Analysis of the Public Health User Fee Reforms in Malawi

Analysis of the Public Health User Fee Reforms in Malawi RESEARCH PROPOSAL Research title: The political economy analysis of the implementation of public health user fee reforms in Malawi. BACKGROUND AND BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW The economic crises of the 1970s and 80s led many countries to undergo structural reforms that called for reduced public expenditure for basic services. The reforms resulted in the introduction of cost sharing on the part of beneficiaries (Lucas 1988). In several countries, user fees were imposed as a means to address recurrent costs problems and an extra source of revenue for previously â€Å"undervalued† services of professional providers. Countries responded differently to the introduction of user charges depending on domestic political risk and institutional capacity to efficiently administer the fees. With the reforms, public financing of health declined in many countries, and in some cases, private service providers seized the opportunity to fill the gap (Romer, 1986). Although the involvement of private service providers helped to meet demand for those able to pay, it limited access of the poor to the same services due to the prohibitive costs. Over the past ten years, research on economic growth has demonstrated that human capital is a powerful force in the development process (Becker 1990). In consequence, a sustained increase in this form of capital is crucial for poverty reduction in low-income countries and for an ever rising standard of living. Health is one of the commonly used proxies for human capital an unobservable magnitude or force that is part and parcel of human beings (Schultz 1960). Developing countries are struggling to improve the lives of people living in both rural and urban areas. The big challenge in these countries is lack of resources and problems in allocating the scarce resources. Various governments have prioritized different sectors depending on the needs and demands of the people. Some have prioritized primary education and agriculture while others have prioritized mining and health sector. Developing countries have come up with different interventions purposed to cushion people and be able to manage the risk. Some interventions have taken the form of subsidy while others have taken the form of user fee exemption to mention but two (Schultz 1961). These interventions sometimes are driven by politics, that is why for one to effectively intervene needs to understand the interplay of politics and economics in the developing countries. Depending on policy makers, some would prefer to implement subsidy programmes while others would have user fees exemption or both. User fees are charges one pays at the point of use. The stated interventions are good for the people but to the larger extent over burden the already struggling economy of the developing countries, (Litvack et al 1993). Consequently, government sectors suffer due to being underfunded which has resulted to poor service delivery defeating the whole purpose of subsidy or user fee exemption. Some countries, thus, they have resorted to meet the deficit through the introduction of user fees. For example, in respective of health for all, Malawi government offers free public health services to everyone in the country (ibid). Through observation, the public health services in Malawi particularly those in bordering districts such as Mchinji, Nsanje, Mwanza and Mulanje face very stiff competition on health resources because the hospitals in these districts serve even those from the neighboring countries such as Zambia and Mozambique. Currently with the growing population, government is failing to meet the demand of the free public health services which is manifested through the lack of medical resources in the hospitals. Lack of resources might be because the government has a limited tax base to finance the public health services. For instance, in Daily Times of 18th August, 2014 carried a story that Kamuzu central hospital had suspended all the booked surgeries because the hospital had no medical resources required to carry out operations in the theaters. Burns unit department also suffered the same. In such circumstances the introduction of user fee in public hospitals becomes not an option but a necessity. The user fees may therefore, help in three aspects within health service sector: improving efficiency by moderating demand, containing cost, and mobilize more funds for health care than existing sources provided PROBLEM STATEMENT The aim of free public health services in Malawi was to bring equality and equity in accessing health services. It has been argued that with user fees in accessing public health services, the poor people could be disadvantaged. Axiomatically, healthy people make healthy nation and participate actively in the development activities. Defeating the aim of free public health services, it is the same poor people who are now struggling while the better off and even politicians use the private hospitals. Every person has got the right to good quality health, but the poor people in Malawi are now voiceless and spend painfully on the services that were meant to be free. The situation begs a question that are the public services in Malawi really free at all when a person is told to buy aspirin tablets in private hospitals or pharmacies while the public hospitals have given the medicine to undeserving individuals such as those coming from other neighboring countries e.g. Mozambique just because public hospitals in Malawi are free. Poor people are also voiceless and lack responsibility on the hospital resources for it is given to them for free. Hospital workers have been frustrated because their working environment is not conducive since they are forced to work even when they do not have resources and are sometimes frustrated due late or nor payment at all for the extra hours rendered. Provision of quality health services is one of the social indicators of development. However, looking at the persistent resource shortages in the public health sector, Malawi as a country is far behind the expectation. Optionally, national policy makers in some countries such as Kenya and Mozambique thought to enlarge government revenue base through the introduction and implementation of user fee with an aim of improving services, for example, by improving drug availability and the general quality