Innovation Diffusion and New Product Growth Models Essay

Innovation Diffusion and New Product Growth Models - Essay Example A number of organizations consider these innovations as a critical driver for economic performance. Researcher Silva, (2009) has agreed that the 21st century is totally based on information, innovation and knowledge-based economy. The success of organizations is hugely depended on the gaining of competitive advantages by effectively managing the current technologies and work processes while simultaneously creating innovations for the future. Innovation within the organizational processes can be viewed as the proper and efficient application for better solutions for the existing as well as changing and evolving marketing needs (Silva, 2009). Â  Innovation is the most important tool to success for the organizations in the post-Fordism business era. Post-Fordism elaborates the ability of organizations to improve their flexibility and adaptability towards the changing demand and preferences of the local as well as a global market by emphasizing on small batch production, economies of scope and new communication procedure (Amin, 2011). On the other hand, the percentage of failing of organizations is also increasing day by day from 2% in 1960 to 14% in 2008 (Edmondson, 2011). A large number of once leading companies, such as Kodak, Nokia Xerox, Motorola, and Polaroid, has experienced a huge failure due to the acquisition of wrong organizational practices and behaviors, while the market is continuously reforming and modernizing with new sets of behavior and practices. The organizational design and stereotypical practices are hampering the desired growth for the various leading organization while small firms are making their w ay to secure a successful position in the market (Edmondson, 2011). The lack of expertise to suspect the future has caused for overconfidence in such organization (Edmondson, 2011).

Airline computer application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Airline computer application - Essay Example Reservations and the internet Among the various airline computer applications the computer reservation system holds much importance in today’s date. It is a computerized system mainly used to feed in and store and occasionally retrieve information and basically conduct integral transaction on airlines travel. The computer application on reservation parameter has travelled a long way from its first introduction in the year 1950. Down the years with latest developments, modern technology implementation and change in laws the reservation system has also changed. It is a sole system of maintaining much of the management task. Be it maintaining records, flight schedules, seat management, passenger reservation, ticket booking, tariffs and many others. Previously all the information of a particular airline was restricted within its staffs and it was not allowed to be shared with others. But with the push of the travel agents in the year 1970, the emergence of the computer reservation system came into account where other airlines, travel agents and any individual can peep into the information for a particular airline. It has been globalized for all, where not only the purchases of tickets are facilitated; the whole system is accessible to the consumers. The first to introduce automated booking was American Airlines in the year 1946. To track various incidents and information and also to make work smoother, faster and more efficient the introduction was highly appealing to every airline worldwide. In due course they invested into research and development of the particular invention to make it more users friendly and easier and nearly in 1970 airlines were successful in building up their own systems. The major systems that are popular today are Worldspan, SABRE, Abacus, Patheo and Galileo. The American airlines are known to use mainly SABRE along with Lastminute.com, Travelocity and Expedia Abacus is considered to be much popular in the Asian countries (Wahab Sala h, Cooper Chris, 2001). In flight services and Provisioning programs In flight services and provisioning programs refers to the services available to the customers during the flight. It was claimed that in the year 1936, smoking room, dining room, lounge, piano and a bar was provided by the airline Hindenburg in a two and a half hour flight. Later on the facilities provided were revised and the facilities majorly provided was listed down to food and drinks and occasionally in long flights there was projector movie played for the entertainment of the people. Soon there was major requirement of the advanced in flight services and there was demand of designing the cabin in the preferred way. IFE systems were in corporate where the major players were Thales Group, Panasonic Avionics Corporation and Rockwell Collins. Down the years with much advanced technology is implemented and the in flight services have become much improved with various modern applications introduced in every way giv ing all the comfort and facility to the passengers. It is a major innovation since many of the flights include much longer journeys than twenty hours and passenger needs comfort and proper facility while traveling continuously for such long. The longer destination flights need more of these services as the passengers go through major time zone difference which usually makes them physically unstable. Good service and good provisioning programs becomes mandatory in these cases. Today there are vast entertainment services available with TV channels, musical programs, block buster movies, documentaries, educational channels, news broadcasting and many others. This is only because of the innovative software systems as well as hardware applications that got implemented in the recent days to facilitate the passengers. The major concern in installing these applications was cost parameters and system safety along with challenges like user compatibility. But thankfully these hurdles were easi ly

Imagination & Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Imagination & Identity - Essay Example From the time that one is young, there is a perception and specific reality that is created in terms of identity. Imaginary worlds and friends are some of the main concepts that are applied to this and which create a specific sense of what it means to belong to a specific identity or group. â€Å"Most under – sevens have an invisible friend, and children create their imaginary playmates not out of trauma but out of a serene sense of the possibilities of fiction – sometimes as figures of pure fantasy, sometimes, as observations of grownup manners† (Gopnik, 253). The ability to create an identity and sense of reality through imagination and by mimicking the identity of others is one which can then be expected to stay with children while growing older. This reality and vision is one which is combined not only with ideas of fiction but also with expectations of what one is to become. â€Å"We were always about becoming, not being, about the prospects for the future, not about the inheritance of the past† (Lapham, 45). Both of these articles agree that there is the need to create something from the imagination and to keep depicting that specific reality. The fiction then becomes a sense of identity that one grows into, either by imagining something, mimicking adult behaviors or by believing what one should be. The concept of building a reality out of imagination then leads into the capacity of creating identity. The creation of identity moves beyond the labels in which one holds, such as being a New Yorker or a scientist. More important, are behaviors and mannerisms that are associated with the identity and labels which one believes they have. For instance, when defining New Yorkers, the identity becomes: â€Å"New Yorkers are busy for obvious reasons: they have husbands and wives and careers and children they have the Gauguin show to see and their personal trainers and

CSC - Interim Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CSC - Interim Report - Assignment Example Customer service and care are a critical component of any successive business venture (Mcardle, 2008, p.81). In this regard, the Swire hotels have incorporated the aspect of quality customer service and care in the operation of all their hotels. Swire Hotels is a collection of three hotel brands including House Collection, East Lifestyle Hotels, and Chapter hotels. The House collection hotels are small but luxurious hotels within the umbrella of Swire Hotels. Environmental factors like social status, family situation, and cultural background, influence the buyer’s decision-making process, especially in Swire Hotels (XKhosrow-pour, 2013, p. 34). According to Kapoor, Paul and Halder (2011, p. 43), the cooperation and synergy among Swire employees, promotes quality customer service and care. The reliability of employees indicates the level of customer satisfaction. Swire Hotels have a comprehensive employee performance appraisal, especially on the element of customer service. The appraisal process establishes the reliable and unreliable employees (Gibson, 2012, 89). According to Humphrey (2011, p. 67), after sale service is also important because it encourages repeat purchases. The Swire Hotels provide a wide variety of meals. It provides customers with many choices of food. Consequently, customers are satisfied because their need is met. Additionally, the differentiation aspect in the promotion of Swire Hotel food is important for customers (Sherman, 2009, p. 83). The strategy creates a better perception among the Swire Hotels Customers. The spread of the Hotels also enables the preparation of unique types of foods in common in various parts of the world. Consequently, Sire Hotels accommodate almost every customer in the world. The monadic approach does not entail the internal aspects of a consumer like psychology. The strategy is used by the Hotel to evaluate and analyze the suitable marketing techniques.

