights Act 1998. Carers should treat every service user the same regardless of where they are coming from. Carers should tolerate and respect Users cultures and religions. No service users shall be punished without law. (Equality humanright.com) ABC care workers should not beat or give any other punishments to service users without court proceedings. Codes of practice (Skills for care). According to skills for care website Codes of practise is â€Å"a list of statements that describes the standards of professional conduct and practice required of social care workers as they go about their daily work†. The code of practice help to protect service users in ABC care home (Skills for care) by protecting their rights and promoting the interest of service users and Carers. ABC carers can do this by treating everyone as an individual, respecting their cultural beliefs and religions, supporting and maintaining dignity and privacy of users. 2.2 Explain how Local policies and procedures can be developed in accordance with national and policy requirements. Local policies are principles of action developed by individual care homes to help safeguard service users from abuse. These principles are developed according to the service users the care home is caring for. For example some children’s care home principles differ from the elderly ones. Policies and procedures when developed they give employers and employees guidelines for fair and legal treatment to every service user in an organisation or care home. Policies create rules of how to run care homes and policies give ways how policies could be implemented within the care home. (www.ehow.co.uk). National policies are principles of action proposed by the government to help safeguard service users in statutory, private and voluntary organisations all around the country. ABC care home would implement the protecting patients from avoidable harm policy. (www.gov.uk/government) by using the five domains obtained from the three part definition of Quality First which states that; Quality care consist of: effectiveness, patient experience and safety. The five domains from the definition are: Preventing people from dying prematurely, ABC carers can prevent people dying prematurely by doing risk assessment, this can help find hazards within the ABC care home that could be life threatening. For example faulty electric switches, sockets and cables could be found by risk  assessing and fixed to ensure that the ABC care home is safe for service users. The second domain is enhancing quality of life for people with long term conditions (www.gov.uk/government). In ABC care home employers can help improve quality of lives of service users with long term conditions by giving them healthy food and encourage them to do exercises so that they can stay fit. Thirdly, help people to recover from episodes of ill health (www.gov.uk/government). With the ABC carers can help service users to recover from ill health by giving patients their medicine on time and by ensuring that doses are finished in the advised time. etc. Treating service users with respect, dignity and compassion policy. (www.gov.uk/government). ABC carers should treat service user with respect, this is by knocking on service users doors to get permission from them before cares can enter. ABC carers should treat service users with dignity and compassion. ABC carers should ensure that service users are not abused and should enable service users to maintain the highest level of independence, choice and control. For example, ABC carers should ask services users what type of food they want to eat by offering users food options. â€Å"Improving care for people with dementia policy†. This policy is implemented in ABC care home by increasing diagnosis rate for people with dementia because there is a low diagnosis for people with dementia in England as whole. For example invest more money in ABC care home to improve the project by buying better toolkit to ensure that ABC employers and employees provide a better service. 2.3 The Care Standard Act 2000 was put in place by the government on 20th July 2000 and came into effect April 2002. The Act was made to help reforming the regulatory system for care services in England and wales. These services include: residential car e homes, children homes, nursing homes, domiciliary care agencies, fostering and so on. The Care Standards Act 2000 aims were to extend the regulation of social Care from two white papers published by the Government in 1998 and 1999 entitled â€Å"Modernising Social Services and Building for the future†. (www.scie.org.uk) The Act established a new independent regulatory body for Social Care, private and voluntary health care services in England known as the National Care Standards Commission (www.scie.org.uk). This was to ensure that improvements in care through the Act’s triple functions of inspections, regulation and reviewing all Social Services. â€Å"The Act established the General Social Care Council† (GSCC). (www.scie.org.uk)To  regulate the quality and standards of Staff working in Social Care but was replace by the Health Professions Council (HPC) from August 2012. Another Act that helped in Social Care settings is the Safeguarding Vulnerable Group Act 2006. The Act is an important part of a bigger programme of work. It spreads across Gov ernment departments and it is created to solve the failures found by the 2004 Bichard inquiry from the Soham murders. Recommendation 19 of the Bichard inquiry report states that; ‘new arrangements should be introduced requiring those who wish to work with children, or vulnerable Adults to be registered. The register would confirm that there is no reason why an individual should not work with these clients’. (Safeguarding