of health care and extending public health coverage. Therefore, the current study aims at undertaking the political economy analysis of the implementation of public health user fee reforms in Malawi. The study will be guided by the following sampled questions: What are the challenges towards the implementation of public health user fees in Malawi? What is the reaction of policy makers towards public health user fee implementation? Is user fee good option to finance public hospitals Can Malawi manage to embrace user fee policy (in terms of attitudes, willingness and capacity) How much is raised from the paying ward in the central hospitals, are the services different from the non-paying ward? If they are different, how do they differ? And how is money used. Has it brought any change? What are the problems that public hospitals meet? OBJECTIVES Main objective: to undertake the political economy analysis of the implementation of public health user fee reforms in Malawi. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES Exploring the historical discourse of public health user fee in Malawi. Determining the reasons of government failure to introduce and implement user fee in public hospitals. Analysing how people have been deprived of good health services through free public health services in Malawi. Comparing the challenges in managing the resources faced in the CHAM hospitals and public hospitals. Analysing stakeholders’ attitude, willingness and ability to embrace public health user fee implementation policy. HYPOTHESIS Poor quality of public health services can motivate public willingness to pay towards some improvement of the services Inadequate funding leads to poor public health services in Malawi Malawians are deprived of quality public health services through free public health services. User fee reform in public health services can lead to efficiency and equity in public health resources in public hospitals. Politicians wish to introduce public health user fee reform but are deterred by the fear of losing popularity METHODOLOGY STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS The study will mainly use qualitative descriptive and analytical cross sectional approach. Objective 1 and 2 on public health user fee trend and government failure to introduce and implement the same respectively will use qualitative descriptive approach. Whilst objectives 3-5 on analysis of people’s deprivation of good health, comparison of challenges in managing resources and analysis of stakeholder’s attitudes respectively will employ qualitative analytical approach. STUDY SETTTING The study will take place in Malawi, population n of people; the ministry of health headquarters in Lilongwe, Malawi’s four central hospitals, n number of district hospitals n community hospitals and n health centers. There are also CHAM facilities, private hospitals and NGOs (both local and international) that support health system. The study will focus in all central hospitals because they provide tertiary management care. The ministry of health, because it is the headquarters, some selected CHAM facilities in four regions and few selected NGOs in Malawi. TARGET POPULATION Objective 1-2 will target key informants at the headquarters and in the central hospitals and the reviews of available literature in Malawi. Objective 3 will target the discharged patients in the central hospitals and some community around the selected hospitals. Objective 4 will target the health workers in CHAM and central hospitals. Objective 5 will focus on key informants in NGOs which work with health sector. SAMPLING STRATEGY Since the study will employ qualitative design, hence, participants will be selected purposively. DATA COLLECTION PROCESS Before data collection, consent will be obtained from the ministry of health head-quarters and all in-charges of the facilities where the study is going to take place. The research will be explained to the participants to seek their informed consent. Data collection tools will be pre-tested, these will include interview guide for 1) discharged patients to find out any deprivation of their care, 2) health care workers to assess the challenges in resources 3) key informants to analyse their attitudes. And checklist to assess challenges faced by health care workers and patients deprivation of care. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION In carrying out the proposed research, the concept of research ethics will not be ignored. All people involved in this research will have to give consent. No one is going to participate against his or her will but the research would prefer to have full participation from the participants and not partial. Attention will be deployed to make sure that people’s rights are not violated through this research. Participants will be told the aim of the research and everything crucial so that they should be able to give informed consent. Participants’ identity will not be revealed in the data presentation and analysis. However, upon request, some participants predominantly NGOs will have the copy of the research findings. DATA MANAGEMENT Data will be transcribed from Chichewa to English then themes will be developed from which quantitative data will be analysed while quantitative part will be managed by SPSS. Data will be kept confidential unless strict measures are taken to access the same. PRESENTATION OF DATA The data will be presented through quotes and where necessary tables and graphs will be used for the part of quantitative. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The nature of the research demands SIDA’s Power Analysis framework. The introduction and implementation of public health user fee involves power of various stakeholders who have different powers of influence. The research then aims to analyse and gauge how much power Do these stakeholders have towards the introduction and implementation of user fees in public health services, (Shaw RP et al, 1995). SIDA’s power analysis focuses on understanding structural factors impeding poverty reduction as well as incentives and disincentives for pro-poor development. Thus, health sector is a hub to development of which the poor have to be targeted. SIDA power analysis tool also serves to stimulate thinking about processes of change in terms of what can be done about formal and informal power relations, power structures and the actors contributing to it. The framework seeks to either deepen knowledge, facilitate dialogue, foster influence or feed into policy developing and programming of which in this case will be the introduction and implementation of user fee in public hospitals (Shaw RP et al, 1995). In the same vein, political economy analysis also looks at the interaction of formal and informal institutions. The collected data will also be subjected to the critical analysis under the interaction of informal and formal institutions (ibid). 