Japanese Comfort Women Essay Example for Free

Japanese Comfort Women Essay It is estimated that between one and two hundred thousand female sex slaves were forced to deliver sexual services to Japanese soldiers, both before and during World War II. These women were known as comfort women and the Imperial Conference, which was composed of the emperor, representatives from the armed forces and the main Cabinet ministers, approved their use by Japanese soldiers. Walkom) The term comfort women refers to the victims of a premeditated systematic plan originated and implemented by the government of Japan to enslave women considered inferior and subject them to repeated mass rapes, said Michael D. Hausefeld, one of over 35 lawyers in his firm representing the former sexual prisoners in a class action lawsuit currently pending against the Japanese government. (Eddy) Since ancient times, prostitutes in Japan chose to sell their bodies either for family, poverty, or for saving her husband and her children. More or less, their sacrifices were seen as positive. But, being forced to become comfort woman by Japanese is seen as negative. The difference between the Japanese prostitutes and comfort women is that the comfort women did not choose to be trapped as a sex slave and they were not paid for what they did. In 1931, when the Japanese army invaded Manchuria, â€Å"comfort houses† made their first appearances. These comfort houses were created to provide the Japanese soldiers with outlets for their sexual needs. In the beginning, there were only a few comfort houses but after the Nanjin Massacre occurred in 1937, many more were added, basically to every place that the Japanese were stationed. (Walkom) After the Japanese soldiers slaughtered thousands of Chinese people in the Nanjin Massacre, they barbarically raped an insurmountable number of women. As a result, anti-Japanese sentiments grew and it became harder to fully occupy these lands. The government set up comfort houses to decrease disorder and give the approximately two million soldiers a place to satisfy their sexual needs. The Japanese did not have enough prostitutes to supply the needs of the soldiers so they commissioned civilians to develop comfort houses. At the time, only a small percentage of Japanese women were mobilized to â€Å"work† in comfort houses and they were all prostitutes to begin with. The majority of the comfort women were actually Korean women, who were forcibly taken from Korea to service the needs of the Japanese soldiers. After the war, the Japanese government destroyed all evidence of their involvement in Japanese comfort houses, enforcing that commercial businessmen were responsible for the movement of women. Many of the comfort women were kidnapped or deceived into voluntarily working in comfort houses. Once they were there, they were trapped and forced into prostitution. Some women reported that Japanese agents offered them good jobs or education. Others were told that each family in the village had to donate a daughter to the war effort. Many others were offered food, shelter and factory jobs. The Japanese also kidnapped young, unmarried girls when they had a shortage of comfort women. The ages of the girls in the comfort houses ranged from 15 to 19, with the minority exception of some younger girls and some older, married women. The girls were transported between military bases like cargo, under heavy guard in army trucks, trains, ship and bus. They were forced to lose their virginity before arriving at the bases to prepare them for having sexual intercourse with tens of soldiers every day. Many women contemplated death after this, as they believed their virginity to be more precious than life. (Henson) When living in the comfort houses, the comfort women lived in fear and desperation. They were unable to leave, as they were heavily guarded. Each day, they were penetrated by as many as 50 soldiers, until they were sore and bloated to the point of not being able to open their legs. If they were infected with a sexually transmitted disease, they received injections known as Injection 606. If infected enough times, they lost their fertility. In Japan, infected women were killed. Their food was mixed with cyanide, their bodies taken to a cave and finally, the cave was blown up with a grenade. The comfort houses made money off these women and it is believed that the Japanese government paid them, as most of the soldiers paid by coupons. As soon as the war was finished, the Japanese Imperialist guards disappeared without trace. Most comfort women describe the experience this way, Suddenly, the soldiers came no more, and upon asking we found that the war had ended. In other regions, as the Japanese committed â€Å"harikari, the women were forced to do the same. In extreme cases, the women were put in a cave and blown up. After the war, many of the comfort women were too sick to be moved and were taken under the care of the American army. Most of the women were left with no place to go, as they were in a strange country with no money, and were too humiliated to go home. According to one comfort woman, my bodys wasted, therefore I do not dare go home in fear of being ignored and looked down upon. Even after the war ended, the comfort women were not free. Their guilty minds and inferiority complexes kept them from returning home and they stayed in foreign countries. The small amount that married, were often forced to separate after the fact that they were comfort women was known, or they were divorced because they could not have children. The victims are still suffering the pain physically and psychologically. More than half of them could not get pregnant, and most of them have chronicle diseases. Furthermore, the psychological impact on these women made them felt themselves dirty, ashamed that they disgraced themselves and isolated themselves from others. They are either afraid of getting married, or unable to ask for any commitment from their lovers. For those who got married, their marriage was unstable and unhappy due to their past. Some thought that they must have done something evil in their previous life that they have to be punished in this life. (Hicks) They go to tempos to chant sutras, to confess, to pursue liberation, and they even commit suicide. Although the period of time they spent at the Japanese military base was a small part of their life, what they had experienced caused an incurable impact on their health, marriage, mind, and social adaptation. Although the Japanese government continues to deny or minimize their involvement with comfort women, their defense is unraveling. A conference on Japanese Crimes Against Humanity: Sexual Slavery and Forced Labor was held last year, in which Japanese researchers delivered papers which claimed that the Japanese military, the rest of the government, and Japanese industry were all involved in the decision to provide sex slaves for the countrys soldiers. (Chunghee) Japanese historian Hirofumi Hayashi said: The establishment and development of the military comfort women system as not only carried out by the total involvement of every section of the military but also by administrative machinery at every level of the Japanese state In addition, we should not overlook that Japanese companies were their accomplices. (Chunghee) Researchers from the Center for Research and Documentation of Japans War Responsibilities in Yokohama showed that Japanese rubber companies were under government contra ct to supply 20 million condoms a year to armed forces once the decision had been made to provide sex slaves to the soldiers. Rumiko Nishino wrote that high-ranking adjutants commissioned by Cabinet and sub-Cabinet-level government officials implemented the distribution of the condoms. The availability of condoms to the general population became almost nil. (Chunghee) Last year, the Japanese appeals court overturned an earlier ruling that orders the government to compensate women who were forced to serve as sex slaves during World War II. Both sides had appealed that ruling. The plaintiffs because they thought the compensation was too small, and the government because they refused to pay. Duke) In deciding in favor of the government, the Hiroshima High Court said abducting women to use them as forced laborers and sex slaves was not a serious constitutional violation. Tokyo has admitted that its wartime army had set up brothels, and forced thousands of Koreans, Filipinos, Dutch and Chinese to serve as prostitutes, but it has refused to compensate these victims. Historians say as many as 200,000 women were f orced into sexual slavery during World War II.