Vulnerable group Act 2006 fact sheet). The Act formed a body called the Independent Barring Board (â€Å"IBB†). The IBB establishes and maintains children’s and Adults’ barred list. The Act points out offences and writes down penalties for not complying with the Act. For example if a door is meant to be kept locked and the Manager opens it he could get fined 5000 pounds or six months imprisonment if Inspectors find out. The No Secrets policy document has guidelines on developing and implementing multi-Agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults at risk of abuse. One of the No secrets principles is to recognise people who are unable to take their own decisions or protect themselves, their belongings or bodily integrity this helps to adults at risk of being abused. No Secrets’ â€Å"getting the message across† states that when it comes to employment people convicted of big offences do not have the protection of the Rehabilitation of offenders Act 1974 this could help stop adults being abused. The policy defines who is at risk, what way and what action to be taken when abuse happens to vulnerable people. The policy defines abuse as â€Å"a violation of human rights by any other person or persons†. REFERENCES https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/194272/No_secrets__guidance_on_developing_and_implementing_multi-agency_policies_and_procedures_to_protect_vulnerable_adults_from_abuse.pdf http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/47/pdfs/ukpga_20060047_en.pdf http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide03/law/standards.asp https://www.gov.uk/government/policies?departments%5B%5D=department-of-health

The act of labeling people with mental illness

The act of labeling people with mental illness Human begins have been labeling people since the beginning of time. It is human nature to put labels on people in an attempt to better understand someone. People us labeling for example when they see a group of people wearing the same clothing and listening to the same music, and this is roughly the same concept used to help psychologist know what is happening to a patient. (Lain). â€Å"Psychologist is most likely to able to help individuals who are suffering from mental disorders when they can make an accurate pyschodiagnosis, an attempt to describe, asses, and systematically draw inferences about an individuals psychological disorder.†(Sue, David). Over the years, the meaning behind labeling has changed. In the nineteen forties, labeling a person moron and idiot was used to describe someone with mental illness. â€Å"And the history of slavery indicates that African Americans who tried to escape their white masters were often labeled as suffering from drapetomania, defined as a sickness that makes the person desire freedom.† (Sue, David). Now, Psychologists use terms out of the DSM-IV to describe people with mental illness. (Autonomous). Using this method of labeling people who have a mental illness has its pros and cons.   Cons of labeling people: making a diagnosis is simply the act of labeling the person, once labeled he or she may have difficulty overcoming the label, having a hard time identifying themselves without the disease (having the disease define who they are, instead of the disease just being the disease), and may lose hope of recovery.(Lain). Pros of labeling people: provides patients with a means of com municating about what is going on with their body to other people, helps identify and to find support, some people are relieved when they learn that the symptoms they are experiencing have a name, and offers a sense of hope and personal control over the illness.(Lain). Labeling a person who has a mental illness may do more harm than good. Words have a powerful meaning, though we are taught to say â€Å"sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.† Words have more of an impact on us then we would like to admit. Words can be used to hurt other people. (Jack Bragen). â€Å"Hitler once braded the Jews as abnormal.† (Sue, David). People, once labeled or have a diagnosis, forget who they once were as people, and start to let the diagnosis define who they are as people. This can be bad for the patient, because they not lose themselves, but they start to lose hope with the treatment itself. This also will occur when people try and diagnosis themselves. Thomas Szasz, a health professional, has stated that â€Å". . . mental illness is a myth, a fictional creation by society used to control and change people.†(Sue, David). A person who knows their diagnosis may become consumed with the diagnosis. The person could make this their whole life, and use their diagnosis to validate their behaviors, saying they cannot help it, and their behavior cannot change. Some people will choose to hide behind their diagnosis, and never try and get better. (Lain). The people who like to get attention for their behaviors may benefit from getting the opportunity to use their diagnosis to excuse everything they do or say. If the person becomes too consumed with their diagnosis of a mental illness the patient may start to lose most or all hope in being treated. The person can become overwhelmed with their diagnosis, and from this feeling alone assume they will feel this way for the rest of their lives. (Autonomous). Though there are some downsides to labeling people with a mental illness there are some positives. Giving someone a label may help them better communicate to others about what is going on with their bodies to other people. With this label people are more able to know how to handle a situation. If someone for example says they have autism, the person who they are speaking to will know that they may not like close contact, and eye contact. This will help the person learning about the diagnosis not to be offended if they arent receiving the same communication skills back in return. (Lain). By the patient receiving information about their mental illness, they are able to find support groups. Often times people feel alone when they hear about their diagnosis, but once the patient hears they are not the only ones, this can create a sense of comfort. People who around others that know exactly what they are going through have a better chance of succeeding in their treatment, because of all the support they are receiving.   