Sociology

Purpose of the study
The main purpose of this study is to examine the linkage between the violent behaviour among youth in todays society and the internet plus other media. As technology advances and internet resources spreading all over the world, the young generation is getting exposure to online violence and media aggressiveness. This has made them potentially vulnerable to negative experiences online and on the media. Its of great importance for parents and the authority to   understand the internet violence exposures and factors related to the influence of youth violent behaviours. This report will primarily investigate the association involving internet with the changing behaviour among youth in the society.

Literature Review
Violence among youth is an important social issue that has affected individuals, families and the community as whole in a negative manner. Approximations of indirect and direct costs associated with youth violence in the United States of America have hit a value of more than 150billion annually. In 2003 alone, about 15  of the violent crime victims arrested in the United States were as result of juvenile cases.

Research carried out on  the development of aggressive behaviour and violence  shows that serious crimes occurs through a union of factors that comprises of poor performance in school, genetic factors, peer pressure, poor parent-child relationships and the communityneighbours violence. Youth exposure to the internet and the media cannot be singled out as the prior reason for youth violence today but its probably the solitary most easily remediable contributing aspect. After a comprehensive investigation of the existing research, researchers have made a conclusion that the scientific discussion over the media violence adds up to violence and aggression is essentially over. The research underscored the necessity for studies indicating the magnitude of the effects of media violence on the more intense categories of violence.

More and more youths are increasingly using he internet with little knowledge on how the exposure to online violence shapes their understanding on the influence of violent media. The use of internet is rapidly becoming the telephone of the 21st century with an approximation of close to 97 youths using online communications. Nearly all young people in the society today have access to the internet .this increase the chances of exposure to online violonce.Hate pages is an example of websites that promote discrimination against some specific categories of people. Others include websites that report real violence has the potentiality of impacting cognitive styles that contribute to aggressive retorting among the youth.

Despite the abundant research activities that have taken place, there have been a lot of questions that have rose up creating gaps in the comprehending of the connection between violence in the media and violent behaviour. After considering the prolific evidence of the short-term results of aggression in the media, on the thoughts, arousal and feelings minimum research has considered the connection with violent behaviour amongst the youths. The aftermath of violence in the media on violence has also been noticed crawling to the younger children According to Craig. A et al report on the influence of media in todays youth summarizes that research on violent films and television, music and video games portrays undisputable evidence that media aggression increases the potentiality of youths becoming violent in both immediate and long term basis.

The influence may look huge for milder than for more adverse ways of violence but the effects on severe ways of violence are also substantial. This is in comparison with the effects of other aggressive contributing factors as well as medical aspects considered important by the medicine community. If someone is exposed to online and media violence only for a short while verbal and physical violent behaviour, aggressive thoughts and emotions may be noticeable in their characters. Frequent exposure especially during child hood May later in life cause the person exercise physical assaults and spouse abuse the report allegates. Nevertheless extreme exposure may lead to serious crimes that may see one become a victim of several years sentence in jail such as aggravated assaults, forcible rape, or even homicide.

Several researchers even those with well supported theories fail to mention when and why exposure to online and media violence intensifies aggression. Though, they do indicate that this exposure triggers the tendency to imitate the behaviours being experienced. The youth involuntary support the beliefs and social behaviours by reducing persons normal negative approach to violent response. Despite this, no one is totally immune to getting influenced by the media and online violence.

Surveys carried out recently show that there have been massive increases in violence in the internet today. More youths are spending most of their time consuming this violence. Conclusions have been that reducing the exposure to these violence will reduce the number of crimes, but less has been done on coming up with what ways that will facilitate the reduction.

Research methodology

Data collection techniques
Most youth in between the age bracket of 18-25 years have been exposed to the internet and media violence during their days of their lives at ultimately all parts of the world. The researcher conducted the study by use of content analysis. This was done using a collection of content material such as magazines news papers journal, books and the internet. Internet surveys were also conducted so as to gather the required   data. Youth respondents were sent invitation requests through an initial e mail-address with random identity using a self created poll online website. Youths were supposed to write short essays responding to the title in the subject matter plus answer some few questions. The response rate was computed as the number of youths who began the research divided by the number of invitations made via the e-mails minus any e-mail requests that were not accepted.

Youths who had use internet for at least six months and could read and write English were the required respondents. After consent was established, youths were supposed to respond to a 30 minute online survey. If the participating youth was in an environment where they could not answer the question with, they were requested to return the survey and respond later. Each youth who responded to the survey will receive a summary of the findings.

From the content material the researcher was able to gather the most serious crimes being committed in the United States today.( US Department of Justice, 2010) .For the exposure to violent media, youths were asked  whether they had visited any of the websites in (Appendix III ) in the past one year. This was to determine youth safety in internet. While conducting the study the main areas that the researcher was focusing at included the following and how they contribute to youth violence today.
Video and computer games
Radio and Music
Websites involving real people
Websites involving cartoons

Background variables comprised of
Individual- Youths were requested to give their age ethnicity, race, and average hours each spend on the internet, music, television and games.

Family- youths were asked about the relationship with their parent or guardians. (Appendix II)
School- youths gave estimated of the academic performances and school behaviour

Peers-youths gave responses to number of their friends who have committed crimes and haw many of them were arrested as a result of violence

Community-respondents were prompted to give the exposure to violence in the community by using various things from the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire.

Methodology
The data collected was analyzed statistically to reflect the population of youth aged between 18-25. This was classified according to gender, age, race ethnicity, region, education hours each on the internet. The main reasons as to why the researcher used this approach is because
It is relatively  easy to obtain access to the publication or broadcast
Its   less expensive an easy to build a representative sample
Content analysis technique produces highly reliable data that is easy to replicate.
It does not require direct interaction with people affected by the subject being studied.
Looking at the content of the information gathered from the U.S department of defence the researcher wanted to study the type of behaviours that are mostly reported in the stations. The following information was   the main focus
Behaviours likely to result to murder
Causes of aggravated assaults, robbery, or sexual assault
The number of youth violence  cases reported in annually

From the magazines, journals, books and emails responded by the youth the researcher wanted to determine how youths get exposed to media and internet violence. The following was being content was aimed at
The type of websites frequently visited by the youths.
The TV programs and music most youth listen to
the parent guardian relations in terms of  parent monitoring ,coerce discipline and the emotional bond when they were growing up
Approximated   relations between online and media violence and influence it causes towards youth being violent was reported.

Analysis and Findings

Analysis
Point estimates and proportions reported were weighted and described as below. As expected in the 48 of the young people who responded to the online survey were males and females of 18-25 years. Family, school, individual, community and peer characteristics of the sample and how they relate in accordance to the concurrent report of adverse violent behaviour are shown in (appendix III)

Exposure to violence online
Out of the youth who responded, the researcher found out that 38 of them were exposed to greater than or equal to one type of violent website3  were confirmed to have visited greater than or equal to three types of websites exposures. Cases of youth who have visited websites with serious violent behaviours increased by 50  .With each increase in the number of types of violence websites visited. Appendix III represents the frequency of exposure to websites containing violent content.

Exposure to online violence in comparison to other media
48 of the youth shown that most, many or all of greater equal to one type of   media asked has contexts of violence. The violent behaviour increased by 64 as the number of several types of media for which youth gave many, most or all exposures were violent (appendix II) shows the frequency at which youth reported exposure to violence in the internet Appendix IV shows the relative odds of adverse aggressive behaviour with several levels of violence exposure.

The link between online violence and violent behaviour
In Appendix IV the relative odds of adverse behaviour with exposure to online violence is depicted.6 of the young people who shown greater that or equal to one type of exposure to online violence  reported adverse  aggression in comparison to  the 4 of the young people with minimal or less exposure to the inter net .8 of the youth who visit websites containing violence contexts such as discrimination ,death war or terrorism reported to have adverse violent behaviour in comparison to 3 of the youths who never or are not exposed to these websites.

Distinctive effects of media related violence in the perspective of other risk Aspects
Several youths who visited websites containing contexts such as people fighting, shooting killings more likely became 5 times violent more than the youths who never visited such websites at all. Taking individuals, family school, peer and the community into characteristics into account, all those exposure to violent media were no significantly related to serious behaviour when underlying.

Findings
In this study of 18-25 year old youths, serious adverse violent behaviours such as robbery, sexual assault, shooting and aggravated assaults were associated with the exposure to the media violence.   This relationship is mostly depicted in games, internet, music and from the television. The researcher findings shows that the increasing evidence that most violence is acquired from the media is true and it of great importance to look at the violence prevention. In a broader perspective inter net violence has continuously contributed to violent behaviours amongst youths significantly. Indeed considering all factors such as poor parenting, peer pressure, poor parent child relationship, the internet has contributed mainly in the increment of violence in our community today. Websites containing real people engaging in violence had more influence than websites containing cartoons engaging in violent activities.