Framework of Sustainability for SMEs

Framework of Sustainability for SMEs Sustainability: Integrating the Literature to Develop a Framework for SMEs Abstract Business today is called to consider sustainability or corporate social responsibility. Is this call meaningful or relevant to SMEs? Using the taxonomy of Garriga and Mele the literature on the broad spectrum of work related to sustainability and CSR is reviewed to develop a framework for SMEs, structured around the simple concepts of why, when, what, how and where. Further work with the framework will answer two questions; the circumstances of how SMEs engage in sustainability and what are the unique aspects of this sustainability for SMEs. Introduction Over recent times there has been a growing demand for business to consider corporate sustainability. Most large public companies are engaging with the concept in some way as evidenced by the production of Sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility Reports (Bartells, 2008). Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) are less likely to be engaged and some would argue they are not even sure what the concept means or whether it is relevant (Redmond, Walker, Wang, 2008; Spence, Jeurissen, Rutherfoord, 2000; Vives, 2006). There is a large body of literature on the aligned concepts of sustainability, corporate social responsibility, corporate social performance, global responsibility and corporate citizenship, with a variety of perspectives, definitions and assumptions. There is no integrated theory or framework broadly adopted by scholars and in fact there have been only a few attempts at this (Garriga Melà ©, 2004; Jones, 1983; Montiel, 2008; Wood, 1991). Within the SME literature there have been calls for research to develop a theoretical framework to understand CSR and SMEs (Jenkins, 2006; Thompson Smith, 1991). Whilst there is a growing body of literature focused on SMEs it is often merely descriptive and uses a single theoretical lens. A broader model encompassing a wider range of theoretical perspectives may have more utility. The utility and practicability of the framework as a tool for small business will be tested as part of a lager project to develop, from case study research and the literature, a useful integrative framework, to assist SMEs to engage with sustainability in the most appropriate and relevant way for their business. The normative approach frequently used in studies of large organisations whilst ideal may not be the most pertinent to SMEs. This paper aims to develop a practical theoretical framework unifying the spectrum of theoretical and empirical approaches and focussing in particular on the needs of SMEs. The paper starts with an outline of the concept of sustainability and a review of the unique aspects of SMEs. It then moves into a review of the literature using a taxonomy based on Garriga (Garriga Melà ©, 2004), considering both theory development and empirical studies. From this the most relevant elements are drawn together to develop a number of propositions regarding both the circumstances of how SMEs engage in sustainability and what are the unique aspects of this sustainability for SMEs. To add to the practicality of the framework it will be structured around 5 dimensions; Why, when, what, where and how? What is Sustainability At the outset a normative definition with regard to sustainability is required to anchor this work. Corporate sustainability is an umbrella concept (Gond Crane, 2008) which integrates the social, environmental and economic dimensions into business operation. Within these three categories, there are a range of elements which are comprehensively detailed in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, 2006). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is often used interchangeably with sustainability in the business world and large companies may have either a CSR or sustainability report with little notion of the long theoretical tradition behind each of the terms. In the academic literature there are quite different origins of the two. It is worth digressing to briefly explore the history and overlaps of the terms. CSR as defined by Carroll encompassed four elements, economic, ethical, legal and philanthropic (Carroll, 1979). This was later refined to three with philanthropic being incorporated into the economic or ethical space depending on the logic (Schwartz Carroll, 2003). Until Woods work in 1991 there was no mention of the natural environment within the CSR literature (Wood, 1991). In parallel, during the late 80s ecological modernisation implored business to consider its environmental impact and look for solutions to environmental problems (Mol Sonnenfeld, 2000). Also in the 80s, as a response to the UN movement on sustainable development, business or corporate sustainability was developed, focusing not only on profit, but on the social and environmental impacts of business. Thus there were three independent movements CSR (predominantly social/ethical), ecological sustainability (predominantly environmental) and sustainability (economic, social and environmental). This differentiation still exists in scholarship. When one considers the divisions within the Academy of Management there exists both Social Issues in Management (SIM) the natural home of the CSR scholars and Organisation for the Natural Environment (ONE) the natural home of the environmentalists. Those who chose the sustainability path exist in both divisions and are not completely at home in eith er. The concepts of CSR and sustainability are becoming closer. Some scholars now argue that environmental issues are an explicit subset of CSR (Agle, Mitchell, Sonnenfeld, 1999; Waddock, 2008) . Montiel claims that both CSR and sustainability now include the economic, social and environmental elements, with sustainability more integrated and with different questions asked by researchers in each paradigm (Montiel, 2008). The difficulty remains in the implicit versus explicit definitions. CSR literature often includes the environment implicitly. The risk is that what is implicit can be overlooked, and so CSR could exist without considering the environment, but in sustainability the environment is explicit, although not exclusive. Social and economic considerations are also explicit in sustainability. This is one reason sustainability is more appropriate then CSR as the focus this work. There is another subtle difference between the two with CSR being more concerned with an ethical perspective, and a requirement that involvement must be voluntary and beyond any legal requirements. This last concept is not considered in sustainability. Research on CSR often reflects on individual activities tagging philanthropy and volunteering as evidence of CSR (Jenkins, 2006; Porter Kramer, 2002) . Corporate sustainability is focused more on the long term and has no relative measure against any legal requirements. Two key concepts are clearly defined in sustainability and less explicit within the CSR literature, particularly earlier papers. These are upstream social impacts in the supply chain and the expanded concept of product stewardship. Product stewardship refers to the environmental or social impact of the product from raw material, through manufacture and its useful life to disposal impacts. The supply chain factors include the social impacts on employees and communities u pstream in the supply chain. As a final clarification, sustainability in some work focuses only on the environmental case (Bansal Roth, 2000; Tilley, 2000), however in this paper the term sustainability refers to the wholesome integration and consideration of the dimensions of economic performance and social and environmental impact into a business, and is very much aligned with the approach that has been described as Corporate Sustainable Development (Bansal, 2005). In an ideal world sustainability is a normative concept with business understanding that it has a wider responsibility than simply an economic outcome and must consider its impact on the social and ecological environment it operates in now and for future generations. The major focus of the larger project, of which this paper forms a part, is to determine if this is real and meaningful for SMEs or if there is a more appropriate definition and framework for SMEs. SMEs There are a few definitions of SMEs in the literature. For this exercise we will adopt a definition of businesses between 10 and 200 employees (the Australian Bureau of Statistics definition of SMEs). They tend to be owner operated. There is much evidence that SMEs are different to large firms and hence behave in different ways. Generally they are independent, multi-tasking and cash strapped (Jenkins, 2004; Williamson, Lynch-Wood, Ramsay, 2006) more flexible and less formalised (Aragà ³n-Correa, Hurtado-Torres, Sharma, Garcà ­a-Morales, 2008; Lefebvre, Lefebvre, Talbot, 2003), have a shortage of management skills (Luetkenhorst, 2004), are unlikely to use costly professional advice (Spence, Schmidpeter, Habisch, 2003), and manage stakeholders with whom they have personal relationships (Jenkins, 2006). When the economy is tough SMEs have to focus on short term survival as they generally do not have the depth of resources of larger firms (Luetkenhorst, 2004). This suggests a resource constraint in adopting new approaches to work wether focused on sustainability or strategic management. This is explicitly stated as an inhibitor for SMEs to adopt CSR (Kuhndt, Volker, Herrndorf, 2004). A contrasting view suggests a shared vision, proactively driven by the founder, combined with the innovativeness and flexibility, will actually encourage adoption of better practices in SMEs and in the case of one study, better approaches to environmental management (Aragà ³n-Correa