Fishbone Diagram Essay Example for Free

Fishbone Diagram EssayFishbone diagram allows Hotel Escargo to turn the problem big top down working through the roots so that the issue is fixed. It is also easier to fix the smaller problems that lead to the main problem. Looking at the sign in delays, in that location be a lot of small issues that have led to this occurrence. The first issue is computer malfunctions. Often times, computers tend to freeze due to glitches in the apply software causing them to lose customers entering information. This issue causes customers not to get their room which is a check-in delay. Another issue is not having valid and filed source cards.When checking in, some customers enter the hotel with credit cards that are either expired, maxed out, or not in service. This leads to customers not being able to check-in their room which is other check-in delay. Not having rooms prepared for guests because of a slow cleaning crew leads to check-in delays. Having no available bellmen due to them assisting other customers also leads to check-in time delays. This results from having a shortage of bellmen. Bad front desk service due to them being slow, unorganized, and having a shortage of workers leads to check-in delays. Last but not least, not having a pre-reserved room also leads to check-in delays because individuals have to go through the reservation process the day they try to get a room. If all of these issues are taken care of, check-in delays will be eliminated.

Emotional Bank Accounts Essay Example for Free

Emotional Bank Accounts EssayWe entirely do things that are counter-productive to our relationships. We all wish to have people be nice to us. The c at oncept of an emotional bank account is powerful, yet not quite as simple as care a ledger of debits and credits. One of the problems is the perception of worth. What is a deposit worth. We whitethorn think it is quite valuable. The affected person may consider it so human action it is not even remembered. The trick in making deposits is to know what value the act has for the person holding the account. Herzberg was a psychologist who studied motifal factors in American industry. He came up with the conclusion, since quoted out of context, that m unitaryy is not a good motivator of people. He called things like money, a safe work place, security and such(prenominal) fundamentals hygiene factors. That is, the employee needed them to be there and assumed they would be there. They were not, however, efficient in motivating job im provement. Herzberg found that various methods of showing ain appreciation were far more important. A company golf team, a compliment, a letter of commendation, a corner office, painting an employees name motley on a parking place and such activities were more efficient in motivation. Do you agree?Many students do not. To many people, money is a prime motivator. How then did Herzberg come up with his findings? Is he wrong? No, we have to understand another theory, Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow was also a psychologist who studied motivation and found that people had needs that varied with their circumstances. If you are living in the weeds, any job that provides 3 hots and a cot is your dream. You think you would never deprivation anything else. But when you get that job, those needs are satisfied and you quickly want more.Maslow said the second stage was to want security. You want those physiological needs to be there in the future, not just today. And, if you get that secur ity, you then go to stage three where you want a feeling of belonging to a base that reflects your values and goals. If you get this feeling of belonging, you then go to a stage where you want to be singled out and honored. The last stage is one where youhave all those needs met, so you want to contribute in some special centering to something greater than yourself.Herzberg did his studies in a shop where people had stage one and two pretty much assured. Those physiological elements did not motivate because they were already met. Those people were at the stage where they either wanted to belong to a class or be singled out for honors. The ability to read another person and determine what is important to them is critical. This gets back to our emotional bank account deposit value.Similarly, actions may have different withdrawal value to different people. To someone who is feeling very insecure because of seeing everyone around them being dismissed in a general layoff, a curt word may have them dusting off their resume and reacting very defensively. It may not have been intended in that way but its accomplishment is the important thing.Our success in keeping a good emotional bank account with other people then depends upon our predisposition to the values that other people hold, not our own. This sensitivity is difficult for most of us as we often have tasks to do and keeping track of the effect of our actions and words may not be high on our list of things to do at the moment. Yet, in the long term, nothing is more important. I once heard someone say of a particular organization, this place is not about(predicate) competence, this place is about relationships. I think that is true of just about any organization.

Political Factors And Legal Factors Marketing Essay

Political Factors And Legal Factors Marketing Essay part is a loc anyy owned eating ho routine and fast food avocation. It is a medium size eating ho example business which leave be located in Dhaka which is capital of Bangladesh. spirit is sight huge popularity in restaurant business harmonize to Bangladesh up-to-date grocery store. theatrical role is promised to offer best calibre food to the client. As a result lineament go away put up their business by offering all kinds Chinese, Thai, Indian, traditional and fast food. It is constituted upon 4 partners with equal ownership. The tar move market volition range from upper class to belittleder class customer. The market is demanding best product with affordable price so for that circumstance character allow for chequer that each every customer willing receive best price and best product. reference will follow up all the legal issuance to register with national notice of r notwithstandingue (NBR). They are planni ng to keep some fund for corporate social responsibilities on their sales revenue. This business will initially recruit 25 part time and full time employees to run the business. Quality is face liftingd available finance to uptake worth TK.5000000. And presume to exercise gross profit margin 35% and it will lead to peak in coming days.2.0. Business Description2.1. History and BackgroundQuality will be a medium size restaurant business which will be located in Dhaka which is capital of Bangladesh. The history of restaurant industry in Bangladesh not very long. The restaurant business industry is very combative in terms of price, value, promotion, repair. Quality will be a unique concept in Bangladesh. There are substantial number of restaurant is operating in Bangladesh that will compete with quality. There are hardly a(prenominal) numbers of competitors exist in the current market what is called KFC (Franchise), Pizza Hut (Franchise) Nandos (Franchise) is leading the Banglade sh restaurant industry. That business has already coped the vast number of market shares. In 2003 Pizza Hut and Kfc in 2006 was launched their business in the Bangladesh market. This is only DHAKA based supermarket chain. There is few to a greater extent than restaurant exist in current market such as BFC, FFC, Boomers, AW restaurant, Captain World. But they are not performing well in the current market to satisfy the customer with their craving they keep failing to hold sufficient market share due to their strategic drift. But KFC and Pizza Hut will be a capacious challenge for Quality to compete.2.2. MissionQuality is promised to offer high quality food, good run with affordable price.To furnish new job for the local community.To make fair profit for consumer.2.3. ObjectivesTo make even in few months in setting up.To start making profit after few month times.To raise revenue stratum by year.To reserve some percentage of revenue for the corporate social responsibility.2.4. Product and Services DescriptionQuality will provide quality product with excellent services to the customer. Quality will focusing not only on single product based retail business but excessively verities of products. These are as followsChinese foodThai foodIndian foodTraditional food andFast food2.5. provider informationSupplier has defined as key factor for a business to improve their buying organization. all(a) the suppliers should base on quality reliability, on time delivery and the performance of produced which directly influenced to satisfy the customer with affordable price, Product availability with customer desire. Quality will make relationship with several(prenominal) supplier to hold their product quality and price control and supply chain includes most of them are from Bangladesh and few of them from Africa. In restaurant sector study suppliers of fresh produce in Bangladesh is SMEs. Therefore Quality is planning to collaborate with SME (Approximately SME have 70 suppliers in bakery, fast food, vegetables, beef, and chicken. There are few more such as Shiblee hatchery farms will provide all types of traditional food.2.6. Business OwnershipThere are different types of business which is discussed by( lonhnecker, 2010) which is brand new business, lodge in over running play business, franchise and family business. Therefore quality will be a new business which is not exists in the market for retail services. The fit ownership in start- up business may depend on owner determination regarding business profitability, risk and competitive advantages and value of business fit to (foss and lien, 2010). There are three types of business those are sole traders, partnership and corporation. Quality will follow partnership business dodge. Partnership business will help in sharing capital between partners, more flexibility to run the business, shared responsibility, easy to make decision. This business will consist with foursome partner .Every part ner will share 25% capital.3. Business opportunity3.1. Target market segmentationThe target market segmentation usually understructure be segmented on the basis of customer characteristics. These are followsGeographic ( includes country, region, counties, customer density, climate)Demographic (includes age, gender, life-cycle, income, social class)Psychographic ( degree of loyalty, occasions, interest and hobbies)3.1.1. Geographical segmentationThe ideal place of quality to do business in Dhaka city because community are gathered there from every corner of the country as well as extracurricular of the country where the people passing at Least 20 hours in a day. Quality has a opportunity from the large number of workforce, good communication for delivering raw materials to other branch. The best place quality looks near the school, shopping centre and the corporate offices. Most of the student who are just finished class feels hungry and starved looks for nearest fast food or res taurant around them. And people love shoppingand go out with their family, quality will look for getting that customer. People who work in the office they may look for lunch or dinner.3.1.2. DemographicQuality is targeting people all round of the city such as all aged people (10-64) years, low income , middle Income, high income people . Quality bushel to launch their product with thinking those kinds of consideration. Because different age people have different food criteria to eat. exercise most school student aged 15 years has attraction to fast like burgers , fries , ice-cream etc because of their taste preference even though. They will not be able to pay that sum of cash they usually get allowance from their parents. Middle age people in Bangladesh are becoming hectic day by day they probably go out with their family to have lunch or dinner therefore they prefer rice and curry so quality need to develop their menu concord to those consideration .3.2. Competitors analysisSome potential business thinks to get on with their own plans. Some business think to analyse their to help management their competitive advantages and disadvantages. Also to understand competitors present, past, forecasting business strategies. Quality focus on their key competitors KFC and nandos both are located in Dhaka city and they their briny competitors in that industry .Competitors analysis are as followsTable 1ContentCompetitors 1 ( KFC)Competitors 2 ( pizza hut)LocationDhaka , BangladeshDhaka ,Bangladesh effected dateSeptember, 2006 in BangladeshMay, 2003 in BangladeshStrengthHigh brand equityHigh business growthLarge amount of cash flow from franchise. uncommitted capital reserve to expand the businessWorld wide recognitionHigh brand equitySpecialized in PizzaRestaurant services and delivery servicesGood reputationWeaknessSales margin declineLabour turnover due to lack of opportunityHigh stipulation from parents companyOnly based on chicken productUnplanned pricingBased on pizza servicesHigh overhead make upUnplanned pricingFocused on same ingredients in everywhereOpportunityMarket leadership due to high brand equityTargeting all aged peopleInteracting with good suppliersNew market leadershipIntroducing with new ingredientsOpportunity to wither the price to make it more affordable terrorThreat from other competitors in that industrySignificant change in customer demandsNew rules and regulation impose by organisationThreat from other competitors in their revenueChanging in customer demandsNew government policiesMarket shareCovering 40% in BangladeshCovering 36% in Bangladesh3.3. PESTEL epitome3.3.1. Political factors and Legal factorsPolitical factors defines as government stability, taxation policy, introducing new law and regulation by the government,(Henry , 2008) .The political is regulated by elected government .The political issues in Bangladesh is much viable than the last decades to establish a new business. Elected government usually impos e the new policy according to their election agenda. Bangladesh government is planning to launch some very effective scheme for the new investor with decreasing value added tax, business tax, income tax. There is also a legal issue which would affect quality such as new employment law, increasing minimum wages.3.3.2. Economics FactorsEconomics factor which affects on the running of the business activities. It is undertaken In order to forecast the success of the business or evaluating the business risk involves frugals activities. It includes unemployed of the country, buying power of consumer, demand and supply, inflation, economic resource, income level of personnel. Bangladesh Nowadays comparatively economically viable to invest than all other developing country. Because of low labour greet , Bangladeshi labour gets intermediate us $ .22 dollars per an hour , rapid change in buying power for consumer, in order to more investment in Bangladesh it decrease unemployment level .3. 