Exposure to real violence in the internet that depicts real people is more interactive than any other type of crime exposure has more effect on the youth behaviour. Cartoon is a relatively interactive but do not depict real people. Violence in the television may be realistic but not interactive. This explains why the  internet is the strongest association for promoting crime in our society today since it  a simultaneously interactive environment involving real time  chatting with peers at the same time watching videos. The internet and other emerging Medias such as the play stations deserve extra research on the same context.

Despite these results it should be noted that there is quite a number of youths who have never visited or even heard of these websites containing violent materials. Actually lack of knowledge on the existence  of such websites is quite a protective measure against the aggressive behaviour. Parents and guardians face quite a tough challenge though its duty to make sure their children are not exposed t o these violent media. If the youth mention having heard or visited these websites the parents should make sure that they discus and help them understand the adverse influence they may cause in their lives. They should relate this to the context of the real world situations and talk about the seriousness of the matter in the common life experiences. This will help the youth to  learn and choose what is right.

Other factors leading to violent behaviour among youths reported by the youths as expected included school peer, community and family risk factors. From the findings community   violence exposed many youths to  violence in a  manner associated by  consumption of violence from  the media. This includes television programs and  music unlike the community violence which the parents and guardians cannot control, they have the ability to control exposure to the internet violence the use of software filtering and blocking some sites should be ensured.
 
According to the researchers findings most of the youth gets exposed to online and media violence at a tender age that is from age of five. If the parents do control what their children view at the point it will be very difficult to reverse by the time they are teenager. during   teenage period they start showing rebellion and some of the aggressive behaviours acquired and before they get  into young adults they are practicing serious crimes that can sent them to jail .it is of great importance to for parents to know what contents their children are exposed to in order to shape them into responsible junior and senior citizen. The government should also intervene so as to enforce  laws on the media bodies and control what is aired to the citizens to view.
Basing these findings with those of the past, the researcher can easily conclude that the internet and the media have direct influence on the behaviour of the youth in todays lives. Action should be taken in order to minimize aggressive behaviours and to reduce the number of youth being convicted due to this kind of exposure.

Critique of the study
Generally, the media and the internet are very important resources of getting information and knowledge. They have so much to offer to the youthful generation in a way tat if used adequately and in the correct manner young people can gains and benefit in many ways. These two powerful resources tend to increase the cognitive attitudes, values and behaviours of individuals who use them wisely promoting good behaviour as well. Practically, youths use the internet to connect with friends and families express individuality and even access resourceful information in their education. The internet provides a lot of opportunities to the youth some of them are even income generating. For example they can use the internet to post eye catching pictures and videos captures with content that  is valuable and post them to websites that buy such and earn some revenue out  of it. The media too gives the youth a learning experience that enables them to grow physically, spiritually and even emotionally. Some television and radio programmes engage youth in interactive forums where they can discuss pressing issues in the society that affects them and the society at whole

So its of great significance to note that inter net and radio despite the evils that they can cause in the society they still can bring development and improve the youth behaviour and life style too. Other media such as video games helps the youth to improve cognitive skills by enabling them to exercise their brains. They also bring youth together and play simulation games such as soccer, tennis, golf, basket ball giving them a real imaginative experience same as the one experienced in the pitch by real players. The new technology that involves 3D images becomes quite interesting. Nevertheless, as much as the media is criticized there is good thing that comes out of it after all.

Margaret Hunter has much contributed to the field of sociology and mostly to the African-American sociology. Having being posted as a master in the department of sociology, she has done much in ensuring that the African-Americans benefited from this, taking into consideration that black Americans constantly experienced racism. She has been involved in various sociological fields. Her contribution include feminism, gender sociology, racism and ethnicity. The skin color issue has been a major area Margaret has been interested in. To put across her sociological contributions, she has published various articles highlighting on the same. The skin color discrimination was on the horizon within the American society. She addressed this issue in many of her articles. These include Politics of Skin Tone, Race and Gender. Racism has been of concern in the American society. Sociology highlights on the effect of a society on an individual undertakings (Whitepages.com, 2009). It deals with the social change in a society. It also highlights on the issues of human behavior which are normally defined by cultural and social effects.

Margaret has been concerned with the issues of racism and ethnicity in the society. She has contributed in relaying the patterns of discrimination which have been exercised on various groups including the African-Americans. She addresses the issue of race by relaying on skin color. She puts across the effect of skin color in partaking daily activities such as income generation, acquiring of education and housing status. Skin color affects individuals life due to discrimination which may be exercised on key areas in the society. The white culture has been the basis for discrimination and mostly on the African-Americans. The American landscape has been defined by racial inequality. This has been brought about by immigration to the United States, autonomy, multiracial identity, isolation and assimilation. Margaret Hunter has addressed this by considering various ethnic and racial groups.

Margaret Hunter has been in the frontline in motivating African-American students who have experiencing some cases of racism. Motivation of African-American students has been handled by considering various contribution of sociologist such as Margaret Hunter. The postwar boom brought about unparalleled economic success. Prosperity was denied to the African-Americans due to the prevailing discrimination. This discrimination prompted sociologists to view the issue of segregation by addressing the failure of African-Americans. The aggregate achievements of African- American were compared to the achievements amongst the white students. The racial ranks brought about some concern to address the issue (Artfirst.co.uk, 2009). African-American students were entitled to low incomes as opposed to the white students. The failures of black students have been technically related to their behavior without considering the discrimination in the society which is a contributing factor.

Margaret Hunter has addressed racism by enabling a feminist community. Solidarity amongst women of color was their major concern. The experiences of the women of color have been taken as the basis in addressing racism in the department of sociology. The inclusion of a high percentage of women in education is a way of manning racism according to Hunter. Many African-Americans have been recruited in education with the aid of Margaret Hunter amongst other sociologists. The racial and ethnic differences within the African-American community have been of major concern in some educational institutions (Compass.com, 2009). To address this issue, Margaret Hunter has been contributing in addressing the issue of discrimination. It should be noted that the behavior of an individual depends on the societys laid issue towards a certain group.

Fashion systems
Craik maintains that fashion is composed of the array of clothes and decorations of the body to exhibit certain body techniques that underline the interrelation between body and social habitus or social context.  The body then is viewed in combination of how it is used and how the image impacts on the viewer.

Clothing then indicates codes of display, restraint, self-control and impact on a person.  Fashion systems and the associated behaviour vary with respect to its context. Pragmatic considerations with respect to milieu also play a part in choosing clothes to wear depending on the situation and occasion, as exemplified by the type of clothing that is found acceptable for school, work, gardening, shopping, leisure etc. In this sense fashion relates to the codes of behaviour  to ceremonies, rituals and other culture bounded processes and is related to manner of conducting oneself in particular social encounters (2001).

Craik further explores fashion in a complex play of cultural, social and economic factors. She argues that designers play the role of definers on what is appropriate. She illustrates this point in the case of women clergy who wear traditional garb to service but wear other outfits for non-pulpit duties. Designers, therefore present their sketches with practicality and style. One designer thus describes her clothing line with a concept of a fairly demure outlook with a certain reverent attitude. Craik notes that designers combine elements that define the appropriateness for the wearer (19943).

To Craik, such trends suggest that the fashion system interacts in the production of clothing lines. She adds that fashion could be viewed as a combination of factors including conception of individualism, class, culture and consumerism and that there are differences between fashion systems. She cites Simmel (1973176) as contending that the trend in the West is opposite to other cultures with clothing patterns unchanged through the ages. Western fashion aims for the exceptional, bizarre or conspicuous in designs that consciously challenge norms and conventions (19943).

The newness injected in fashion could be construed as driven by consumerism but may not be true in all fashion systems and could be derived from other forms of economic or symbolic exchange. Western fashion could be said to be driven by consumerism hence defined by class position and social status thus the phenomenon of high fashion celebrated as a form of artistic expression.

Globalization
If Craik suggest that fashion is linked to its context then changes in the circumstances of the personal space of an individual could impact on fashion trends. Globalization with the emerging new economies and the changes in the manner of doing business and how we communicate are affecting the conditions on how people conduct the daily acts of living. Clothing like other products could be seen as a commodity but to Appadurai this conception is a simplification. A commodity is multi-faceted and should be taken in the context of its particular complex situation (19868). Apparadurai defines the commodity based on its exchangeability premised on its socially relevant feature. Commodities could be seen in the cultural context thus regulated and interpreted according to some degree on individual taste and preferences. There exist a dynamic relationship between the economic propensity to commoditization and the tendency of cultures to limit or restrict it. Consumer preference is dependent on its level of development with some cultures able to exercise more options as compared to others (Appadurai 198617). Developed societies with stronger industrial sectors and higher purchasing abilities have more options in terms of fashion lines as compared to relatively poorer economies.