et al., 2008). There is a comprehensive body of work on SMEs and sustainability, which tends to show evidence of attention to some of the elements of sustainability within SMEs almost accidently (Lawrence, Collins, Pavlovich, Arunachalam, 2006; Roberts, Lawson, Nicholls, 2006), very little affiliation with CSR (Jenkins, 2006) or environmental impact (Petts, 2000; Redmond et al., 2008) and a general disengagement with sustainability (Vives, 2006). All papers argue the importance of looking at small business because of its aggregated size and impact and its difference to large business where a much more substantial body of work has been undertaken. In the review of the theoretical approaches relevant empirical or descriptive work from the SME literature will be considered. Taxonomy of the literature There are a number of articles which detail the history of scholarly endeavours into CSR, sustainability and aligned concepts (Bansal, 2005; Carroll, 1999). Suffice to say that after 50 years no single theory or integrative framework exists which brings together the disparate views of corporate sustainability, stakeholder theory, natural capitalism, resource based views of the firm, corporate social responsibility, global responsibility, sustainable leadership and corporate citizenship, into a framework beneficial to business operators and not just academics. From an empirical approach, the Sustainable Leadership model of Avery developed using a grounded theory methodology (Avery, 2005), contains many elements from most of these theories as does Stubbs Sustainability Business Model (Stubbs Cocklin, 2008) and will be reviewed later. Garriga and Mele published a taxonomy of the CSR field in 2004 based on the work of Parsons who identifies four problems in any dynamic system; that of building and distributing resources; the economic aspect, that of allocating and prioritising resources; the political aspect, that of maintaining social relationships; the social aspect and that of ensuring actors display the right values; the ethical aspect. Using these dimensions, theories based on the prime organisational goal of wealth creation Garriga identifies as instrumental theories, those based on the responsible use of the social power of organisations are defined as political theories, those based on integrating social demands to satisfy todays stakeholders are integrative theories and those based on normative values unbounded by time and environment, they term ethical theories. The authors add that most theories will have elements of all four aspects with a strong focus on one area, used as the basis for segmentation (Ga rriga Melà ©, 2004). A limitation of the review is that it focuses on predominantly American literature and ignores salient literature such as global responsibility (GR) developed in other geographies. Considering the context of the business system or the surrounding institutions (Luetkenhorst, 2004; Matten Moon, 2008), focusing on a single geography gives the narrow focus of a single business system. A second limitation is that the theories considered are all firm centric and so papers that look at how external institutions can impact CSR activities are not considered. Finally the work does not include the literatures outside of the traditional CSR space so ecological modernisation and business sustainability are excluded. The following will include a review of the broader literature omitted from Garrigas paper. The taxonomy chosen is relevant given the empirical evidence of its elements in the CSR activities and motivations of large companies (Whitehouse, 2006) To develop an integrated framework for SMEs, this paper must cover off a broader range of literature which includes institutions that may impact on SMEs involvement with sustainability. With this and the limitations of the Garriga taxonomy in mind, expansion of the concept of political theories to look at external as well as firm centric theories is appropriate. This group will be called institutional theories after Powell and Di Maggio (DiMaggio Powell, 1983). In the following sections each of these four groups, ethical, instrumental, integrative and institutional is explored in more detail, considering the main theories within each group, any supporting empirical or SME research. Finally the most relevant questions and implications for SMEs are extracted to develop propositions which form the bones of the integrated framework. Ethical theories Within this group are considered theories that are predominantly ethical arguing that it is the responsibility of business to look beyond the financial bottom line to the wider context and impact of business on the societies in which it operates, in a relatively unbounded manner, because it is the right thing to do. All strategic management theories have some moral or ethical underpinning (Phillips, Freeman, Wicks, 2003) however they are only included in this group when this is the primary focus of the theory. Under review will be CSR, normative stakeholder theory and global responsibility followed by a review of relevant empirical or SME work. Corporate Social Responsibility in its original form was an ethical theory. Developed in the USA as early as the 1950s it was unabashedly normative, â€Å"the social responsibility of business encompass the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time† (Carroll, 1979, p. 500). The normative version of stakeholder theory is also ethical; â€Å"Stakeholder theory begins with the assumption that values are necessarily and explicitly a part of doing business† (Freeman, Wicks, Parmar, 2004, p. 364). Normative stakeholder theory is differentiated from the applied or integrative use of stakeholder theory in that it generalises on which stakeholder interests should be considered and admonishes managers that these stakeholders must be considered in decision making (Phillips et al., 2003). In the last few years a new â€Å"global responsibility† literature has developed in Europe. The concept has its origins in CSR however the new label is proposed on the basis there are greater pressures from technological progress and globalization, moving so fast, that neither ethics nor legal frameworks can keep up. Thus it is up to business owners to fill this ethical vacuum and develop a new business model based not on making profit but on making progress. De Woot states: â€Å"In a global economy the raison dà ªtre of the firm is to ensure economic and technical progress that furthers human progress and facilitates the type of society we wish to have† (de Woot, 2005, p. 113). The corporation is viewed as a source of energy and creativity which has led to massive global development. DeWoot seeks to change the focus of this energy towards progress, not just profit, and to fill the gaps in global governance. Global Responsibility supersedes CSR, claiming that both corporate and social are too narrow (Antal Sobczak, 2004). Perez defines global responsibility in more detail, identifying responsibility for actions and their consequences in a global context which implies extensions to the societal, environmental and time dimensions in which we are used to operating. The responsibility is borne both by the organisation and its â€Å"social representatives†, with responsibility owed to shareholders, external authorities and other stakeholders (Perez, 2003). Beyond the strict definition of the words, the intent of both concepts is the same, for business to be motivated by more than the â€Å"single thought† (de Woot, 2005, p. 39) or profit motive and consider both a wider goal and a wider sphere of impact. A number of authors identify two opposing models of company orientation aligning one with a firm response to the ethics of global responsibility or CSR and the other with a sole focus on profit. The former has been called the Rhineland model (Albert, 1992; Avery, 2005) and is expressed by Perez; â€Å"The manager considers that his mission, and that of the enterprises he manages, is a multiple one: he must of course be competitive to do otherwise would be suicidal but also, as far as possible, be attentive to his internal and external partners, think about the environment and future generations, in short be globally responsible† (Perez, 2003, p. 82). The opposing perspective is the Anglo US model (Avery, 2005) and follows the ideology of the single thought (de Woot, 2005). It is this differentiation which leads to a contentious issue in the CSR literature. Much of the CSR literature talks about the need to go beyond legal requirements (Carroll, 1999) however once this is int erpreted through the lens of the national business system it can be seen why this has come about. The lack of regulation in the American corporate context, to address other than financial imperatives, requires that if a company is considering its social impact it must go beyond compliance. In the European context many of these requirements are bound up in institutional aspects of the local business model. Matten and Moon refer to this as implicit and explicit CSR (Matten Moon, 2008). This international context of the institutions, cultures and norms of the society in which firms are rooted needs to be considered in much of the discussion about CSR and sustainability, particularly when we talk of institutional literature. Much of the work stemming from United Nations initiatives around sustainable development such as the Brundtland Report and the Global Compact also stem from an ethical perspective. The argument is about the rights of the worlds peoples and hence the dual obligation on business to maintain the ecological environment for the benefit of future generations and to be responsible for the social impacts on society today. The common thread amongst the ethical arguments is that they are all focused on why these