When a patient hears there is a name to what they have been experiencing they feel a sense of comfort knowing what is going on with their bodies. Knowing the name of their diagnosis gives can give people a sense of hope and power of their diagnosis. They could also feel more involved in their treatment process. (Lain). â€Å"The DSM-IV is not used to categorize people, but to categorize conditions or disorders that people have† from a website titled, â€Å"All about Depression.† (Dr. Prentiss). It is important to know that people must say the diagnosis right that we do not say for example that Sarah is cancer, we say Sarah has cancer. By saying the diagnosis this way patients look at their diagnosis as part of them, instead of the diagnosis being them. The disadvantages of labeling people: making a diagnosis is simply the act of labeling the person, once labeled he or she may have difficulty overcoming the label, having a hard time identifying themselves without the disease (having the disease define who they are, instead of the disease just being the disease), and may lose hope of recovery. (Lain). The positives of labeling people: provides patients with a means of communicating about what is going on with their body to other people, helps identify and to find support, some people ar e relieved when they learn that the symptoms they are experiencing have a name, and offers a sense of hope and personal control over the illness. (Lain). By labeling people with mental illness the â€Å"psychologist can attempt to identify the causes of the disorders in order to design a program of treatment.†(Sue, David).

Effects of Demographics on Performance Appraisals

Effects of Demographics on Performance Appraisals 23 Geddes This study examined the effects of demographic similarity and dissimilarity on perceptions of performance appraisals and reactions to negative feedback. When organizational members accept task-relevant feedback, they are more likely to maintain and/or modify their behaviors in ways that will improve future performance. In contrast, when employees reject supervisor feedback, more common when an evaluation indicates performance deficits, they may respond unfavorably (Fedor et al., 2001; Ilgen Davis, 2000). Fedor, D.B., Davis, W.D., Maslyn, J.M. Mathieson, K. Performance improvement efforts in response to negative feedback: The roles of source power and recipient self-esteem. Journal of Management, 2001, 27, 79-97. Ilgen, D. Davis, C. Bearing bad news: Reactions to negative performance feedback. Applied Psychology, 2000, 49, 550-65. 9 Catano The limitations of performance assessment, such as inflated ratings, lack of consistency, and the politics of assessment (Tziner, Latham, Price, Haccoun, 1996), often lead to their abandonment. Managers responsible for delivering performance reviews who are uncomfortable with the performance rating system may give uniformly high ratings that do not discriminate between ratees. Poor ratings detract from organizational uses and increase employee mistrust in the performance appraisal system (Tziner Murphy, 1999). Employees on the receiving end of the appraisal often express dissatisfaction with both the decisions made as a result of performance assessment and the process of performance assessment (Milliman, Nason, Zhu, De Cieri, 2002), which may have longitudinal effects on overall job satisfaction (Blau, 1999) and commitment (Cawley, Keeping, Levy, 1998). legally sound performance appraisals should be objective and based on a job analysis, they should also be based on behaviors that relate to specific functions that are controllable by the ratee, and the results of the appraisal should be communicated to the employee (Malos, 1998). Second, the appraisals must be perceived as fair. Procedural fairness is improved when employees participate in all aspects of the process, when there is consistency in all processes, when the assessments are free of supervisor bias, and when there is a formal channel for the employees to challenge or rebut their evaluations (Gilliland Langdon, 1998). In addition to perceptions of fairness, participation by employees in the appraisal process is related to motivation to improve job performance, satisfaction with the appraisal process, increased organizational commitment, and the utility or value that the employees place on the appraisal (Cawley et al., 1998). Tziner A, Latham GP, Price BS, Haccoun R. (1996). Development and validation of a questionnaire for measuring perceived political considerations in performance appraisal. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17, 179-190. Tziner A, Murphy KR. (1999). Additional evidence of attitudinal influences in performance appraisal. Journal of Business and Psychology, 13, 407-419. Milliman J, Nason S, Zhu C, De Cieri H. (2002). An exploratory assessment of the purposes of performance appraisals in North and Central America and the Pacific Rim. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 40, 105-122. Malos SB. (1998). Current legal issues in performance appraisal. In Smither JW (Ed.), Performance appraisal: State of the art in practice (pp. 49-94). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 60- Maurer Structured interviews can be quite demanding for interviewees, combining social and cognitive processes (Campion, Palmer Campion, 1997, Dipboyes, 2005) 55 Levinson Because management by objectives is closely related to performance appraisal and review, I shall consider these together as one practice, which is intended: To measure and judge performance, To relate individual performance to organizational goals, To clarify both the job to be done and the expectations of accomplishment, To foster the increasing competence and growth of the subordinate, To enhance communications between superior and subordinate, To serve as a basis for judgments about salary and promotion, To stimulate the subordinates motivation, and To serve as a device for organizational control and integration. Major Problems. According to contemporary thinking, the ideal process should proceed in five steps: 1) individual discussion with the superior of the subordinates own job description, 2) establishment of the employees short-term performance targets, 3) meetings with the superior to discuss the employees progress toward targets, 4) establishment of checkpoints to measure progress, and 5) discussion between superior and subordinate at the end of a defined period to assess the results of the subordinates efforts. In ideal practice, this process occurs against a background of more frequent, even day-today, contacts and is separate from salary review. But, in actual practice, there are many problems: No matter how detailed the job description, it is essentially static that is, a series of statements. However, the more complex the task and the more flexible an employee must be in it, the less any fixed statement of job elements will fit what that person does. Thus, the higher a person rises in an organization and the more varied and subtle the work, the more difficult it is to pin down objectives that represent more than a fraction of his or her effort. With pre-established goals and descriptions, little weight can be given to the areas of discretion open to the individual but not incorporated into a job description or objectives. I am referring here to those spontaneously creative activities an innovative executive might choose to do, or those tasks a responsible executive sees need to be done. As we move toward a service society, in which tasks are less well defined but spontaneity of service and self-assumed responsibility are crucial, this becomes pressing. Most job descriptions are limited what employees do in their work. They do not adequately take into account the increasing interdependence of managerial work in organizations. This limitation becomes more important as the impact of social and organizational factors on individual performance becomes better understood. The more employees effectiveness depends on what other people do, the less any one employee can be held responsible for the outcome of individual efforts. If a primary concern in performance review is counseling the subordinate, appraisal should consider and take into account the total situation in which the superior and subordinate are operating. In addition, this should take into account the relationship of the subordinates job to other jobs. In counseling, much of the focus is on helping the subordinate learn to negotiate the system. There is no provision in most reviews and no place on appraisal forms with which I am familiar to report and record such discussion. The setting and evolution of objectives is done over too brief a period of time to provide for adequate interaction among different levels of an organization. This militates against opportunity for peers, both in the same work unit and in complementary units, to develop objectives together for maximum integration. Thus, both the setting of objectives and the appraisal of performance make little contribution to the development of teamwork and more effective organizational self-control. Coupled with these problems is the difficulty that superiors experience when they undertake appraisals. Douglas McGregor complained that the major reason appraisal failed was that superiors disliked playing God by making judgments about another persons worth.[1] He likened the superiors experience to inspection of assembly-line products and contended that his revulsion was against being inhuman. To cope with this problem, McGregor recommended that an individual should set his or her own goals, checking them out with the superior, and should use the appraisal session as a counseling device. Thus, the superior would become one who helped subordinates achieve their own goals instead of a dehumanized inspector of products. Every management by objectives and appraisal program should include regular appraisals of the manager by subordinates, and be reviewed by the managers superior. Every manager should be specifically compensated for how well he or she develops people, based on such appraisals. The very phrase reporting to reflects the fact that although a manager has a responsibility, the superior also has a responsibility for what he or she does and how its done. 57 Lievens High structured interviews appear to be less frequently used in personnel management practice than might be expected given their good reliability and validity. Meta-analytic research has demonstrated that low structure interviews are considerably worse than high structure interviews in terms of reliabilitry (Conway, Jako and Goodman, 1995) and criterion-related validity (Huffcutt Arthur, 1994 Marchese) 6- Brewer Organizational commitment is the extent to which employees identify with their organization and managerial goals, show a willingness to invest effort, participate in decision making and internalize managerial values[10]. 