The modern world characterized by ease in transport, communication and migration have broken down national boundaries and ushered the phenomenon of cultural diversification.  The context or habitus described by Craik is changing and hence may alter how fashion systems interact and spread across economies. Migration for example brings in new sensibilities to otherwise homogenous societies thus making the exotic part of the normal visual environment when it comes to clothing influences.  It can be argued that the media  television and the Internet for example with the instant reporting bring these images to the homes thus enriching the choices on how to view the world and its particularities.

The media brings an amalgamation of cultures  ideas and lifestyle that can be observed in cultural products such as fashion lines. A new pattern of consumption could be expected out of these influences due to globalization. Apparadurai contends that in the changing landscape of globalization and high interaction between economies, the product is more than the sum of what went into its production such as intensions, efforts and materials.  It generates a life of its own given the changing context of consumption (19864).  In such a scenario, new influences could filter to economies and societies much easier as compared before the advent of globalization. New players from different fashion systems in South America for example could more readily penetrate market in Northern America, Europe and even growth centres in Asia and the Pacific.
Rosensberg meanwhile questions the logic attributed to globalization. He argued that globalization is not a theory to explain anything but a description of an emerging pattern of global production and consumption.  The breaking of national barriers by the changes in technology in transport and communication and a modern financial systems of doing business, have facilitated global trading at an unprecedented scale. There is then a need to re-evaluate the premise of international relations. The doing away of distance necessitates a second look at international relations and trends (2000).

Craiks observation that the system of transcending the boundary between mass and art through the design and production of ready-to-wear and licensing arrangements may have been mitigated by the new trends in globalization as playing for the global market could become irresistible to fashion houses catering to elite clientele (200114).

Trends in the West then essentially is an open possibility with distinction of costume and fashion, Western and non-Western and between high and everyday dissolved in the dynamism of shifting tastes and conventions posited on the concept of self and social codes defining the direction through which fashion trends may take in the future (Craik 2001). With the influence of media and the profound effect of the web and other web technology, social codes may evolve and change in response to multi-cultural and diverse influences filtering from fashion system into another.

Representation and ideology
The media strengthened in terms of reach by powerful information and communication technology of the web and social networks is doing away with distance and mitigates open possibilities in the relationship of economies. The media then becomes an intermediary in the emerging globalized system of cultural dispensations. Branston and Stafford contends that the media by its power of selection of subject matter and the production process through which it views the world in effects constructs its own version of reality.  The media in effect makes a representation of reality and presents this as reality to people and communities in a global scale. In the process the media creates snippets of images as representation of the sectors and categories.  Thus an ordered world coded in such images and representation is discernable from these media projections. This codification into simplistic images of for example luxury cars for the rich only reinforces stereotypes of people thus conditioning the audience to follow the basic script of reality presentation. Stereotype according to Branston and Stafford is a widely circulated idea or assumption about particular groups (199991).

Such simplification because of the propensity of the media to capture reality in sound and image bytes poses a danger of reinforcing for example gender and racial bias. The constraints of time and money to a great extent justify this simplification into truncated classifications of events, narratives and people. Thus media, an intermediary between cultures, is in a great sense a perpetuator of ideas that could be out of touched and unrealistic. But nonetheless the importance of the media could not be discounted, as without it, our view of the world would be limited to our immediate environment.  Globalization would not have been possible. Brandon and Stafford contend that we need the media to make sense of the world (1999).

Considering that media text and images are intentional creations by their producers and that the media is now a ubiquitous fixture in the cultural environment and apply such observations into fashion trends, we could say that media play a role of definer of fashion as well. Media practitioners are increasingly determining what is in and what is out in fashion trends. This does not mean people are helpless victims as far as determining the meaning of the world as the relationship between people and media representation is dynamic subject to interpretation and the sense of reality that people could exercise. Such an insight is important in understanding fashion trends if we look at fashion in terms of symbolic meanings it conveys.

Hall meanwhile views representation more on the ideological plane as a reconstruction of relationships of events and relationships than reflection or a mere reportorial act. Hall argues that there are underlying motivation and purpose which defines how a story is crafted. Hence, reporting is subjective rather than objective.  Applied to fashion systems, we can stipulate that promotion of images in media is not merely a representation of certain trends but underscored a possibly more deep-seated reasoning (1997).

Hall maintained that images portrayed in media establishments are reflected in the commoditization process with underlying motivation to sell lifestyles in congruence with the economic interest of the particular media outfit and people who control such outfits.  A product or a piece of fashion then has its associated ideas, beliefs, behaviour patterns and corresponding values to promote certain lifestyles with its array of products they represent. Thus representation is not free from its ideological content. It could not be disassociated from the class pressure between the consumer of these cultural materials and the interest of those who control such media establishments (197). Thus the product, its representation in the media as part of the lifestyle and the producers of the items associated in such a lifestyle are locked in a dynamical relationship. This parallels the conception of Apparadurai of the opposing trends of economic propensity to commoditization and the tendency of cultures to limit or restrict it. In this sense, the globalized economy may have made national boundaries and minimize the effect of distance but the ideological divide in these economies have survived and still embedded in the depths masked by the dynamic flow of exchange of cultural materials and its representations.

Identity and modernity
Craik notes that clothes as cultural representation could connote power or association with power with such trends noticeable in history with the manner how kings and nobles dress with its associated protocols. In the modern word, institutions have replaced monarchies and dress codes could be construed as allusion to power and appropriate conduct of behaviour, thus the corporate look. She noted the interdependence between the person and clothing as an elaborate body technique through which a spectrum of personal and social statements can be made and elaborated.  Fashion systems adapt to distinct circumstances but with a desired effect in mind including identity  a sense of belongingness as well as distinction (200110).

Giddens expanded the notion of identity with the process of the fading away of traditions, within the context of changing norms due to new dispensations and influences. Individuals change their conception of self-identity in response to adapting in a new world with the definition of order not necessarily in congruence with the previous experience wherein order is defined by institutions, traditions, norms, etiquette and routines. In the new or modern world demarcations are altered, patterns are not easily recognizable based on past experiences, and traditional ways of doing thing reaching a stage of obsolescence. Thus the demands of the modern world in effect have disassociated people from the influence of the ways and guidance of the norms and traditions of the locality or the habitus. Giddens maintains that a point has been reached wherein people have entered a new arena of behaviour associated with open options and alternatives in the question of taste and preference. Thus social life becomes a matter of free choice not bounded by the structures of previous beliefs. In such a context people decides which way to go with their lives and how they would spend their time. People are liberated to re-evaluate the present and project the future. Thus self-identity is a flux of possibilities (1994).

Such feeling of freedom according to Giddens is a reaction to what he termed as manufactured risks as result of peoples intervention or impact of their on for example in their environment which brought about uncertainties and let loose uncontrollable forces because of such actions (199452).  Pollution is one example of manufactured risks.  The uncertainties of the future are numerous and big that it defies calculation hence a redefinition of self in the context of hazards and risks.

The impact of manufactured risks appeared to reinforce the impact of globalization in terms of breaking boundaries and in opening of possibilities. In such a world the play of the exotic as stipulated by Craik is not anymore confined to the play for distinctiveness but a play for experimentation given the diversity of lifestyle choices. The discordant scenario of grim and the promise of a better life in a modern world hang in a balance in the everyday life. Such a conception of identity makes room for experimentation and applied to fashion scenario may reflect the possibility of a more dynamic interaction and competition between fashion systems.  The mood of adventure in dealing with uncertainties may enhance cross-cultural exchanges that may result to adaption of new lifestyles. Such a trend could open possibilities for fashion systems never before seen.

The dress and gender, social values,
political processes and ethnicity
A discourse on fashion and gender is marked by ambivalence. Craik notes attempts to reconcile such ambivalence on the notion of female pleasure in explaining the seductive fascination of fashion manifest in the popularity for example of fashion magazines  advertising which is essentially stereotypic and exploitative. She argued that these magazines offer women fantasies, identities, and momentary escape from the contradictions and pain of everyday life (20018).  Such accounts she maintains point to fashion as multi-dimensional not restricted to consumerism but also related to acculturation, acquisition of taste and beliefs.

Craik notes that dress and decoration varies across cultures but nonetheless embedded in the social values and political process.  Somehow fashion sense is a statement of identity as in the adaption of ethnic decoration as part of haute couture.  Tattooing in some tribal practices for example exhibited changes in design pattern from animal images to geometric patterns. Exotica include use of decoration or motif from other cultures and are associated with achieving distinctiveness or a thrill or quiver. In this way fashion system could be seen as taking its elements from other fashion systems and cultures thus creating newness and distinctions (200119).

