Ethical Issues Regarding Informed Consent in the Workplace Essay

Ethical Issues Regarding Informed Consent in the Workplace - Essay Example Different participants at these establishments have different views and beliefs on what is ethical and what is not ethical. An important concept to be derived from the study of ethics is that its applications in the different fields are interrelated and one application can be used to explain the other in a different field (Hardwig, 2010, p.1). Nevertheless, a lesson learned from ethical issues arising in business could be used to solve analogous issues in medicine or any other field. 2. The need for â€Å"informed consents† The controversial issues arising in ethics are due to the diverse human nature and the difference in cultural values. What an individual values most may be of very little value to the other person. In medical ethics, it would be considered that main aim of providing healthcare services is to promote good health and ensure a longer life for the patients. However, there are other factors that affect human desires and that will limit our access to the health s ervices (Hardwig, 2010, p.1). It would be argued that the health providers should make all the attempts to satisfy the needs of the patients by avoiding issues like the cost consideration. This becomes controversial as a point may be reached when the operations at the health center cannot continue due to lack of resources thereby endangering other people’s lives. Besides, it is worth mentioning the fact that a patient went to the hospital to seek medical services does not mean that the medical officer has a full say on what to be carried out, neither does it mean that the patient needs all that the doctor wants to provide or perform (Hardwig, 2010, p.1). Similarly, the view a shareholder would be that his profit in an investment be maximized. However, there will be other factors that influence the desires and that will determine if the profit maximization is the supposed interest. The effects of this profit maximization on the conditions imposed on the employees of an organiz ation will provide an evidence to evaluate such procedures. In most causes, it would turn out to be unjustifiable for an investor to be only interested in the profit maximization (Hardwig, 2010, p.1). These controversial issues call for what is referred to as â€Å"informed consent.† It involves informing the participants to a given decision making activity the probable risks and the conditions associated with the actions to be carried out (Ilgen & Bell, 2001, p.1). It is aimed at ensuring that ethical standards are observed in handling individuals with different interests. It has been found to be applicable in various fields of social sciences that entail research with human participants. The participants in a research need to be informed of the risks involved in participating in the research. However, the American Psychologist Association asserts that there are certain instances when the use of â€Å"informed consents† can be ignored, though it may not be very clear the circumstances under which this may be true. Various legislations have been enacted in the US that protects the rights of the participants in a given research (White, Parascandola & Bero, 2007, p.1). 3. Ethical issues and informed consent in medicine The basic guiding principles that most people value like profit maximization in business or good health and prolonged life in the healthcare