broader issues should be a responsibility of business. They do not venture into what or how: this will come from subsequent literature. There are relevant empirical studies which help to develop this â€Å"why† concept further particularly for SMEs, which will now be reviewed. Empirical work on ethical theories of sustainability, CSR or normative stakeholder theory is sparse (Berman, Phillips, Wicks, 2006). No research investigating global responsibility and business could be found, although there are a number of descriptive case studies of business which are used to show evidence of a global responsibility approach (Antal Sobczak, 2004; Zinkin, 2004). De Woot identifies that small business is unable to make the changes required alone and this will only happen through their professional associations (de Woot, 2005). Within the descriptive literature on SMEs and the adoption of CSR or sustainability there is considerable evidence that there is an ethical motive behind some business activities which could be considered a part of the CSR spectrum (Condon, 2004; Graafland, van de Ven, Stoffele, 2003; Spence et al., 2003). Jamalis work in Lebanon reached a conclusion that is typical of many studies: â€Å"there was a high level of convergence regarding a philanthropic conception of CSR that was characterized as an obligation parallel to the business rather than being integrated into it. All six SME managers (with no exception) equated CSR with philanthropy, which they considered as a necessary activity independent of mainstream business transactions.† (Jamali, Zanhour, Keshishian, 2009, p. 364) This is not unlike the early view of CSR, where the key issue was philanthropy as an activity of the firm somewhat separate from the firms business. Spence has looked deeply at the personal ethics of small business owners and how this impacts their business operation, to identify four orientations; profit maximisation, subsistence priority, enlightened self interest and social parity (Spence Rutherford, 2001). This frame gives us some insight into the utility of ethical theories of CSR. For those who have a social orientation, ie those exhibiting enlightened self interest or social priority an ethical theory may have utility in further integration of sustainability into the business beyond mere CSR activities. For those with a profit maximisation focus, however ethical theories are unlikely to entice operators to be involved. Which begs the question if ethical theories are only useful to those who are ethical then do they have any utility at all? And yet maybe they do and the focus needs to be to inculcate business to understand that if they claim to be ethical they need to take on De Woots call and use their energy to change t he way their business operates and strategically incorporate the new paradigm into their daily operations. It may be that it is the inability to gain traction with ethical arguments that led truly committed individuals such as Elkington and Hawken to develop their work as instrumental theories and encourage business buy in this way. In summary the research shows that for SMEs an ethical intent of the owner may lead to adoption of sustainability or at least elements of CSR. This will be considered further as propositions are developed to build the framework. Instrumental theories Within the taxonomy, instrumental theories are defined as those that argue that CSR can be adopted as a means to achieve an economic end. In other contexts they are termed the Business Case (Dyllick Hockerts, 2002; Epstein Roy, 2003). Garriga includes Friedmans shareholder maximisation theory, the work of Porter on social investments in a competitive context, Prahlad on the bottom of the pyramid, Harts natural resource view of the firm, and work on cause related marketing. To this can be added Natural Capitalism and the triple bottom line. Harts Natural Resource Based view seeks to engage business to maintain and protect the environment by exhorting a firm to consider a wider view of the resources available to it, and extend from the traditional consideration of capital and labour as the only constrained resources to include the natural resources it uses. In particular it asks a firm to consider pollution prevention, product stewardship and sustainable development. The theory is instrumental because it argues that over time the adoption of this strategy will lead to competitive advantage, which in the current business paradigm equates to more profit (Hart, 1995). The theory is extended to a model for how to integrate sustainability through the sustainable value framework a somewhat integrative model however clearly focussed on creating shareholder value, which may be a broader construct then profit alone (Hart Milstein, 2003). One concept clearly articulated in this framework and absent in many others is that this i s a strategic choice and should be part of the strategic decision making framework of the firm. Patagonia is held up as a company whose successful growth and green reputation is based on successfully integrating the elements of natural resource based theory into its strategy (Fowler Hope, 2007). Porter weighed in on the environment debate in the 90s arguing that to be green would lead to long term competitive advantage albeit at a potential short term cost (Porter Linde, 1995). This is very much an instrumental or profit oriented approach. He came late to consideration of CSR and unsurprisingly has also taken an instrumental approach. The profit motive is explicit in his comment; â€Å"The essential test that should guide CSR is not whether a cause is worthy but whether it presents an opportunity to create shared value that is, a meaningful benefit for society that is also valuable to the business† (Porter Kramer, 2006, p. 84). Prahalads plea for multinationals to engage in developing products appropriate for, and taking their business to, developing countries, whilst altruistic, is again instrumental. The focus is that business can make money with the approach (Prahalad, 2002). Since this is a call to multinational corporations this is unlikely to be relevant for the SME framework, except potentially to the extent of product development. The Triple Bottom line is another instrumental approach. Elkington comes from a personal conviction that the world must change (Elkington, 1999), with an argument that is not unlike DeWoots global responsibility argument. This is his personal motive for raising awareness. However in developing his theory and identifying the seven pillars of a sustainable future and thus calling others to action he relies on a business case and clearly states that the reason is not about ethics or religion (Elkington, 1999) He avoids the argument for a paradigm shift and reverts to a business case argument almost as if he were trying to seduce business to accept his ideas and unwittingly do the right thing by the environment. The theory of Natural Capitalism has a similar thread. It is again easy to confuse the theory with the ethics of the creator. The four pillars are increased resource productivity, waste elimination through closed loop material circuits, an economic shift to a solutions based business model and investment in natural capital. However as the proponents states: â€Å"that enable business to behave responsibly towards both nature and people while increasing profits, inspiring their workforce and gaining competitive advantage† (Lovins Lovins, 2001, p. 99). They are profit focused and thus instrumental and move from the â€Å"what† typical of most instrumental theories and extend it in to a â€Å"how† which we typically see in Garrigas integrative theories. As a generalisation instrumental theories tell us what to look at to achieve competitive advantage or profit. There is a focus on material usage, waste and physical resources (Hart, 1995; Lovins Lovins, 2001), product stewardship (Hart Milstein, 2003), symbiotic partnerships (Elkington, 1999), relevant social issues (Porter Kramer, 2006) and on marketing and business models (Elkington, 1999; Lovins Lovins, 2001). From a theoretical perspective we now have why, what and a little on how. The following paragraphs review the empirical work on SMEs and instrumental theory to further inform the framework. There is significant empirical work testing the validity of the business case argument. Orlitzkys meta-analysis of this body of work shows that there is a correlation between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance (Orlitzky, Schmidt, Rynes, 2003). This finding gives an additional utility to this group of theories for the profit motivated adopting the new ethics of CSR or sustainability makes a contribution to profit so we have a why as well as a what. Ethicists however take issue and question whether the ends adoption of CSR justify the means taking it on because it adds to profit (Gond, Palazzo, Basu, 2009). Within the SME literature there is a strong case argued that contribution to profit is critical and when this can be demonstrated practices which form part of the sustainability agenda may be adopted (Castka, Balzarova, Bamber, Sharp, 2004; Williamson et al., 2006). Studies show that cost savings and competitive advantage can be gained from attention to the environment (Aragà ³n-Correa et al., 2008), successful implementation of eco-efficiency and environmental policies was motivated by a business case (Cà ´tà ©, Booth, Louis, 2006; Kerr, 2006, p. 34) and application of Harts strategies are directly applicable to SMEs (Avram Kà ¼hne, 2008). When looking deeper into the literature for the items identified in the discussion of instrumental theories, ie material usage, waste and physical resources, symbiotic partnerships, relevant social issues and marketing and business models, it is only the clear business performance characteristics which resonate and are considered (Williamson et al., 2006). In considering the integrative framework it will be necessary to consider what elements identified should be considered given the limitations of SME resourcing. Integrative models Integrative models consider how social demands are integrated into a business. They do not have the scope of ethical theories and are bounded in the present what social issues demand the attention of the business now. In Garrigas taxonomy integrative theories include stakeholder management, corporate social performance, issues management and public responsibility. Dunphys pathways framework (Dunphy, Griffiths, Benn, 2007) and Tilbury and Wortmans organisation development methodology (Tilbury Wortman, 2004) are added into this class. Integrative theories developed because an ethical notion of CSR is holistic and does not help the manager in determining the granularity of what issues to address and how to address them. In developing the idea of CSR as a process, issues management, Jones states â€Å"Corporate managers do not advance by asking abstract questions but by making the pragmatic, specific decisions that confront them in the operation of their business.