If Craik refers to the ethnic as exotica in mainstream fashion, Eicher tackles ethnicity in relation to fashion and the impact of western fashion or world fashion to ethnic cultures. Eicher defines dress as a coded sensory system of non-verbal communication that aids human communication in space and time. Dress is a combination of visual and other accessories that appeal to the other senses. Decorative items such as jewellery and trinkets could be considered as part of dressing up. It has the effect at the cognitive and effective process through which a viewer may or may not identify with the wearer. Hence ethnic dress for example marks ethnic identity (19991).

Eicher cites Appadurais concept of ethnoscape or the movement of people facilitated by ease in transport in the modern world as signifier of change. In the process they gain knowledge of a world outside their homeland.  Media is another precursor in the introduction of new knowledge of the world previously not available to ethnic communities (1999295).

Western way of dressing especially is a familiar fare in movies and television more so from western media establishments. Eicher contends that western dress is misnomer arguing that world fashion or cosmopolitan fashion is a better term. The promotion of the image of cosmopolitan dress is for example evident in the pages of Cosmopolitan magazine, which is published in 28 editions, 12 languages in more than 80 countries. The blue jeans is another example of world fashion popular worldwide, thus the trend for manufacturing and marketing of ready-to-wear lines with wide and global appeal. Eicher contends that ethnic dress and world fashion are interrelated and causes for wearing either ethnic or world fashion co-exist as far as preferences of indigenous people are concerned. Group and individual identities coincides and affect the choice of what to wear (1999).

Eicher cites de Voss and Romanuccis four aspects of ethnicity as important in understanding how changes occur in the manner of dressing. These include the structural, patterns of social interaction, subjective experience of identity and expression of a pattern of behaviour and expressive emotions.  Thus the manner of dressing is a complex form of cultural identity with respect to the individuals conception of self (1999296).

The modification in presenting the body is influenced by the notion of being part or being distinct from a particular group. Dressing up in the manner associated with the corporate look for example, may signify the willingness to be part of that world. Eicher observes that African leaders adapted western clothing while negotiating for independence but signified their independence by wearing national costumes in UN or formal affairs of the state (1999298). The wearing of world fashion then is complex and urbanization could be attributed as one of the reasons but then again, world fashion style of dressing have influenced even remote areas where people wear the same pattern of clothing.  Ethnic dress in the context of these trends could be viewed as capturing the past or as a display of a cultural heritage.

Evans meanwhile relates fashion with gender, commercialization and artistic expression. She pointed out the women has been associated with fashion. And one way this is shown is through fashion shows which rather than being merely celebratory, can acquire a garish, hallucinatory quality. She cites Adornos argument that in the 19th century that the commoditization of fashion and indirectly women is hidden through the inauthentic sense of theatrical illusion (2007106).

The treatment of fashion as a spectacle characteristic of the 1990s signified the commercialization of fashion as disguised as a form of public entertainment. The fashion show to Evans could also be the venue for creative expression of designers, not only a fashion statement but a political statement as well.  She cites Marxs concept of commodity fetishism or when people becomes alienated from direct social relations and relations mediated by objects produced in production. She cites McQueens presentation involving revolving mannequins and the dark background of the show.  The inanimate mannequins signify the inversion of the relationship between the commoditized objects.  By making the mannequins the centre of the show it assumes the life of its own while the designer assumes the role of the machine (200794)

Thus fashion design according to Evans given the anxieties and uncertainties of the modern times, has to make sense of the developments particularly technology, both industrial and communication.  She argues that fashion designs are at the edge of commercialization - artistic expression but at the edge or sphere of influence of global brands and imperatives of mass production for mass consumption. Thus designers play with themes that are constantly on the edge, experimentally addressing anxiety and uncertainties in the interplay of beauty and horror, sex and death but performed within bounds of commercial consideration.  Thus the designer is by definition is in the edge too. Dabbling in extremes to make a statement on contemporary issues assimilating the fantastic in the past into their representations of life in the present through fashion (2007).

Fashion then reflects the changes and the rapid transformation, which led to what we call the modern world - thorn between convention and experimentation, always in a flux and changing. Thus the imagery of the last decade of the 20th century appeared dark and bleak perhaps signifying a start of new social and cultural identities for the coming millennia and saying goodbye to the old. But there were designers though which highlights optimism in the attempt to explore the complexities of modern life and created new images.
The past and present are inexorably mixed expressed for example by Walter van Beirendonck in his Aesthetic Terrorist collection when he used neon graphics on t-shirt underneath an 18th outfit. The revival of the corset as outerwear in the late-20th century likewise signifies the interspersing the distant time with the current, perhaps a search for the meaning of the future. The use of combination of images of the past such as Gallianos design for Dior on the spring of 1997 combined images from Pocahontas, use of African beads, western corsets and images of old Europe among others which combines for a spectacle as if its attempt is to bridge time (Evans 200790).

While the designs and the fashion shows that highlight the designs, could be considered as political comments, it remains a form of commercial seduction using novelty, creativity and innovation to attract publicity. Thus fashion is in a sense intimate with the concept of the celebrity as major brands such as Versace has on its list clientele celebrities and media personalities.  The masses are seduced into fascination perhaps vicariously living glamour through the people they idolize and raise in the pedestal above the rest. Thus wealth and status could be seen in many fashion shows underlining the dreamscape from which fashion designers seem to draw their inspiration.

Though the fashion shows could be taken as an objectification of women or women are themselves commoditized as well as the clothes they display, these is hidden in the explosiveness of the spectacle.  The fantastic and pushing reality into the edges of illusion hides the boiling cauldron of contradictions in the representation of the fashion shows.

Possibilities of alternative fashion systems
Given the impact of globalization, there is the possibility of other fashion systems entering the playing field an effectively compete if not surpass traditional centres of fashion. Latin America for example given the riches of its cultural materials and the rise of emerging economies such as Brazil could become major fashion centre in the years to come. Influences of the Latin Americans can be glimpsed not only in the dances, which they are more famous for such as the Tango or the Rhumba but also in the colour and texture of their fabric and adornment. In a review by Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies in 2005 of a collection of essays in Regina Roots The Latin American Fashion Read, the authors discuss influences of South American figures, such as Eva Peron, or even the beat of the song The Girl from Ipanema as well as the strong influences of Latin American fashion.

Distinctions in terms of fashion, for instance can be seen in terms of colour preferences, such as in the case of the Caylloma Province in Peru where hybrids of their traditional colour such as black, for example for mourning has evolved since tourists take this as a fashion statement. Tourists would ask for embroidery done on black fabric thus creating hybrid garments.

Cross-cultural influences could be inferred from the works of photographer Mario Testino. His photography book on Rio de Janeiro which captures the vibrant city as manifest of the emerging new economy and with the subject matter of the youth careless and unbounded epitomizes the spirit and trends of the new world seemingly free from the shackles of traditions.  The images of Testino including wide beaches set in the dimming sun exemplify what could be limitless possibilities (Testino 2009). Cultural images of the past manifested in a festival with nude dancers exemplify the mixture of the old and the new. It is not preservation of cultural heritage but use of cultural materials to explore present possibilities. The work of Testino exemplifies the changing world of fashion in term of from which place or locality the next major influence would emanate.  The habitus described by Craik have been transposed into a possibility of reaching to the world through the wonders of instant communication.  The media in this case photography brings the images into a worldwide audience including its sensibilities and influences.

Localities rich in cultural materials to draw on and back by its new found strength as emerging economies such Rio and other South American centres would inevitably make a bid or by circumstance become the next centre or dominant sphere of influence.  The element of newness and distinctiveness demanded by world in a stage of rupture from the past coupled with the new technology of communication may signal for a new dispensation in fashion.

With the emergence of USA as the superpower at the end of the Second World War, a lot of challenges faced her the major one being preventing an occurrence of another devastating war as was witnessed. The US military being the tool in implementing this policy, it was mobilized and fully equipped by the government which had vast resources especially from the industrial base. It was also provided with a military intelligence group better than the one which had served during the war. But prior to this, in the late 1943, much criticism had been put across regarding the military intelligence service.

Criticisms on the Intelligence Group
The secretary of war Sir. Henry L. Stemson and his secretary of the Navy Frank
Knox agreed that both their intelligence service were a pretty bum. Admiral Ernest
King of Staff complained of the overlaps and wasted efforts of various activities of the Navy and Army intelligence. Lt. Gen Joseph McCartney the armys World War 2
Deputy Chief also complained of the disorder due to constant and unsuccessful reorganization throughout the war despite its eventual good results. (Jeffreys, 2003) This showed that the intelligence groups had no clearly defined roles leading to interplay of roles between them. Also, much of its activity during the wars was based on chances with little planning.