Chicano Mexican-American Movement Essay Example for Free

Chicano Mexican-American Movement Essay Chicano a political term made popular in the sixties with the Chicano Civil Rights Movement which followed the example of the Black Civil Rights Movement. The people of the Movement adopted the word Chicano for themselves just as the African Americans had adopted Black. The Chicano Movement fought for all people of the Southwest of Mexican descendancy. These people included those whose ancestors had been citizens in the southwest when it was Mexico before the United States occupied it in 1848. Chicano a political term made popular in the sixties with the Chicano Civil Rights Movement which followed the example of the Black Civil Rights Movement. The people of the Movement adopted the word Chicano for themselves just as the African Americans had adopted Black. The Chicano Movement fought for all people of the Southwest of Mexican descendancy. These people included those whose ancestors had been citizens in the southwest when it was Mexico before the United States occupied it in 1848. These people became citizens by default with all rights guaranteed to them under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Chicano Movement also included three waves of immigrants from Mexico: those who migrated because they were escaping the Mexican Revolution between 1900 and 1914; those who came between World War I and 1930, mainly for economic reasons; and those who came between World War II and the 1960s. Several of those who came in the 1940s came with organized labor programs such as the Bracero Program and decided to stay, even if undocumented. The Chicano Movement and the Treaty of Gudalupe Hidalgo After the United States won the Mexican American War the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was executed on February 2, 1848. Under the treaty, Mexico ceded to the United States a large area including, California, Arizona, New Mexico, parts of what we know today as Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming and Utah. The annexation of Texas was also approved. All the citizens who had resided in what had been Mexico were given one year to make a choice to remain in what was now the U. S. or go to what was now Mexico. It is estimated that 75,000 Mexicans decided to stay and became citizens of the U. S. by default. The treaty provided specific guarantees for the property and political rights of the native population and they were given the right to retain their language, religion and culture. Almost immediately, the treaty was broken and these people were treated like foreigners in their own land. When they lost their land, they lost their economic base, thus had to turn to wage labor to survive. They were subjected to great discrimination practices, as were the three waves of immigrants who came later. By the time World War II ended Chicanos were an oppressed people; poor, uneducated, with no political clout; and menial jobs with little hope for upward mobility. It was after the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 and after soldiers came back from World War II that the foundation for the Chicano Movement was built. The veterans and other concerned Chicanos refused to be treated like second class citizens. The groundwork was laid for the battle of equality for Chicanos. When the 1960s came about Chicanos recognized that like the Blacks, they, too, had a cause and initially emulated the Black Civil Rights Movement. Scholars consider the year 1943 as the beginning of an new period of Mexican American history and culture. When the so-called Zoot Suit Riots occurred in the Los Angeles area it marked a stage in the cultural development of the Mexican American in which there was a consciousness of not belonging to either Mexico or the United States and an effort to assert a separate independent identity. It introduced the Pachucos, young Mexican-American young men who were not accepted in their schools, nor at home. They sought their own identity. Also after World War II Mexican American veterans who had fought and died side by side with their other American counterparts now felt they had earned their rights and were ready to participate equitably. Thus the quest for identity in modern American society was initiated and by the 1960s a younger generation made up of the children of the veterans took up the pursuit of democracy and equity in the Civil Rights Movement and explored the question of identity in all the arts. There had been very little Chicano Literature in the past so the 60s was considered a Chicano Renaissance. Hispanic an umbrella term that reduces groups of people into the lowest common denominator of Spanish speaking peoples. This can be people who speak Spanish or whose ancestors spoke Spanish and includes, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans and other ethnic groups. It is a most unfair label because it denies the different histories, and dilutes the importance of each different culture by lumping them all under one umbrella. The term was given by the government during the Nixon administration. Mestizo for the scope of this class half-Spanish, half-Indian. When the conquistadores arrived in the Americas miscegenation took place between the Spaniards and the Indigenous women, thus produced a new race, the Mestizo, a mixture of Caucasian and Indian. Much of Chicano Literature is based on Indian folklore. The Mestizo is an element in Mexican American Studies meaning both the Indian and Spanish side of the Chicano. Therefore we will be studying literature that takes us back to ancient Mexico and Spain and brings elements of both cultures to produce Chicano literature. I am Joaquin, written by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales in the 1960s elaborated a version of cultural nationalism that would typify what is called Movement Poetry. It was Mexican American history all wrapped up into one poem. It was monumental because up until then there had been very little written about the Chicano. When something was written, it was usually derogatory or stereotypical. It stands alone as an epic poem of the Chicano Movement. A new breed of writers were born because of the Chicano Movement. Their writings were related to a political and social movement. They wrote about cultural identification with the Mexican American heritage within the general framework of American society. It became the most intense expression of the creative spirit of the movement. It first saw the light in print in angry journals or newspapers such as El Grito Magazine or El Gallo Newspaper. There were many. The writing was cause writing, not just literary. It was also inspirational. The first Chicano writers of Chicano Literature in the 60s committed their literary vices to the political economic and educational struggles. Their works were often inspirational and read at organizational meetings, boycotts and before protest marches. The first Chicano poets included: Abelardo Lalo Delgado; Ricardo Sanchez and Alurista (Alberto Urista). Alurista coined the term Aztlan as the Chicano homeland. It gave Chicanos a sense of place. Aztlan had been the mythical homeland of the Aztecs which was north from Mexico, probably somewhere in the southwest United States. In 1967 appeared the most influential Chicano Literary Magazine, El Gallo, initiating the publishing house El Quinto Sol (The Fifth Sun). El Quinto Sol emphasized the Chicano culture, language, themes and styles and a Mexica/Aztec identity and promoted the Spanish Language. The fifth sun referred to the Aztec belief in a period of cultural flowering that would take place some time in the future, in a fifth age that coincided with the rise of the Chicano movement. One of the first books published by Quinto Sol was an anthology in 1986, El Espejo/The Mirror, edited by Dr. Octavio Romano Paz and Herminio Rios. In 1970 El Quinto Sol instituted a national award for Chicano Literature, Premio Quinto Sol (Fifth Sun Award) which gave the winner $1000 and published their winning manuscript.