The Psychoanalytic Strategy Essay Example for Free

The Psychoanalytic Strategy Essay Introduction: The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a projective personality test that was designed at Harvard in the 1930s by Christiana D. Morgan and Henry A. Murray. Along with the MMPI and the Rorschach, the TAT is one of the most widely used psychological tests. The original purpose of the TAT was to reveal the underlying dynamics of the subjects personality, such as internal conflicts, dominant drives and interests, motives, etc.   (Encyclopedia, 2006) The TAT works on the principle that a subjects unconscious can be tapped to reveal repressed aspects of personality, motives and needs for achievement, power and intimacy, and problem-solving abilities. The TAT is a projective test in that, like the Rorschach test, its assessment of the subject is based on what he or she projects onto the ambiguous images. Each story created by a subject is carefully analyzed to uncover underlying needs, attitudes, and patterns of reaction. Description: The TAT uses a series of 31 provocative yet ambiguous pictures that depict a variety of social and interpersonal situations (Encyclopedia, 2006). The subject is asked to tell a story about each picture to the examiner. Of the 31 pictures, 10 are gender-specific while 21 others can be used with adults of either sex and with children. As of 2001, the TAT is distributed by Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement.The 31 cards are meant to be divided into two series of ten pictures each, with the pictures of the second series being purposely more unusual, dramatic, and bizarre than those of the first. Suggested administration involves one full hour being devoted to a series, with the two sessions being separated by a day or more. There are several formal scoring systems that have been developed for analyzing TAT stories. Two common methods that are currently used in research are the Defense Mechanisms Manual (Cramer, 1991) and Social Cognition and Object Relations (Westen, 1991)scale. The examiner shows the subject a series of story cards taken from the full set of 31 TAT cards. The usual number of cards shown to the subject is between 10 and 14, although Murray recommended the use of 20 cards, administered in two separate one-hour sessions with the subject. The subject is then instructed to tell a story about the picture on each card, with specific instructions to include a description of the event in the picture, the developments that led up to the event, the thoughts and feelings of the people in the picture, and the outcome of the story. The examiner keeps the cards in a pile face down in front of him or her, gives them to the subject one at a time, and asks the subject to place each card face down as its story is completed. Administration of the TAT usually takes about an hour. TAT is often a part of personality evaluation tests. It is considered to be effective in eliciting information about a persons view of the world and his or her attitudes toward the self and others. As people taking the TAT proceed through the various story cards and tell stories about the pictures, they reveal their expectations of relationships with peers, parents or other authority figures, subordinates, and possible romantic partners (Encyclopedia, 2006). In addition to assessing the content of the stories that the subject is telling, the examiner evaluates the subjects manner, vocal tone, posture, hesitations, and other signs of an emotional response to a particular story picture. Several adaptations of the TAT were developed for research with specific populations. In the Thompson-TAT or T-TAT (Thompson, 1949), a version for black examinees, the adaptation consisted of little more than the darkening of the characters’ skin (Bailey Green, 1977). In the adaptation for handicapped examinees (cited in Zubin et al., 1965), crutches were simply added to some of the figures. In the versions developed for cross-cultural research culture-specific portrayals of the themes have been used in the TAT cards. Evaluation using TAT: Experts in the use of the TAT recommend obtaining a personal and medical history from the subject before giving the TAT, in order to have some context for evaluating what might otherwise appear to be abnormal or unusual responses. For example, frequent references to death or grief in the stories would not be particularly surprising from a subject who had recently been bereaved. In addition, it has been opined that the TAT is most effective when combined with other interviews and tests. Students in medicine, psychology, or other fields who are learning to administer and interpret the TAT are advised to be conservative in their interpretations, and to err on the side of health rather than of psychopathology when evaluating a subjects responses. In addition, the 1992 Code of Ethics of the American Psychological Association requires examiners to be knowledgeable about cultural and social differences, and to be responsible in interpreting test results with regard to these differences. Moreover, in interpreting responses to the TAT, examiners typically focus their attention on one of three areas: the content of the stories that the subject tells; the feeling or tone of the stories; or the subjects behaviors apart from responses. While the story content usually reveals the subjects attitudes, fantasies, wishes, inner conflicts, and view of the outside world, the story structure typically reflects the subjects feelings, assumptions about the world, and an underlying attitude of optimism or pessimism. Thematic apperception tests published recently have more structured and modern stimulus material and some carry parallel versions for ethnic minorities. These newer instruments have a more â€Å"actuarial† approach, that is, response scoring is based on a specific system involving numerical scores, and validation is grounded on statistical procedures (Masling, 1997). The psychometric validation of thematic apperception tests such as the CAST, the RATC, and the TEMAS mark a shift from a clinical to a psychometr ­ic approach in the development of thematic apperception tests (Masling, 1997). Limitations: The TAT has been called â€Å"a clinician’s delight and a statistician’s nightmare,† in part because its administration is usually not standardized. Since the TAT is used primarily for personality assessment rather than diagnosis of mental disorders, it does not yield a score in the usual sense. A normative scoring system for responses is absent in TAT. The original scoring system devised in 1943 by Henry Murray, is time-consuming and unwieldy. Other scoring systems have since been introduced that focus on one or two specific variables—for example, hostility or depression. While these systems are more practical for clinical use, they lack comprehensiveness. No single system presently used for scoring the TAT has achieved widespread acceptance. The basic drawback of any scoring system in evaluating responses to the TAT story cards is that information that is not relevant to that particular system is simply lost. The three writers, Scott O. Lilienfeld, James M. Wood and Howard N. Garb, have found that tests such as the Rorschach inkblot test, Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT) and the Draw-a-Person Test are frequently ineffective in identifying most psychiatric conditions due to a lack of standards in administration, scoring and subjective interpretation. A recent subject of controversy in TAT interpretation concerns the use of computers to evaluate responses. Computers have two basic limitations for use with the TAT: the first is that they cannot observe