Another problem which arose was that the military intelligence was controlled from 3,000 miles away in Washington. This form of administration slowed down reinforcement in the battlefield and derailed efforts in making timely adjustments according to the actual field experience. (Finnegan, 1998)

The Rise Of The True American Intelligence Community
The American Intelligence Community came into being in 1947 during the Cold War (1945-1991). This was way after the attack of the 7th December Pear Harbor in 1941 by the Japanese and the Second World War (1939-1945). A lot of forums for reforms had taken place and they ended up in the passage of the National Security Act. This resulted in a joint intelligence committee that combined both the military intelligence departments the CIA and the DCI.

The Change Of Priority
The Cold War (19451991) involved wrangles of states which resulted into conflicts in politics with some taking a democratic mode of governance while the Soviet Union opted for the communism mode. Military tension was also at its peak posed by the USSR especially in controlling her from ammunition and bomb manufacturing. Economic rivalry became the order of the day between the super powers with Western Europe and the United States against the Soviet Union.  All these called for a change of priority within the operation of the intelligence service. This called for a shift and expansion from the military and navy intelligence group to the formation of an economic intelligence group whose role was to inform the government on trade negotiations, emerging markets and on ways to reduce the trade deficit. (Transforming U.S. Intelligence, 2005)

United States national security was then viewed in a much broader perspective after the World Wars whereby the intelligence capabilities looked beyond defensive protection into offensive protection of the economy. This therefore led to the development of an aggressive macro-level intelligence group to look into all aspects of the economic policy.

The Intelligence Community Today
The US Intelligence community currently has the following major components within it
Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Defense Intelligence Agency
 National Security Council
 Office of the Director of Central Intelligence
 Central Intelligence Agency
 Army Intelligence and Security Command
 Navy Operational Intelligence Center
 Air Force Foreign Technology Division
 Unified and Specified Command Intelligence Directorates
 National Security Agency

The merging of two cultures, specifically, in marriage can be very intimidating. Usually, under these circumstances, one culture dominates the other, especially, when talking in terms of Islamic and Christian ones. Even though both religions worship the same God, there are vast differences in the manner, in which the cultures have evolved. In fact, a high number of wars and misunderstandings have occurred due to cultural concepts. However, if the cultures are able to reconcile with each other, it is to be hoped that the global village will become smaller in future. The main factor of culture related relationships is that the males tend to dominate the emerging intercultural relationships, although that is not always the case.

The Merging of two Cultures
I would like to start this essay by saying that you do not choose, who you fall in love with. Love is the greatest variable in both Islam and Christianity. Although the both faiths have learned to mutually respect each other. Even though they worship the God of Abraham, there are vast differences in terms of doctrines. For example, in Islam, the women must be veiled in public, while the Christian women have no such restraint. Coincidentally, the cultures of Islam and Christianity in the developed countries are remarkably similar. However, religion is the dividing point. The Christian perspective of God being the Holy Trinity is rejected by Islam, where Jesus is seen as a prophet and not a Messiah. These dividing points become a cultural issue, not to mention if the relationship is between a European and an Asian. The religious holidays are also different.

I believe that in such a relationship the couple is able to mutually compromise, however, the families of the spouses very often refuse to allow the merging of the cultures. It is through much thought and debates that understanding and compromise is manifested. Perhaps, while visiting the family of one of the partners, the other one shows thus his or her respect to them. There is also the aspect of one partner completely rejecting their old culture and embracing the other culture. Whichever way the relationship works, the couple tends to be ostracized and faced with racism. When we talk in terms of different cultures, there are vast misunderstandings and an outright refusal to compromise. However, the modern world is changing and allowing peoples equality and equal freedom. Ideas and ideologies, which were suppressed by both religions, have to be weighed with laws that state that such a union is legally binding. In addition to this, one has to look at morality and ethics, as these two variables are intermittently affected by culture. I have heard of instances, where people of different cultures refuse to dine with each other and when forced to through circumstance tend to throw away the cutlery. Most cases of merging of cultures tend to take a large period of time for the cultures to learn to mutually respect each other, not to see others as different from themselves. It is the children that dont have the prejudices concerning the adults, however, they are faced at the early age with the issues of culture and racism. What people fail to understand is that evolution happens, regardless of whether we try to stop it from happening, as gene pools amalgamate, the human species will evolve. We have to accept that we are living in a very different world and that it has become a global village, in which technology has brought us all into the twenty second century.

However, it does not stop the current issues and the diversity of culture. Islam and Christianity, in essence, are brother faiths, people should accept each other as such. However, both believe the other to be wrong and hatred and prejudice is easier than love and understanding. Those who choose to cross the cultural line are incredibly brave, because not only does the world reject them, but their own families cannot condone their actions. The battle faced by the merging of two cultures is incredibly intricate and complex and needs much compassion and understanding. The book, Not without my Daughter by Betty Mahmoody is a compelling account of what involves cultural merging and the battles that have to be faced. There are no easy answers, you can unite the whole world to fight for environmentalism, but the moment you go into cultural issues there are shouts of racism and hatred. Words like prejudice are thrown around. We can analyze cultural merging and understand that it is not wrong, and yet it is a moral issue that needs to be addressed. Perhaps, if the world were more mature and understanding, couples, who find love, would not be the objects of shame and derision, but citizens of the world.

In the present era, when there seems to be chaos everywhere when nations seem to be at the brink of destruction, when grave environmental issues loom large above us and problems like global warming and population explosion seem to be strongly making their presence felt, Collapse How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed written by Jared Diamond seems to make some sense. It is a fascinating book that tries to bring into forefront the portentous future that seems to be imminent yet we have conveniently ignored the ominous signs.  By exploring the pattern that led to the demise of various societies, Diamond follows the map tracing the journey of doom starting from the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya and finally reaching the ill-fated Viking colony on Greenland. It is a well-written masterpiece that takes its cue from the history and draws conclusions for the future.

Discussion
Most of the reviews that Collapse received were positive. This is a clear indication of the fact that the book was well-received but interestingly many did not agree to most of what it tried to verbalize. And though it did not sound convincing, the way the thoughts were presented by the writer made it an interesting and thought-provoking piece of literature as in the words of  Michiko Kakutani, who reviewed the book for the New York Times, discussions carried out in the book are useful in getting the reader to think about the big picture - about matters like the sustainability of current consumption patterns in a world of shrinking resources, and the role that cultural values can play in a societys welfare (Kakutani, Look on These Ruins).

No matter how interesting and stimulating the ideas presented may sound, as one reads the book through, it becomes evident that there are many sharp contrasts in the text. Malcolm Gladwell, in his review of the book in The New Yorker points out that on one hand Diamonds attributes the destruction of the aboriginal civilization of the Americas to the sudden arrival of smallpox that of. European Jewry to Nazism and of the Norse settlements on the Ice Age, which descended on Greenland in the early fourteen-hundreds ending several centuries of relative warmth thus indicating that these civilizations were destroyed by forces outside their control by acts of God and on the other hand, he says that Easter Island that was once home to a thriving culture and home to dozens of species of trees, was destroyed as the Islanders chopped their trees down, one by one, until they were all gone, clearly indicating that this was a man-made catastrophe and rational actors were responsible for it (Gladwell, The Vanishing.). This is a very vivid contrast confusing the reader whether it is the fate that destroys nations or they bring the destruction upon themselves through negligent behavior.

Another factor that the reviewers have pointed out is that too many examples have been presented in the book that makes it, as Michael Kavanagh puts it, a grab bag of case studies (Kavanagh, Dont Do As the Romans Do). Michiko Kakutani also supports this view as he has openly called the book a messy hodgepodge of case studies, glued together with speculation and questionable analogies (Kakutani, Look at These Ruins). In addition to this, it is also argued that he has randomly selected this group of civilization probably because it proved the point that the author wanted to make. He could have chosen ancient Rome but he settled for Easter Island or he could have chosen to discuss the fall of the Minoans of ancient Crete instead of the Anasazi of the American Southwest. Hence, there doesnt seem to be any logic at work behind this selection. Hence it can be safely concluded that there seems to be no objectivity in the sequence of collapse scenarios that often continue to generate serious controversy (Porritt, Man vs Nature).

A Compelling Read
Collapse is definitely a compelling piece of literature. The way Diamond has presented the array of facts using diverse case studies is quite fascinating and keeps the reader hooked till the very end. Through these examples, he has brought forth five important grounds for a societys disintegration namely diminished trade activity, extreme change in climatic conditions, foreign invasion, environmental degradation caused by man, and obstinate politics. And finally, he has drawn the conclusion that the nature of collapse that these civilizations faced can happen to modern societies as well. It is at this point that the reader ponders. Tries to see the relevancy of the argument and realizes that it may after all be true. Yes, we are actually facing environmental degradation, political turmoil and climatic change but, we have these examples before us and we can mend our ways to avoid the same fate, which might seem to be inevitable, but it can definitely be delayed.