3.3. genial environment factorThe social environment factors defines the combination of customs , poverty, literacy, life expectation, value , tradition , religion . In Bangladesh is improving in poverty level, people are being more literate, and most people are Muslim they prefer halal food. Quality has a wide concentration on those factors3.3.4. engine room FactorIn major way , businesses are frequently developing their technology to platform to developing their business plan. Nowadays people have more attraction on using Social networking through Internet , all the businesses may get opportunity to advertise through Internet, business can use EPCS( electoral point of controlling sales) to quantify their right stock , brainpower payment against sales to help out the consumer on holding cash. So quality is concentrating on those issues.4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY4.1. Marketing Research4.1.1. Primary ResearchPrimary explore is short term decision assist. It includes observation o n customer behaviour, taking face to face interview, focus group, online survey about pertinent business. Observation process was done by Quality on strategic location where intended to open up their business. Data of market activities was collected through interviewing on customer with their expectation and who involves in those industries. Online surveys, it is very popular and relatively low cost, Quality has done their online surveys through over viewing on existing customer and potential customers comments. Quality has turned up to focus group to get more information about customer tastes and preference.4.1.2. Secondary researchSecondary research is a collection of data what is already exists. Secondary research follows outside information clustered by government records, labour unions, media, newspaper commercial sources, These are usually free and provide a lot of good information. Quality has collected data from government statistics to understand about where more people ar e gathered for several purpose, their ages and their occupations and current growth in Bangladesh (6.5%). Quality also has done their research on commercial market report prepared by research experts that helps to evaluate the business risk, the size of the market, and market shares within these sectors. Example in Bangladesh food industries kfc covering 40% of market and pizza hut is covering 36% of market shares.4.2. Marketing PlanCombination of several market elements is called merchandising mix. This element refers to 4ps which are product, price, promotion, Place.http//www.marketingplan.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/four_principles_of_the_mark-300300.gifFigure Price, Product, Promotion, Place the process of implementing marketing strategy4.2.1. Product StrategyThe product strategy is usually strengthened through marketing research. In terms of customer needs and desire, every company moldiness amend their product strategy. The product concept describes the products details i t includes colours, flavours, objectives, and even the price. Before launching a product in the market, the product must be tested with customer. So, in that Circumstance Company may choose focus group that discuss about customers like and dislike. So, Quality will implement that making strategy on their making food with introducing right colours, right flavour, and relevant ingredients.i.e. Some of customer sometimes they turn up to the restaurant without knowing about the food description. So product information will help to evaluate what will be best for them.4.2.2. Pricing strategyThere are three aspect of a business to set up pricing .4.2.2.1. represent based pricing4.2.2.2customer based pricing4.2.2.3competitors based pricing4.2.2.1. Cost based pricingThis pricing strategy is determined by adjusting profit on top of the product making cost . It is known as cost plus pricing. It uses widely in all major business operation. An opportunity to use that strategy to understand the business costs are covered. Quality will follow that strategy to forecast their profit mark up. Quality will use 20% mark up on costSales100emailprotected%20Selling Price1204.2.2.2. Customer based pricingThis strategy is determinedby what a business assume customers will be prepared to pay . This strategy refers penetration pricing which usually help to improver market share, it offers theopportunity to increase the price when the objective has been achieved.4.2.2.3. Competitors based pricingfundamentally markets are full of strong competition . The customer always buys from the cheapest provider and who is providing great customer services. But the customer may make their who offers reasonable price with better quality. Quality will research their nearest competitors to fix up their pricing of product.Therefore quality intend to set up their pricing strategy base on 3CS where calculate all the cost with adding profit.Figure 2 Pricing strategy base on cost, customer and competitors 4.2.3. Promotion strategyPromotion strategy is part of the marketing mix elements, It uses frequently in marketing plan. The business usually uses promotion strategy to deliver information to consumer, to increase product demand, to increase, to differentiate a product. It includes personal selling, sales promotion, direct marketing, and publicity (Rajagopal, 2007). Basically Quality will follow different ways to enkindle their food menu, Quality is intending to use media to advertise their food to bring more customer such as Facebook through internet (nowadays more people are addicted on it) there is an opportunity to cope up large number of customer, topical anesthetic newspaper ( Prothom- alo most popular newspaper in Bangladesh ). In initial market plan, Quality will give out a discount card on purchasing food as well as discount on age range. Quality will introduce with special offer to promote their food menu as like buy one main course then second one half price. Quality wi ll research their competitors promotions strategy to understand what they are actually doing in promoting their product. Quality will keep their promotion campaign as long as their strategic objectives will be achieved. Promotion strategy as below4.2.4.Place/ dispersionPlace or distribution define how the product and services gets to the customer for consumption ( kotler, killer whale burton, 2009). This is the method a business to get their product through diffrent channel those are as followsCUsersTAZNUBADownloadsphoto.JPGFigure 3 There is 3 distribution channel, channel 1 and 2 indirect marketing and channel 3 direct marketing. line of products 1 has two intermediary levels whole seller, and retailer. Normally middleman buys and stock large number of quantities of goods.Channel 2 has one intermediary level which is retailer. In typically they act as retailer in a consumer market. Some big production company produce their product and sell it to large retailer and e-retailer. T his is basically happens more in supermarket business and electronic business.Channel 3 is called direct- marketing. There are no intermediary levels. In that case manufacturer sells directly to consumer. Quality is looking for direct marketing to reach to consumer. Quality will make the product and sell to customer directly. Quality is also planning to start to delivery service to customer directly to their home reference work to increase their revenue.5.0. Business Operation5.1. Legal and LicensingNormally all the business may obtain their license from city corporation. To obtain trade license Quality will provide the following to Dhaka City Corporation are as follows, copy of the companys articles, statement of bank solvency, corporation tax code number, photographs and happen upon of the business persons.5.2. Registered and Tax authorityTo make a business every business must register with tax authority under national board of revenue. Usually all the business acquires tax iden tification number (TIN code) for the new company. For the VAT purpose, all the business needs to be registered separately with VAT way (under NBR). Quality will go through all those process to launch their business proper pathway.5.3. Organisation chartOrganisational chart are used in association with job description. Organisational chart draw a map for management process. Organisational chart provides the guidelines to employees by giving lay out the official reporting usage (Ingram, 2009). Without the organisational chart employees may find difficulties to understand what responsibilities are there? So Quality will follow up the organisational chart to allocate each employee responsibilities. Qualities organisational chart as followshttp//www.myexceltemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Small-Business-Organizational-Chart.jpgFigure 4 Organisational chart of Quality restaurant5.4. Personnel planWe believe that the personnel plan depends on the size of the business and evalua te revenues. Quality will recruit approximately 13 full time and 7 part time employees, who will work a total of 700 hours per week.All the staff will be well trained before starting work. Because there are many opportunity can obtain by investing on staff training. First of all, staff will be very efficient doing their work, then well trained staff will help to reduce the business risk, they will be able to perform in any given task.5.5. Corporate social responsibilityCorporate social responsibility is the process to embrace responsibility for the business actions and influence for a positive impact through its actions on the environment, consumer, employees, communities. Quality will speculate that issue. Therefore Quality will introduce with CSR scheme to help environment, employees, and communities. Quality is assuming 2% of profit to invest in CSR.6.0. Financial planThe financial plan consists of a year profit and loss assumption, a cash flow assumption, balance sheet assumpti on, breakeven point, net present value of project. Quality is planning to finance TK.10000000 which will be provided by 70% of partners of the business and 30% as a bank loan.6.1. Start up expensesEvery business have varieties of start up expenses it includes cost of capital, professional fees, administration cost, sales and marketing cost, wages and benefits. Quality will spend initially Tk.5500000 and rest will keep for further business operation, expenses as followsTable2Expected Cost of sales( Raw materials, equipment, furniture, packaging, insurance)TK. 4000000Rent ( FOR YEAR 1 in advance)TK.1000000PROFESSIONAL FEESTK. 100000Sales and marketing costTk. 200000 technology feesTk. 1000006.2. Financial indicatorsthe sales projection indicates, sales operating expenses, collection days, and inventory turnover. The sales growth will be 150% each year. eccentric is planning to keep gross margin 35% each year.http//www.bplans.com/benefits_administration_business_plan/images/8df5decd3 40f4ab28c2048fa268c889b.png7.2. Break Even AnalysisAll the businesses concern to determine how much income business must need to pay off their expenses. At that stage business tries to make a breakeven point analysis. Businesses at least need to make the cost of staying in the market place. Businesses make their assumption about breakeven point when fixed cost is covered by sale. So QUALITY is assuming that their fixed cost will be TK. 200000 (Equivalent to $20000), so QUALITY need to make their sale at least TK. 2000000 to make a breakeven point.