8.0 JUSTIFICATION OF THE RESEARCH The current research is of paramount importance to the people of Malawi. The study will facilitate the improvement of public health services throughout Malawi. The big problem in the health sector is inadequate resources, consequently, the research is purported to carry out analysis of how public health user fee can be an alternative to financing public hospitals. The improvement in public health services entails healthy people who can actively participate in development activities. The success in the implementation public health user fee will help not to over burden the government because public health hospitals will be able to meet some needs through user fee, hence, the government will be able use the part of budget allocated to the health sector in other sectors of priority. The study will provide an insight of development health sector and bring satisfaction to people especially those who use public health services. The study assumes that if the public health user fee reform is implemented, people will access the services of higher quality compared to the current situation in which patients are told to buy the prescribed medication in the private pharmacy because hospitals have no medicine. In this then, the implementation of user fee reduces the cost of accessing public health services in Malawi. No country can develop if the health services are poor. The vitality of the current study cannot be over emphasized, if it will be well done, Malawi as a country will register good health and social development. REFERENCES Becker, Gary (1991). A Treatise on the Family. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. Lucas, Robert, E. (1988). On the Mechanics of Economic Development. Journal of Monetary Economics 22(1): 3-42. Pritchett, Lant and Lawrence H. Summers (1996). Wealthier is Healthier. The Journal of Human Resources XXX(4): 841-68. Schultz, Theodore W (1960). Human Capital Formation by Education, Journal of Political Economy 68(6): 571-83. Schultz, Theodore W (1963). The Economic Value of Education. New York: Columbia University Press. Schultz, Theodore W (1961). Investing in Human Capital. The American Economic Review 51(1): 1-17. Romer, Paul (1986). Increasing Returns and Long Run Growth. Journal of Political Economy 94. Shaw RP, Griffin C. (1995), SIDA power analysis Washington DC: World Bank Sophie Witter (2010) Mapping user fees for health care in high-mortality countries: evidence from a recent survey ; HLSP institute Audibert M, Mathonnat J. 2000. Cost recovery in Mauritania: initial lessons. Health Policy Plan: Chawla M, Ellis RP. 2000. The impact of financing and quality changes on healthcare demand in Niger. Health Policy Plan: 76-84. Lucy Gilson ()The Lessons of User Fee Experience in Africa Center for Health Policy, Department of Community Health, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Health Economics and Financing Programme, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom. Litvack J, Bodart C. ( 1993) User fees plus quality equals improved access to health care: results of a field experiment in Cameroon. Social Science and Medicine. Mbugua JK, Bloom GH, Segall MM (1995). Impact of user charges on vulnerable groups: the case of Kibwezi in rural Kenya. Social Science and Medicine. Moses S, Manji F, Bradley JE, Nagelkerke NJ, Malisa MA, Plummer FA (1992). Impact of user fees on attendance at a referral centre for sexually transmitted diseases in Kenya. Lancet

Legalization Of Cannibalism :: essays research papers

Virginia Woolf once said, â€Å"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.† This is one of the many arguments behind legalizing cannibalism. If the act of eating other human beings was legalized and regulated it will solve all the problems of modern society. Cannibalism has been around since the Neolithic times. It is not currently practiced, but I think a revival of this age-old practice would benefit everyone. Cannibalism can solve world hunger. It can improve our criminal justice system. Cannibalism will also put an end to over population and spice up some of the current cooking shows. The legalization of cannibalism is what our modern world needs to turn itself around.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The common idea behind using cannibalism to end world hunger is that we can kill half the people in the world and feed them to the other half. I disagree with that. Humans can live without their pinkey fingers, appendixes, and tonsils. This amounts to more than four hundred grams of useable meat per person. If the entire world donated those body parts, we would have 2, 400, 000, 000, 000 grams of meat or 2, 400, 000 metric tons or 3, 779, 250 cows worth of meat. These figures do not include the number of people who die and who would be edible. This, combined with the other foods currently available would help feed all the hungry people of the world. By legalizing and encouraging organized cannibalism we can help hungry and malnourished people everywhere.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If cannibalism is legalized the world will be much better behaved. I do not think that the majority of criminals would commit crimes if they knew that their appendages would end up in the supermarket if they were caught. This would also apply to schools. Detentions do not work, but I think that if you break a rule you will have to give a limb to be eaten. If you are late five times, it is a toe. If you skip an English class, the punishment is a pound of flesh. The Young Offenders Act should also be altered. The punishment for young offenders would just be less than the punishment for adults. My improved correctional system would completely significantly reduce crime from our streets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cannibalism would provide economically viable solutions to the problems of modern society. Today there is a large homeless problem. Some have suggested feeding half the homeless to the other half.