and record the subjects vocal tone, eye contact, and other aspects of behavior that a human examiner can note. Second, computers are not adequate for the interpretation of unusual subject profiles. American psychologists practicing in juvenile and family courts discovered that only 3 percent relied on a standardized TAT scoring system (Lilienfeld et al, 2001). Unfortunately, some evidence suggests that clinicians who interpret the TAT in an intuitive way are likely to over diagnose psychological disturbance. Uses of TAT: The TAT is often used in individual assessments of candidates for employment in fields such as law enforcement, military leadership positions, religious ministry, education, diplomatic service, etc. TAT is often administered to individuals who have already received a diagnosis in order to match them with the type of psychotherapy best suited to their personalities, or in some cases to help the therapist understand why the treatment seems to be stalled or blocked (Murray). The extensive research on achievement motivation by McClelland and his colleagues (e.g., McClelland, Atkinson, Clark, Lowell, 1953) gave the TAT widespread fame. It is sometimes used for forensic purposes in evaluating the motivations and general attitudes of persons accused of violent crimes (Lara-Kroon, 2007). The TAT is currently used as a tool for research around areas of psychology such as dreams, fantasies, mate selection and what motivates people to choose their occupation. The TAT can be used to help people understand their own personality in greater depth and build on that knowledge in making important life decisions. Criticism: The TAT is criticized as false or outdated by many psychologists mainly because of declining adherence to the Freudian principle of repression on which the test is based. They hold that TAT is unscientific because it cannot be proved to be valid or reliable. The TAT has been criticized for its lack of a standardized method of administration as well as the lack of standard norms for interpretation. Studies of the interactions between examiners and test subjects have found that the race, sex, and social class of both participants influence both the stories that are told and the way the stories are interpreted by the examiner. In addition, the 31 standard pictures have been criticized for being too gloomy or depressing, and therefore limiting the range of personality characteristics that the test can assess. The TAT cannot be administered to groups. Conclusion: Thus we find that Tat continues to remain a popular psychological evaluation tool. It has evolved over time to overcome certain drawbacks. Bibliography: Scott O. Lilienfeld, James M. Wood and Howard N. Garb (2001). Whats Wrong with this picture? Scientific American. May 2001. Lara-Kroon, Nicky Cohen de (2007). The history of projective testing (emphasizing the thematic apperception test). http://www.cohendelara.com/publicaties/history.htm Zubin, J., Eron, L. D., Schumer, F. (1965). An experimental approach to projective techniques. London: Wiley. Thompson, C. E. (1949). The Thompson Modification of the Thematic Apperception Test. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bailey, B. E., Green, J. (1977). Black Thematic Apperception Test stimulus material. Journal of Personalit y Assessment, 41, 25-30. McClelland, D. C., Atkinson, J. W., Clark, R. A., Lowell, E. L. (1953). The achievement motive. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders (2006). Thematic Apperception Test. http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Thematic-Apperception-Test.html Murray A. Henry. Uses of the Thematic Apperception Test. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/7/498

Signs of Elder Financial Abuse

Signs of Elder Financial Abuse CHAPTER 1: METHODS AND TACTICS OF AN ELDER FINANCIAL ABUSER Our families, communities and state legal system have worked in recent years to protect our loved ones from elder financial abuse. That said, families with elder adults still share a deep fear about the physical, mental and financial safety of their loved ones. Elder abusers, however reprehensible, often find ways to circumvent the protections that our families and society provide our senior citizens. Wrongdoers have their methods and tactics, and its our responsibility to counter them at every turn. If they think theyve gotten away with hijacking estate or trust assets, trust litigation attorneys should make them pay under the full weight of civil law. In my practice, which likely mirrors our country at large, the following are the five most common ways elder financial abuse happens: 1. Caregiver Abuse When a Michigan trial judge dismissed a familys lawsuit against a home care company for sending a caregiver with two felony criminal warrants to care for a man in his 80s, the national press erupted with questions about how this could happen. In this particular case, a caregiver company Kentucky-based ResCare sent a woman to a retired Detroit-area businessman to look after his ailing wife, who had dementia. It didnt take long until the wifes jewelry began to disappear, as well as the businessmans fortune. Court filings estimate the losses to be as high as $1.5 million. The caregiver, if she could be called that, moved the businessman out of his bedroom into the basement of his lakefront home and moved her mother into the home. The businessmans wife died, and within months the caretaker married the businessman. When the businessmans family members finally intervened and removed him from his home, his finances were in a shambles. He didnt have bank accounts with positive balances or working credit cards. He had his social security monthly payment thats it. The Michigan businessman and his family are simply representative of the widespread abuse affecting our growing elderly population. I have handled a number of cases where predators, posing as legitimate caregivers, soon take advantage of the elderly. This misconduct includes physical and medical neglect often coupled that with embezzlement and theft. The Michigan case didnt work out well not that any of these abuse cases by nature work out well. Even with a partial financial recovery, the seismic emotional repercussions stemming from misplaced trust dont easily recede. 2. Financial Exploitation Financial exploitation takes many forms. Every day, even though I have been counseling families for decades, I am regularly surprised. The sale of an elders medications; grocery bills more attributable to cash withdrawals taken by caregivers than bread and milk purchased for the elderly; lawn service for a small yard at $300.00 per week; money used for gambling; medical care and dental care neglected because of the theft of funds; and assignments of bank accounts into joint tenancy with a wrongdoer. Most families with victimized elders could readily add to the list of the ways elders are financially exploited. Vigilance helps. Here are some examples of vigilance: Be very careful and take precaution when hiring caregivers. Simply hiring a caregiver company is not an insurance policy against wrongdoing. Watch your elders bank accounts particularly withdrawal activity or changes in accounts. Sometimes the horse is out the barn door before you discover bank transfers but it is still better late than never (or a year later). Be careful and inquiring when you hear that your elder has been making frequent trips to the bank. Be vigilant in watching your elders mail. We have seen circumstances where financial information is hidden from the view of the elder and his or her relatives. This is a sign of great danger. Some financial advisors believe that an elders credit report should be ordered