It has been argued that the book is full of random examples but I think, Diamond wanted to make a point and so, he chose the examples that best presented that point. All the case studies were very much relevant and made the reader stop and think.

All in all, this evolutionary biologist trained in biochemistry and physiology has authored this remarkable book by adroitly employing relative methods facilitated by archaeology, anthropology, paleontology, and botany and hence proved that it is imperative to enhance the quality of human-environment interaction  in order to sustain and .survive.

Marriage, as an institution, facilitates the union of man and woman enabling them to raise a family. If the spouses belong to same culture, their cultural influences on their behavior and thinking are similar, and so marriages are done within ones culture. But with the advent of globalization, people from different cultures are not only interacting with each other but also marrying each other. People from diverse cultures are leading their lives with each other and trying to assimilate themselves in the culture of their spouses. One type of cultural encounter that is happening regularly is the interaction of people from Islamic culture with the people belonging to the Western culture. The cultural encounters, where two cultures meet and unite in the ties of matrimony are depicted in numerous literary works. One such work which focuses on the cultural encounters in context to marriage is the book Not Without My daughter by Betty Mahmoody. The protagonist of the story, Betty Mahmoody, a Christian woman belonging to the Western culture gets married to Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody, an Iranian doctor practicing in America. The Western culture of Betty and Islamic culture of Mahmoody meet each other and seek to assimilate into each other, as Betty seeks to lead her life by incorporating Iranian culture in her American way of living.

Culture
The term culture is used to define the social environment, religious beliefs, values, behavior patterns and attitudes of a person. Culture of a person is shaped by hisher religion and the region in which heshe is living. The culture is transmitted from one generation to another through the social unit of families. It is in the family that a child is taught about hisher culture. As the child grows up, the parents strive to instill cultural beliefs in minds of their children.  Owing to this influence of culture in hisher growing up years, an individual continues to lead hisher life in accordance to his culture throughout hisher life. It is the culture of a human society that influences all the aspects of human lives, from religious beliefs to hisher day to day living. The dressing, food habits, behavior, thinking and attitude of an individual are shaped by hisher culture. For instance, an individual belonging to an Islamic culture will lead hisher life according to the Islamic values. But this adherence to Islamic values can change from one country to another. The culture of a person living in an Islamic country would be somewhat different from that of an individual residing in a non-Islamic country. The culture of a society determines the gender roles of its members and also decides the social position of men and women. As culture is a significant factor that influences the behavior and thinking of an individual, people belonging to the same culture bond easily with each other. Even in the matter of marriage, human beings tend to prefer a spouse from their own culture. But this trend is changing with the advent of globalization, as people belonging to diverse cultures are interacting with each other regularly. This interaction is leading to marriage between people belonging to different cultures.

Cultural Encounters
Cultural encounters resulting in marriages come across as a meeting point where people belonging to different cultures lead their lives together. When a person belonging to a Western culture marries an individual who has grown up in Islamic culture, both the individuals seek toadapt to each others culture. For instance in the book Not Without My Daughter, Betty who was raised in Western culture tries to assimilate into the culture of her Iranian husband. She accompanies her husband to Iran to spend a two-week vacation there. As she is aware of the fact that a woman is expected to cover her head in Iran, she uses a scarf to cover her head even beforereaching Iran. She also allows her daughter to be named Mahtob, which was an Iranian name. Through these attempts, Betty tries to become a part of the culture to which her husband belonged.  Bettys marriage was a union of Western culture and Islamic culture. Although there were many differences in the culture of Betty and her husband Moody, they lived amicably after their marriage. Living in America, Betty and Moody led a happy and contented married life. In a marriage where the spouses belong to different cultures, it is very important that each spouse adapts and understand the culture of other spouse. In a house where two cultures exist, the children are reared in a social environment which is influenced by the culture of the mother and father.  The behavior and thinking of the children display the influence of both the cultures. The meeting of two cultures in a marriage has positive effects as well as negative effects. It depends upon the spouses whether they convert their marriage into harmonious union of two cultures or conflicting meeting of diverse cultures.

Positive Effects
Marriages which follow cultural encounters remove the barriers that have divided people on the basis of culture. Owing to such marriages, people belonging to different cultures try to understand and respect other peoples culture. The wide gap that exists between a person, who has led hisher life in Western culture and an individual who has been brought in Islamic culture is narrowed considerably owing to such marriages. Living with each other, these individuals belonging to different cultures get to know about each others culture and interact with members belonging to a culture which differs from their culture in various aspects. An individual who has lived in Western culture will come to know about the kind of life led by a person belonging to
the Islamic culture and vice versa. This kind of marriages will also lead to unity in the society, as the distrust that have developed in the minds of people while looking at persons belonging to other culture will be erased completely. Children, who have grown up in families where the spouses belong to different cultures, learn to respect others peoples culture even if it is far different from their own cultural beliefs. An understanding of a foreign culture will also aid human beings to comprehend the vainness in dividing the society on the basis of ones culture. The conflicts, which arise in a society owing to the biased attitude of persons belonging to a particular culture while interacting with people who are members of a different culture, will be reduced drastically. People would stop judging persons raised in other cultures on the basis of cultural stereotypes.

One more positive effect of marriages between people coming from different cultures is the positive influence it will have on the culture of the spouses. As the spouses are living together, they will value each others culture and incorporate some of the positive aspects of their spouses culture in their culture. And when these cultural values are passed on to their children, the positive aspects of both the cultures will be blended into the lives of their children. These cultural values would aid the children in their overall development and also contribute to the welfare of the society by bonding people from diverse cultures. If people belonging to different cultures comprehended the fact  that each culture can have some positive influence on the life of
its followers then they would not harbor dislike towards any culture.

Negative Effects
Although there are numerous positive effects of cultural encounters resulting in marriages, conflicts can emerge between the spouses owing to their different cultural influences. For instance, a person who has grown up in the Western culture would find it difficult to accept the restrictions placed upon the freedom of an individual in the Islamic culture. Owing to the inability of one of the spouses to adapt to other spouses culture, conflicts begin to arise in the relations of the husband and wife. In the book, Not Without My Daughter, these types of conflicts are experienced by Betty in her relation with her Iranian husband. While living in America, Betty lived happily with her husband who has been reared in Islamic culture. But when she arrives in Iran, her life takes an ugly turn, as his husbands behavior changes completely.

Betty discovers that her husbands culture stands in contrast to her culture. She is unable to adapt
to her husbands culture which limits the freedom of a woman and places her life under the control of her husband. The cultural beliefs of her husbands society surprise Betty. She is so shocked by her husbands changed behavior owing to the influence of his culture that she decides to divorce him. Under the influence of his culture, Moody not only mistreats Betty but also prevents her from returning to America.  Although Betty tries to incorporate some of her husbands cultural values in her way of living, Moody fails to appreciate Bettys efforts. On the contrary, he expects her to lead her whole in accordance to his cultural values even though these cultural values were restricting her freedom. As Moody tries to impose his culture on Betty, their married life turns sour. The cultural differences of Betty and Moody are reflected in their behavior and the emergence of conflicts in their relation.

Another negative effect of marriages between people belonging to different cultures is the conflict experienced by children regarding their cultural identity.  Children growing up in families, where the parents belong to different culture, are unable to identify themselves with one particular culture. As they have grown up in a family where beliefs of two different cultures are being followed, they are confused regarding their cultural identity. This confusion is experienced even in their religious beliefs, as their cultures preach religious values which are in contrast to each other. For instance, the religious values preached by Western culture are far different from those taught by Islamic culture. And when conflicts begin to emerge in the relationship of a husband and wife owing to their different cultural values, it affects their children also. The detrimental effect of parents conflicts on children is evident from Mahtobs situation in the book Not Without My Daughter. Mahtob has to bear with the mistreatment of her fathers relatives, owing to her fathers insistence to lead their lives according to his culture. In a marriage which has resulted from cultural encounter, it is necessary for each spouse to respect each others culture and behave accordingly. When the spouses fail to understand this and try to force their culture on the other spouse, the cultural meeting turns into a conflicting situation. Cultural encounters resulting in marriage are beneficial for the society, as they bring unity among people belonging to different cultures but at the same time these marriages can result in conflict among the spouses owing to the difference in their cultures.

Task 1
Business ethics are important for efficient and effective running of any business. It constitutes agreed code of conduct and mainly instituted to ensure that business meets its moral and ethical obligations. Although business ethics can wholesomely apply to all businesses, every industry has its own code of ethics depending on its level of interaction with its customers. Business ethics also goes beyond the basic internal operation of the company to including the external environment. In this regard, the business must be particularly careful about its performance in regard to the environment and to the surrounding community. This concept of ethical care towards the environmental and the surrounding community has come to be referred to as corporate social responsibility, one of the benchmark for success of any company. Let us look at ethical considerations that the business needs to look into.