Gottfried Thomasius View Of Kenotic Christology Religion Essay

Gottfried Thomasius View Of Ke nonic saviorology Religion EssayIntroductionThe incarnation of Jesus deliverer has been a subject of attention from the earliest decades of the variantation of the delivererian Church. It has non been with surface its subsequent controversies. Several early councils were convened to reference work the various issues regarding the graven imagehead and in particular, the individual and nature of delivery boy. Of these, the fourth great council of Chalcedon established the parameters of the person and nature of Christ in the orthodox reckon.1In an assay to articulate the person and nature of Christ, the German theologian Gottfried Thomasius published a work between 1853 and 1861 entitled Christi psyche und Werk (Christs Person and Work).2In this essay, Thomasius c onlyed attention to the Greek word kenosis found in Philippians 27 in demonstrating his theory of the emptying of Christ during the incarnation. Thomasius view of kenosis contributed co nsiderably to the interest in the incarnation principles of Christology. His work became the creation for further studies into what is to a greater extent commonly called Ke nonic theology. This paper will attempt to show that Thomasius view of kenosis is not totally consistent with the code of Chalcedon and did not adequately comply with the orthodox principles of the incarnation.Development of Systematic TheologyAs the early church began to upraise so did varying opinions as men began to think ab reveal the precepts of scripture in a systematic way. Was Jesus graven image? First-century Christians saw that the answer was not simple. Nature is not simple, so why then should we expect the Creator of nature be simple?3Within the first four hundred years of Christianity thither arose cardinal major heresies and they all involved an aspect of the person of Christ.4Then, as now, there atomic number 18 doctrines, which men wrestle with and that still divide themselves over. Even today there be those who would say that some things are too complex to fully understand such as Robertson McQuilkin who said, As we approach the Bible intent on discovering all the truth God intends for us to understand, we should examine our expectations and attitudes, as there are limitations on what is possible.5Not withstanding, it is the obligation of every Christian to search out the truths of Gods word and to faithfully study it in order to build a competent system of beliefs. With regard to the person and nature of Christ, the words of Millard Erickson ring all the more true when he said, All departures from the orthodox doctrine of the person of Christ are simply variations of peerless of these six heresies. While we whitethorn have difficulty specifying exactly the content of this doctrine, full fidelity to teaching of Scripture will carefully avoid each of these distortions.6The Council of ChalcedonThe early councils of the Christian church were ecumenical gatherings of church leaders and scholars who were brought together in order to address the issues that divided the church and sought to set forth declarations that defined the proper understanding of these controversial theological issues that had an impact on the church. Each of the great councils manifestationted genuine dogma about these issues of controversy, which then became the orthodox view of the Christian church.Concerning the first great council of Nicea, Norman Geisler states, The Nicene Creed (A.D. 325) states the uniform belief of all orthodox Christianity that Christ was fully God and fully Man. All heresies regarding Christ deny whiz or the other of these.7 integrity of the utmost of the essence(p) issues to the Church was, and rightfully should have been, a proper understanding of the person and nature of Christ. In regard to the council of Chalcedon, which was convened in 451, J. H. Hall wroteThe work of Chalcedon can be understood only in the light of a series of Christ ological declarations beginning with the Council of Nicea (325). The Nicene Creed tell that Christ is of the uniform churchman significance with the Father, against Arius, who taught that Christ had a beginning and was only of similar substance. The Council of Constantinople (381) both ratified and refined the Nicene Creed, in foe to continuing Arianism, and declared against Apollinarianism, which stated that Christs human soul had been replaced by the elysian Logos. Moreover, Constantinople declared that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.8As questions continued to grow about the nature of Christ in the incarnation, so did controversy. The preceding councils established the churches opinion with regard to the deity of Christ that He is indeed of the same substance as the father.Later questions arose with respect to the human side and reverent side of the nature of Christ. The Nestorian view held to a separation of the two natures of Christ as opposed to the Eutychian view, which theorized that Christ had only one nature.9The Nestorian view was rejected at the council of Ephesus but Eutychianism was later embraced. Seeing the continued discord, Pope Leo I instigated Emperor Marcion to call a new council and it was decided that it would be held in the city of Chalcedon.The Council of Chalcedon achieved three important things. J.H. Hall states, First, it reaffirmed the Nicene tradition second, it accepted as orthodox the letters of Cyril and Leo and third, it provided a definition of the faith.10Hall continues, There existed two overarching concerns- maintenance of the unity of Christs person and establishment of the two natures of Christ.11The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril of capital of Israel attribute a section of Epiphanius, Ancoratus, 118, c. AD 374, as cosmos that which contained the Nicene creed which was read and approved at Chalcedon.12What Chalcedon effectively achieved was setting forth genuine parameters about the natur e of Christ. That which is formulated to the understanding of these two natures must therefore fall within these parameters in order to stop orthodox.In setting these parameters of orthodoxy, certain attributes must be maintained. One of the most important issues involves immutability. The Definition of Chalcedon sustained the continued immutability of Christ. The council declaration was as followsTherefore, following the holy Fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same date of one substance with us as regards his manhood like us in all respects, apart from sin as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father to begin with the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the G od-bearer one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without transfigure, without division, without separation the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same son and Only-begotten God the account book, Lord Jesus Christ level(p) as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed d give to us.13The Chalcedonian Creed provided the church with a statement that Christ indeed possessed two distinct natures, both a human side and divine side and that he existed in one person in an unchangeable way.14Gottfried Thomasiuss view of kenosisIn the first part of the 19th century, when Ferdinand Baur became professor of theology at Germanys Tubingen Universit y, he following in the footsteps of G.W.F. Hegel began in earnest to attack the diachronic credibility of the New Testament and in particular the Gospel of John.15But after a series of textual and archeological finds, Adolf von Harnack, who himself once sympathized with Baur, rejected his assumptions stating in 1897 that, The assumptions of Baurs school, one can almost say, are now wholly abandoned.16This confrontation sparked by the rise of modern criticism produced many such debates and it serves to illustrate the theological climate within which Gottfried Thomasius and other German theologians wrote.Gottfried Thomasius was a Lutheran theologian who in the mid-eighteen hundreds, attempted to develop an acceptable Christology that could withstand the criticism of his day.17In an attempt to do so, he published his Christi Person und Werk. David right states,The first interlingual rendition of Christi Person und Werk appeared between 1853 and 1861. Because of the criticism leveled at the early volumes of the first edition, Thomasius began revisions for the second edition before all three volumes of the first edition had appeared. The second edition was published between 1856 and 1863. A third and abridged edition, edited after Thomasiuss expiry by F.J. Winter, was published between 1886 and 1888, but it is the second edition that is regarded as the mature and authoritative statement of Thomasisus kenotic Christology.18Subsequent publications showed Thomasiuss efforts to expound on his notion of kenosis. David Law states, In Beitrag Thomasius argued that the tensions within Lutheran Christology could be resolved only by reformulating the doctrine of the person of Christ in terms of a self-limitation of the Logos.19In warmheartedness this self-limitation is the idea behind Thomasiuss view of kenosis. Law gives a more defined description of this idea stating,It was above all Thomasiuss contribution to kenotic Christology that established him as a major theolo gian. The noun kenosis and the adjective kenotic are derived from the use of the term ekenosen in Phil. 27, where we read of Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself heauton ekenosen, taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness. On the basis of the use of the term ekenosen in this text, kenosis has come to be used as shorthand for a series of issues arising from the claim that Christ is both truly divine and truly human. How can divinity and humanity coexist in the one, united person of Christ without undermining the integrity of either nature? Kenotic christologies are those christologies which attempt to address this problem by arguing that Christ emptied himself of some aspect of his divine nature in order to become a human being.20The notion of Christ emptying himself of some aspect of the divine nature in an act of self-limitation has serious significance and questions t he immutability of God the Son.This comes into direct contradiction with the statement of Chalcedon in several key areas.First, Chalcedon established that the incarnation of Christ did not change, effect or diminish any attributes of deity Christ had before the incarnation. He is without change21. Secondly, Chalcedon affirmed the distinction of natures, being no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature, being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence.22The orthodox view is that the incarnation of Christ did not constitute a loss of any aspect of his divine nature, through the act of kenosis or any other such theory.Kenotic TheologyAlthough Thomasiuss influence and that of kenotic Christology in general gave way in Germany in the 1880s to Ritschlianism, kenotic Christology enjoyed a second flowering in Britain.23In the years following, interest would subside but then unexpectedly grow again as theologians once again reexamine the kenotic theory.In novel years there has been a renewed interest in kenotic Christology (see, for example, Evans, 2006). Any current attempt to formulate a coherent and viable kenotic Christology will remove to return to Thomasiuss work, above all to his Christi Person und Werk.24.In Christian Theology Millard Erickson gives his definition of kenoticism stating, The second Person of the Trinity laid aside his distinctly divine attributes (omnipotence, omnipresence, etc.), and took on human qualities instead.25In this view, Jesus is not God and man simultaneously, but successively. Kenoticism implies that Jesus is both God and man, just not at the same time.26Others have feeling to develop the position of kenoticism in not such an abrogated way. Instead they incorporate the idea into a more mild form of kenotic theology. In a review of Michael J. Gormans Inhabiting the Cruciform God Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Pauls Narrative Soteriology, Timothy G. Gombis of Cedarville University states,In chapter 1, Gorman develops Pauls master story that demonstrates the kenotic character of Jesus Christ and reveals the very identity operator of God as kenotic. He focuses on Phil 25-11 and argues, based on a thorough exegetical treatment of the passage, that the pattern although x not y but z reveals the tarradiddle trajectory of the kenosis of Jesus. By this, Gorman means although status not selfishness but selflessness (p.16). Jesus Christ had status as God himself but did not exploit this, using it for his own comfort of personal gain. Rather, he pursued several progressively degrading positions on a movement of downward mobility, going eventually to the publicly disastrous death on a cross (pp. 16-17). For Gorman, this passage is not properly understood to mean that Christ did this despite the fact that he was in the form of God. Rather, Christ pursued this path because he was in the form of God. In other words, and this is a crucial point for Gorman, Chr ists being in the form of God is most clearly seen in his self-emptying and self-expenditure (p. 25). In this sense, the very character of God is kenotic (self-emptying) and cruciform (cross-shaped).27In this passage, the reviewer (Gombis) notes that the author (Gorman) thinks the kenotic passages are not clearly understood. Noting this misrepresentation, he suggests a proper view of kenotic theology. Whether or not Gorman is true in his assumptions remains speculative however it does illustrate the contemporary effort to redefine the implications entire in kenotic theology.Classical TheologyThe more clear view of the person and nature of Christ are theologies based more on the Chalcedonian formula and are replete in the theological community. Some theologians have attempted to address the problem of formulating an acceptable understanding of the human and divine nature of Christ invariably keeping a wary eye upon the parameters of the orthodox or Chalcedonian understanding of th e incarnation. From the abstract of Robin Le Poidevins indistinguishability and the composite Christ an Incarnational delemma, the author states,One way of understanding the reduplicative formula Christ is, qua God, omniscient, but qua man, limited in knowledge is to take the