periodically. This could also be a good canary in the coal mine. We have seen cases where social security checks were cashed by wrongdoers. Direct deposit of social security checks, retirement and dividend checks provide some distance between a wrongdoer and your elders money. Review receipts from vendors (grocery store, pharmacy, Costco etc.) for goods purchased for your elderly relative. We have seen wrongdoing first discovered in this review. A $350.00 receipt from the local grocery store showing a $200.00 cash withdrawal can make even the most oblivious suspicious. Watch for service scams. New heaters, air conditioners, garbage disposals or lawn irrigation systems sold at a large premium are not unusual. Reverse mortgages can be a blessing or a curse. Reverse mortgages may provide a large lump sum payment or a stable predictable monthly income to senior adults, but money coming from reverse mortgages may also be a large tempting cookie jar for unscrupulous caretakers or relatives. More than once have I seen reverse mortgages paid to vulnerable senior adults with questionable capacity. The existence of a reverse mortgage is often not discovered by the senior homeowners family until the senior has passed away. 3. Misuse of Powers of Attorney Durable powers of attorney can be a great legal vehicle for senior adults to appoint a trusted agent to handle health, legal and financial matters. Such powers, when used with prudence by trusted family members or agents, provide legal protection when and if the senior becomes incapacitated or incompetent. Such powers when used correctly are an unfettered blessing. If misused, such powers can destroy a lifetime of planning. The effective and prudent use of durable or medical powers of attorney brings no headlines. In the same way, misuse of such legal vehicles is often kept secret and only met with incredulity by relatives when discovered. We have seen a number of incidents where powers of attorney were misused at the end of life of an elderly adult to benefit the holder of the power of the attorney. Examples of misuse include: The transfer of real property to the holder negating trust provisions that provide for a different distribution; entry and seizure of safe deposit personal property coupled with later denials of the existence of such properties; dramatic changes in bank accounts that are inconsistent with will or trust provisions; and transfer of vehicles. Some holders of medical powers of attorney have misused their powers to prevent family members from visiting the hospital bed of a gravely ill or dying relative. California has recently addressed this issue in legislation making such abuse much more difficult. In the meantime stories abound about how a son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, could not visit a dying relative because a stepmother or stepfather prevented the visit. If these problems were not so common there would be little need to address it. For those who face the issue, they should immediately contact a lawyer familiar with elder abuse laws. Medical facilities should also be aware of their own limitations is preventing visits. 4. Isolation and Freeze-Outs Isolation of elders from their families, neighbors and loved ones is an all too common occurrence. Changed door locks, new locked front gates, mobile telephone seizures, failure to answer or open the door to visitors, and unreported removals of elders from their homes are part and parcel of isolation. These actions cause family members to fear for the safety of their loved ones and also may create a sense of helplessness. Unfortunately, such conduct is common. For Californians who encounter isolation or freeze-out abuse, the first step is to call Adult Protective Services or its equivalent. Local law enforcement agencies also often have task forces that deal with such abuse. Civil lawyers skilled and experienced in elder abuse issues can assist in such contacts and can also address such issues in civil filings that include restraining orders and other appropriate measures. Words of warning while isolation and freeze-out conduct might be obvious to the family member of the elder, such conduct may not be as obvious to authorities. Criminals and wrongdoers do not usually jump at the chance to admit guilt. While there is no excuse for elder abuse, wrongdoers will readily provide excuses. Common excuses include I had to keep everyone away because they just upset the elder; We had to move Grandpa to Arizona because they had the best medical care there; I had to keep Aunt Bessie from the phone because she only got upset when she heard from her relatives; Of course I had to keep my dad away from my sisters and brother because they are greedy and they only wanted to get his money; and I needed to protect my uncle because he was afraid that his children were going to hit him, push him down or lock him up in a mental asylum. Dont expect the isolator to readily admit that she bought her boyfriend a new Harley with grandmas money, that the house and surrounding are a pigsty because she is doing meth, or that all of grandmas jewelry was sold to support her drug habit. Youve got to dig at it when your loved one is isolated when you are frozen out. The process can be demanding, frustrating, and can cause anxiety. Still dont turn your back on your elder do something protect the vulnerable. 5. Unwarranted Transfers First, an obvious acknowledgment: families often have difficulty in transferring an elderly family member to an assisted living or nursing facility in situations where it is absolutely in the seniors best interests to have such a transfer. Id venture to say that most transfers are absolutely warranted and done with love and care for the senior. It is the unwarranted transfers, coupled with wrongdoing, that can petrify family members. The common setting for unwarranted transfers is the presence of a family member maybe a stepbrother or stepsister who is estranged from the seniors other children and family members. For whatever reason, and by whatever treacherous means, the wrongdoer is able to get the elder into his or her home and get the elders estate plan altered. Once the estate plan is effectively altered, it can be Katy bar the door for change. More than once we have seen circumstances that the senior is transferred against his or her wishes to a facility geographically removed from other family members. In the meantime, personal goods and family mementos are often discarded or hidden. These actions often cause even greater anger than money transfers. You simply cant replace photographs, family heirlooms, military awards, or personal collections with money. The discarding of important family treasures is an affront to the remaining family members a complete disregard of important family history and a glaring mark of the greed of the wrongdoer. Difficulties abound when trying to address unwarranted transfers. First off, the senior often lacks capacity. So what do we look at when the senior lacks capacity? One way to deal with an incompetent senior is to seek a conservatorship of his or her person and estate. This is not without complications. Does the senior really wish to be supervised by a stranger or even a benign family member? Conservatorships can be expensive and time consuming. Prospective conservatees are afforded counsel public defenders or otherwise. The costs of such counsel is paid from the conservatees estate. Courts are often reluctant to appoint conservators even for those with great impairment it is the taking away of ones freedom, even if such freedom increases vulnerability to scams and unscrupulous people. Detecting the Tactics of Elder Financial Abuse The sooner elder financial abuse is detected, the better the chance for recovery of estate and trust assets on behalf of the victims. So what are the typical signs or red flags to look out for? According to the guidelines of National Adult Protective Services Association, the following factors should be watched closely to avoid a potential personal tragedy and financial disaster: 1. Liabilities Unpaid Bills: What if an elderly loved one should have the means to pay the bills every month, but somehow their utilities get shut off? There might be more in play than just a seniors faulty memory a bad actor may have made off with money from the elders accounts, leaving the victim high and dry. 2. Surrender of Oversight: Very often we see cases of a new friend, neighbor or opportunistic relative appearing on the scene to offer their help in managing the elders financial account. At times they even succeed in gaining power of attorney. This effective forfeiture of oversight should be looked into closely for other indicators of suspicious activity. 