For a business to be successful, it must be responsive to the needs of its stakeholders. Stakeholders include all individuals who rely on the operation of the company or who draw benefits from the companys operation.  All stakeholders have an obligation towards the company and therefore the company also has an obligation towards them as well.  First, the business needs to be responsive to the ethical needs of its investors. Investors are the owner of the company and hence they have the controlling power through the board of directors which has selected to take care of the operation of the business.  Investors looks towards getting returns form their investment and therefore the business operation must be in a position to ensure the continued of profit and wise investment for the company.

Second, the board of directors which has been selected to take care of company operations must work efficiently and openly. They must be accountable to stakeholders as regards the operation of the company. The board of directors has the responsibility to run the company in a way that all other stakeholders benefits from its operation. They have the moral obligation to ensure that the business meets the needs of all stakeholders as they are trusted with the operation of the company. It its code of ethics, Global innovation has clearly outlined the essence of corporate reporting accurately. It has also clearly outlined ethical issues arising from conflict of interest between board of directors and the investors.

Third, the company must be able to meet the moral and ethical obligations towards its employees. Employees are the engine that drives the company. They are usually trusted with making sure that the day to day operation of the company goes on as planned. Employees should not conspire to bring the company down as they benefit in form of wages and other benefits. The obligation of employees towards the business is to ensure they perform their duties diligently for the success of the company. Employees must also show their loyalty and respect to the company be keeping the company secrets. In its codes of ethics, Global Innovation has clearly outlined the need for confidentially from the company itself and from the employees.  The company vows to keep confidential employee information and consequently the employees must also keep company information confidential.

Fourth, the company must meet its ethical standards towards its customers. Customers drive the company since if they fail to buy company products, the production line would not roll again. Therefore the most important ethical obligation of any given company is towards is customers. The company must offer products that meet the needs of the customers. Company products must be of high standards and not in any way harmful to the customers. The company must also sell its products at a reasonable profit which is based on a reasonable profit margin. The company should not take opportunities of monopolistic opportunities to hike prices but should be guided by ethical considerations that do not make use of any opportunity that exists to exploits customers. Considering that the portfolio of company customers includes even military, the company must ensure that it provides quality product and practice honesty in transaction since military touches on the lives of peoples defense directly.

Fifth, the company must observe its ethical standards towards the environmental and the surrounding communities. It is important to note that although company operations are likely to benefit many people, it may end up having negative effects on the surrounding communities and the environment. As currently documented, almost all companies have an impact on the surrounding communities and the environment. The impact of company operations on the environment has become a subject of heated debated in the recent past with the continued deterioration of the environment. There is a general concession among the public that company operations must be friendly to the environment or must not have negative impact on the environment.  The company operations must also benefit the local community. This means that the company must be responsive to the basic needs of the local community even if they dont form a large market base for the company products.  For example the company must do something to provide basic needs like water, electricity, jobs, and others for the local community especially if the company is operation in communities that have low economic status. This builds a friendly business sustainable environment for all.  In line with this, Global Innovation must lay more emphases on meeting the needs of the local community and the environment.  As part of its corporate social responsibility, the company must ensure that its pays close attention to the needs of the local community and the environment as well.

Task II
There are a number of areas as reviewed above that Global Innovation has performed excellently well. The company has already put in place ethical standards that govern the ethical obligation of the board of directors and employees that need to be observed. The company has also put in place an ethical code that guides employees in dealing with the company, the board of directors in dealing with investors and other stakeholders. Its code of ethics address issues of conflict of interest, compliance with business laws, disclosure that deals with accounting issues, corporate opportunities, confidentiality,  and others. However there are areas like environment that need to be readdressed.

In order to function effectively in line with the ethical considerations, Global Innovation will have to strengthen its code of ethics to take care of the above aspects. It is worth noting that in the company code of ethics, little has been mentioned on the obligation of the company towards the environment and the local community. Therefore it is important that the company comes up with policy framework that clearly outlines the ethical standards towards the environment and the local community that Global Innovation must observe. This will ensure that the company becomes more responsive to the needs of the local community in Texas where it is situation and the environment as well.

The citizens of the United Kingdom strive to obtain or achieve things that are desirable to their culture. These things may be cultural or economic and will range from occupation, healthcare and education to social activities, housing and holidays. These things  are not often distributed equally and so one has to struggle to obtain them. An individual ability to get their fair share is referred to as life chances. As Archer and Louise (2003, p.16) assert, there are three elements of an individual life chances power, economic factors and opportunities. If ones economic situation is healthier, your status and power will be greater, and this will better your life chances.

This essay will base on two arguments academic controversy used currently over the occupational classification, that is not neutral and has some impacts and the way this classification system is actually applied, that is, in terms of social class as perceived by the UK. Social class can be defined as large clusters among which there exists uneven distribution of economic goods andor uneven division of political prerogatives andor prejudiced demarcation cultural values as a result of political oppression or economic exploitation (Dargin and Justin, 2007, p, 87). Social mobility hinders the class formation process (Aronowitz and Stanley, 2003, p, 14). This paper is going to examine whether the social class of a person is linked to their live chances. The paper will consider the United Kingdom of the 21st century.

The notion of social class is derived from the tax-system of the Roman-Empire whereby class signified tax bands (Aronowitz and Stanley, 2003, p. 14). In the 21st century, social class is still debated among social scientists who usually reflect the wider social struggles and political debates in the United Kingdom. The fall from grace appears to be revealed from the way bureaucrat statistics portray the British community, making it complicated to think of differences in their educational achievements (in terms of class belongings), earnings and also obscuring the duty of the greater public who are concerned with life chances and social mobility opportunities. The UK society has unrelenting inequalities between population groups that are defined by ethnicity, gender and socio economic background.

Classes in the United Kingdom
The UK has been using two classifications systems that are parallel the Socio-Economic group (SEG) and the Social Class (SC) that was based on occupation. SC favoured a view of occupations that was hierarchical, which based upon occupational skill (Archer and Louise 2003, p.16). These occupational categories related with a variety of inequalities in education, income and health. Though SC lacked theoretical coherence together with the class hierarchy it was relying upon, it was revised on several occasions. As Day and Gary (2001, p.77) examined, the landowner, lunatic, capitalist, expert (undefined), and business speculator were grouped together.

The SEG was established from the 1951 census onwards, it consisted of 17 occupational categories, and it aimed at bring together individuals with occupations of similar economic and social status (Pevalin, 2005 9). Most United Kingdom governmental departments, such as the BHPS or General Household Survey, have been using it until 2001. NS-SEC (the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification) was adopted in 2001 in UK as the main tool for categorizing the population basing on occupational groups. NS-SEC was intended to be applied in administrative registration purposes, surveys and census. The purpose of this new system was to be able to differentiate positions within production units and labour markets (prospects of economic advancement, income and economic security) in terms of their employment relations.

As Archer and Louise (2003, p.16) point out, the differences of social class is that these categories grouped people with occupation features that are similar other than according to more relational or dynamic features such as life chances. Those categories are expected to relate with several indicators of social-inequality. NS-SEC can further account for classifications that are traditional on the labour market (employee, employer and self-employed). The employer group is responsible for differences between employers in small and large organizations. The employer group can further be classified into jobs that are identified by intermediate occupations, service relations or labour contracts. Moreover, it is responsible for occupations that lie between blue-collar and white-collar jobs. According to Cohen and Elizabeth (2003, p.98) classes do exist in categories that are relational, an impact in incrementing the size of a group will simultaneously decrease the relative advantages and limitations linked to it. If the service occupation range decreases, the difference in the labour-contract class becomes less pertinent. Individuals who have never-worked would be categorized in the same group as the long-term unemployed (even by applying the 1 year rule). This is logical with the occupation-based classification. If one applies this tool as a procedure of mapping social hierarchy, serious problems might arise, since this category can include highly-heterogeneous circumstances most unpaid employees, retired and disabled individuals would be unable to apply it as a means of understanding social-exclusion patterns. Similarly, since this grouping is based on occupation other than the status of employment, labour-market situations of less-advantaged employees, such as numerous types of casual or temporary work might not be considered. NS-SEC does not give a means of a detailed-analysis of subsidiary forms of unemployment whose long-term effects on life chances are scarcely insignificant.

How Social Class Affects Life chances in the UK of 21st Century
According to Aronowitz and Stanley (2003, p. 14), social classes were derived from the overarching economic organization of capitalists communities. The bourgeoisie was identified by its exploitation of the working-class through surplus value appropriation. Class formation is as a result of attempts that are bourgeoisie to retain economic authority. Social classes have experienced criticisms that are substantial such as continued decrease in the number of working class, traditional firms and employment, and the rise of service-economy Welfare development state of 21st century and emergence of middle class emergence of analytical groups, such as ethnicity and gender as main variables competing with distortion of a class for an individual life-chances, and consequent criticisms that that classes are genderethnicity blind. Thereby, leading to continued inequalities in the life chances to the majority of individuals across the United Kingdom, basing on their social origins. As Cohen and Elizabeth (2003, p.98) puts it, not only has the share income between the poorest and richest increased, but also educational achievements or employment continues to be determined by the individuals social background.