occurrences of the qua locution as picking out different part of Christ a divine part and a human part. But this view of Christ as a composite being runs into paradox when unite with the orthodox understanding, adopting a philosophically and theologically contentious perdurantist account of persistence through time, or rejecting altogether the idea of the composite Christ.28Here the author points out a formula of Christology of the human and divine natures but at the same time, recognizes that it conflicts paradoxically with the Chalcedonian parameters of the incarnation. In this respect, many theologians still show deference to and recognize the greatness of the Chalcedonian councils definitive statement.The Chalcedonian parameters have been a staple in guiding theological thought for centuries. George P. Pardington, who was a well-esteemed professor of theology among the Christian Alliance, makes this clear. In his theology fuzee Outline Studies in Christian Doctrine, He deals with passages in Philippians 26,7 and other verses that show the nature of the preexistence of Christ and the incarnations, stating,These and other phrases express ineffable relationships within the Godhead, which we cannot comprehend. On Phil. 26 Thayers Greek Lexicon says Form (Greek, morphe) is that by which a person or thing strikes the vision, the external appearance. There is nothing in this passage, which teaches that the Eternal Word (John 11) emptied Himself of either His divine nature of His attributes, but only of the outward visible manifestation of the Godhead. He emptied, stripped Himself, of the insignia of Majesty (Lightfoot). When occasion demanded, He exercised His divine attributes (Moorehead ).29Pardingtons view of the kenotic passages in no way contradicts the Chalcedonian parameters since Christ did not give up any of his divine nature or attributes.Contemporary DebateRoger Olsen has tell that the differing opinions among evangelistics. He states,Kenotic Christology-emphasizing the need to take with utmost seriousness Jesus true humanity, including limited consciousness- has made significant inroads among evangelicals, while other evangelical theologians have resisted and criticized it.30Olsen continues to secernate what he characterizes as a very heated debate among more progressive and conservative Evangelicals stating, As recently as the mid-1990s heresy charges were thrown by conservative evangelicals at more moderate and progressive ones who dared to use the kenotic motif in writing about the incarnation.31Theologians who reaffirm the Chalcedon formula would be Bernard Ramm and Carl Henry.32Examples of some who are more outspoken against kenoticism would be Tho mas V, Morris, Donald Bloesch, Millard Erickson and Stanley Grenz.33While Grenz is somewhat critical of kenotic theology, he nevertheless does not espouse the traditional Chalcedon formula either.34Olsen states,Two evangelical theologians who have attempted to push the frontiers of Christology are Clark Pinnock and Stanley Grenz. Both affirm that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly human, but they are disgruntled with the authoritative expression of that belief in Chalcedonian Christology (hypostatic union). They are not so much interested in rejecting it as in supplementing it with new and more helpful thought forms. People today, they argue, are not as tuned as ancient people were to the substance ontologies of Greek metaphysics, and the times call for a new expression of the doctrine of Jesus Christs humanity and divinity.35While the purpose of this paper is not to critique the various forms of Christology espoused by many theologians among the ranks of evangelicals (and they a re many), it is however concerned with the sheer Chalcedonian formula of the incarnation, and whether or not kenotic theology adheres to it and why this is important.While there are those who strongly support the Chalcedonian formula, there are others who feel that it is flawed. Roger Olsen notes that both Clark Pinnock and Stanley Grenz are dissatisfied with the classical expression of that belief in Chalcedonian Christology (hypostatic union).36He once again points to the work of Stanley Grenz to illustrate this stating,Grenz argues in Theology for the Community of God ( gee Rapids Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000) that classical Incarnational Christology falls short biblically and logically and revises it using the eschatological ontology (the future as the locus of being) of German theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg. According to Grenz, Jesus Christ is the Logos, who is not to be thought of as preexisting and then descending into human history but as revealing God and therefore belonging to the eternity of God by virtue of his resurrection.37Emphasis is Olsens.Olsen continues with his critique of Grenz showing how it is at variance with classical Christology. This is where the debate becomes relevant to this research with respect to the Chalcedonian formula. Olsen states,The main difference between this Christology and classical Christology Chalcedonian lies in its denial of a logos asarkos discarnate or preincarnate Logos or Son of God. For Grenz, Jesus Christ is the Logos, the second person of the Trinity. Whatever tensions or problems may exist in Pinnocks and Grenzs Christology, they are not so much revisions of the hypostatic union as restatements of the basic Christological vision in new terms.38The abandoning of the basic tenants of the Chalcedonian formula present some extreme difficulties, particularly in light of the doctrine of the Preexistence of Christ which was affirmed at Chalcedon.One of the issues in regard to the nature of Christ concer ns his Consciousness. When did Christ come to the realization of who he was? Theologians like Myer Pearlman were more content to leave this question open stating, Just exactly when and how this self-consciousness came must remain a mystery to us. When we think of God coming to us in the form of a man we must reverently exclaim, Great is the mystery of piety39Erickson would say, There were within his person dimensions of experience, knowledge and love not found in human beings. We must recognize that in dealing with Christ, he was more than just a man. He had and maintained all the qualities of a divine nature and a sinless human nature as well.40Another important issue that must be addressed is that the hypostatic union is permanent and everlasting. What Christ became in the incarnation is what he shall remain eternally (Heb 217, 724).41This is a problem for the kenotic view of Christ since that in the kenotic view, according to Erickson.42Jesus is both God and man, just not at the same time. This would imply a doing outdoor(a) with what Jesus became in the incarnation after his ascension and glorification.ConclusionThe question that this research is concerned with may be answered by saying that Gottfried Thomasiuss original view of kenosis is not completely consistent with the formula of Chalcedon and did not adequately comply with the orthodox principles of the incarnation.SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYBettenson, Henry. Documents of the Christian Church ed. Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder Oxford Oxford University Press, 1999.Byfield, Ted. ed., The Christians Their First Two guanine Years Edmonton Christian Millennial History Project, 2002.Erickson, Millard J., Christian Theology Grand Rapids Baker Academic, 1998.Geisler, Norman L. When Skeptics Ask a handbook on Christian Evidences Grand Rapids Baker Publishing, 2008.Gombis, Timothy G. in review of Inhabiting the Cruciform God Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Pauls Narrative Soteriology, Journal of the Ev angelical Theological Society Vol. 52, Is. 4 2009, p. 866.Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity vol.1, The earlyish Church to the Dawn of the Reformation New York Harper Collins, 1984.Hall, J.H., Chalcedon, Council of (451), in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell Grand Rapids Baker Academic, 2009.Law, David R. Gottfried Thomasius (1802-1875) in The Blackwell Companion to the Theologians Volume 2, ed. Ian S. Markham Malden Blackwell Publishing, 2009.Le Poidevin, Robin. Identity and the composite Christ an Incarnational dilemma, in Religious Studies, Cambridge Vol. 45, Is. 2 2009, p. 167.McQuilkin, Robertson. Understanding and Applying the Bible Chicago Moody Press, 1992.Mitchell, Daniel R. The Unity of the Person of Christ, Class lecture, Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, April 15, 2010.Olsen, Roger E. The Westminster handbook to Evangelical Theology Louisville Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.Pardington, George P. Outline Studies in Christian Doctri ne Harrisburg Christian Publications, 1926.Pearlman, Myer. Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible Springfield Gospel Publishing, 1981.

The Rise in Penal Populism | Dissertation

The Rise in Penal Populism Dissertation sneakSince the mid- mid-s fifty-fifty soties onward, the vast majority of western sandwich countries bring in experienced a signifi foott confident(p) perpetual rise in their imprisonment pass judgment, leading to the problem of overcrowded prisons. We examine the extent to which the enslavement holler of to a greater extent newfangled societies give the axe be attri thated to the phenomenon of punish commensurate populism.Specific altogethery, we argue that some short-lived actual umbrage waves during the late mid-seventies and mid-eighties may remove ab initio generated a small amount of rational punishable populist sen beatnt among the earth, it is the strong divisions within the very much than than and more heterogeneous common land ( both(prenominal) governmentally and ethnically), the central government, and the humankind media industry of legion(predicate) elected graduate(prenominal)ly- certain states which put on ultimately sustained the exploitation of both penal populism and prison commonwealth sum ups.Furthermore, we focus on the types of nuisance that atomic second 18 most usually targeted by strong penal populist sentiments in the domain and miserable justice system, and suggest that all much(prenominal)(prenominal) categories of disgust can be fundamentally tie beamed to the ethnic purification of children which has taken place in virtually all Western societies during the latter half of the ordinal century. Finally, we assure the constrainations of penal populism, referring to those few post-industrial states w present such populist penalness has been largely resisted, and postulate what the end-stage consequences of a penal populist movement spanning over the past three decades be likely to be.1. IntroductionThe term penal populism de n anes a punitive phenomenon that has execute caliberistic of many neo industrial societies, especially within West ern complimentary democracies since the late twentieth century onward, whereby anti- umbrage political call d averure groups, talk-back radio hosts, victims rights activists or lobbyists, and others who claim to re flummox the ordinary public comport increasingly demanded of their governments that harsher policies and punishments be enforced by the relevant organs of the criminal justice system (e.g. law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, legislators, etc.) in order to combat the perceived rise in serious annoyance place (Pratt, two hundred6).One direct consequence of the increasingly severe tough on discourtesy measures such as Life performer Life, Three Strikes, and Zero Tolerance policies exercised in many scotchally advanced countries from the mid-1970s onward has been an unprecedented rapid rise in the incarceration rates of these respective nations, leading to the problem of overcrowded prisons.The United States epitomises the tempo of the fresh adjustment in nati onal imprisonment rates, and currently has the worst problem of prison overcrowding on a global scale. Indeed, American incarceration meter save increase fivefold betwixt 1973 and 1997(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p63). More recently, in 2004 the United States surpassed Russia in incarceration rates to become the world leader.With 2.2 million individuals inside (assuming a U.S. population of 290 million in 2004, that is an incarceration rate of approximately 759 adults in prison per 100,000 residents of the United States) and upwards of 7 million individuals either on parole, probation or awaiting trial, 1 in every 33 mass in the U.S. is currently under state comptroller and the number is growing(State-Wide Harm Reduction Coalition, 2005). Clearly, an indication of the general incarceration rise must be able to accurately explain its rapidity, extent, and endurance on a global scale.There be twain principal explanations for why such a large number of essential countries fetch experienced an incarceration boom over the past three decades. Both theoretical models assert that it is changes in penal policies increase sentencing practices, rather than simply significant increases in crime rates al whizz, which atomic number 18 the primary factor responsible for driving prison population growth, but on that point is considerable disparity in the midst of the two theories about the causes of penal insurance policy changes.One crime wave hypothesis posits that actual climb crime rates in many Western countries, including the vast expansion of do medicines crime during the late twentieth century, have issueed in a greater rational public demand for the criminal justice system to take more severe punitive measures against convicted dangerous criminals (i.e. those offenders who pose the highest threat to public safety and social order the criminal offenders most commonly targeted by penal populism in modern societies shall be considered in detail below), s uch as a more frequent use of incarceration with longer custodial sentences.In contrast, the help political opportunism hypothesis suggests that many majority government parties have intentionally overstated the size and severity of the national crime problem in order to heighten public fears or instil moral panic over perceived (as opposed to actual) rising crime rates, which are merely a political artefact, and subsequently utilise harsher crime ascendancy policies to win electoral favour (Caplow and Simon, 1999).Importantly, irrespective of which mechanism has in actual fact been operating crosswise