† (Jones, 1980 , p. 60). Similarly in her 1991 paper, Wood develops a practical framework from the previous theoretical work on CSR and corporate social performance, integrating principles, process and outcomes (Wood, 1991). Within the GR literature Thevenet also tries to develop an integrative form of global responsibility in an attempt for relevance. For GR to be effective he suggests business is responsible to expose and train managers, to develop personal reflection and maturity without which he claims ethical decisions cannot be made, â€Å"The key to global responsibility will be, at the end of the day, behavioural responsibility from people† (Thevenet, 2003, p. 124). With a prima facie base in ethics the separation between integrative and ethical theories is ambiguous. The difficulty is that once the theory becomes integrative and focused on application, the origins become less significant and the same process can be used for different reasons. At the extreme is the work of Gond on the Mafia as an organisation which on the surface can be said to exhibit many CSR best practices yet is patently not an ethical organisation. Practices include; developing good relationships with the local community and stakeholders (albeit using

Biological Warfare Essay -- War Weapons Essays

Biological Warfare I believe that biological warfare should not be option in war because it is expensive, it could cause a major death toll, and could cause major contamination to anything that is left over after biological weapons are used. Others believe that biological warfare should be an option because it is quick and kills off a lot of area all at once and may be more potent than the most lethal chemical warfare agents. At a time in history when such unique situations are effecting our government, our nation, our foreign policy, and our world, it is important that we, as a nation do all that we can to aide in the dramatic diplomatic decisions that pertain to the welfare of this great nation. Throughout history, America has prevailed in numerous battles, hardships, depressions, and complicated policies that have in all conclusions made her powerful, yet vulnerable at the same time. With the growing effect that the potentiality of war on one or even two fronts has on the citizens of our country, it is detrimental that we continue to keep everyone involved in this shaping situation. One increasingly terrifying mechanism that terrorist cells, among others, have access to use against a state like us is biological warfare. The continuous education, preparation, and prevention of biological weapons are a key factor in defending The United States of America, and the world from the devastation that thes e weapons of mass destruction may cause. As once popularly stated by an ancient scholar, â€Å"Knowledge is Power†. This catch phrase can be applied to nearly every aspect of human life, including even our government, and nation. The educated feel informed, and involved in the matters of the government, and it is therefor... ...arfare. Next it could cause a massive death toll and possibly kill of the whole nation or the whole world. Finally, biological warfare could cause contamination to any of the remains after an attack and this contamination would sooner or later kill off any of these remains. Resources Pearson, G. International Security Information Service. Deliberate Disease: Why Biological Warfare is a Real Concern. Retrieved April 1, 2003, fromhttp://www.isis-europe.org/isiseu/english/no6.html Dobbs, L. (2002). The economy is the target. U.S. News and World Report, 40. Retrieved April 3, 2003, from Academic Search Premier Database. Dudley, P. and Woodford, Michael (2002). Bioweapons, Biodiversity, and Ecocide: Potential Effects of Biological Weapons on Biological Diversity. Bioscience, 582. Retrieved April 3, 2003, from Academic Search Premier Database.

Progressivism Essay -- History Essays Progressive Era

Progressivism The age of progressivism was a time where the middle and lower classes joined together to attack the upper crust elites. During the populist movement there was more of a separation of classes; the farmers blamed just about everyone, especially the more cosmopolitan population, for their economic loss at the end of the nineteenth century. Towards the beginning of the twentieth century however, the rich kept getting richer and the poor got poorer. When the Industrial Revolution was at its peak, the railroad owners and developers saw a large increase in their revenue. The gap between the middle class and the upper class very quickly became much larger. Small town community leaders, who were role models for their town, now had to answer to big business, starting the status revolution. The lower and middle classes were worried because democracy is now being threatened by the monopolies that controlled the economic swing of the United States. The classes fought back by t rying to win over some of the â€Å"outsiders† of the country, ie immigrants, Jews, different races. The goal was to win them over by cleaning up some of the slum areas where these populations lived. Religion played a role in which slums would be cleaned up. The Roman Catholics that emigrated from Ireland had the stereotype of being alcoholics; the Jews from Eastern Europe had the stereotype of being money grubbers. The majority of the American population, white, protestant, workers, had a hard time trusting the outsiders of the country. Many different historians compare and contrast the benefits of this time and the repercussions it had left. For some groups, it was a pivotal moment in history for them but for others, laws were mad... ... Different discriminated groups came together to forge a bond to get their voice heard in America; the middle and lower â€Å"wasp† classes teamed with the immigrants against big business and prevailed. These coalitions, helped shape the social scene for the beginning of the twentieth century. The progressive era left its mark in the United States history. Works Cited Paula Baker, â€Å"The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780-1920,† The American Historical Review 89 (1984): 620-647. Peter Filene, â€Å"An Obituary For ‘The Progressive Movement’,† American Quarterly 22 (1970): 20-34. Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform (New York: Vintage Books, 1955): 16-18. Richard McCormick, â€Å"The Discovery That Big Business Corrupts Politics: A Reappraisal of the Origins of Progressivism,† The American Historical Review 86 (1981): 247-274.

Television - Lost in the Unreal World of TV :: Media

Lost in the Unreal World of TV In our modern society, two separate worlds exist. The first, the world of reality, is where most of our important life experiences take place. The second, however, is where nothing substantial exists. Nothing there can have any direct impact on our lives. This is the world of the unreal; the world of television. Television lures people in with wonderful stories that have very little or no application to the real world. Instead of teaching about how the world works, it replaces healthy human interaction. When people watch television, they receive only input. This does not help them deal with other people, because it does not train them to respond. Doing things with other people is necessary to develop social skills, which must be used every day. Television does not provide any workable context for behaving around people. Everyone knows that television shows are designed to be entertaining, not to show how actual people will react to certain situations. When a person watches television, a mind is wasted. That person is throwing away time which could be used for a number of productive tasks. Which person, when asked what they did in life that was really important, would reply "I watched as much television as I could!"? As similar their names might sound, a television is not like a telephone. A telephone connects two people's minds to each other, while a television only sends pictures and sounds to one person's eyes and ears. In fact, if you let television affect your mind too much, it can cripple your imagination. You might have more images stored in your mind, but you will be out of practice for generating new ideas. Television does not provoke original thought. Sometimes television is deceiving because the watcher feels connected to a character on the screen. The observer begins to mimic the character's emotions, and feels satisfied at the end of the episode, as if something had really been accomplished. What the viewer feels is just the opposite of what has happened.