It Has Been Two Years :: Love Letters Dating Email Relationships

Dear Matt, It has been three years since I have last held you in my arms. It is not fair how our years together feel so short lived, yet our time apart feels so long. Thank you for showing me how to number our days. The first time I ever laid my eyes on you, I was captured. It was not the way you introduced yourself or the way you shook my hand, but the look in your eyes that captured my heart. Thank you for showing me that love at first sight isn't just a fairy tale. I was convinced that you were something special. I felt it with every beat of my heart and breath that I breathed. Little did I know how right I was. As time went on we developed a friendship that I thought could only develop over years of knowing one another. Thank you for showing me that friendship cannot be measured by the amount of time spent in one and another's life. You gave me that chance where I was yours and you were mine. In that single moment all my dreams had come true. Thank you for helping me realize that dreams really do come true in real life and not just in books. We had so many wonderful times together. Some of our days were filled with adventure. In those days you brought out a side in me I never thought existed. Thank you for showing me that I too could be daring and adventurous. Then there were days filled with quiet moments. Those days are the ones I've cherished the most. Because, I would think for hours on end about happiness that I never thought that could exist between me and another person. Thank you for showing my happiness. We also had our hard days. There were fights that could have rattled the deepest depths of the ocean. We always recovered. Thank you for showing me how to forgive.

Explain the Main Difficulties That are Faced During Overseas Study Essay

As Australian universities have obtained popularity in the worldwide zone, the number of overseas students has been increased progressively. Accompanying with the overseas study trend, numerous difficulties that are faced during the overseas study appeared. To be specified, the term â€Å"overseas study† in this essay can be defined as students from those non-English speaking countries, especially Asian countries, receive the tertiary education in Australian universities. There are many difficulties can be encountered during the overseas study, some of which are the barrier of language, the new mode of education and the difference of culture. Firstly, the general problem in the overseas study is the language barrier. Although the language abilities of overseas students have been tested and verified by the language tests such as IELTS or TOEFL, there are still some obstacles in the English usage for academic purpose and daily communication. For instance, on campus lectures, tutorials, consultations and discussions are normally conducted in English, so there can be a huge number of technical terms that have never been heard by those international students. It may cause inaccurate understanding of some certain problems. The fast-talking and the use of slang during off campus everyday life such as the purchase of food, clothes and other necessities can also make a confusing. Therefore, academic or special usage of English can lead to some trouble in understanding as the incomprehension of English usage of those overseas students. The second difficulty that can be faced during the overseas study is completely different mode of learning. As differences of education widely exist among countries and also the gap between elementary education and tertiary education is generally concerned, overseas students will face two huge changes while receiving education abroad. To give an example, in many Asian countries, the study style before college is more like being driven or in another word, passive, whereas the tertiary education undertaken in Australian universities is more inclined to an independent process. As a consequence, the lack of motivation and automaticity can be shown on some overseas students that the education of those students may not be continued. Thirdly, the difference of culture is considered as one of the main difficulties that can be faced during overseas study. Culture varies from country to country, and the culture difference between Asian countries and Australia is tremendous. The hard adaption of culture difference should be made. For example, the food culture, the clothing culture and the religious culture can be quite different. A lot of Asian students used to have lunch as the main meal, however, in Australia, supper is regarded as the main meal. Hence, overseas study can be hard when spending time and energy on making adaption of these differences. In conclusion, the three main difficulties that are faced during the overseas study are the barrier of language due to the incomprehension of some specific terms and usage in English; the entirely different way of learning which depends on the independence; the huge difference of disparate culture which can be hard to be adapted. Of the three difficulties, the culture difference is the toughest because it is hard for an international student to adjust himself from a background to a wholly unlike one.