10. OReilly, C. and Chatman, J., Organisational commitment and psychological attachment: the effects of compliance, identification and internalisation on prosocial behaviour, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 71, 1986, pp. 492-9. 3 Baruch The process of performance appraisal (PA) is of most importance in human resource management (HRM). In a broad sense, PA systems are used for two main purposes: as a source for information for management; and as a feedback instrument for individuals employed by the organization. In the first case, the applications of the use of PA serve a variety of management functions. These could be decision-making about promotions, training needs, salaries, etc. Where feedback is the main goal, the fundamental purpose is to provide the employee with information that will improve personal performance and effectiveness. Recently the second approach has gained more attention. Providing the employee with feedback is widely recognized as a crucial activity. Such feedback may encourage and enable self-development, and thus will be instrumental for the organization as a whole. 47 Kuvaas Performance appraisal (PA) is among the most important Human Resource (HR) practices (Boswell and Boudreau, 2002; Judge and Ferris, 1993) and one of the more heavily researched topics in work psychology (Fletcher, 2002). PA has increasingly become part of a more strategic approach to integrating HR activities and business policies and may now be seen as a generic term covering a variety of activities through which organizations seek to assess employees and develop their competence, enhance performance and distribute rewards (Fletcher, 2001) failure (see, e.g. Cardy and Dobbins, 1994; Murphy and Cleveland, 1995). 44 Klehe The distinction between what people can do (maximum performance) and what they will do (typical performance) has received considerable theoretical but scan empirical attention in industrial-organizational psychology. The distinction between typical and maximum performance holdwide -researching practical and theoretical implications for performance appraisal and research validating fundamental assumptions of the typical-maximum performance distinction is as yet unavailable. 31 Harung Management is by nature a holistic profession. Management calls for the necessary understanding of a wide spectrum of factual knowledge and theories (economics, finance, technology, law, etc.). It calls for competence in the particular type of business one is managing and the ability to take part in and oversee manifold processes such as communication, team building, group decision and production. 39 Ivancevich Feedback of performance appraisal information has received increasing attention in the applied organizational behaviour literature (Latman Wexley, 1981). Ilgen, Fisher and Taylor (1979) in a thorough review of the literature discussed the nature of feedback, element of the feedback process and the implications of feedbacks in the work environment. Another related approach to providing feedback is the use of goal setting procedures. There has been an increasing number of studies that indicate that goal setting can be an effective approach for improving attitudes and increasing performance (). 82 Tziner Investigations of performance appraisal instruments have focused primarily on their psychometric properties (Bernardin, 1977, Borman 1979, Tziner, 1984). The result of the field experiment provided strong support for the proposition that a performance review consisting of performance feedback followed by goal setting would favourably influence work satisfaction and organizational commitment to a greater extent than performance review comprising feedback only. A plausible explanation as to why performance feedback has an impact rests with the fact that people are basically feedback seekers (Ashford, 1986). Feedback is a vehicle trough which the appraisee receives information about how well he meets organizational expectations and work requirements. Performance feedback followed by goal setting caused nonetheless a considerable magnitude of improvement. Most researchers have reported little or no training of appraisal with regard to proposed appraisal instruments. 65 Meyer To say that the performance appraisal feedback problem has been an enigma for managers and personnel specialists is probably a glaring understatement. The appraisal and feedback program is one of the psychologists and personnel specialists popular topics in the personnel literature. Problems experienced with performance appraisal programs are myriad. Significant eyidence has shown that most managers find the program onerous and distasteful. Feedback regarding job performance seems necessary to justify administrative decisions, such as whether a salary increase is awarded and the size of the increase, or whether an employee should be transferred to another job or scheduled for promotion. Feedback should contribute to improved performance. The positive effect of feedback on performance has always been an accepted psychological principal. For employees who are not in an obviously dependent role, an appraisal discussion designed to serve communication, motivation, and development purposes should be based on the subordinates self appraisal. To improve the value of a feedback discussion based on self-review, the grading aspect should be eliminated. If a goal setting program is being used, such as Management by Objectives, this annual review discussion is not the best place to establish detailed job goals for the year. Training supervisors to handle this type of discussion could be valuable. It need not be any more extensive than the training given for conventional appraisal programs, 29 Gunn A boss should ensuring privacy, removing distractions, setting context, providing specifics, allowing time for dialoguebut thats all blocking and tackling. It fails to address the fundamental problem: a blurred line between feedback and criticism. Even if we simply point out or describe another persons behaviour as a neutral observer, we are acting as a critic. Feeling judged, the person to whom we are giving feedback is likely to head south emotionally. Open-ended questions help maintain the right frame for the conversation. Feedback is truly a gift.. .but its the giver who receives it. In the process of delivering feedback in an open-minded way, we are invited to explore our own thinking, our mental assumptions, with another person. 