Clockwork Orange Essay -- essays papers

Clockwork Orange In all of my reading, I have come to the conclusion that Anthony Burgess is one of the greatest literary genius’s of the twentieth century. His masterpiece, A Clockwork Orange, is unrivaled in obvious depth, insight, and innovation. The novel is a work of such quality, such perfection, that it seems to be genuinely written by a literary demigod. The novel's main theme deals with free choice and spiritual freedom. More specifically, "[The ethical promise that 'A man who cannot choose ceases to be man'] can be taken as both the explicit and implicit themes of the novel" (Morgan 104). Anthony Burgess expresses his view that no matter how "good" one's actions are, unless one has free moral choice, he is spiritually damned. The novel revolves around one criminally minded teen, Alex, whose world consists of rape, murder, and ruthless violence. Alex is eventually setup by his "droogs" (friends) and is arrested and jailed. After some time in jail, Alex is placed in a new rehabilitating program that uses electro-shock therapy, new medicines, and exposure to violent film. The program breaks all that Alex holds dear and builds him up with a new artificial conscience. This part of the novel "presents the reader with a new, reformed Alex, an Alex without free will or freedom of choice, an Alex who has become a victim" Burgess considers this lack of freedom to be spiritually murderous and terribly wrong. Burgess knows that it is better to choose to be evil, than to be forced to be good. Alex is tormented by his new state of oppression. He is incapable of making any choice; he must always do what is good. Alex is then taken under the wing of a writer who is fighting the oppressive government. The writer... ...a way that appears to distance it. Stanley: If this occurs it may be because the story both in the novel and the film is told by Alex, and everything that happens is seen through his eyes. Since he has his own rather special way of seeing what he does, this may have some effect in distancing the violence. Some people have asserted that this made the violence attractive. I think this view is totally incorrect. Bibliography: Coale, Samuel, Anthony Burgess (1981); Mathews, Richard, The Clockwork Universe of Anthony Burgess (1978). Kagan, Norman, The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick (1989); Nelson, Thomas Allan, Kubrick: Inside A Film Artist's Maze (1982); Phillips, Gene, Stanley Kubrick: A Film Odyssey (1975); Walker, Alexander, Stanley Kubrick Directs, rev. ed. (1972). English to Russian Dictionary (1996). â€Å"A Clockwork Orange† (1963); Burgess, Anthony

We Are Made of Star Stuff

We are â€Å"star stuff†. Discuss in detail our connections to the stars as established by modern astronomy. Modern astronomy has allowed us to understand how the universe functions and also provides the answers to some of the big questions. Questions like the origin of the universe and origin of life itself. It tells us that stars are the cosmic furnaces where all most all the building blocks of life and planets were synthesized. Lighter, basic and abundant elements like hydrogen and helium were formed during the Big Bang.During Big Bang, space expansion cooled the early energy dominated universe and a lot of energy transformed into matter. These basic elements were then able to create the early stars and also the stars of today. Inside of these stars lighter elements fused to release large quantities of energy and in the process of doing that converted hydrogen and helium into heavier elementary particles. Such elements would be deposited in the core of the star and are spew ed out into surrounding interstellar space when the star dies an explosive death.These newly synthesized heavy elements are essential for life to begin and evolve. 1 Hydrogen, helium and a little bit of lithium were made in the Big Bang. Hydrogen, the most abundant element accounted for around 75% of the matter, followed by helium at 25%. 2 Large quantity of these primordial gas formed clouds and such clouds were then condensed by local gravity to form the very first stars that lit up the dark skies of early universe. 3 As the baby stars contracted, temperature in the core rose to extreme level triggering nuclear fusion/hydrogen fusion.Nuclear fusion is a process in which two or more atoms fuse to synthesize heavier atom and this process of fusing releases large quantities of energy. 4 All the ingredients/elements needed to make the earth and all life forms on earth were created in the cores of stars. 5 These ingredients are then released out of the core of star into the surrounding when the giant star dies an explosive death known as the supernovae. This phenomenon occurs only to stars that are very big. Elements of up to iron can be made in a star and heavier than iron elements are produced in the supernovae. At least six of these essential elements compose life on earth and they are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorous. 