The issue raised by social class appears different from the ideas that are promoted by most social-democratic governments in the United Kingdoms new labour and to have equal opportunities. Meritocracy legitimizes the merit-effort. Therefore, it ought to be the main driving-force behind an individuals achievement in life. Meritocracy promotes disparities that are not considered as violating opportunities that are equal and fair. Furthermore, it seems that the social class of a child is determined by his fathers occupation, and this wills often be the social-class which his career path will be placed and his level of education. Low levels of education are defined by the conditions upon which an individual works. Those with low levels of qualification are forced to accept circumstances that would be unacceptable to higher-classes, because of their financial situation. Similarly, those that are unemployed are mainly from lower classes with social backgrounds that are disadvantaged. A key factor to an individuals survival is health, but in the UK, this can be influenced by the economic factors of an individual. Those that lie in lower classes with lower income and lower levels of education can hardly afford private health cares (such as BUPA) with comparison to higher social classes. Apart from essentials, life chances can have an impact of day-to-day aspects of an individual. Though holidays are luxuries, they greatly vary according to life chances. The frequency and length of holidays also rely on life chances (Cohen and Elizabeth, 2003, p.98).

Conclusion
An individuals economic situation, power and status are often affected by social class, which in turn influence their life-chances. These life chances usually rely on each other, and can change an individuals power, status and economic situation. An individuals place in the society can be altered by these three elements. The social class that one inherits determines everything about hisher identity, and ones access to health care. Social class also determines ones accessibility to higher education and how law is applied to them. In spite of the myth that is generally accepted, everyone has to rise above their expected classes, those cases are far between and few. Most individuals stay in the class that they were born to, but with a class system that is used presently in the United Kingdom, at least there is a possibility at vertical mobility.

The notion Media refers to a variety of communication channels. Mass media is a term implying media meant to be accessed by a huge audience. The communication channels include radio, television, internet and newspapers (Goidel, Freeman  Procopio 2006). The media influence, otherwise known as media effects, concerns theories that explain the impact of mass media upon their audiences way of thinking and behaving. Mass media plays a crucial role in the formation and reflection of the public opinion. Mass media links the world to individuals and reproduces the self-image of society. The interaction between media and the society is a complex one, with the former obtaining information from a system of affairs and influences and the latter interpreting and evaluating the information that media provides, and also obtaining information outside the media framework. The implications and consequences of the media are related not only to the way media events are perceived, but also to a massive amount of cultural effects that function through the media (Bryant  Zillmann 2002).

Mass media have a very strong cultural and social influence on the society. This is based on their capability to get to a wide audience with their strong and influential communications. Marshall McLuhan uses the expression the medium is the message. This means that the distribution of a message can be more significant than its substance. It is due to the persuasive power of the media that messages are accessible for the target audience. This has been the influential part of the media as they have been able to structure peoples day to day lives and routines (Heyer 1988).

The Importance of Media Influences
In the current age it is important to appreciate the fact that the media influence is crucial in our daily lives. Media and communication have a considerable impact on human beings. Media are all around us, and it is quite obvious that everything around us influences us in a certain way, either positively or negatively. It is a way of connecting people and mirroring the society that we exist in. In spite of the adverse effects of media on the society, the fact that they are important is undeniable (Shrum 2004). We are living in the society that depends on communication and information to stay on the track and keep moving in the right direction and be able to carry out our daily activities. Media are the public means to keep themselves informed on the events happening around them. This is very vital for the world becoming globally interconnected. Media is also a key source of entertainment. Some types of the media are established solely as sources of entertainment. However, the media can be forced to come up with entertainment that the society wants. The media influence is important, because it is the only way that the daily happenings around the world can be reflected (Goidel, Freeman  Procopio 2006).

The public does not only comprise the audience, but it also forms a certain part of the content itself. In the present world, life without the media seems utterly unimaginable. Media provides the public with entertainment, information and comfort (Kellner 2003).  It is worth knowing that most of our decisions, beliefs and principles are all based on the facts we know for sure. In work situations, the decisions are based on the experience and studies, however, in day to day life, people rely on the media to acquire current news and facts on the important issues that they should be aware of. Many theories have been put forward by different academics to explain media influences on the society. Many of the theorists suggest providing evidence that media has some influence on or affects the society (Shrum 2004).

The Hypodermic Needle Theory
The hypodermic needle theory also referred to as Hypodermic-syringe model is one such theory. It is the first major theory explaining the effects of mass media on the society. This is a communication model also called the magic bullet perspective. According to the theory,  an intended communication is received directly and wholly accepted by the recipient. The model implies that mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on the audience. The theory has its roots in 1930s behaviorism established by the Frankfurt School in Germany. Mass media in 1940s and 1950s were considered to have a very strong influence on the behavioral changes. A number of factors contributed to the strong effects communication theory. The factors include the rapid rise and popularity of the radio, the coming up of persuasion fields like advertising and propaganda, the Payne Fund Study of 1930s, which was focused on the effect of motion pictures on children, and Hitlers monopolization of mass media during the World War II that united the German public in support of the Nazi party (Chaffee 1988).

The model argues that the mass media can influence a vast group of people by shooting or injecting them with suitable messages aimed at triggering the required response. Images used in expressing the theory, that is, the bullet and the needle implies a strong and direct flow of information from the sender to the recipient. The theory graphically suggests that the message is the bullet that is shot from the mass media gun straight into the audiences head.  The model suggests that media messages are shot directly into a passive audience, which is instantly influenced by the message. In the model there is no way of avoiding the influence of the message. In this model people are seen as passive and with a lot of media messages shot into their heads. They end up thinking in the way they are told, because they have no other source of information. An example of where the model can be applied was the 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds by Orson Wells and the Mercury Theater Group on the eve of the Halloween, where a radio program was disrupted and a broadcast of the Martians invasion on the earth at a place known as Grovers Mill in New Jersey. The broadcast caused a wave of mass hysteria, interrupting the normal life of the people, some of whom fled the city to seek safety. This shows how the media can influence passive audience. This has led theorists to believe that this was one of the key ways, through which the media shape audience perception (Mihailidis 2009).

The hypodermic syringe model proved to be complicated for more media researchers, who sought to explain the link between audience and the media text more precisely. In the times when the mass media became more important part of human life in societies globally and did not make people a mass of unthinking drones, researchers sought a more refined explanation. Researchers, Paul Lazarsfield, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet analyzed the process of decision making by voters in the 1940 presidential election campaigns (Burton 2005). They published their results in a paper known as The Peoples Choice. In their findings it was discovered that the information does not go directly from the source into the minds of the recipient unmediated. It is first filtered through opinion leaders, who then communicate the massage to their less active associates. It is on their associates that they have influence. The recipients then contemplate the message they receive directly from the media with the thought and ideas that the opinion leaders express. Therefore, the audience is not influenced directly by the direct process but by a two step flow. The two step flow became another theory in the attempt by researchers to establish the influence that media has on the audience and hence the society (Perse 2001).

The framing theory
The concept of framing relates to agenda-setting but extends research by explaining the fundamental nature of the issue at hand rather than on an exact topic. The basis of the model is that the mass media focus the interest on particular events and then puts them in a field of meaning (Mihailidis 2009). The core of the theory is that the media attract the public attention to particular topics and decide what people should think about them. This is the original agenda-setting thought in communication. The way, in which the media item is presented, and the frame, in which the item is brought, are all chosen by journalists. Therefore, the frame refers to the gatekeepers organizing and bringing the news items, the items they cover, and the ways, in which the recipients interpret what they are presented with. Frames are theoretical views that serve to structure social meanings. Frames influence the insight of the audience. This sort of agenda setting tells the audience what to think and also the way to think about it. Framing is a quality of communication that leads others to believe one meaning instead of another. In media, the way, in which the media items are presented, influences the kinds of choices the people make.  Framing is not a bad thing but in fact an unavoidable part of the society as far as communication is concerned (Burton 2005).

Conclusion
All these theories support the fact that media has a considerable influence on the society. They also support the argument that the media influence on the audience sometimes comes as a blessing, while in other situations causing a negative impact to the society. The media, whatever their effect on the society, have brought great benefits. Politically, the media have led the society to making informed decisions in elections. The media have also assisted in upholding democracy by letting the people know what is happening within their governments. They have assisted in the process of globalization, because they have brought public attention to the matters happening globally. These are just a few of the benefits accrued from the influences that the media has to the society.