58 Lindenberger They fear performance evaluations, so they avoid giving feedback. They dread the emotional part, so they refuse to risk saying anything that might make their colleagues unhappy. When they do give feedback, they send the wrong message by emphasizing only poor performance. 61 maylett Feedback has been used for decades as a measurement of past performance and behaviours. However, it wasnt until the mid-1980s that extensive use of 360-degree feedback became common for identifying strengths and development needs that might not be exposed in traditional performance evaluations. Similar to the 360 degrees of a circle, with the participant figuratively at the center of that circle, feedback is gathered from those most familiar with that participants performance: supervisors, peers, and direct reports. Most 360-degree feedback assessments and employee engagement initiatives fall under the umbrella of training and development, organizational development, or HR departments. It is important that these professionals understand the connections these instruments have to the bottom line. 13 Cook The importance of people to organizational performance has long been recognised (Pragald and Hamel, 1990), yet according to Fletcher (1993) more than 80 percent of UK organizations surveyed in the UK express some dissatisfaction with their performance appraisal systems, perceiving that they fail as a mechanism to develop and motivate people. The Achilles heel of the entire process, according to Kikoski (1999) is the annual performance review interview; line managers are under-preparated to handle the interview and reluctant to give negative feedback, leading to a situation where the people being appraised receive incomplete and inaccurate messages about their performance. The litterature suggests that people will only be satisfied with a performance appraisal peocess if it fulfils the criteria of fairness. It has also been suggested that a lack of appraisee trainibg in the PA process may cause discrepancies between expected and actual performance assessments which will contribute to dissatisfaction with the system (Bretz et al. 1992). People have been identified as the source of competitive advantage for organizations by numerous researchers (McGregor 1960, Barney, 1995, Prahalad and Hamel, 1990, Storey, 1991). People who are not appraisers, but are asked to provide input to another persons annual review, should also receive training to allow them to provide effective. The importance of training people to partecipate to PA is stressed by Bretz et al (1992) who advocate that it should be an ongoing process to achieve maximum effectiveness. Effective training should increase the effectiveness of the PAS and ultimately lead to greater organizational effectiveness. 50- Laird Mayfield documented that 90 percent of the people who had been evaluated expressed satisfaction with the performance appraisal procedure. While the idea of performance appraisal is almost universally accepted, its actual operation in some instances has failed to live up to its promise as an effective managerial tool. 64 Messmer Performance reviews can be a powerful tool for motivating team members to higher performance levels and improving relationship between managers and employees. - 16 deGregorio Research to date has clearly found that performance feedback is necessary in order to maintain and/or improve job performance (Catano, 1976; Erez, 1977; Kim Hamner, 1976; Komaki, Barwick, Scott, 1978). A self-appraisal instrument can provide a vehicle through which subordinate participation in the feedback process is ensured (Bassett Meyer, 1968; Kay, Meyer, French, 1965). The results indicated that performance appraisal based on a self-review was more satisfying to managers and subordinates than manager-prepared appraisals. Employees who have not previously participated in performance discussions are not always satisfied with the self-appraisal approach. In Bassett and Meyers study, such employees stated that when top-down appraisals were used, supervisor expectations were much clearer. 17 Dobbins If ratees are dissatisfied with the appraisal system or perceive it as unfair, they will be less likely to use evaluations as feedback to improve their performance (Ilgen, Fish Taylor, 1979). Similarity, dissatisfaction with appraisal procedures could potentially lead to employee turnover, decreased motivation and feeling of inequity. Past research suggests that appraisal satisfaction is a function of both the level of evaluation and the feedback provided by the evaluation. Ratees are also more satisfied with appraisal systems that provide useful feedback about job performance. As noted by Carroll and Schneier (1982), one of the primary purposes of the formal appraisal is to provide clear, performance-based feedback to employees. As noted earlier, it is widely recognised that appraisal system can provide employees with feedback concerning the adequacy of their job performance (Bernardin Beatty, 1984). Feedback can be defined as a subset of information that allow employees to judge the appropriateness or correctness of behaviours for attaining various goals (Ashford, 1986). 