Is Macbeth truly an evil-tyrant, or is he a tragic hero? Essay

The first thing that we must take into account when analysing Macbeths character is that he is a normal human being, and like normal human beings, he has moments of weakness which when played upon can result in huge mistakes. The story of Macbeth is an example of power at the expense of everything else. He begins the play as a strong character, much admired and respected, and we witness his personality and actions become more and more deceitful which eventually leads to his destruction. The first thing we hear of Macbeth is people singing his praises. We hear the Captain say ‘For Brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and Duncan greeting him, ‘O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman.’ Surely somebody so highly praised could not be an evil person†¦? Macbeth was an honourable gentleman with no criminal tendencies. With so many people praising his courageous fighting, he returns from a victorious battle, puffed-up with self-love that demands ever-increasing recognition of his greatness. The first flaw in his personality is that he takes the praise too much to heart and begins to believe that he deserves great rewards. When he then meets the weird sisters, they prey upon his new-found egotism, predicting his greatest dreams to be reachable. They greet him, ‘Thane of Glamis†¦Thane of Cawdor†¦King hereafter.’ After this initial meeting, he pushes aside their prediction until it arises that he has been given the post, Thane of Cawdor. This seems too coincidental to him to be able to brush off. There are two main driving forces behind Macbeth’s own self-destruction. The first being the witches involvement in encouraging his ambition, and the second, his wife, Lady Macbeth’s clever emotional manipulation and her blackmailing him into his first evil deed. The witches have basically hit his vulnerable spot by telling him that he shall become King. Macbeth is a true and manly war hero, but deep down he harbours insecurities of his manliness and the power he possesses over others; it is his wife that hits these insecurities†¦ In Act 1, Scene 3 – lines 126 onwards, we see that Macbeth plays with the idea of taking things into his own hands in order to become King. I believe, however, that had he not consulted Lady Macbeth over the matter, he would have let it drop as he would not have had the strength in him to perform such an evil deed. When she receives the letter telling her of his meeting with the witches, it is as if she takes it upon herself to make it her duty to ensure he goes ahead and kills Duncan. I gathered this from her soliloquy at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 5, where she says ‘†¦That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ – in other words, she is saying that by what ever means she will persuade him to carry out the act of murder. Lady Macbeth analyses her husband’s nature, and talks about him being ‘too full o’th’milk of human kindness’ to act without pity, which shows us that Macbeth can’t naturally be an evil character – circumstances and the equivalent of ‘peer pressure’ lead him to become the character he is at the end. The Macbeth’s have a very good relationship and in the letter he writes her, he calls her ‘my dearest partner of greatness’, showing just how devoted and close to her he is. No man who is that devoted to their wife is likely just to brush off what they say. In Act 1, scene 7, we see how dead-set against the murder Macbeth really is. In a soliloquy we hear him sum up the pro’s vs. the con’s – and he comes to the conclusion that there is only one motivation for him to go ahead with it challenging half a dozen con’s. We hear him talk of vengeance, kinship, loyalty, hospitality and religion, among others, persuading him away from committing the ultimate act of evil. I don’t believe that a man who is that morally challenged about committing a crime could possibly be a truly evil tyrant, later described as bloody, treacherous, false, deceitful and malicious. He was not born evil and until this point in his life, has never been evil. However, Lady Macbeth is a clever woman and knows what effect her words will have upon her husband. She deliberately hits him where she knows it will hurt him – questioning his manliness. When he tells her his decision to not kill him, she immediately uses every tactic she can think of to lure him into changing his mind. She uses descriptions such as ‘green and pale’ – e.g. sickly and weak to accuse him of cowardice and lack of manliness. She also bribes him with emotional blackmail, claiming that if he loved her he would do it and that she would rather kill her own baby than break a promise she had made to him. Using vicious imagery describing how she would rather ‘†¦have plucked her nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out’, she convinces him to continue with the murder. I don’t know about you, but if I had my true love using phrases like that to blackmail me into doing something, it is likely that I would buckle and give in. Macbeth is trying to keep his partner happy, rather than do it for his own benefit, which is another reason I believe that he is not an out-and-out villain, as we all possess the desire to please people. The first place in the play where I begin to doubt Macbeths innocence is the beginning of Act 2, Scene 1.Banquo and he have always been best friends and incredibly close, but in this scene we see Macbeth deceive his friend and deny that he has thought about the witches prediction. Only a few short minutes after this, however, Macbeth beings to hallucinate of a dagger very vividly. This makes me question his control over the situation. His feelings and fears have already created false images in his mind, and he hasn’t even committed the deed yet. Surely an evil tyrant – strong and powerful, would not be open to such a display of various emotions†¦? Evil thoughts are now deceiving and beginning to take over his mind, every minute increasing as he begins to see large, drops of blood form on the dagger in his mind. This implies a guilt-ridden conscience. Somebody this racked with guilt, surely must not have been born with the capability of killing another†¦? What we do see, however, from his act of murder is his extreme greed and ambition and perhaps by the way Lady Macbeth can persuade him by threatening his manhood, an inferiority complex. Throughout the play he is trying to create a safe world for himself whereby he is completely in control of Scotland. After killing Duncan, he is absolutely tortured by his own mind punishing him for the deed and cannot sleep or see Amen due to his extreme guilt. Although he continues with his constant self-torture, he realises that there is no turning back and he may as well continue with his quest for his prefect rulership – even if it means being ruthless enough to kill his best friend and a whole family. We know that he tries to shut out his deed as he says ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’. In Act 2, while Macbeth is completely falling apart, it is Lady Macbeth who keeps them both calm and sane, using the same tactics of taunting him, calling him a coward. It seems to me that if Lady Macbeth wasn’t so pushy over his manliness, that he would not have so much prove to himself and therefor would not result in taking all the actions that follow. Macbeth later takes the same taunting tactics to pursuade the murderers into killing Banquo, so her words have obviously stuck in his sub-conscience, as if something is repeated and drummed into you enough, sooner or later you will start to say it too. Even through to Act 3, scene 2 where he has already arranged his second murder and is beginning to think of himself as a great dictator, he still succumbs to the power his wife has over him. Lady Macbeth dominance over him is demonstrated by her commands to a servant, â€Å"Say to the King, I would attend his leisure for a few words†. She says this as a command or a statement, showing her extreme bossiness over him. This shows us that his fantasy of being great and powerful is untrue, because he still basically is ruled and prepared to listen to her advice and is still not totally dismissive of her opinions. However much he wishes to believe that he is untouchable and brave, he is deeply fearful to the state of irrational, crazy behaviour when he witnesses Banquo’s ghost. By the end of the play, we see the old Macbeth coming back through, the fair fighting warrior who will battle to his death†¦ Even when he knows his time is up, he acts as a true soldier should – he fights to his death and refuses to kill Macduff saying ‘My soul is too charged with the blood of thine already.’ Does that sound like the words of a ruthless tyrant with no emotions†¦? It doesn’t to me. I would sum up Macbeth as an unfortunate character who was led into the path of evil, and continued it through knowing that he had already committed the ultimate evil and nothing could undo it, or make it any worse. He buckled into the power his wife had over him and let his own ambitions get the better of him. An unfortunate trail of fate that led him to his own death†¦

Hazing in Universities

Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an â€Å"underground† activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these rituals have been injured and subsequently died. This is due to the â€Å"hazers† not seeking medical treatment for the victims, for fear that they may be fined or charged by police or campus authorities. One estimate states that at least sixty-five students have died between the years of 1978 and 1996 from beatings and stress inflicted during fraternity initiation rites (â€Å"Greek† 26). Hazing has been defined in the Pennsylvania Hazing Law as â€Å"any action or situation which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical safety of a student or which destroys or removes public or private property for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with, or as a condition for continued membership in, any organization operating under the sanction of or recognized as an organization by an institution of higher education. The term shall include, but not be limited to, any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the elements, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drug, or other substance, or any forced physical activity which could adversely affect the physical health and safety of the individual, and shall include any activity which would subject the individual to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation, forced exclusion from social contact, forced conduct which could result in extreme embarrassment, or any other forced activity which could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the individual†(â€Å"Pennsylvania Hazing Law† 1). The importance of this hazing situation is the fact that people are being injured, both physically and mentally, causing death or lifelong trauma. Though it may seem like an easy to control situation, the truth is that it is not easy at all. The only times that these groups, who subject individuals to hazing activities, are caught or penalized is after the damage done to an individual is so horrible as to result in death or hospitalization. The act of hazing may consist of something as subtle as a â€Å"pledge†, one who is trying to become a part of the group, having to answer phones at a fraternity house to extreme hazing such as being severely beat with paddles or even bricks. Since hazing takes many forms, it is hard for the public to realize that these â€Å"pledges† are actually being harmed. It is especially hard to see the mental abuse aspect of this situation. At times, â€Å"pledges† may be forced to wear humiliating items such as dog collars or diapers. It may look like an innocent prank, and may actually seem humorous, but stunts like this can deeply affect a person emotionally (Scleifer 42). Hazer†s in Greek societies have also been known to play the â€Å"buzz-saw† game in which a chainsaw is held inches away from a pledge until he/she screams in terror. This practice is used to instill respect, in the form of extreme fear, into the pledges (â€Å"The Persistent Madness of Greek Hazing† 14). Physical hazing, however, is where the most life threatening problems are occurring. With groups such as Omega Psi Phi of the University of Florida, who whacked its inductees in the heads with boards, beat them with fists, and hit them with bricks, one can only expect catastrophic results. For example, in 1993, the members of Omega Psi Phi beat Joseph J. Snell, a junior at the University of Maryland with such objects as a hammer, a horsehair whip, a broken chair leg, and a brush. Later, Snell was forced to place a space heater next to his face because the group said that his skin was not black enough. Snell was hospitalized due to the incident. He remained scared and despondent after his release. He had even called a suicide hotline because of the mental anguish that was caused (â€Å"Former Student Wins $375,000† 23). The hurt and confusion of a victim of mental and physical hazing can remain for years after the abuse. Yet, even after all the abuse, members of these organizations continue to feel that because they had to suffer through this act of initiation to get into the group, their successors must also be fall subject to these activities. Naturally, people want and need to be accepted. This is why an individual will go along with the hazing activities. Valerie Eastman, a behavioral science professor at Drury College in Springfield, MO, states â€Å"You know you†re a reasonable person and you just went through this nasty, unpleasant ritual, so you think the group must have been worth it. You try to justify it† (Wagner 16). Though some members in a fraternity or sorority may be against what is happening to these individuals, the codes of secrecy and brotherhood/sisterhood are so strong that they fear to break them and come forward to report these acts (Ruffins 18). Lydia Bradley, a strong advocate of anti-hazing laws and national speaker for placement of these laws, has interviewed students about the act of hazing in college. She reports, â€Å"I†m told that hazing unifies a group, that it is a rite-of-passage, that it builds brotherhood, that it is a tradition, or, the worst reason of all, that ‘I went through it†(Bradley 1). † It is this type of attitude that hinders the expulsion of the hazing activities. We, as the public, are limited, both in our knowledge of what truly happens in these groups and the ability to stop it, by not personally becoming a member of them. Though some of the fraternities that have been suspended for acting against these anti-hazing laws, they continue to operate underground and make no effort to change their behavior according to Stockton†s Director of Student Development, Tom O†Donnell (Kempert 12). As of yet, there are virtually no associations that actively monitor the actions of fraternities and sororities. They are trusted to act in a responsible manner. As stated in Hank Nuwer†s Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, â€Å"What possibly could be expected from a group of adolescents when you leave them alone to govern their own activities (Nuwer 34). † One may parallel these activities to those expressed in William Golding†s Lord of the Flies to what may happen when such adolescents are left unsupervised to run a â€Å"members-only† organization. National Fraternities and sororities have neglected their parental responsibilities and have left pledging up to these adolescents. It is important that these actions are stopped by any reasonable means necessary. Since hazing has been a process that virtually all these members had been subject to, they will be reluctant to change. The idea of hazing has been placed in their heads as a test to foster unity, to instill a sense of membership, to promote scholarship, and to build awareness of the specific chapter†s history (Chenowith 20). Therefor, an alternative must be able to instill these exact qualities. Believers in the supposed benefits of hazing may be more likely to change their opinion if they can envision some alternatives. In many cases, those who are most vocal against eliminating hazing are those who are bitter and angry about the hazing that they themselves endured, but don†t want to eliminate this publicly. They expect others should be abused in order to gain â€Å"true† membership in the group. In this case, specific programs should be established to teach the devastating effects of hazing. A new sanction reduction policy has been established at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey to tackle some of the problems. The fraternities at this college that have been sanctioned for committing violations are now able to participate in a program that will possibly reduce their sanctions. This OPTIONS program offers students to take one of two four-credit elective courses: â€Å"The Psychology of Well Being,† which explores principles of physical and mental health, or â€Å"Alcohol 101,† which teachers the dangerous effects of alcohol, especially those involved in college situations. Along with this, they had established a Greek self-study committee, through which a Greek Council was formed (Kempert 12). This will educate students about the dangers they are placing on the pledges and change their ways while offering them the incentive of lowered sanctions at the same time. Incentives seem to be the best way to reach these organizations and hopefully it will subject them to the knowledge of what their actions may cause others. An alternative replacement to hazing activities would be another way to eliminate this problem. They could foster their unity in ways such as involving the whole group in a community charity. By asking the pledges to involve themselves in charities, or present the group with specific ideas for charitable work, would show the pledge†s sense of commitment to the group, along with helping to show the public the goodness that can become of these groups (Crothers 50). Instead of making the pledges do chores or excessive exercise, why not promote scholarship by designating study hours. What better way to prove an organization†s worthiness but by setting an example scholastically. These fraternities or sororities could invite leaders of the national groups or advisors to speak at a meeting instead of forcing these pledges to incessantly recite names or worthless facts about the group they are pledging to. Many alternatives are out there; one just has to have the strength to bring it to mention. Of course other solutions such as the undercover spies have been thought of. But, this would only seem to tear the organization apart and make them more careful in whom the choose as pledges, make them more dangerous and secretive in their activities, and less likely to help someone once they have been injured for fear of getting caught. A combination of incentives, alternatives, and a council to create a forum to discuss these alternatives to the hazing process is the most reasonable solution to this problem. Using otherwise â€Å"sneaky† tactics could only increase the problem and drive it further underground. As stated before, it can be hard to talk members into changes this tradition of the organization, but through time and education they will see its benefits. By performing such alternatives as previously mentioned, the dangerous hazing process will be eliminated and the â€Å"good-side† of these groups will become evident. Working together on a project, such as one that will help the local community, will bring a sense of accomplishments to the members and a sense of pride to both the community and the institution (Kempert 12). Of course the only way these solutions could come into effect is if the organizations and the institution work together. The school has to realize that, even if there has been no public incidences regarding hazing in their school, hazing probably does exist. It is this thought that should cause them to form some sort of incentive program of their own to counteract it. However, the members also have to take responsibility and go to the school for help in organizing the possible incentives and alternatives. Hazing in universities Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an â€Å"underground† activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these rituals have been injured and subsequently died. This is due to the â€Å"hazers† not seeking medical treatment for the victims, for fear that they may be fined or charged by police or campus authorities. One estimate states that at least sixty-five students have died between the years of 1978 and 1996 from beatings and stress inflicted during fraternity initiation rites (â€Å"Greek† 26). Hazing has been defined in the Pennsylvania Hazing Law as â€Å"any action or situation