Nutritional Value of Menu Items At a Local Fast-Food Restaurant

In my pursuit to investigating the balancing the qualities of healthy choices of fast food restaurants were a challenging venture. During a recent visit to McDonalds, I ordered a healthy menu and then selected a very unhealthy menu. My choices included for the healthy choice a rice shrimp burger, side salad, vanilla reduced fat ice cream cone, and Dasani water.   In my selection of an unhealthy selection I chose a Big Mac, large fries, Mcfurry with Oreo cookies, and a large coca-cola drink. The assessment of my analysis provided an interesting result to the pursuit of a nutritional value meal. In my selection of my healthy selection, I discovered that McDonalds provided an easier approach to being able to select a more nutritional food selection compared to other fast food restaurants (McDonalds, 2008). The healthy selection calorie intake was less than 500 which on a world platform is a great attribute for McDonalds to develop and incorporate an excellent healthy meal. The healthy selection was tasty and fulfilling that was surprising for a fast food restaurant. However, the ingredients were not sacrificed in order to make the healthy food selection with low calories which was a good marketing decision at McDonalds. The unhealthy selection posed a greater challenge due to the higher calorie but the taste was slightly more fulfilling with a huge guilt after taste due to the 1,000 calorie meal. The difference was the feeling of self indulgence to an extreme that was both satisfying and somewhat uncomfortable. However, those feelings did not prevent the challenging temptation to stop eating the unhealthy menu selection. In the future, the fast food restaurants could create a marketing angle that ignites a strong sense of identification and acceptance depending on the social environment. For instance, on the healthy choice a marketing plan that provides an emphasis on a surprising taste of trying something new, rather than the ordinary. The imagery of the marketing ad or commercial should present a creative and alluring concept in order to entice the viewer to indulge in a new experience by making a more nutritional choice. In regards, to the marketing angle for the unhealthy selection the marketing angle can focus showcasing a back drop of self-indulgency that goes along with the sensation eating the item. In doing so, the viewer can relate the two and make a concise choice to select the unhealthy item over the healthy one. The key is the effective translation of marketing the extreme in either selection that relates to the selection – that encourages participating in enjoying the menu item. References McDonalds Inc. (2008) Official International Website. Retrieved from http://www.mcdonalds.com            