76 Segalla The future looked likely to prefer high performance, well trained and multi-lingual managers. 43 Jaworsky Supervisory feedback is a useful mechanism for controlling salespeoples performances (Teas 1983, Tyagi, 1985, Walker, Churchill and ford 1977). Importantly, supervisory control can be exercised at the input, process or output stages (Jaworsky, 1988). Further, given the positive feedback can pertain too to outputs or behaviours, the issue of comparative effectiveness of alternative types of supervisory feedback takes on greater complexity. The typology of supervisory feedback used in our study is drived from two dimensions. The first dimension is the locus of feedback, whether feedback pertains to a sales persons output or behaviour. The second dimention is the valence of feedback, whether feedback is positive or negative. Feedback is argued to improve performance through it informational and motivational effects. 35 Hiltrop Employees are expected to do their work and think of ways to improve it, achieve new levels of performance, contribute to change efforts and manage their own ongoing learning processes (Mohrman and Mohrman, 1993). Organizations will become more complex and ambiguous place to work (Handy, 1989) The role of the manager will become more lateral, with much more focus on people, customers and processes. As Cannon (1996) points out: managers are being asked to show their worth on a more decentralized workplace, worth valuated in terms of effectiveness in creating conditions in which people can deliver the best results. Most commentators agree that managers of the future will require a more extensive mix of skills and competencies than their processors. For instance, Allred et al. (1996) argues that, as more companies adopt some type of networked structure, managers need to have not only strong collaborative, partnership and relationship skills. In the organization of the future, managers role have been portrayed as those of portfolio specialists, whose work and income comes first and foremost from having high expertise in a particular field or subject that is essential to the business (Nicholson, 1996). Managers of the future will have to develop a much wider range of skills and competencies than their predecessors. According to Carson and Carson (1997) many organizations are burdened with workers who want to jump ship, but who stay firmly on board grasping for long-term security in the face of widespread job cuts. There is no doubt that the successful managers for the future will need a very different set of skills and competencies than their predecessors. 42 Jawahar A primary purpose of formal performance appraisals is the provision of clear, performance-based feedback to employees (Carroll Schneier, 1982; Ilgen, Fisher Taylor, 1979). The significance of feedback to the appraisal process as well as to the broader management process has been widely acknowledged (e.g., Bernardin Beatty, 1984; Ilgen et al., 1979; Lawler, 1994; Maier, 1958; Murphy Cleveland, 1995). Performance feedback has the potential to influence future performance (Ilgen et al., 1979; Kluger DeNisi, 1996), and significantly impact job and organizational attitudes (Ilgen, Peterson, Martin Boeschen, 1981; Pearson, 1991; Taylor, Fisher Ilgen, 1984). Thus, feedback is not only important to individuals but also to organizations because of its potential influence on performance and a variety of attitudes and behaviors of interest to organizations. Satisfaction with appraisal feedback is regarded as one of the most consequential of the reactions to appraisal feedback (e.g., Dorfman, Stephan Loveland, 1986; Giles Mossholder, 1990; Keeping Levy, 2000). For instance, Giles and Mossholder (1990) and others (e.g., Organ, 1988) have asserted that satisfaction as a measure of employees reactions is a more encompassing indicator of reactions to appraisal feedback than more specific, cognitively oriented criteria, such as perceived utility and accuracy of feedback (e.g., Keeping Levy, 2000). In summary, the central role of feedback to the appraisal process and the importance of examining ratees satisfaction with appraisal feedback are widely acknowledged (e.g., Ilgen et al., 1979; Keeping Levy, 2000; Murphy Cleveland, 1995). Satisfaction with appraisal feedback is likely to enhance employees feelings of selfworth and their feelings of positive standing within the organization (Lind Tyler, 1988). If organizations are to realize the benefits of performance feedback, they should take the appraisal process and particularly the feedback discussions between the rater and ratee seriously. Although satisfaction with feedback has been a focal construct in a number of studies, its nomological net is not well understood. The significant relationship between satisfaction with feedback and organizational commitment became non-significant when the influences of job satisfaction and satisfaction with manager on organizational commitment were statistically controlled. Results of this study indicate that the extent to which ratees are satisfied with the performance feedback benefits the ratee, rater and the organization. Ratees benefit as satisfaction with feedback is positively related to their job satisfaction and influences their future performance. Raters benefit as ratees satisfaction with feedback is positively related to ratees satisfaction with them, negatively related to turnover intentions, and influences future performance of ratees. 