8 Almost all life forms on earth are carbon based. This applies to the smallest living organisms (with exception of the new Inner core of a star7 discovery of arsenic based bacteria) to the biggest – the blue whale and all the living plants. They all have the same basic building blocks in their DNA. 9 Those building blocks are the essential elements.All of the rocky and metallic materials that made up our planet, the iron that runs in our blood, the calcium in our teeth and bones10, oxygen atoms that form water after combining with hydrogen, and, nitrogen and oxygen atoms that make up most of the atmosphere of earth are all products of stars billions of years ago. 11 As you can see in the picture above all of the heavier elements (above H and He) and including helium are made by the stars. The elements shown on the cross-section of the picture form heavier elements, they make up all the elements we discovered so far; the elements on the periodic table.Stars begin its life mostly made out of hydrogen and helium. The breakdown of hydrogen and helium in our sun is seventy percent and twenty eight when it started its life. 12 The building of heavier elements begins with hydrogen. Hydrogen is taken four at a time to form a single atom of helium. This process goes on for ninety percent of a stars’ life. When a star runs out of hydrogen, it starts fusing helium atoms to stay alive (producing energy to fight its own immense gravity from causing itself to collapse). Three atoms of helium are fused in the process of nuclear fusion to form an atom of carbon.As the process of fusing moves to n ext heavier atoms the duration of fusion process of newer atom becomes a lot shorter because for fusing atoms higher than hydrogen the number of available atoms for fusing is far fewer than the number atoms available when the star was fusing hydrogen for example. Next in line is oxygen. Adding one more helium to the carbon makes oxygen. Nitrogen is also made in the stars. 12 Without oxygen life as we know cannot survive. This process goes onto making silicon and iron. Nuclear fusion stops at iron because temperatures in star don’t reach high enough to fuse iron.So how do the elements heavier than iron form? The answer to this question lies in the size of the star. Only big stars (much bigger that our sun) are capable of producing a supernovae. Only such a catastrophic explosion can break the boundary set by iron and produce heavier atoms to fill the rest of the periodic table of elements. From the dusts and particles leftover of dead stars combined together to form asteroids and comets. Asteroids clumped together can form planet core. So life on earth basically began with the basic material that was available.These material/large molecules essential for the formation of living cells are proteins, carbohydrates (sugar), fats, and nucleic acids. It’s been found that meteorites contains essential stuff like amino acids (proteins made of amino acid), sugars, fatty acids (building block of fats), and bases for nucleic acids. For instance, the Murchison meteorite that crashed in Australia in 1969 is found to contain chains of fatty acids, different types of sugars, all five nucleic acid bases, and more than 70 kinds of amino acids (life forms use only 20 amino acids). 3 â€Å"We are star stuff â€Å"in the unforgettable words of Dr. Carl Sagan. The atoms that made up our bodies are created in the innards of stars that died many aeons ago. The planet we live on is made up materials like iron, silicon and carbon, etc are all forged in the natureâ€℠¢s grandest factory we know as stars. The air we breathe to stay alive is a product of stars. Stars also nourish life. The sun ray helps plants with photosynthesis; helps them break down carbon dioxide into organic compounds (sugars). Plants are a major source of food for humans and other creatures.Over the past few centuries (mainly 1900-2000) astronomy has made many eye opening discoveries; about the origin of the whole universe, our fate, and that we human are not the centre of the universe. It encourages humility in us and makes us better understand our connections the cosmos. References 1. Carl Sagan (No Date). Cosmos-We are Star Stuff Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=0UR2L_4ic6Y&feature=related 2. Lawrence Krauss (3-27-2009). Life, the Universe and Nothing lecture Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? =rdvWrI_oQjY [2011-04-04] video start at 51:11-52:16minutes 3. Dr. Tony Phillips (7-18-2000). X-ray Star Stuff [online] Available: http://science. nasa. gov/sc ience-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast18jul_1m/ [2011-04-04] 4. Wikipedia-Nuclear Fusion (no date). [online] Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion [2011-04-04] 5. Sam Neill (presenter) (no date). Space with Sam Neill Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=0zU1F6liZKo [2011-04-04] 6. =3 7. Mike S (12-7-2010). Science & Religion #8: We are all made of stars online] Available: http://www. wheatandtares. org/2010/12/07/science-religion-8-we-are-all-made-of-stars/ [2011-04-04] 8. Jason Palmer (12-2-2010). Arsenic-loving bacteria may help in hunt for alien life [online] Available: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/science-environment-11886943 [2011-04-04] 9. Dan Solomon (12-2-2010). NASA Announces Arsenic Based Life Forms- But Are They Going To Kill Us? [online] Available: http://www. asylum. com/2010/12/02/nasa-announcement-aliens-arsenic/ [2011-04-04] 10. Korintherne (7-7-2006).Reasons & Facts: Cosmic Connection [online] Available: http://curezone. com/blogs/fm. asp? i =982845 [2011-04-04] 11. Dayanara (MA) (No Date). We are star stuff†¦ [online] Available: http://www. free-daily-motivational-self-improvement. com/we-are-star-stuff. html [2011-04-04] 12. Neil Tyson (presenter) (No Date). Elements: Forged in Stars Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=uKqvjEE0wFg [2011-04-04] 13. Leslie Mullen (9-5-2005). Building Life from Star-Stuff [online] Available: http://www. astrobio. net/exclusive/1702/building-life-from-star-stuff [2011

Kingship in Macbeth

Throughout the play we see many of Shakespeare's ideas on the topic and theme of kingship but also what he thought the qualities a man should have to rule his country Macbeth is a play about power and about how the characters in the play handle it and use it. These characters are judged as leaders by their personalities, relationships with their subjects and their attitude towards the country. The characters Duncan, Macbeth, Malcolm and Edward all represent their own brand of kingship and as the play progresses we see the faults in each of these. The first to represent kingship in the play is Duncan. He is loved by his subjects and this love is well deserved and Duncan may be considered the most generous and loved king but that does not mean he is infallible. He is a good king has two sons and cares for Scotland. He is described as a sainted king by Macduff in Act 4 scene 3. Duncan places a lot of trust upon his soldiers and they are very loyal as we see in the bleeding captain fighting against mercenaries and Macbeth says himself his loyalty and service to Duncan is sufficient for his reward and also says †he hath honoured him of late† and the essence of Duncan's good nature creates doubts in Macbeth with regards to the murder and Lady Macbeth has also experienced this kindness, a large diamond received for been a good hostess. We see Duncan is decisive when it comes to the matter of traitors as the thane of Cawdor is executed swiftly following his deception from Duncan's ranks. We also see a definite flaw in his nature as he is naive and overly trusting, this is evident when he says † there is no art to find the minds construction in the face † and his ability to sense the deception and treason of the thane of Cawdor and Macbeth shows a lot about his short comings in dealing with certain aspects of his rule which at the time the play was set it was a very important ability to have as a king and his misplaced trust is seen in his haste to reward Macbeth with his new title of Cawdor. In act 4 scene 3 Malcolm lists of the traits of a good king including justice, verity, temperance, stableness, bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, devotion, patience, courage and fortitude and Macduff in response says a king without any of the following does not deserve to live. Also in this scene we see Malcolm testing MacDuff's loyalty saying he is worse than Macbeth, even though it's not very ensuring that his believable lying and a quickness to flee following his father's murder shows fear but it does show he is learning from the mistakes of his father which is a subtlety in the play as to what kind of king he would be. On a more evident note we do see he does know the characteristics of a king and already has loyalty from his subjects which shows a much more stable rule but is questionable if his accession to the throne was smooth and he will remain reliant on his nobles as I father once was. The main issue of the play regarding kingship regards the rule of Macbeth which gives a scenario of the latent potential for evil in kingship. It is clear Macbeths only interest is in his own agenda and plans which seriously contrasts with the list read out by Malcolm in the scene previously mentioned. Macbeth's unstable rule is only maintained by resorting only to murder and terror against his subject and Macbeths use of these tools is mainly caused by hi deep rooted insecurity. This shows kingship has the potential for good and for evil . In the time of Shakespeare the King was believed to be an agent of God and God himself spoke through the king and as Macbeth is not rightfully king his control disturbs the natural order of nature and the earth becomes †feverous† showing the connection between kingship, nature, and all things balanced is to Shakespeare and the majority of his people at the time believed was real. The killing of Duncan to obtain the crown was also described as †unsanctified† due to Duncan being instilled with †divine right† which raises the issue that Macbeths crime is not only unjustly but unholy and a crime against God himself. Macbeth being aware of this prior to the murder he said he would †jump the life to come† meaning he is damned. These thought of eternal damnation weighs heavily in Macbeth's corrupted mind and is a catalyst for his declining unpopularity as the king and is described as a tyrant, hell-kite, usurper, butcher and as devilish which also agrees with the religious side of his kingship. Coming up to the end of Macbeths reign we see he has alienated and abandoned his wife, ordered the killing of innocent women and children and his best friend and has lost the loyalty of all his Thanes and now completely relies on occult prophesies which were completely still led to the demise of the once ambitious soldier, Macbeth. Addressing the character of Edward even though he doesn't show up on stage at all he is established as Macbeths opposite and contrasting sharply in regards to the religious aspect of the play, the doctor says people are healed by his †holy touch† , †solicits heaven† and is †full of grace†. The lord in act 3 scene 6 says he is both †pious† and †holy† his †white magic† runs in opposition to the witches black magic. Edward believes the heart of Scotland can be cured by pray but sends 10'000 men to assist Malcolm and MacDuff showing diplomacy and strategy. Shakespeare contrasts the various modes of kingship in the play, a combination of political manoeuvring, religious and spiritual believe and the kingly graces as defined and appreciated by loyal subjects and the optimistic conclusion that those not in possession of their worth will not be accepted as kings and throughout the play we see the that the countries suffering or prosperity is a direct reflection of the moral of its king.

Cross Dressing

Cross dressing is considered one of society’s abnormal ideas because of stereotypical gender roles. Stereotypical gender roles are stated as, biological females are feminine and biological males are masculine. Cross dressing does not represent the gender specific roles; in which men and women are suppose to follow. The idea of men and women acting and dressing like their opposite sex is unacceptable to the reality that they face. The movie The Bird Cage supports the idea that society’s stereotypical views on cross dressing remains unchanged. Society is not understanding of what is considered different from the normal. The stereotype that men are masculine and women are feminine is not the reality of gender versus sex. In â€Å"Sexual Mythologies† by Brian Pronger, he states that â€Å"Sex is a physiological distinction that is drawn between male and female, whereas gender is a cultural distinction that divides power between men and women. † (226) This represents the misconception that men are masculine and women are feminine. In reality gender is developed by cultural influence, and sex is genetic. In the movie The Bird Cage, Albert is born a male, but chooses to become feminine, therefore suggesting that men do not have to be masculine just because genetics say so. Cross dressing is defined as men who dress feminine and women who dress masculine, although society reacts more to men dressing as women as opposed to women dressing as men. Women dressing as men can be considered a â€Å"tomboy† which is common in society, whereas men dressing as women would be considered â€Å"homosexual or transsexual. † Why is it that women can wear men’s clothing, but men cannot wear women’s clothing? Society sees dresses as a representation of femininity and men are suppose to be masculine, and therefore men cannot wear dresses. Although pants are originally worn only by men, but because of changes in time; pants are considered unisexual. For instance, a woman walking down the street in pants; people probably do not even notice that she is wearing pants. But if a man walks down the street in a dress, people’s eyes will turn and they will begin whispering. Why should a man be looked at any differently in comparison to any woman? In the movie The Bird Cage, the society of South Beach is not a stereotypical norm. There are many homosexual and cross dressers within the city, and it is not considered abnormal. Armand and Albert are proud owners of a club that presents a nightly drag show. Their son, Val, is engaged to Senator Keeley’s daughter, Barbara. Val wants both families to meet, but the Keeley family does not know that Val’s parents are homosexual and run a drag show. Senator Keeley is a conservative man, and morally does not support homosexuals. Senator Keeley represents the stereotypical views of society. Armand makes a good point about how society feels about homosexuals and cross dressers. â€Å"Albert, these people are right-wing conservatives. They don’t care if you’re a pig, they just care if you’re a fag! † This quote represents the views of society about homosexual people or cross dressers. Armand pretends to be a straight man by showing how masculine he is by saying â€Å"Al, you old son of a bitch! How ya doin’? How do you feel about that call today? I mean the Dolphins! Fourth-and-three play on their 30 yard line with only 34 seconds to go! †¦ This shows that stereotypically men are suppose to be masculine and a sport that represents masculinity is football. Society has remained unchanged in their views about cross dressing because they choose to see and believe only what they want to see and hear. Why is it that a woman can wear pants? Back in the 19th century women were not allowed anything else except a dress. Society can accept th is change because of the influence of time and the boldness of women. In The Bird Cage, Louise Keeley (the senator’s wife) makes a great example of how society only perceives what it wants to perceive. Why, it looks like young men playing leapfrog!†¦ Is it Greek? † In reality Louise Keeley is look at a piece of china with pornographic pictures of young men. Louise Keeley does not see what is really there because she blinds herself in order to shield herself from what is considered immoral and in a sense horrible. Society also tries to hide and shield themselves from situations that they do not like, such as homosexuals, homeless people, cross dressers, etc. Just because society wants to blind itself, does not mean that these people do not exist. Cross dressing is viewed as wrong in the eyes of a stereotypical society. Biological men and women are supposed to be masculine and feminine respectively. Cross dressing is not considered a norm in society. This idea is seen through the movie The Bird Cage. In reality sex does not determine gender, as represented by Brian Pronger in â€Å"Sexual Mythologies. † Therefore sex cannot determine gender, but society will always view what it wants to see. Unless society can learn to accept people for who they are and what they wear, then we will have a truly have a society where there are no stereotypes.

Education as a Social Institution Essay

At some point in time everyone is a recipient of some type of education. This can take the form of traditional schooling, home schooling, or mentoring by an individual. Formal schooling, within industrialized nations, typically encompasses one third of an individual’s life. This is one of the reasons sociologists have examined education as it relates to various social perspectives. This paper will explore education in regards to the Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist perspectives/views. (Perspective and views will be used interchangeably throughout this paper). â€Å"Two theories are considered in accounting for the increased schooling required for employment in advanced industrial society: (a) a technical-function theory, stating that educational requirements reflect the demands for greater skills on the job due to technological change; and (b) a conflict theory, stating that employment requirements reflect the efforts of competing status groups to monopolise or dominate jobs by imposing their cultural standards on the selection process† (Collins, 1971). Applying the Functionalist Theory Functionalist theory is explained by asserting that â€Å"societies function like biological systems in that they have differentiated parts that function together to ensure the smooth operation and survival of the organism as a whole† (Morrow, Torres, 1995). It is important to note that within the functionalist theory there are three different functions. â€Å"Manifest functions of institutions are open, stated, conscious functions. They involve the intended, recognized consequences of an aspect of society, such as the university’s role in certifying academic competence and excellence† (Schaefer, 2009). An example of this would be the core classes that are available to students in elementary school. Such as math, history, English, etc. While some schools, dependent on them being private or public institutions, offer various additional classes, they all predominately educate their students in core capabilities. Latent functions are those functions that â€Å"are unconscious or unintended functions that may reflect hidden purposes of an institution. One