numerous advanced industrial states, and has led to the observed excessive growth in prison population sizes, both explanatory models can clearly be regarded as strongly related to the presence of penal populism. The dilettanteal difference between the two theories is whether the main master key source of those penal populist sentiments can be accurately considered to be the publ ic or the state, or both.According to the first model, which may be described as the public-induced penal populism hypothesis, it has been the persistent public demand for the government to impose harsher punitive measures on convicted criminals which has primarily caused the fast-paced escalation of incarceration numbers racket in many modern nations. In other discourses, the criminal justice systems in these countries have largely been exercising a regime of penal excess because constant pressure from a large sector of the public (in response to an actual rise in crime rates) has compelled them to do so.In comparison, the second model, which we may refer to as the state-induced penal populism hypothesis, postulates that within many Western countries the government parties in power have ofttimes created and sustained an artificial come outance of rising crime rates in order to instil widesp memorise public anxiety. Subsequently, the majority government (and individual politicians ) can be observed by the public to be apparently controlling the perceived illusory crime problem, such as through adopting and enforcing tough on crime measures, and thereby attain public popularity to secure their partys (or their own) success in the following(a) general election.The second model hike up suggests that the government is non the only state institution in demonstrable nations which benefits from overstating the scale of the dangerous crime threat, but that there are also large rewards for popular media outlets or news companies leading to do so. It is argued by many criminologists that within almost all democratic Western countries, the central government and the popular media, which are both fragmented into multiple competing partys or companies, are highly dependent on addressing and reporting criminal activity that specifically victimises ordinary people in order to retain electoral votes and public ratings, respectively.Hence, the state-induced penal popul ism hypothesis proposes that politicians and media outlets lead rather than merely follow or passively represent the public opinion the public only guards or appears to demand the governments harsher punitive policy strategies because the aforesaid(prenominal) national government and popular media industry (as two sizeable state institutions) have manufactured a compelling false mountain range of predominate serious crime which has in calm downed strong penal populist sentiments in a large remainder of that public.The central aim of the following examination is to regulate which of these two distinctive theoretical positions is most likely to be correct. It is of course possible that the public-induced penal populism mechanism primarily operates in one developed nation, darn in another Western country it may be the state-driven penal populism process that is predominant.However, to the extent that the relatively recent phenomenon of globalisation has resulted in many common e conomic, social, political, and heathenish practices cosmos widely adopted by a number of modern industrial states, one may plausibly expect a similar (if not identical) mechanism of generating penal populism to be present in the developed nations bear on by prison population growth, especially with regard to the United States and Western Europe.At the outset, we may hypothesise that although some short-lived real increases in Western crime rates during the late 1970s and 1980s may have initially triggered some rational penal populist sentiments among the public of these modern societies, it has been the combined interaction of both political opportunism and media opportunism which has acted as a powerful vehicle in numerous modern societies for distorting the publics common view of the national crime problem, and ultimately for sustaining the growth of both penal populism plus prison populations, regardless of how those crime rates may have subsequently changed (and in most deve loped countries they have steadily declined).One fundamental peculiarity of the modern incarceration surge over the past three decades that is observed in virtually all countries guessed by rapid prison growth is the significant proportion of these prison populations that has become comprised of racial minorities, including both of resident ethnic groups and of non-citizen illegal immigrants. As one study (ODonnell, 2004, p262) remarks, one factor that accounts for rising prison populations across Europe is the incarceration of foreigners. It is likely that prison accommodation in the Republic of Ireland will be used to charter growing numbers of failed asylum observekers, at to the lowest degree pending deportation.It is also inevitable that the composition of the prison population will change as members of minority groups begin to appear before the courts on criminal charges. In terms of the racial minorities imprisonment trend in the United States, Caplow and Simon (1999, p6 6) assert that it is undeniable that the incarcerated population is disproportionately sedate of minorities (especially African Americans and Hispanics), and that the disproportion has increased during the check of rising imprisonmentThe period of rapid growth in incarceration rates has seen a significant increase in the proportion of minorities in the inmate population, especially among do drugs offenders, the fastest growing segment of that prison population.As is the case with most Western European countries, the United States prison sector has also experienced a mass round up of illegal immigrants or non-citizens during the uttermost three decades, who in 2003 made up 40% of federal prisoners (State-Wide Harm Reduction Coalition, 2005). Ultimately, therefore, it is apparent that the incarceration boom in many developed countries has primarily affected various racial minority populations present within these nations. It is the cumulative incarceration of racial minorities that is significantly responsible for the prison overcrowding problem commonly observed.Thus, one crucial question that we must address in the following study is what has caused (and continues to cause) the increased imprisonment of racial minority populations, relative to the incarceration rate of the racial majority host population (typically white), within the modern industrial societies affected by prison overcrowding? Specifically, we shall seek to determine whether pervasive penal racism, indicated by a greater tendency in developed nations for both the law enforcement system to arrest and subsequently for the criminal justice system to imprison ethnic or non-white defendants compared with white ones who have committed the same offence, is sufficient to explain the large racial contrastiveials observed in incarceration rates, or not. The methodology of the following study consists entirely of literature- groundworkd question and analysis.2. The Origins of Penal Populism true Cr ime Waves versus Political and Media OpportunismIt is widely acknowledged that the prevalent public sentiment in many developed countries to get tough with criminals has played a central role in catalysing the incarceration surge which has occurred in these nations since the mid-1970s onward, an influential social movement that is referred to as penal populism.Furthermore, whether one regards the source of that penal populism as stemming from a rational public response to actual rising crime rates or, conversely, as triggered by public exposure to political and media manipulation, the measured distinctiveness of the publics demand on their respective democratic governments to impose harsher punitive measures on convicted criminals has remained systematically high over the thirty division period of vast growth in incarceration numbers.For example, with regard to the United States, one study notes that the time serial publication of public responses to the survey question of whethe r courts are too lenient has remained highly stable since 1972 (Caplow and Simon, 1999). The significant temporal correlation in many modern industrial states between the onset of strong public trust since roughly the mid-1970s for more stringent crime policies and the period of rapid prison population growth is a clear indication of the vital part that penal populist sentiments have played in causing prison overcrowding.One may plausibly argue that the strong growth of penal populist sentiments in most advanced industrial societies over the past three decades has been initially generated by temporary real increases in crime (including the rapid expansion of a drug-crime economy during the 1980s) and sustained by an increased reliance of governments on implementing harsher crime control measures (rather than more effective social welfare policies) to gain public underpin plus secure electoral favour.Accordingly, we intend to demonstrate that penal populism in developed nations i s a product of both short-lived actual crime waves and manipulative political opportunism. Indeed, one would theoretically expect the two factors operating in conjunction to result in a significantly larger escalation in incarceration rates (as is in fact observed) than would occur if only one of these forces was present in isolation.As one study has observed, tough on crime policies elevate prison population increases only to the degree that offenders are getable to be imprisoned (Zimring and Hawkins, 1991). Conversely, an increase in crime rates would also not realise a corresponding increase in imprisonment rates unless some suitably punitive crime control measures were in place.During the last thirty days there has also certainly occurred in many Western countries a greater dependence of competing popular media companies, both television and the press, on selectively reporting dangerous (i.e. worse than normal) crime on an almost daily basis, simply in order to maintain or i ncrease viewer and reader ratings. By portraying the national crime problem as more severe and more prevalent than in reality, individual popular media outlets (e.g. tabloid newspapers) in developed nations have become more appealing to public viewers than their quality media counterparts (e.g. broadsheet newspapers) who often object to distorting or manipulating the reporting of crime news.Since the late twentieth century onward, crime news has become a fundamental component of the publics staple diet. As Pratt (2007, p68) suggests, the reporting of crime is inherently able to shock and entertain, sustaining public appeal and interest, selling newspapers and increasing television interviews. Furthermore, the way in which crime is used to achieve these ends is by selective rather than citywide reportingHowever, it is not only that crime reporting has quantitatively increased there have also been qualitative changes in its reporting it is prone to focus more extensively on violent a nd agitateual crime than in the pastThese qualitative and quantitative changes in crime reporting can be attributed to the growing multifariousness of news sources and media outletsAs a consequence, both television and the press have to be much more competitive than used to be the case.Their programmes have to be packaged in such a way that they become more attractive to viewers than those of their rivals and competitors. Evidently, springtimen that it is typically the most popular newspapers (such as the tabloid press in Britain) which feature the greatest number and severity of crime stories, it esteems that the most common representations of crime, portrayed in the form of randomised, unpredictable and violent attacks ineluctably committed by strangers on ordinary people, r severally the greatest interview(Pratt, 2007, p70).Thus, it is clear that within modern society the possible benefits to popular media outlets from inaccurately amplifying the danger plus scale of natio nal crime in the publics perception are equally as large as the rewards for politicians willing to do so. With regard to addressing the (largely fabricated) immediacy of the criminal activity problem, therefore, media opportunism and political opportunism are proximately linked in virtually all post-industrial countries where penal populist currents are strongly established.As well as magnifying the size of the dangerous crime problem, the popular media in many Western countries further continually seeks to neutralize the current sentencing practices of the criminal justice system, regardless of how harsh they have become over the past three decades. In the same way that the crime stories account by the popular media are scarcely representative of the actual nature of everyday crime within developed nations, the court stories followed are rarely informatory of everyday sentencing practices.According to Pratt (2007), that media misrepresentation then reinforces the common public o pinion that courts are too lenient, even though they have become significantly more punitive, in addition to fuelling the widely held public sentiment that the crime rate is constantly escalating when recent statistics indicate that crime is in fact steadily declining in most modern societies. Thus, in its reporting style, crime analysis by the Western popular media has become personalised rather than statisticalised, since1) it prioritises the experiences of ordinary people (especially crime victims) over expert opinions2) News reports are more prone to focus on the occasional failings of criminal justice officials as opposed to their many successes. Indeed, in the vast majority of modern societies, the citation of criminal statistics has become a code for softness on crime and callousness towards its victims(Pratt, 2007, p88), which simply provides the popular media with further sphere to legitimately overstate the scale and severity of everyday crime in developed states. For the se reasons, the media outlets in many Western countries have played a significant role in facilitating the continual growth of penal populist sentiments among the public.3. The Transient Growth of a Drug-Crime Economy in Developed CountriesIt is highly tending(p) that the vast expansion in drug crime within