32 Heathfield Every method of assessing employee performance has its positive and negative characteristics. The traditional process of performance appraisal reflects and underpins an old-fashioned, paternalistic, top-down, autocratic mode of management that relies on organization charts and fear of job loss to keep troops in line. The traditional performance appraisal process treats employees as possessions of the company, fails to create a dialogue and rarely results in positive employee development and progress. Performance management is the process of creating a work environment or setting in which people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities. Performance management is a whole work system that begins when a job is defined as needed and ends when its determined why an excellent employee left the organization for another opportunity. In a performance management system, feedback remains integral to successful practice. The feedback however becomes a discussion for both progress and personal business goals. 56 Liden Very little work has been done on the poor performers reactions to the leaders responses. Liden (1981) found that subordinates and leaders reported that the most common leader response to ineffective performance was to simply discuss the incident with the poorly performing subordinate. In such a discussion the leader is essentially giving negative feedback to the poor performer. Ilgen, Mitchell, and Fredrickson (1981a) found that poorly performing subordinates perceive specific feedback to be more helpful than general feedback. Similarly, results of a field study indicated that feedback timing, specificity, and frequency are all associated with subordinate satisfaction and perceptions of appraisal helpfulness (Ilgen, Peterson, Martin, Boeschen, 1981b). It was predicted that subjects would rate feedback containing consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information (i.e., specific feedback) more positively than feedback containing information on none of these three dimensions (i.e., non-specific feedback). Subordinates rated specific feedback more positively than nonspecific feedback. Feedback including consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information was rated higher than feedback containing information on none of these dimensions. This result supports the Ilgen, Fisher, and Taylor (1979) suggestion that subordinate misperceptions and nonacceptance of negative feedback might be corrected by providing more specific feedback. 19 Falcone In an era where intellectual capital defines any companys ability to stand out from its peers, measuring that human capital as a true asset may dictate the organizations ultimate success or failure. In reality, though, this challenge has gone mainly unresolved because managers see pertbnnance appraisal as an exercise that focuses only quantitatively on individual performance as the core foundation and building block of the performance review process. So much for the Golden Cycle of Performance Management, which is: Goal setting and planning. Ongoing feedback and coaching. Appraisal and reward. Under the current way of handling appraisals, the first two steps rarely get addressed, leaving the culmination in the third step more theory than reality. 27 Grensing-Pophal Many CU managers and business experts note that performance evaluation is perhaps the most important part of the interaction between supervisors and managers. 62- McGregor Formal performance appraisal plans are designed to meet three needs, one for the organization and two for the individual: 1. they provide systematic judgments to back up salary increases, promotions, transfers and sometimes demotions and terminations 2. they are a means of telling a subordinate how he is doing, and suggesting needed changes in his behaviour, attitudes, skills or job knowledge, they let him know where he stands with the boss. 3. They are also being increasingly used as a basis for the coaching and counselling of the individual by the superior. McGregor found that one of the bosss resistance to effective appraisal interview is related to the lack of skills needed to handle the interview. Training programs designed to teach the skills of appraising and interviewing do help, but they seldom eliminate manager

The Quintessential American Woman Essay -- American Women Henry James

The Quintessential American Woman The American woman is a mystery that has yet to be solved. She is an ever-changing poem that sparks interest in those who are unaccustomed to her mysterious ways. The American women fascinated many authors, including Henry James. To express his enthrallment, James employed his literary talent to create Daisy Miller. Daisy exudes the vast depth of the entity of the American woman, which originally captured James’ attention. John Hay, a contemporary observer of American manners and mores stated of the American woman, â€Å"Her conduct is without blemish, according to the rural American standard, and she knows no other† (qtd. in Fogel 52). James’s Daisy Miller depicts the innocence of the American woman, with its accompanying crudeness. It is through Daisy Miller, and her contradictory characteristics of purity and crudeness that James presents and depicts his American woman to the world. â€Å"Pure† is defined as â€Å"chaste; virgin† in the American Heritage Dictionary (681). This describes one half of the American woman in the Jamesian perspective. Daisy Miller’s character is depicted as the epitome of pure. This purity particularly lies in Daisy’s ignorance of proper social behavior. Daniel Mark Fogel wrote in his critical analysis of Daisy Miller, â€Å"In America, women were under somewhat less rigid control than they were in England or Europe, in part because of the comparatively high degree of social mobility in the United States and the concomi...