Essay on Gender Inequality from the Perspective of Act Utilitarianism

Essay on Gender Inequality from the Perspective of Act Utilitarianism Essay on Gender Inequality from the Perspective of Act Utilitarianism Essay on Gender Inequality from the Perspective of Act UtilitarianismOne of critical ethical issues in the modern society is gender inequality. This issue is ethically significant due to the following reasons: it disrupts social and corporate culture, affects interpersonal relations, demotivates women and pushes both men and women to act unethically. The purpose of this paper is to consider this ethical issue from the perspective of act utilitarianism and to consider the strengths and weaknesses of applying act utilitarianism to gender inequality. The key thesis of this paper is the following: from the perspective of act utilitarianism, gender inequality is morally wrong because it leads to the reduction of the total utility in the world; therefore, gender inequality should be eliminated.ApplicationMoral evaluation in act utilitarianism is based on the direct consequences of the actions or decisions and on the changes of the total utility (Mosser, 2013). An action or a decision is de emed as ethically desirable when the total utility (e.g. pleasure) for all involved stakeholders increases (Mosser, 2013). Furthermore, an action is deemed as ethically undesirable when the total utility decreases. In order to apply act utilitarianism to gender inequality, it is necessary to identify the main stakeholders in the case of gender inequality.Gender inequality can be defined as the advantage to men as a social group expressed in the form of higher authority, respect, monetary benefits, safety, access to power and institutional opportunities, housing and control over own life (Gensler, 2011). In the context of gender inequality, directly involved stakeholders are the representatives of both genders, men and women. Indirectly involved stakeholders include organizations, communities and the whole society. In order to evaluate gender inequality from the positions of act utilitarianism, it is necessary to assess total utility changes for each stakeholder group (Morales, 1996) .Essentially, gender inequality leads to negative consequences for women. In the areas where gender inequality is strong, women experience less respect, less authority, it is more difficult for them to find employment and to get an education. In some countries, women even do not have a right to choose own husband and to control own life choices like giving birth to children (UNFPA, 2014). Such situation causes suffering of women around the world and notably reduces total utility. As for men, they have some moderate gains in utility due to greater opportunities, greater power and respect, but there also exist negative aspects of gender inequality for men. In particular, mens denial of pain, discomfort and greater focus on physical activity contribute to mens shorter lifespan compared to women (Gensler, 2011). Therefore, there is moderate increase of total utility due to the benefits men have from gender inequality, which is partly offset by health consequences for men.Gender inequali ty has a dramatic impact on the decrease of total utility for businesses, communities and for the whole society. Gender inequality has a negative impact on public health resulting in higher rates of HIV/AIDS among women, increased spread of infectious diseases among women, teen pregnancies, etc. (UNFPA, 2014). Many women have to do unpaid work; such situation disrupts market mechanisms and affects economic growth (UNFPA, 2014). Gender inequality also leads to inefficient distribution of resources (mens activities preferred over womens) and reduces economic efficiency of organizations and of the society (UNFPA, 2014). Therefore, gender inequality reduces total utility for organizations, communities and for the society, and reduces the total utility for all considered stakeholders.StrengthsThe strengths of applying act utilitarianism in the context of gender inequality are as follows. Act utilitarianism can be applied to real-life situations and is context-sensitive (Parada-Contzen P arada-Daza, 2013). Furthermore, act utilitarianism allows to take into account the interests of all involved groups and can be used to making balanced moral decisions. Act utilitarianism is applied to specific moral issues in specific circumstances and focuses on the pleasure and absence of suffering for most people (Gensler, 2011), so its initial foundations are unlikely to be challenged (as opposed to the choice of deontological rules). In addition, utilitarianism is democratic in the sense that it relies on the outcomes that take effect for the majority.WeaknessesAct utilitarianism uses the concept of pleasure to determine total utility; however, the perception of pleasure can be different for different people and cultures (Mosser, 2013). Furthermore, the conclusions in act utilitarianism are based on the assessment of total utility for particular people or social groups. However, it is difficult to assess such utility in a precise way; for example, it is difficult to evaluate wh ether the increase of total utility for men due to gender inequality is greater than the increase of suffering for all women. In this context, act utilitarianism requires making certain assumptions basing on statistical data and on the premise that limitations and discrimination cause more suffering than their absence.ConclusionAccording to act utilitarianism, the changes of total utility for all stakeholders should be considered in order to determine the morality of gender inequality. The analysis shows that gender inequality greatly increases suffering and discomfort for women, moderately increases the well-being and pleasure of men and at the same time leads to negative health and lifespan outcomes for men. Furthermore, gender inequality creates economic inefficiencies in organizations and communities, disrupts relationships and has negative impact on public health. Therefore, according to act utilitarianism, it is possible to determine that gender inequality is morally wrong and it is necessary to eliminate it.