many Western nations during the late 1970s and 1980s coincided precisely with the onset of rapidly escalating incarceration rates in these same countries. As is asserted, the growth in nondrug crime has simply not been sufficient to sustain the rapid growth of imprisonment. By the 1970s there was already an active socialization of drug use and networks of drug importation/sales in the United States, but their economic importance increased in the 1980s due to new products and distribution strategies, especially for crack cocaine. That transformation in the marketing of illegal drugs coincided with political finiss to intensify the punishments for drug crimes. The result was an enlargement of the population available for criminal justice processing(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p71).It is crucial to acknowledge, therefore, that in any modern industrial society there is not a rudimentary causal link between a greater public propensity for severity in criminal sanctions and a sustained growth in incarceration numbers other conditions must be present. Specifically, a key condition is a large pool of offenders available to be imprisoned(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p93). Although there had also been documented transient increases in the number of offenders committing nondrug crimes such as violent crime, property crime (larceny), and rouse crime in modern societies during the 1980s, these numbers tended to fluctuate in cycles over time, and could not account for the continual rise in incarceration rates observed.In contrast, the number of drug crime offences had remained consistently high throughout the 1980s in virtually all developed countries that have experienced a n incarceration boom. However, in most Western nations the total drug crime rate then started to steadily decline during the 1990s largely due to the much harsher punishments being imposed on drug crime offenders (both petit larceny and serious) by the criminal justice systems in these states.One valid explanation for the persistently high rate of drug crime during the 1980s is the economic base principle. Specifically, while the average monetary yield of larceny, violence and sex offences is very low, drug crime represents one of the only categories of felony where the potential financial returns are highly high, and that provides a strong economic incentive for individuals living in poverty. Hence, drug smuggling and trafficking are the only illegal activities capable of providing a solid economic base for a large criminal population in modern society. The initial cost of goods is low and law enforcement efforts sustain high retail prices, thereby ensuring large profit margins (Re uter and Kleiman, 1986).Since the 1980s, drug crime has certainly been targeted by penal populist sentiments in many Western countries affected by a public expectation for greater punitiveness, largely irrespective of how the drug crime rate has subsequently changed in these developed nations, but it is evidently not the only course of instruction of felony that has become a common target of penal populism. Sex offences (especially against children), violent or abusive crimes (once again, even more so when the victims are children), and youth crime are three other important types of crime that in late modern capitalist states have characteristically become subjected to a public desire for penal excess. We shall examine in detail at a later stage below what these specific four categories of crime have in common and why they are such typical targets of penal populist sentiments in developed liberal societies.4. The Increased Dependence of Governments on Crime Control as a Source of P opular CredibilityThe rapid proliferation of drug crime in many Western countries during the late 1970s and 1980s was accompanied by a great loss of public confidence in the social welfare programs implemented in these same nations. As Pratt (2007, p95) asserts, the visible presence of drug addicts in these countries had become a symbol of misplaced welfarism and tolerance, now believed to be corroding their economic and social fabrics. Furthermore, the short-lived growth of general crime waves in many modern societies during the late twentieth century led to a significant decline of public assurance in the competence of their respective governments to control the state.As one study remarks, the international crime waves of the mid-sixties and 1970s helped diminish the prestige of national governments all over the industrial world, by life history into question their capacity to maintain social order. The increase of crime rates at a time of increasing government efforts to help th e poor undermined many of the traditional arguments for welfare, and helped confirm the view of many conservatives that efforts to help the poor only made circumstances worse by eliminating incentives for self improvement(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p88).It is difficult to determine whether the crime wave was caused by expansions in welfare programs or merely coincided with them. The main point is that in addition to the direct relationship between high rates of crime and demands for punitive governmental responses, the crime wave may have indirectly diminished the prestige of and public demand for welfare-oriented government (Caplow and Simon, 1999).Thus, it is argued that during the 1980s many Western governments shifted the priority of their domestic agendas away from welfare policies toward crime control policies. Initially, it was most often right wing conservative politicians that promoted tough on crime punitive measures, making crime a political issue and gaining public support. However, Lappi-Seppl (2002, p92) suggests that mainstream opposition (i.e. left wing) parties are then forced into advocating punitive policies as well, because although these left wing parties want to distance themselves from the populist programmes of the right wing movements, there is one area where they do not like to take issue the requirement of being tough on crime.No party seems to be willing to accuse another of exaggeration when it comes to measures against criminality. Being soft on crime is an accusation that no governmental party wants to accept. And it is that fear of being softer than ones political opponents which tends to drive politicians, in the end, to the extremes of penal excess. It is plausible to argue, therefore, that constant emulation between opposing governmental factions for public favour in liberal democracies has created an punitive arms race of political opportunism, whereby each party is compelled to promote plus (when in power) implement increas ingly more radical punitive policies irrespective of the actual level of crime that the country is experiencing in order to avoid appearing weak on crime and consequently losing valuable electoral votes to their political opponents who are prepared to be more severe on criminals.Clearly, such an expedient punitive arms race occurring within the governments of developed nations would lead to an exponential increase in the prison population numbers of these countries, and ultimately to prison overcrowding. That political mechanism may at least partly explain why so many Western countries which have experienced a large settle in crime rates since the mid-1990s and into the early twenty-first century have still reported a rising prison population.For example, Pratt (2006, p1) observes that since 1999 Labour led conjunction governments in New Zealand have strongly adhered to Britains New Labour approach to crime and punishment, even using the famous phrase tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime in its election manifestoes of 2002 and 2005. As a consequence, while New Zealands recorded crime rate has dropped by 25% in the last ten years, its imprisonment rate has increased to 189 per 100,000, one of the highest of Western countries.Yet it is not only the divisions (i.e. in terms of competing parties) within Western democratic governments that have catalysed the increased political focus on crime control, but also the growing number of divisions among the public itself. Indeed, modern society in many developed nations (such as the United Kingdom and the United States) has become increasingly heterogeneous since the late twentieth century, and consequently the number of bases of division within these societies has expanded.For example, the members of a divers(prenominal) post-industrial society are not only partitioned along the traditional parameter of social class, but are also strongly divided by a number of dichotomous value- ground issues that are ch aracteristic of post-materialist politics such as abortion, gay rights, animal rights (e.g. fox hunting), mass immigration, school prayer, and capital punishment where it still exists (Caplow and Simon, 1999). These value- or individuality-based issues are intensely contested over in modern societies by well-organised pressure groups on either side of the bipolar political spectrum. These issues are bipolar or dichotomous in the sense that they are non-negotiable with no middle ground one either supports abortion rights or one opposes them.Hence, public division on these post-materialist issues is inevitable. One important consequence of the heterogeneous publics of Western countries becoming divided by such a multitude of value conflicts during the 1970s onward is that government parties had difficulty finding any issues to build successful election campaigns on that would appeal to a vast majority of the public. Harsher crime control appeared to be a clear choice as a singular is sue that large dents of the modern public are united in consensus on. As is stated, Unlike most values issues on the left or right, crime control seems to cut across the political spectrumPoliticians seeking to build viable majorities inevitably turn to the few issues that can bring people together in the new political landscapeThat is why election campaigns continue to focus on crime and punishment issues even when opposing candidates agree in their support of punitive anticrime measures.Faced with voters who split on so many issues and who are profoundly distrustful about the ability of government to improve their lives through welfare-oriented interventions, the mode of governing that commands the broadest support punitiveness toward criminal offenders is understandably valued by governments(Caplow and Simon, 1999, p83). Ultimately, therefore, while short-lived actual increases in crime rates during the late 1970s and 1980s may have initially triggered the rise in imprisonme nt rates in a number of developed countries, political opportunism (in the sense of governments capitalising on populist punitiveness) has arguably sustained the incarceration boom in virtually all Western nations affected by prison overcrowding, regardless of how those crime rates may have subsequently changed.5. The Target Crimes of Penal PopulismThere is a high degree of consonance across all Western nations that have experienced an incarceration surge over the past three decades in the types of crime that are most commonly subjected to strong public demand for harsh punitive sanctions. Generally, the four most frequent felony targets of penal populism areDrug crimeSex offences, especially when the victims are childrenChild abuse (physical, sexual, or psychological), andYouth crime.Correspondingly, these have also been some of the fastest growing segments of prison and boot camp populations in many developed countries during recent years. One fundamental property that the above four categories of crime have in common is that children are extremely vulnerable to the effects of all of them. We may validly question why children have come to occupy such a central place in the penal populist sentiments of modern industrial societies.Pratt (2007, p96) remarks that crime control policy driven by penal populism targets others, not ordinary, normal peopleGiven the nature of populism, we should expect that crime control policy will gravitate towards easy and familiar targets, for whom there is likely to be the least public sympathy, the most social distance and the fewest authoritative voices (if any) to speak on their behalf thoEffects of Watching scoopful Operas ResearchEffects of Watching Soap Operas ResearchShaping Minds The Soap Opera and the Power of RepresentationAbstractIn this thesis I aim to identify what the two-year-older British public find engaging about Soap Operas, and to identify some of the processes at work during viewing, which might alter or enhance the ways in which we see the world. Focusing specifically on the relationship between popular media and the attitudes of vernal people towards sex and social class, interrogation addresses the power of media representation, the use of role models, and how popular media encourages the viewer to make social distinctions and reinforces our bringing close togethers of classification. My research examines the do work of popular programmes, such as Sex and the City, and Australian and British Soap Operas, and throughout the thesis I refer to the theoretical approaches of Bourdieu and Michel Foucault, where I discuss the paradoxes latent in both the logic and language that people generally perceive to be stable and fundamental to social order. I also consider systems of classification and how the act of perceiving the boldness and existence of such distinctions creates them. Conclusions drawn suggest that people consider muck viewing to be more dangerous in hindsight, wherea s younger people do not recognise, or are less willing to recognise the inherent influences of soap story lines. Research does conclude that most people do consider soap operas to present an unrealistic portrayal of family life and relationships.IntroductionBefore the seventies a relatively small and largely irrelevant body of research existed that was solely based around soap operas, and it was only at that point when soaps began to assume a position as a topic of interest (LaGuardia 1974, 1977 Stedman 1971 Weibel 1977. In Blumenthal, p.43), as well as an area worthy of academic research (Katzman 1972 McAdown 1974 Newcomb 1974. Ibid). As Blumenthal openly writes there were those who simply were against them, or found them silly. (Blumenthal, p.43). The context for this research formed out of a perceived gap in current research topics between the effects of media on children