3. Suspicious Withdrawals: As any good investigator will tell you, follow the money. When financial accounts begin registering unexplained withdrawals or checks set to cash, its time for you to speak with bank employees and get further details on whos making these transactions. 4. Vanishing Assets: Another tell-tale sign of elder financial abuse is when valuables begin to disappear. Suddenly an elders jewelry, cash or financial documents like stock certificates vanish, and the perpetrator takes to living lavishly with new purchases of fancy attire, vehicles, property, etc. 5. Changed Estate Documents: Wrongdoers who commit elder financial abuse will often seek to legitimize their predatory behavior with the stamp of legitimacy. Exercising undue influence on the elderly victim, theyll shop around for any lawyer who will agree to change a will or trust document in their favor. Ask your elderly loved one about any such changes if you are faced with such a situation, it may be time to consult an experienced trust litigation attorney. 6. Creditors Come Knocking: Is the elder encountering financial trouble where there should be none? Find out the explanation for property liens or foreclosure warnings. The reason behind creditor claims may be more than just a mistake your elderly family member might have been financially exploited by an abuser who cleaned out their accounts. Identifying Financial Exploitation and Scams As the population of senior citizens in California continues to grow, so too will the challenge posed by fraudsters who want to prey on our elderly and steal their money. To help seniors and their loved ones identify and avoid scams, Ive compiled a list of the most common ploys, tricks, and tactics financial criminals use against the elderly. So watch out for the following forms of fraud: 1. Grandparents Scam A senior will receive a phone call beginning with, Grandma? The caller will cleverly elicit the grandchilds name. Posing as the grandchild, the scammer will then say theyve gotten into some form of deep trouble they might tell the senior theyre in jail or stranded in a foreign country. Its an emergency, and they need help immediately! With the grandparent now upset and ready to assist their supposed grandchild by any means possible, the scammer will ask them to wire money to their bank account, often by Western Union. To avoid falling for the grandparent scam, dont let a caller drag you into the guessing game, whereby you willingly provide them with the names of your grandchildren and other relatives. If a scammer is more sophisticated, they might research their victim on social media sometimes theyll run the scam on platforms like Facebook. Call your family members and check on the whereabouts of your grandchildren, no matter how convincing a story you may hear over the phone or through social media. 2. Secret Shopper To your surprise, you receive a check in the mail for several thousand dollars to Wal-Mart or another big-box store. Youve been chosen for the secret shopper program! In reality, youre being conned into depositing a bad check. Once youve deposited, the scammers will ask you to mail them a check with the difference and thats in addition to your being responsible for the fraudulent check youve cashed. Secret Shopper is a nasty scam that leaves its bewildered victims thousands of dollars poorer. Keep elderly loved ones away from fraud schemes like Secret Shopper by using the too-good-to-be-true rule: if its too good to be true, its not true someones after your money. That means Secret Shopper offers are as good as garbage. 3. Email Scams Email scams have been around a long time and arent going away its cost-effective for swindlers to send out millions of spam emails, even if they only get one or two responses from potential victims. If you have an email account, youre going to receive these from time to time, even with the best spam filters. The most notorious email scams are Nigerian prince letters, which inform recipients that they have been selected to share in an enormous royal fortune in Nigeria or some other West African nation. All the recipients have to do to gain their riches is wire money to the esteemed prince to pay the transaction fee. Naturally, there is no pot of gold at the end of the Nigerian rainbow, with the net result of your bank account being emptied. Another common type of email scam is known as phishing, the imitation of real websites to elicit personal and financial information. You might very well receive a bank alert that seems to be from your bank; the message will inform you that your bank account is overdrawn, you are the victim of identity theft, etc. Even the layout of the email and fake website will look convincingly real. Yet the actual purpose of the phishing scam is to get you to enter your bank account ID, password, Social Security Number, etc., into the phony website, all in order to defraud you. In addition to Nigerian prince emails and phishing schemes, you may also receive emails marked urgent, etc. Often theyll seemingly be sent from friends and relatives. Theyll have attachments in the form of letters or videos youre told to open. In reality, theyre fake letters with harmful attachments viruses or malware that are designed to infect your computer and steal your personal information. Online criminals can even mask their spam messages to make it appear they come from friends, family, and colleagues in their attempt to trick you into opening the attachment in order to unleash their virus. To steer clear of email scams, the best policy is simply to delete unfamiliar emails and not engage too-good-to-be true offers to share in African riches. If you get a bank alert email that youre unsure of, check your account online (dont click on any link in the message) or simply call your bank to check your account. Also remember to never open attachments in unknown messages, and be very weary of vague requests from seemingly familiar senders who might very well be identity thieves and con artists. 