Beckett and the Apocalypse †Literature Informal Essay

Beckett and the Apocalypse – Literature Informal Essay Free Online Research Papers Beckett and the Apocalypse Literature Informal Essay The play Endgame opens up bleak and bare, a glaring introduction to its final impression on the reader or audience. We see the two windows and are almost reminded of a bare human skull. The characters are static; they do not change or progress and their general manner reflects their attitude of hopelessness and their question of meaning. Throughout its single act, the play demonstrates a dominant worldview of inevitable death and absence of meaning through absurd references to the Bible and the general meaninglessness of the characters’ lives. The term â€Å"endgame† is a word used by chess players- it signifies the last part of a chess game, wherein, although the game is not over and there are technically moves remaining, the winner has already been determined. The winner and determined end here in the play is death. In essence, the play is about four characters waiting to die. In fact, one, Nell, does die. Hamm, the owner of the setting and central character in the play, is much like the loser king in a chess match that has moved to the â€Å"endgame† sequence. He has Clov move him around meticulously, positioning him and adjusting his chair. In the end, however, this means nothing- he will die no matter what he does. Death as the inevitable end can be interpreted in two ways. We all will die, individually; upon our birth we inherit the fate of death- we are born into an endgame. However, Beckett creates a bare stage and has his characters describe the seemingly post apocalyptic state of the outside world- the lack of any people, the calm waters, the wasteland desert, etc. Here is a sweeping biblical allusion- referring not to any point in the play specifically, but a general setting and feeling that echoes the book of Revelation. This final book of the New Testament describes the end of the world similarly- at least the audience is meant to envision the state of the Earth following the Apocalypse. Here is another endgame- the end of humanity as a whole. This more universal endgame reflects Beckett’s general nihilistic worldview- that human life is meaningless and absurd. One is reminded of MacBeth’s lament in Shakespeare’s play of the same name, â€Å"Life is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.† For all the â€Å"sound† and the â€Å"fury†- i.e., all the conversation and the walking and the fetching three-legged dogs in the play, the end is the same: death. In actuality, death is accelerated when Clov is assumed to leave Hamm because they both prolong life for each other, but regardless of this final action, they will die. The inevitability of death is completely independent on any action in itself; this unavoidability compounds the absurdity of life and all of its moves. Beckett also uses the Bible to compound life’s absurdity. The general worldview of the Bible is one of hope- specifically the Gospels of the New Testament. However, when Beckett uses biblical allusions throughout a play with such a nihilistic worldview as Endgame, the hopefulness of the Bible sounds almost silly. The characters in the play do not understand the biblical allusions and thus do not understand the hopeful message of the Bible. For example, Nell’s final word is â€Å"desert!† The exclamation was directed to Clov, who explained to Hamm that, â€Å"She told me to go away, into the desert† (23). This could be an allusion to Christ’s journey into the desert to fast and get closer to God. Clov â€Å"didn’t understand† (24) Nell’s cry, just as no other characters understood any message of hope throughout the play. Although the Bible as a whole contains a hopeful message for mankind, Beckett uses the empirical evidence of t he characters’ lack of purpose and seemingly invalidates the hopefulness of the Bible. The biblical worldview mentions salvation and hope for a new life as part of its basic tenets. However, it also accounts for death, such as in the apocalyptic account of Revelation. The play Endgame uses simply the message of inevitable death found in the Bible and creates a meaningless, pathetic universe. We are treated to a barrage of senseless acts and general words that have no purpose and contribute nothing to the characters’ lives- we leave gaping, asking for more but wondering about the general meaning of our own actions. Research Papers on Beckett and the Apocalypse - Literature Informal EssayHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayThe Hockey GameComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoMind TravelCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionThe Fifth HorsemanCapital PunishmentThe Spring and Autumn