latent function of universities is to hold down unemployment. Another is to serve as a meeting ground for people seeking marital partners† (Schaefer, 2009). The third sub-function is dysfunction. In the military, dysfunction is referred to as the ten-percent. This means that for every group, unit, etc there will be ten percent of the population that does not conform to the military way of life. More simply, this can be expressed as â€Å"an element or process of a society that may actually disrupt the social system or reduce its stability† (Schaefer, 2009). Today’s educational system teaches students to become integral parts of society. Through public education, teachers are able to influence tomorrow’s workforce in societal norms, ensuring they understand how to become contributors to their society’s stability. An example of the contribution to society the education system provides is: parents that take on extra jobs to fund their child’s education. This provides revenue for the immediate family, while funding and teaching the child the importance of hard work, devotion, and self sacrifice (societal norms). This can be compared to the example in the text about Hindu’s and their devotion to cows. Just as the Hindu understand the benefit the benefits that they receive by ensuring their cows remain available to cultivate and fertilize their agricultural crops, most parents apply the same concept to educating their children. Understanding the benefits an education will provide not only their immediate family, but also their children and the community as a whole. Applying the Conflict Theory The basis of this theory is that conflict theorists assume â€Å"that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power of the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation† (Schaefer, 2009). As with the functionalist perspective, conflict theory embraces various viewpoints. These include: the Marxist view, an African American view, and the feminist view. These views while differing slightly, each embrace the concern with inequality in society, while focusing on social change and the redistribution of resources. â€Å"The main dynamic of rising educational requirements in the United States has been primarily the expansion of mobility opportunities through the school system, rather than autonomous changes in the structure of employment. It is argued that the effort to build a comprehensive theory of stratification is best advanced by viewing those effects of technological change on educational requirements that are substantiated within the basic context of a conflict theory of stratification† (Collins, 1971). An example of this theory put to use is the April, 2001 strike conducted by Hawaii’s educators. Due to an inability of the state government and the union representatives to come to an understanding approximately 15,000 school teachers, from kindergarten to university, participated in the strike, effectively bringing Hawaii’s education system to a halt. This example while relating to the conflict theory is directly related to the Marxist view. â€Å"Conflict theorists are interested in how society’s institutions―including the family, government, religion, education, and the media―may help to maintain the privileges of some groups and keep others in a subservient position† (Schaefer, 2009). The individual view from this perspective identifies how people are shaped by power, coercion and authority. Specifically, those universities that are considered to be elite provide their students with enhanced career opportunities. â€Å"While there are various criteria by which particular colleges and universities can be placed in this academic hierarchy, the most significant one sociologically is their relationship to the class structure of society. This relationship is understood in terms of the social and economic attainments of their graduates. Elite colleges and universities, therefore, are those whose alumni enjoy disproportionate access to high-status occupations, as well as to other forms of economic and cultural privilege; they are gateways to elite membership in society† (Farnum, 1997). Applying the Interactionist Theory The first two perspectives have dealt with macrosociology or society as a whole. The interactionist perspective looks at portions of society in a microsociological way. This theory can be explained as â€Å"theorists who take the interactionist perspective generalize about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole† (Schaefer, 2009). Some of the data compiled by interactionist sociologists studying the educational field include: student views/goals in relation to their grade point averages, effectiveness of school programs, and effectiveness of educator abilities. As with functionalist and conflict perspectives, the interactionist perspective incorporates additional concepts. These include symbols, nonverbal communication and face-to-face interaction. â€Å"Symbolic interactionism focuses on the role of language and symbols in the (interpretive) processes of meaning making. Young people are highly social beings deeply engaged in the processes of learning how to act within the culture of which they are a part. This cultural learning is both shaped and reflected by their use of language, dress, music and clothing, for example† (Domine, 2007). Within the education system, interactionists poll students and teachers alike, in order to determine what effect objects, actions, etc have on the subjects. This evaluation enables the sociologists to better understand everyday behaviors and relate them into quantitative or qualitative data to track social patterns. Society’s Views Regardless of your favored perspective, each of these views offers pros and cons, dependent on your topic of study. In the educational realm, the functionalist, conflict and interactionist views provide the sociologist a means to determining their ends. â€Å"Whatever the purpose of sociologists’ work, their research will always be guided by their theoretical viewpoints. For example, sociologist Elijah Anderson embraces both the interactionist perspective and the groundbreaking work of W.E.B. DuBois† (Schaefer, 2009). The works of these individuals and countless others have helped to define and more importantly to understand the how and why educational systems operate the way they do and how they can be improved. Conclusion Three distinct theoretical perspectives have been discussed throughout this paper. The overall tone to take away from the research conducted here is that regardless of the favored view, practitioners must maintain an open mind and be able to incorporate portions or be able to integrate separate perspectives into their work. When considering or examining the education field, the functionalist, conflict and interactionist views all lend themselves to providing quality feedback on the â€Å"snapshot in time† taken by the researcher, regardless of topic. This can come in the form of determining the effects of school lunches on the productivity of students to the quality of programs in relation to independent funding received by an institution. â€Å"A sociologist’s theoretical orientation influences his or her approach to a research problem in important ways―including the choice of what to study, how to study it, and what questions to pose† (Schaefer, 2009).