4. Investment Fraud Investment fraud is an all-too-common form of elder financial abuse, and scammers find numerous ways to perpetrate the crime against seniors. The first variety are classic Ponzi schemes, where elderly clients are recruited into dubious investment ventures promising big returns, but which in reality generate no profit investment proceeds are simply skimmed from client funds. Ponzi schemers will pose as legitimate entrepreneurs or investment advisors, sometimes offering free meals to attend their wealth seminars. By the time a Ponzi scheme collapses (as it inevitably will if authorities dont intervene), victims are often left penniless and effectively unable to recover any of the funds they had invested in the scheme the perpetrator likely spent all the money and distributed it out as false profits. Its unfortunate but true that there are also a few bad-faith brokers out there who are willing to defraud their elderly clients. Investment advisors and brokers who violate their clients trust can sometimes go years stealing before they finally get caught. To keep a financial predator from looting your accounts or those of your loved ones, make sure to review their background through FINRAs BrokerCheck it never hurts to get a second opinion on a firm or particular advisor. Along with Ponzi schemes and outright abuses by bad-faith brokers, also watch out for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs). MLMs, otherwise known as pyramid schemes and network marketing, are technically legal business models that require the new member to recruit others into the venture in order to sell whatever product might be on offer. Senior citizens, at times lonely and in need of companionship, can be vulnerable to these schemes, some of which will send them box-loads of products and charge them whether they agreed or not. So while MLMs are technically legal, they are often highly exploitative of senior citizens through their deceptive terms and conditions. To steer clear of investment fraud, apply the too good to be true rule to investment offerings that boast sky-high returns and near-zero risk chances are its a Ponzi scheme. Conduct due diligence and consult a reputable advisor who can help you or your elderly loved ones make sound investment decisions. And stay away from MLM pyramids, the only point of which is to enrich their very top layer while exploiting everyone else below them with largely empty promises of wealth. 5. Telemarketing Fraud Often connected with investment scams are predatory telemarketing schemes, another way fraudsters look to entrap seniors. Many elderly Americans receive several phone calls a week from slick salesmen pitching everything from penny stocks to flimsy-sounding premium retirement programs for their portfolios. Quick-talking telemarketers will pressure lonely, confused seniors into once-in-a-lifetime investments in dubious or non-existent oil and gas holdings, foreign currency exchange, real estate, and even blockbuster movie productions. Another ploy is to hit up the victim for contributions to a supposed charity. Finally, dont be fooled by con men (and women) who pretend to be calling from your bank, hospital, insurance provider, etc. Theyre looking to elicit your personal information to commit identity theft against you. Its sad but true that financial abuse is made easy over the telephone. To prevent telemarketing fraud, make it an express policy to never sign onto anything over the phone. Courteously hang up and make sure to register for the US governments Do Not Call list. Keep it simple never give personal or financial information to unknown callers, no matter who they might claim to be. 6. Repair Fraud Seniors are frequently targeted for elder financial abuse right in their own home through the common tactic of repair fraud. If an elder is forgetful or possibly suffering from dementia, wrongdoers will look to exploit this weakness by overcharging for home repairs and yardwork. Sometimes scammers will even come around repeatedly, performing the same task several times over a given period and defrauding the victim in the process. Even unscrupulous auto mechanics have been known to jack up prices for elderly, confused customers and engage in dishonest, unethical practices like changing tires every few months. Another updated form of repair fraud is the antivirus scam, which can be perpetrated in person, online, or over the phone. You might receive a fake email, a telephone call, or even a door-to-door visit from someone claiming to check your computer for viruses. Theyll tell you your computer is infected and repair it, charging you for a non-existent service and possibly even stealing your personal and financial information while they access your computer. Countering repair fraud might mean going to the doctor and getting an evaluation over possible memory loss or increased confusion. Seniors with conditions like dementia must be protected from financial exploitation one effective way to shield vulnerable elderly loved ones from repair fraud is to obtain financial power of attorney. When a responsible younger relative takes on this legal duty, its sometimes possible to recover funds lost to repair fraud. 7. Sweepstakes Scams Fake sweepstakes, lotteries, and raffles represent a widespread form of fraud perpetrated against senior citizens. Youll get a flashy mailer informing you of your amazing prize winnings, or perhaps a telephone call or spam email. A fabulous fortune is yours to be had, youre told, and all you have to do to attain your winnings is pay a phony tax, shipping fees, or other made-up charges. Your social security number and bank information might even required to claim the supposed prize. In reality, of course, the sweepstakes is a scam meant to trick you out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars, potentially putting your identity at risk. The too-good-to-be-true rule applies to most scams, and ridiculous sweepstakes mailers are no exception. A real raffle or lottery wouldnt require you pay or provide sensitive personal info to access your prize. Sweepstakes offers and other contest winnings should be promptly tossed in the trash, and whoevers sending them through the postal system should be regarded with strong suspicion. Seniors should have a trusted loved one help them sort through mail and identify all such deceptive mailers. Countermeasures Heightened Vigilance What are some initial steps you can make to prevent elder financial abuse? Several measures are available for family members, lawyers, financial professionals and medical caregivers. Along with basic awareness, coordination and ongoing communication between parties translate to increased protection. Here are some basic actions you can take to keep elderly loved ones safe from exploitation: 1. Financial Oversight: A family member and financial professional at the local bank or advisory firm should establish a system of oversight over an elders accounts. In addition to setting up bill payment, keep a sharp eye on any excessive withdrawals or irregular transfers. Consider joint accounts with the elder, and look into the possibilities of a limited credit card for an elder susceptible to financial exploitation. 2. Revocable Trust: With a revocable trust in place, a trustee has access to a trust account without enjoying the status of legal ownership. Stopping irresponsible or just plain bad trustees from squandering assets translates to building in effective safeguards. 3. Communication: The human element is vital in preventing elder financial abuse, and that means maintaining effective lines of communication between all interested parties, whether it be the attorney, investment advisor or medical caregiver. Just as importantly, a loving relationship with an elderly family member makes all the difference in shielding them from harm. If a senior is lonely, theyll be more vulnerable to fraud or unethical sales pitches. Just visiting an elder regularly, talking and showing them you care is an enormous boost in keeping them safe. 4. No-Contact Lists: Boiler room telemarketers and deceptive mailers target elders who suffer from cognitive impairment. One way to block most, if not all, of these unwelcome solicitors is to contact the FTCs Do Not Call Registry, Nomorobo and the Direct Marketing Association. Speak with your elderly loved one about the harmful nature of these calls and fliers to help them spot when theyre being scammed. Protecting your elderly family member is virtually a full-time job for many it becomes a full-time job of care, comfort, housing, medical visits, and protection. Such duties may be embraced with love, but it is a love coupled often with real suffering. It is never easy to care for a parent with dementia or with chronic physical or mental problems. Both physical and mental exhaustion often accompany such care. Sibling issues arise between those who are near the elder family member and those who are geographically removed. Friends of the elder might be critical of the care or protections that are put in place for the elders benefits. Not all is black and white. Taking care of an elder adult often reminds us to reflect on the meaning of the Fifth Commandment: Honor thy father and thy mother. Doing this honor is a day-to-day process, and is not without its challenges.