and adults, with relatively few projects being based solely upon teenagers and young people. As noted by Hawk et al (2006) much public and scientific concern has been expressed regarding the influence of sex in the mainstream media on childrens sexual development, such as Greenfield, 2004. However, fewer studies have studied in depth the relationships between adolescents viewing of sexual content in the media and their own sexual behaviours and attitudes, and of those studies which do exist many are subject to severe limitations such as small samples, and narrow focus on a iodine type of sexual outcome, such as incidence of intercourse (Peterson et al., 1991. In Hawk et al, 2006 352). An important consideration for the topic of this research also rested upon the sacrament that it is less common for research into sexual attitudes to be combined with attitudes towards social class the decision to marry these two topics derived from the consideration that British soap operas more often represent the working class, whereas Australian soap operas mostly refer to middle class families. It was therefore an interesting research proposition to consider whether attitudes towards sex and class are being put to workd by the type of target audience that these programmes are being aimed at. Although the present study does not focus on the extent to which women only are influenced by viewing soap operas, it does recognise that a large body of research exists on women and soap operas, and that more reusable responses might be given by women respondents.MethodologyIn considering the methodology for this project it was decided that in order to achieve a more umbrella collection of data with specific personal reactions to media that primary data in the forms of questionnaires and interviews should be used, rather than basing the thesis purely on secondary textual and resourcefulness analyses. As some critics suggest, textual analysis cannot always enlighten us as to what goes on in the minds of viewers and often relies upon inference and speculation (Dow, 1996). inessential materials used for this project also include journals, articles, and books which have attempted to define the relationship between viewers and popular media. Results and findings are discussed using the research of theorists such as Adorno and Fiske this was decided in order to encompass opinions which span a broad spectrum of relevant ideas, and are useful for how they illustrate the contrasts present in media research.ParticipantsParticipants who make full in only questionnaires were obtained by contacting high schools and middle schools, mostly in urban areas, that agreed to participate in data collection. Fifteen schools (who had their own colleges for 17-19 year olds) were initially randomly selected and contacted, 10 of which agreed to participate. As this project did not aim to highlight how attitudes might vary between age and race the identity and nationalities of respondents were not obtained. This was also decided upon because the blind questionnaire offered school pupi ls more scope to provide false answers, especially concerning age and gender. In total there were 200 pupil responses with ages ranging from 12 to 18. As part of gathering primary data slightly contrasting form of questionnaire (see Appendix Two) was presented to a random selection of young adults. This sample was achieved by approaching people on the street in a local town during rush hour. The only criteria that the second lot of respondents had to march was that they were aged 30 or under this was to ensure that recall of their watching soap operas during their teens would be more likely to be more accurate. Furthermore, this age limit was necessary considering the ages of the programmes themselves, many of which have been running approximately 20 years or less. In the random sample interview it was possible to make a note of gendered responsesQuestionnaire and Interview DesignIn the interviewing techniques selected for this project it was decided to use a combination of singl e and multiple choice options and include questions which encouraged respondents to give subjective views and opinions. Contact with sexual and class content in the mainstream media, as represented through the viewing of soap operas and popular programmes, was measured by intercommunicate respondents on a four point scale the degree to which they felt that their favourite programme had influenced their ideas concerning these issues. In order to account for the differences in age between the two sets of respondents it was decided that when questioning the elder set that questions should include a retrospective option. For example, when questioning people about the influence of soaps on their opinions the question would read Would you say that watching this programme has or might have done so in the past altered your understanding of sexual relationships?Chapter One publications ReviewThe Meaning and Origins of Popular CultureOver the last few decades culture has become frequently used to denote changing tastes and popularity in taste perception of interests such as music, art, theatre. As noted by Peter Goodall the word culture is consistently made use of by journalists and politicians, and especially by people studying within the Humanities (Goodall, 1995). The same author also notes that the word culture has become an increasingly empty term more frequently it is used, the more regularly it seems to need another word to prop it up and define its field of reference. (Goodall, 1995 xii). Take, for example, the term police culture, says Goodall, and the term welfare culture does the word promise to mean more because these areas of society actually have little in common with one another? In both contexts the word promises much .. but delivers little it poses as a noun but it is really an adjective where culture means little more than group behaviour, practice or divided up assumptions. (Ibid).The phenomenon of popular culture and the ease with which it has s pread across the Western world, owes much to the existence of television, radio, and, more recently, the Internet. It was the Queens Coronation that begun the television age, with half the adult population watching the ceremony on TV sets and most of these people not owning their own television at the time (Karwowski 2002 281). Statistics show that in 1951, the only available BBC channel had just 600,000 viewers, and that by the end of the century, watching TV was the most popular leisure activity with 94 per cent of homes having at least one colour TV and 66 per cent a video cassette recorder (Ibid). Karwowski highlights the following televised programmes as being central to the historical analysis of popular culturethe Queens CoronationThe Goon Show from June 1952 to January 1960, described as a surreal form of humour that lampooned all forms of pomposity and hypocrisy. (Karwowski 2002 281).Situation comedies such as Till Death Us Do Part60s TV comedies, such as That Was The We ek That Was and Monty Pythons Flying CircusIndependent TV (ITV) began broadcasting in 1955. The number of TV channels grew to three with the start-up of BBC 2 in 1964, to four with Channel 4 in 1982, and five with Channel 5 in 1997, while colour TV was available from 1968.British Costume Drama, portraying English novelists such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Evelyn WaughEducational documentaries such as Sir Kenneth Clarks Civilisation (1969), Dr Jacob Bronowskis The Ascent of gay (1973) and Sir David Attenboroughs Life on Earth (1979)Walking with DinosaursChildrens programmes, such as Moles Christmas and the BBCs Teletubbies to more than 125. Quiz programmes such as the BBCsQuiz shows, such as The Weakest Link, and detective series such as Inspector Morse, currently being seen in 211 countries.However, KarwowskI observes that all these genres become mere niche markets when compared to the soap opera, which has around a third of the nation addicted to its multifarious reflect ions. (2005 282). In the UK, the most popular soap is Coronation driveway, longest running since 1960, is as popular in Canada and New Zealand, with the Coronation Street web site having more hits from Canada than anywhere else. (Ibid).What we see in soap operas is often designed to provoke an empathic response in the mind of the viewer. Soap viewing can offer very contrasting experiences sometimes alienating or even shocking the viewer, and other times offering emotional support and guidance concerning difficult issues. It is perhaps this mixed bag effect of soap viewing when a person is never sure what content will shape their viewing experience that make soap viewing so popular. Media theory questions how knowledge is received and understood by the audience. Charlotte Brunsdon once said that the pursuit of the audience can be characterized as a search for authenticity, for an anchoring moment in a sea of signification (1990, p.68). The interpretations of the complex relations hip between the viewer and the viewed have been controversial and often, contrasting for example, Theodor Adorno believed that the influence held over the public by mass media was potentially harmful and brainwashing, whereas John Fiske wrote that work should focus on viewers interpretation of what they saw that the viewer had autonomy over the extent to which they would absorb and articulate the information presented (Gauntlett, 2002). Fiske also used the term polysemy to refer to the potential for audiences to decrypt texts in varying ways (Fiske, 1986). Dow presents her idea that the viewer has almost complete autonomy over how they interpret what they see, saying thatThe most powerful claim of audience studies has been that real viewers often resist the dominant messages of television and interpret programming in ways that suit their own interests .. Intentional or not, such judgments cast the differences between approaches within the framework of a zero-sum game in which only one party can be right, making the other automatically wrong. (Dow, 1996 2)Dow also suggest that it is not possible to completely disassociate oneself from the object of criticism because of the cultural and social interests which are shared by both the critic and the creator of the media in question. Furthermore, criticism becomes less about discovering meaning in texts and becomes more of a performative activity that is about creating meaning.Sex and IdentityPart of the idea for this project was born out of the premise that there exists a strong link between ideas about sexual relationships and a young persons sense of identity. It is an aim of this project to explore the degree to which hindsight might affect a persons belief as to whether they have been influenced by what they have seen on soaps. Research has been conducted into the negative nature of representation in popular media especially into the use of models or ideal body types what Virginia Blum calls the yardstick o f the Other cleaning woman against which women measures their imperfections. For the twenty-first century Western woman, says Blum, who is always evaluating her appearance (intimately bound up with her identity) in relation to some standard that must be Other in order to function as a standard (Blum, 2005 27). Gauntlett cites research findings on women in prime time TV in the early nineties as being young, single, independent, and free from family and work place pressures (Elasmar, Hasegawa and Brain, 199933. In Gauntlett 2002, 59). Gauntlett goes on to suggests that the 1990s saw the use of inoffensive models of masculinity and femininity, which were generally acceptable to the majority of the public, and that this reflected producers beliefs that they no longer needed to challenge gender representations (Ibid). In the case of the situation comedy Friends the use of male and female models of represnetation were equal. As Gauntlett explainsThe three men (Ross, Chandler and Joey) f it slowly within conventional models of masculinity, but are given some characteristics of sensitivity and gentleness, and male-bonding, to make things slightly refreshing. Similarly, the three women (Rachel, Monica and Phoebe) are clearly feminine, whilst being sufficiently good for you(p) and non-housewifey to seem like acceptable characters for the 1990s. The six were also, of course, originally all characters with a good set of both male and female friendly relationships i.e. each other and the friendship circle was a refreshing modern replacement for the traditional family. (It was not long, of course, before they spoilt that by having Ross and Rachel, then more implausibly Monica and Chandler fall in love.) (Gauntlett, p.59)In most soaps there exists a core set of characters who form the firm basis of the on-screen reality. If these core characters were to change too often then the soap loses credibility, and becomes an unreal parallel of the world that it is trying to r epresent. It is important that themes such as sex and class are presented in a coherent and consistent way. As Gauntletts comment on Friends suggests this is sometimes not the case as the idea of quasi family is quashed by the sexual dynamics within the group, thus complicating the original idea.The Concept of TransformationIt is a premise of this project that women might be more likely to have experienced closer identification with soaps than men. Although it was beyond the scope of this project to direct an in-depth inquiry into this premise, the questionnaire nevertheless attempted to explore whether there was a gender divide, although this attempt was limited due to the size of the questionnaire. As academic and soap viewer, Danielle Blumenthal, is quoted as sayingSoap operas . . . a connection with other women, beloved to me my mother, grandmother, aunt, sister . . . a steady stream of modern folktales that symbolically link us together. Memories abound racing off the schoolbu s to catch the last ten minutes of General Hospital laughing with Grandma over the plotline antics of Days of Our Lives disturbing over the lives of characters I cared about endless feverish conversations with girlfriends, sister, aunt over who should do what, how, and with whom. (Blumenthal, 1997 3)In her publication on libber perspectives and soap operas, Blumenthal refers to soap opera viewing as a specific cultural activity questioning how much the activity is an empowering practiceor, praxisfor women to engage in. (Ibid, p.4). The term praxis, Marxist