which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical safety of a student or which destroys or removes public or private property for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with, or as a condition for continued membership in, any organization operating under the sanction of or recognized as an organization by an institution of higher education. The term shall include, but not be limited to, any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the elements, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drug, or other substance, or any forced physical activity which could adversely affect the physical health and safety of the individual, and shall include any activity which would subject the individual to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation, forced exclusion from social contact, forced conduct which could result in extreme embarrassment, or any other forced activity which could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the individual†(â€Å"Pennsylvania Hazing Law† 1). The importance of this hazing situation is the fact that people are being injured, both physically and mentally, causing death or lifelong trauma. Though it may seem like an easy to control situation, the truth is that it is not easy at all. The only times that these groups, who subject individuals to hazing activities, are caught or penalized is after the damage done to an individual is so horrible as to result in death or hospitalization. The act of hazing may consist of something as subtle as a â€Å"pledge†, one who is trying to become a part of the group, having to answer phones at a fraternity house to extreme hazing such as being severely beat with paddles or even bricks. Since hazing takes many forms, it is hard for the public to realize that these â€Å"pledges† are actually being harmed. It is especially hard to see the mental abuse aspect of this situation. At times, â€Å"pledges† may be forced to wear humiliating items such as dog collars or diapers. It may look like an innocent prank, and may actually seem humorous, but stunts like this can deeply affect a person emotionally (Scleifer 42). Hazer†s in Greek societies have also been known to play the â€Å"buzz-saw† game in which a chainsaw is held inches away from a pledge until he/she screams in terror. This practice is used to instill respect, in the form of extreme fear, into the pledges (â€Å"The Persistent Madness of Greek Hazing† 14). Physical hazing, however, is where the most life threatening problems are occurring. With groups such as Omega Psi Phi of the University of Florida, who whacked its inductees in the heads with boards, beat them with fists, and hit them with bricks, one can only expect catastrophic results. For example, in 1993, the members of Omega Psi Phi beat Joseph J. Snell, a junior at the University of Maryland with such objects as a hammer, a horsehair whip, a broken chair leg, and a brush. Later, Snell was forced to place a space heater next to his face because the group said that his skin was not black enough. Snell was hospitalized due to the incident. He remained scared and despondent after his release. He had even called a suicide hotline because of the mental anguish that was caused (â€Å"Former Student Wins $375,000† 23). The hurt and confusion of a victim of mental and physical hazing can remain for years after the abuse. Yet, even after all the abuse, members of these organizations continue to feel that because they had to suffer through this act of initiation to get into the group, their successors must also be fall subject to these activities. Naturally, people want and need to be accepted. This is why an individual will go along with the hazing activities. Valerie Eastman, a behavioral science professor at Drury College in Springfield, MO, states â€Å"You know you†re a reasonable person and you just went through this nasty, unpleasant ritual, so you think the group must have been worth it. You try to justify it† (Wagner 16). Though some members in a fraternity or sorority may be against what is happening to these individuals, the codes of secrecy and brotherhood/sisterhood are so strong that they fear to break them and come forward to report these acts (Ruffins 18). Lydia Bradley, a strong advocate of anti-hazing laws and national speaker for placement of these laws, has interviewed students about the act of hazing in college. She reports, â€Å"I†m told that hazing unifies a group, that it is a rite-of-passage, that it builds brotherhood, that it is a tradition, or, the worst reason of all, that ‘I went through it†(Bradley 1). † It is this type of attitude that hinders the expulsion of the hazing activities. We, as the public, are limited, both in our knowledge of what truly happens in these groups and the ability to stop it, by not personally becoming a member of them. Though some of the fraternities that have been suspended for acting against these anti-hazing laws, they continue to operate underground and make no effort to change their behavior according to Stockton†s Director of Student Development, Tom O†Donnell (Kempert 12). As of yet, there are virtually no associations that actively monitor the actions of fraternities and sororities. They are trusted to act in a responsible manner. As stated in Hank Nuwer†s Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, â€Å"What possibly could be expected from a group of adolescents when you leave them alone to govern their own activities (Nuwer 34). † One may parallel these activities to those expressed in William Golding†s Lord of the Flies to what may happen when such adolescents are left unsupervised to run a â€Å"members-only† organization. National Fraternities and sororities have neglected their parental responsibilities and have left pledging up to these adolescents. It is important that these actions are stopped by any reasonable means necessary. Since hazing has been a process that virtually all these members had been subject to, they will be reluctant to change. The idea of hazing has been placed in their heads as a test to foster unity, to instill a sense of membership, to promote scholarship, and to build awareness of the specific chapter†s history (Chenowith 20). Therefor, an alternative must be able to instill these exact qualities. Believers in the supposed benefits of hazing may be more likely to change their opinion if they can envision some alternatives. In many cases, those who are most vocal against eliminating hazing are those who are bitter and angry about the hazing that they themselves endured, but don†t want to eliminate this publicly. They expect others should be abused in order to gain â€Å"true† membership in the group. In this case, specific programs should be established to teach the devastating effects of hazing. A new sanction reduction policy has been established at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey to tackle some of the problems. The fraternities at this college that have been sanctioned for committing violations are now able to participate in a program that will possibly reduce their sanctions. This OPTIONS program offers students to take one of two four-credit elective courses: â€Å"The Psychology of Well Being,† which explores principles of physical and mental health, or â€Å"Alcohol 101,† which teachers the dangerous effects of alcohol, especially those involved in college situations. Along with this, they had established a Greek self-study committee, through which a Greek Council was formed (Kempert 12). This will educate students about the dangers they are placing on the pledges and change their ways while offering them the incentive of lowered sanctions at the same time. Incentives seem to be the best way to reach these organizations and hopefully it will subject them to the knowledge of what their actions may cause others. An alternative replacement to hazing activities would be another way to eliminate this problem. They could foster their unity in ways such as involving the whole group in a community charity. By asking the pledges to involve themselves in charities, or present the group with specific ideas for charitable work, would show the pledge†s sense of commitment to the group, along with helping to show the public the goodness that can become of these groups (Crothers 50). Instead of making the pledges do chores or excessive exercise, why not promote scholarship by designating study hours. What better way to prove an organization†s worthiness but by setting an example scholastically. These fraternities or sororities could invite leaders of the national groups or advisors to speak at a meeting instead of forcing these pledges to incessantly recite names or worthless facts about the group they are pledging to. Many alternatives are out there; one just has to have the strength to bring it to mention. Of course other solutions such as the undercover spies have been thought of. But, this would only seem to tear the organization apart and make them more careful in whom the choose as pledges, make them more dangerous and secretive in their activities, and less likely to help someone once they have been injured for fear of getting caught. A combination of incentives, alternatives, and a council to create a forum to discuss these alternatives to the hazing process is the most reasonable solution to this problem. Using otherwise â€Å"sneaky† tactics could only increase the problem and drive it further underground. As stated before, it can be hard to talk members into changes this tradition of the organization, but through time and education they will see its benefits. By performing such alternatives as previously mentioned, the dangerous hazing process will be eliminated and the â€Å"good-side† of these groups will become evident. Working together on a project, such as one that will help the local community, will bring a sense of accomplishments to the members and a sense of pride to both the community and the institution (Kempert 12). Of course the only way these solutions could come into effect is if the organizations and the institution work together. The school has to realize that, even if there has been no public incidences regarding hazing in their school, hazing probably does exist. It is this thought that should cause them to form some sort of incentive program of their own to counteract it. However, the members also have to take responsibility and go to the school for help in organizing the possible incentives and alternatives.