Effects Of Crime And Violence On Television

Effects Of Crime And Violence On Television As we turn on the television today, there seems to be more shows that have violence in them then ever before. The same goes true for movies and video games which the violence has a damaging effect on the society. Studies done over the last forty years show that there is a link between media violence and an increase in violet acts committed by juveniles (http://www.ehow.com/about_4595746_does-media-cause-crime.html). With a rise in the violence in juveniles it raises the question whether the media industry has any duty with the violence it shows. Some facts need to be considered when looking at media violence and children. One factor is that many of todays population watches TV. Many say that the crime rates are going up and down due to the media. Also the shows show types of criminal behavior that could be of interest to the public. Unfortunately with many studies done over the forty years scientist have looked at media and crime they have notice a fine line which cant be crossed. When watching the news do you remember hearing about fourteen year old Michael Carneal firing a .22caliberr into a prayer group (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article)? How about sixteen Luke Woodham and fifteen year old Kip Kinkel who both shot their parent and then went to school and shot some classmates (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article)? When the media represents a crime such as this the people who do the crime and its affects is how the people began to see that population (Bjornstorm, Kaufman, Peterson, Slater 2010 p.269-293). Crisis such as can be a time when a population is over-presented as to be a bad person or even under presented as if what was happening did not mattered. When this happens those who are watching TV can end up thinking this behavior is okay and start acting like them (Bjornstorm, Kaufman, Peterson, Slater 2010 p.269-293). Since the 1950s many college professors studied how crime in cartoons and TV shows affected young children (http://www.ehow.com/about_4595746_does-media-cause-crime.htm). They found that after watching the cartoons the children are more aggressive immediately afterward. Also when the parents are involved the child seems to be less aggressive as well (http://www.ehow.com/about_4595746_does-media-cause-crime.htm). Scientist today say that crime images may be a factor as to why young kids chose a life of crime. Yet if their parents are involved in their everyday lives they are less likely to live a life of crime (http://www.ehow.com/about_4595746_does-media-cause-crime.htm). As you can see the findings from the 1950s is the same the findings today. One can see that there is no real evidence to say whether watching crime on TV leads to a life of crime they allow more research to be done. With forty years of research it is still hard to say ya or nah (http://www.ehow.com/about_4595746_doe s-media-cause-crime.htm). In the case of the three teens, there was a interest that the juvenile crime rate would raise even though there was a sixty-eight percent decrease between 1993 and 1999 (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). Of the four major crimes juveniles are arrested for such as robbery, rape, murder, and aggravated assault it dropped by thirty-six percent between 1994 and 1999 (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). However these statistics are deceive able due to such shootings as the three teens (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). The shootings only proofed that there is an increase in juvenile crime and not a decrease like the statistics believe. When it comes down to just how much crime juveniles are responsible for there is a tug a war between the Gallup Poll and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). The 2000 Gallup Poll believes that the juveniles are responsible for forty-three percent while OJJD P believes juveniles are only responsible for twelve percent (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). To me it is not not how much crime they are responsible for, but what gave them the idea to do the crime. After being arrested for the crimes he committed, Michael Carneal was asked what gave him the idea to commit such a crime in such a way (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). He said he had in the 1995 movie The Basketball Diaries (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). For anyone who has seen The Basketball Diaries know that there is a character who is a promising young poet and basketball player (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112461/). He turns to the sleazy life of someone who is addicted to heroin (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112461/). In one of his highs he goes into a dream sequence in which after breaking the door to his high school down he kills his fellow classmates (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112461/). It is scenes like these that lead to real teens thinking that if they have a problem at school this is how they should deal with it. The example of Carneal is proof that television has brainwashed our daily lives. We have become addicted to the television as if it was its own special kind of drug. The media which is placed on the television can be said to target young adults and teenagers. As shown by Carneal the media influences teens to demonstrate through their body image, peer/ media pressure and sexual misconduct. Based on a study done in 1994 by the National Cable Television Association this is very true. They found that violent content of television shows increased from over one-half of prime time. By the end of the study violence took the majority of television sending bad messages to teens (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). On top of that villains of the violent scenes seem to not get in trouble for the crimes they commit as well as the villain having no injury even after getting wounded (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). Such depiction give teenagers the sense that it is okay to act like this and get the teenage image which is not always a good image. We all know how important a teenagers image is everything to them. They look to actors and singers on television to give them that image they are looking for. Unfortunately, singers such as TuPac, 50 cent, Britney Spear, and and Lil Kim are some who catch our teens eye. Under the image are what use to be young people who started making the right choices, but made the wrong choices. Producers of the television shows and the market pick these