criticism has been defined as meaning conscious physical labor directed toward transforming the material world so it will satisfy human needs (Rothman 1989170. In Blumenthal, 19973). Blumenthal extends this interpretation to mean not only physical, but also mental labour, which transforms images and experience to meet human needs. (Ibid). The concept can also be interpreted as a belief that social objects do not simply exist out there in space, but are mediated through a continual process of interpretation and construction by the subjective and socially oriented mind. (Ibid). Girl Power, and themes which identify the strengths in womens attitudes are not limited to the sitcom or the soap opera, in fact they occur, to some degree, within just about every form of visual media and are mediated by the minds of the programmes creators to be received by the viewing public.The concept of transformation is prevalent in most media where women use their new image to take control of their lives and turn around situations. For example, Barbra Streisands 1996 film, The Mirror Has Two Faces, uses the idea of a before and after to provide tension and contrast within the film. In this film, the character Rose is transformed by losing weight and dying her hair this secures the physical adoration of her husband who espouse her for her inner self. While the film encourages viewers to identify with Barbara Streisand it a lso reinforces the ideal of transformation, where the heroine does not settle for less, but dares to achieve more. Rachel Moseley, in her publication on feminist cultural perspectives, fashion, and media, observes that within these Cinderella stories there exists a moment of increased visibility which provides a space for both the visual pleasure offered showcasing of the transformation, but also for the articulation of the anxiety and emotional resonance of coming out in relation to class, as well as gender. (Moseley, 2002 p.40). In British and Australian soaps the concept of transformation is readily embraced not least within the lives of individual characters, but within each episode itself so as to create a mini section of a greater storyline. The world of the soap opera is fluid and dynamic it moves along at a much faster rate than reality off-screen, with new ideas and events constituting change on many levels. Blumenthals ideas concerning the transformation of images is pa rticularly useful here as it might help to explain how the serial relationships of soap characters are interpreted by the viewer. In soaps, it is often the case that characters who are not married engage in a string of successive relationships, which sets an unreal precedent to viewers, especially younger viewers. Media critic Mary-Lou Galician, in her publication Sex, Love Romance in the Mass Media lists twelve false premises which are regularly promoted within, and associated with, mass media all of which she defines as myths and stereotypes (2004 p.x)Your perfect partner is cosmically predestined, so slide fastener/nobody can ultimately separate you.Theres such a thing as love at first sight. Your true soul mate should KNOW what youre thinking or feeling without your having to tell.If your partner is truly meant for you, sex is easy and wonderful.To attract and keep a man, a woman should look like a model or a centerfold.The man should NOT be shorter, weaker, younger, poorer, o r less successful than the woman.The love of a good and faithful true woman can change a man from a beast into a prince. Bickering and fighting a lot mean that a man and a woman really love each other passionately.All you really need is love, so it doesnt matter if you and your lover have very assorted values.The right mate completes you modify your needs and making your dreams come true.In real life, actors and actresses are often very much like the romantic characters they portray.Since mass media portrayals of romance arent real, they dont really affect you. (2004 ix)Many social critics and relationship therapists have blamed the mass media for brainwashing viewers with portrayals of unrealistic love that are unattainable as a aim and unhealthy as a model and, thereby, contributing to the construction of these unrealistic expectations (Dyer, 1976 Fromm, 1956 Johnson, 1983 Norwood, 1985 Peele, 1975Russianoff, 1981 Shapiro Kroeger, 1991 Shostrom Kavanaugh, 1971. In Galician, 2004 p.13.). Certainly, many soap operas under discussion in this thesis are guilty of this phenomenon, and are suggestive of the idea that it is unfashionable or abnormal to be single. For example, as Glass writesWho can take seriously a character saying, as one does in the televised version of Candace Bushnells column, Were not dating. Its a fuck thing? Or, Ive been fucked every way you can be fucked? These characters are not serious, not even interesting, certainly not funny. With that type of woman, romance, with its necessary belief in an ideal, is impossible. .. Bushnells women cavort aimlessly in New York, trying different sex games to see which they can win. When they lose, they move on. There is no reflection, no despair, no consequence of any action. The tragedy is that nothing in their lives is tragic. (Glass, 1999 14)This sort of promotion of casual sex could be potentially damaging to younger people, who are in the earlier stages of forming opinions about themselves an d the world, as it could encourage them to find partners before they are comfortable to do so. Furthermore, in a school environment, where children are exposed to the same sorts of mass media, these ideas are discussed and reinforced within a social reality that is far different from the reality on-screen. As author of Sex and the City, Candace Bushnell, said of her creationNo one has breakfast at Tiffanys, and no one has affairs to remember instead, we have breakfast at 7 am and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible. How did we get into this mess? (cf Glass, 1999 14)During its popularity SATC was responsible for liberating the ideas of many women, and even their male partners, who watched it. The character of Samantha, played by Kim Cattrall, has been highlighted as an importnat portrayal of a sexually assertive woman in her forties. As Cattrall once said in an interview, I dont think theres ever been a woman who has expressed so much sexual joy on television without her being punished. I never tire of women coming up and saying, Youve affected my life (Williams, 2002. Found in Gauntlett, 2002, p.61).Unfortunately the themes of casual sex is unsustainable and will not hold viewers attentions for as long as say, family dramas, which can be played out over a much longer period of time and have far more complex dynamics. Thus, the heyday of SATC is over, while Emmerdale continues. As suggested by Goldenberg et al the themes of sex is both intriguing and disturbingDespite its potential for immense physical pleasure and the crucial role that it plays in propagating the species, sex nevertheless is sometimes a source of anxiety, shame, and disgust for humans, and is always subject to cultural norms and social regulation. ..We argue that sex is threatening because it makes us acutely aware of our sheer physical and animal nature. Although others (e.g., Freud, 1930/1961) have also suggested that human beings are endanger by their creatureliness, following Rank (1930/1998) and Becker (1973), we suggest that this motivation is rooted in a more basic human need to deny mortality. (Goldenberg et al, 2002 p.310)Indeed, there is nothing safe about the themes of sex in soaps it is an unpredictable world, where things are more likely to go wrong, in comparison to the world of family life, where there are apparent boundaries and limits within which to localise behaviour.In terms of class, which is the other distinction that this project is addressing, the idea that most soaps represent a particular group of people from a particular area, means that they represent the social structure of that particular area. In turn, this means that most soaps are unable to present a cross section of society from any area wider than that which it chiefly represents, and often only manages to represent the lives of either working class or middle class people. Soaps which concentrate on more elitist tastes or narrower, more inaccessible stratas of society do not often gain such a high level of popularity.This can be seen in the case of Eldorado, a soap set in Spain about the lives of British expats, that lasted only a year before being axed. A different approach to the soap opera came alon gin 1997 with the airing of Family Affairs, a soap that focused on one family. The description of the soap read as followsThe biggest, and riskiest, decision they made was to break away from the communal concept that underpins other soaps, whether it is the village (Emmerdale), the close (Brookside), the square (EastEnders), or the local streets and pub (Coronation Street). Family Affairs will eye on one family, and examine in intimate detail the struggles and tensions within the four walls of the Hart household. The other difference between this soap and its rivals will be that Family Affairs will not be geographically characterised. It is set in a neutral town, and will lack the northern atmosphere that permeates Corrie or Brookside. Class differen ces within the family will play a big part. The personal experience of Young and Hollingworth influenced them to base the soap around a family that had an ex-miner at its interrogative sentence (Hollingworths grandfather was a miner), whose son had become a self-employed builder, and whose four grandchildren were variously a trainee lawyer, an entrepreneur, a shop assistant and a schoolboy. (McDonald, 1997 1)This soap underwent a complete change in setting and in characters, before it was axed after only seven years. These example show that there is not enough of a market for specialised soaps which dare to do something a little different. It appears that it is the grittiness of urban landscapes or the character of places which people enjoying watching the most. Furthermore, it is interesting how similar themes such as teenage pregnancy, underage relationships, and people seeking to break the boundaries of their familys class can all assume a different meaning, or at least be inte rpreted differently, according to the different locations and environments in which they are set.Mass Media and the BodyGauntlett observes a similarity between the malleability of the self and the late modern attitudes to the bodyNo longer do we feel that the body is a more or less disappointing given instead, the body is the outer expression of our self, to be improved and worked upon the body has, in the words of Giddens, become reflexively mobilized thrown into the expanding sphere of personal attributes which we are required to think about and control. (In Gauntlett, p.104). Perhaps one of the greatest power centres behind both of these arguments is Hollywood, which in its history has seen the changing representation of women, and more recently, the increasing number of women, and men, who have surgery to preserve the image of their youth. These ideal images of women are not always positively received. For example, speaking in 1973, Marjorie Rosen commented that the Cinema Wom an is a Popcorn Venus, a delectable but insipid hybrid of cultural distortions (197310), and upon the changing representation of women Rosen observed the presence of rebellious natured commentaries against working women in the 1940s and 1950s, and against female sexual emancipation in the 1960s and 1970s. Whereas women have been consistently promoted as sex objects in varying styles throughout Hollywoods history (Rosen, In Gauntlett, 2002). It would be an interesting line of head to explore the degree to which feminist literature can help to explain the presence of the perceived gender gap in the process of idolisation and representation, and the influence of these processes on ideas concerning sex and sexuality. Some critics suggest that popular media have over-simplified debates which are essentially feminist in nature, and, in some cases, wrongly consider the feminist movement retrospectively, encouraging viewers to do the same. For example, in her article exploring the differ ent definitions of third-wave feminism emerging in the U.S, Amanda Lotz comments that simplistic popular media constructions of third-wave feminism are conduct to feminists, and that study of the third-wave feminist ideas may be understood as distinctive of new social movement organization. (Lotz 2003, p.3 ). Other critics pay close attention to the different psychological constitutions of women what Jane Gerhard terms ideas about the distinctive psychological reality of women especially concerning our definition of post feminism, which makes a significant contribution to the re-assessment of heterosexual power relations. (2005 41). With proponents of par still battling with what Susan Faludi refers to as lackadaisical nature of post-feminism and the unfair backlash against the feminist movement itself (1992) the idea of feminism and soap opera viewing is topical and extensive, and, unfortunately, beyond the scope of this thesis to explore.FoucaultFoucaults work is useful in the discussion of soap operas and the effects of viewing popular television as it comments on the damaging nature of normalization. Foucault argues that there is no such thing as a singular fixed meaning, and that meaning is understood on many levels most often through the historical, retrospective interpretation of rational and reasonable behaviour (Danaher et al, 2000). For example, he suggests that the nineteenth century witnessed a preoccupation with correctness where all things wrong had to be righted in some way in order to fit into a box of classification. This phenomenon has had long-lasting effects on Western culture to the extent where norms have been established, and exceptions to these norms cured or corrected. In the discussion of class and attitudes towards sex we might consider how the media has portrayed the image of the ideal woman or man. The difference between the historical normalisation of beauty to contemporary is that such images have been popularised through the media on an increasingly global and interpersonal scale. With the advancement of technology, advertising reaches people even within the private space of their own homes through television, radio, and the Internet. This is all the more dang