people due to their invisible attitude and sex appeal. Spending a few millions of dollars in advertising is no big deal to them when they sell their clothing (http://www.suite101.com/content/advertising-to-teens-a14289). When you see teenager spending so much money to fit in or to be seen by the opposite sex with that sex appeal that is advertised it is really scary. There are those who ask the advertiser why they spend millions of dollars on advertising to contract teenagers and they will deny it (http://www.suite101.com/content/advertising-to-te ens-a14289). At first glance the thug image is of someone in prison, which is what it is. Criminals receive a one size fits all outfits when they are brought to the jail. Teens try to re-create this prison image, but that is not the only thing they re-create. With the image comes the actions that comes with it. The same goes for the girls. No girl wants to put a belly shirt on or low cut jeans when they feel as though their over weight (http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/). This is when many girls become obsess with their bodies and become anorexic. All over the television you see young girls and women portrayed as femme fatale, supermom, or sex kitten (http://www.suite101.com/content/advertising-to-teens-a14289). It does not matter the role the women still looks good and gets what she wants in the end. These portrayals are what pushes them to join health clubs and attempt the fashion body as well as the anorexia. Both the thug image and the image of the you ng girls have something today with the crime since they are getting the ideas from the media. You are probably wondering what does image and violence seen on television have to do with crime caused by the media. It has more to do with it then anyone of us can about. When a villain gets shot and he does not die on top of the cool thug look it is tell guys that if they dress this way or act that way nothing will happen. In 1982 NIMH report reinforced this conclusion, and many other organizations took part in viewing media violence this way as well (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). They saw media violence as a serious threat to public health because it stimulates violent behavior by youth (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). An example of this would be on New York channels during a one week of content analysis of prime-time output, there were 3,421 acts and threats of violence observed (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). When looking at the violent committed many of these acts were committed without any compensation for the action (http://www.enotes.com/juvenile-crime-article). Maybe that is why by the 1990s most researchers had arrived to the idea that the effect of media violence on aggressive and violent behavior was real, causal, and significant (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). Once they realized that media violence and aggression was a problem they need to figure out how to fix the problem and the long and short-term effects. Some of the short-term effects are thought to be due to observational learning and imitation (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). There is arousal and excitation as well as priming (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). Arousal and excitation are not harmful as long as the person does not start a fantasy about how a curtain girl should be. Long-term effects range from observational learning to emotional habituation (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). On the flip side some researchers see observational learning as a short-term effect. You have to remember that the reinforcements a person receives when intimidating a behavior are largely responsible for whether the behavior persists (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). Some how the consequences of sho rt-term and long-term effects are different. A good way to look at aggression is with a longitudinal study. In chapter three three we learned that that a longitudinal study is where people measured at two or more points (Aron et. al, 2008, p. 86). In this study they surveyed sixth- and seventh-grade from twenty middle schools across the US on four different occasions (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). Two components of media violence and aggressiveness were measured for three thing a piece. Media violence was measured for assessing the frequency of watching action movies, playing video games involving firing a weapon, and visiting Internet sites that describe or recommend violence (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). Aggressiveness was measured by aggressive cognition, values, and behavior (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). What makes it on the graph is on the vertical line you have average effect size represented by r (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf /pspi/pspi43.pdf). On horizontal line you have five behaviors. Three have to do with aggressiveness while the last two have have to do with helping behavior and physiological arousal. There is also an standard error. Standard errors are shown in research articles as the lines that go above the tops of the bars (Aron et. al, 2008, p. 186). When they were done with the study they said that it was weak and that more studies needed to be done. That is where the meta-analysis comes in and the fact that maybe parents should play a bigger role. Meta-analysis looked at the methodological feature of the study in greater detail (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). When they did so they divided the study into two categories without using the methodological problems (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). In doing so for the five behaviors the best study was chosen to show how they affect each child. Here is an example of the graph from the article I got my information from. 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4 Aggessive aggressive Aggressive Helping PH behavior cognition affect behavior arousal Parents have a big responsibility to make sure that their children are watching the right television shows. Even though there are some parents out there who do not care what their children watch there are ways to educate parents what these shows are doing to our children. A study done by Singer and Singer stated that when parents take an active interest in what their children are watching the child is more likely to tell the difference between realism and not (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). It has also been reported that when a parent restricts access to violent television there is a report of lower aggressive tendencies (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). We all know that when parents are involved children are less to get in trouble. Parents cant do all the work. The government and those who make the shows nee to take responsibility for what they make as well. Today efforts such as the V-chip and media education have been used to lessen the effects of media violence, but there is still not a stop. They talk about a gap that needs to be filled when it comes to some parts of the research (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). What they do know is that when you reduce exposure you reduce aggression (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf). Even with the V-chip and educating parents the media world is changing and so how parents protect their children from aggression will change as well. It seems like they will like to see the media world helping as well (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf).